Fate/Liminality (Quest) [M]

[Rhomeo]

Rated M for violence, possible sexual scenes and anything else that could happen.

Link to OOC. (http://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=77865)

Pain.

Hot.

The smell of burning flesh.

A small gasp escapes your delicate lips as you cough up something you probably shouldn't. Memories that aren't your own are imprinted on your consciousness as you try to find your strength. Memories of the Grail War. Memories of a world that isn't your own. Memories of Servants.

Saber.
Archer.
Lancer.
Rider.
Assassin.
Berserker.
… Caster.

Brushing the few wispy blonde strands out of your eyes, you finally manage to pull yourself off the floor. What remains of the Summoning Circle is scorched, suggesting that something's gone horribly wrong. You know that better than your Master, the man standing in front of you, you imagine.

And he was a man, wasn't he? (http://puu.sh/lShpE/9e5dd2d2b3.png)

Totally ignoring the fact that a good portion of his workshop is now unusable, the man takes a step forward. Out of worry? Confusion? Anger? You can't tell. He seems to stop himself before squaring his eyes at you.

“You. Are you supposed to be my Servant?”

Ah, yes, that was probably an important thing to hash out. You had just appeared in some ritual in front of him, inside the Summoning Circle, so… it seemed a stupid question.

But Heroic Spirits were not the only thing that crossed the barriers to answer the call of the Grail.

[] “Fufu… of course! I'm Servant Caster, and it is a pleasure to meet you, Master.”
[] Refuse to answer, simply give him a sweet smile.
[] Have a puppet answer for you!

Oh boy, first post, first tutorial! Preferred choices are shown in bold. These represent what the Player Character wants to say, and will steer you towards what our personality is currently leaning towards. Think of it as a guide to follow if you don't know what to choose in a situation. There are certain advantages to morphing the personality over the course of the Quest, of course, but…

There are also disadvantages. :franny:

[Rhomeo]

Clutching the book in your hands up to your chest, you decide to give the man the most sickly sweet smile you can manage. If he looks perturbed now, he'll be even more surprised when… ah, there she is. A small miniature of you drops onto your shoulder, having been hiding in your hair. It gives the man a short wave as it smiles too. Your game done with, you reach out and brush your consciousness against his.

“Ufufu, sorry Master, I wanted to have a bit of fun. I am Servant Caster, as you can see.”

His eyes bulge a bit as you whisper into his mind, your words snaking around his mind in a way your physical words simply couldn't. After a few moments to compose himself, he nods at you.

“Very well, I am George Alanai, your Master. May I have your name, too?”

Ah yes, your name. Your knowledge of the Grail War told you that names were important. Very important. Giving him yours would be a sure sign of trust, but… who's to say he couldn't have that information ripped from his mind by an enemy?

Although, with your set of skills, the odds of that were rather slim.

[] Tell him your name.
[] Don't tell him your name.

[Rhomeo]

“Ufufu, I think not, Master.”

He raises an eyebrow at you.

“Why? You're my Servant, it only makes sense that I'd know your identity. You can't expect us to work together if I don't know your skills,” he explains, his emotions hidden behind that blank look he seemed to be so good at.

A part of you wanted to tell him. A very big part. In fact, it felt like not telling him was tearing you apart. But you refrained. You had to think about the most tactical decision, not necessarily the one you wanted to. You were a paragon of truth, but that didn't mean you couldn't just decide to say nothing.

“I know my skills well enough, Master,” you respond with a curt smile. “Allow me to make decisions related to combat.”

His eyes narrow further.

Master-Servant Synergy decreased!

“Very well then. I'd considered the fact that I might get a disobedient Servant, but… to have it actually happen is an annoyance. Do as you wish, Caster.”

With that, he leaves the room. You're now alone with your tome, a small puppet-replica of you and no real sense of direction in what to do.

… problematic.

[] Go apologise to your Master.
[] Explore the city!
[] Get to making puppets.

Second tutorial! This is an important stat, which gives a rough estimation of how close you and your Master are. It starts at 50%, which is pure ambivalence. The lower the stat, the more likely your Master is going to disagree with your choices, even if they're good ones. Abysmally low stats might result in having Command Seals used against you. Be careful!

[Rhomeo]

With your Master's outburst, you can't help but feel as though you've… made a mistake. Pressing one palm against the ground and the other clasping at the book against your chest, you manage to stand up. Everything feels off as you wobble to the door your Master walked through, leaving the charred remnants of the Workshop behind. You find yourself in an ornate hallway, with windows open to the night sky. As the other room had none, you only had the dim lighting to look by. With the stars… it was somewhat beautiful, you concluded.

Not sure which room George entered, you decide to go for the door that's slightly askew. It pushes open to reveal a large dining room, which your Master is sitting at. A veritable sea of papers covers the polished wood, revealing just how much time this man likely put in to preparing for this War. It touches your heart a little, so you step forward to apologise.

“Master?”

He looks up, surprised.

“Yes, Caster?” he mutters with a tired glance in his eyes.

“I wanted to apologise for my words earlier.”

“… what do you mean?”

“It's not that I didn't want to give you my name, it's just...”

The words die in your mouth. You cannot lie.

You can't.

Still…

“I have good reasons to not tell you who I am,” you manage, brow furrowed in concentration. “My identity is one I can't reveal lightly, but with time… and trust…?”

Slowly, the man smiles and stands up.

“It's fine, Caster. I summoned you without a catalyst, after all, so it's no surprise that I'd get someone with their own set of troubles. I won't push the matter, but if you decide to tell me I'll take it as a sign of your trust.”

Well, that went better than expected.

Master-Servant Synergy increased!

Now, what do?

[] Explore the city.
[] Make puppets!

[Rhomeo]

Now, considering only one of your dolls came through with you, you'll have to go about making more. With a grand gesture, you leave the room and move back towards your Master's workshop. It's… a bit of a mess. You could clean it up and use it as your own, that might please George. Alternately, making your own in the house would be simple enough, but wouldn't give you all that much gain in the end. Lastly, setting one up on the Leyline itself…

Ah yes, the Leyline, you could feel it beneath the city. Pure magic. You could use that.

Still, in the end, you decide to set up your own workshop in the room beside George's. It's practically empty, bar for a small bed in the corner and a few oddities here and there. You reach deep down for your magic to begin constructing the room, when…

…

It's not there.

Panicking, you reach deep down into your reservoirs of magic and pull. Slowly, strands of magic form on your fingers – your strings. They have no dolls to control, but you should still be able to use it to shape things. But you can't even hold it for a few moments before the strands collapse, unable to keep their form.

… what's going on?!

Skill revealed!
Creature of Another World (?): You're from another universe… and the world doesn't like that. Every day, roll to acclimate to your new world.

Why aren't your powers working properly?!

[] Calm down. Reach deeper and pull.
[] Leave it. You should return to spirit form and conserve your energy, that's likely the problem.
[] Stop and try to remember what it feels like to use your powers, emotion is key in magic.

[Rhomeo]

Pulling on what vestiges of your memories that you can, you reach down and pull out that emotion you felt when you first touched magic.

When you first won a battle.

When you first… were.

A shock runs through your body for a split second before every dormant circuit in your body lights up. Prana flows, like a river. Realisation and understanding dawn on you.

This isn't your world, you need to adapt.

And in one push, you open all of your circuits to maximum.

Skill lost! Skills gained!
Check Character Sheet for details.


Alone in her workshop, working tirelessly, the figure of Tohsaka Rin slumped over her latest gem. She'd been doing her best to set up for the Grail War, but it was thankless work. Not to mention expensive. Each gem ended up costing as much as a small house, it was-

A wave passed through the room. In her hands, the gem shattered into a million tiny pieces. The backlash travelled up her circuits, effectively short-circuiting the Magi girl. With her years of experience, however, she managed to close off her circuits before any major damage happened.

In that moment, however, Rin vowed to find whoever just threw all that money down the drain.


Metaphorically flexing your new circuits, you raise your hand and watch as the tendrils of prana jump forth to do your bidding. A desk is formed, as well as a chair, which you promptly sit at. Now that you've got a hold on your powers, you can finally get to work!

What sort of dolls should you make, though?

[] Quality! Stronger dolls are necessary to fight off enemy Servants.
[] Quantity! Drown them in legions of your dolls.
[] A mixture! It's diverse and useful in more situations.

[Rhomeo]

Rather than sheer legions of dolls as you sometimes enjoy, you decide it would be far better to focus on fewer, stronger dolls. You already have a design in mind for a few… specifically one, that you had made once before. If you're to participate in this War, you'll need to make him all over again. Luckily, with how magic in this world works, you can expedite much of the process. Creating the materials from scratch and sewing them together creates a calming atmosphere and, by the end of the night, the workshop is populated by a dozen or so dolls.

Every one has a lifeless stare, but when you reach out and connect to them with a string of prana… they come to life.

A smile plays at your lips.

“Impressive,” a voice says from the doorway. “I only hope they're powerful enough to deal with a Servant.”

“We can only hope, Master,” you reply with a sweet smile, pulling your tome up to your chest as you drop the strings from the puppets. “Normally I would think it best for me to stay in Spirit Form, however...”

“You need to work on your dolls, I understand,” he shakes his head. “My reserves can hold out for the duration of the War, so keep doing as you will. However...”

“However?”

“I'm heading into the city to meet a certain individual. I was wondering if you would like to come with me.”

A certain individual, eh?

[] “Who are they, Master? I feel that's somewhat important~”
[] Ask him not to go, don't be stupid!
[] Just go with him, you can ask on the way.
[] Decline. Puppets!

[Rhomeo]

“Alright then, let's go!”

Your Master seems surprised, but he quickly nods and leads you out of the room.

Master-Servant Synergy increased!

After a quick foray into a side room, your Master leads you down the hallway and to a staircase. It snakes its way down in a spiral pattern into a beautiful entrance hall, but you don't have any time to explore the rest of the first floor as you're led straight to the front door. Before you exit, however, your Master turns back.

“It might be wise to… change over to Spirit Form here,” he notes. “You're a little inconspicuous, you know.”

“Not a chance, I'm going to experience the world while I'm here!” you beam at him.

The smile seems lost on him, though.

Master-Servant Synergy decreased!

Walking together through the residential district is… well, not uncomfortable, but it certainly isn't something you enjoy. George doesn't even try to talk to you, instead focusing on the path ahead. He seems like the type to have the city layout memorised already, so that can't be what he's concentrating on. Perhaps if you…

Hmm, perhaps not. While you're sure you could-

Wait, you could?

It's as though a memory is whisked away before you can fully grasp it, never to return. Well, it's probably not that dramatic, but you feel as though you've lost the opportunity to do something. Frowning, you let your thoughts wander over memories for the remainder of the walk. Some of them are fuzzy, but a lot of them seem quite nice. So long ago…

“We're here.”

And here you were.

It was a grand old building, albeit there was an air of… oppressiveness, surrounding it. For some reason you can't help but shudder. George doesn't seem to mind as he steps forward and pushes the doors open just enough to move in. As you both step inside the building, however, you note that someone else is already talking to the Priest. Two someones, really.

And you note that the second is a Servant.

Why so many people would want to talk to a man of the faith is beyond you, but it doesn't really matter. You both stand aside and wait, but you do catch the tail end of the conversation with your acute hearing.

“… and if there's anything I can do to help you-” the woman sputters.

“There's no need, Bazett,” the man responds with a smile that makes your skin crawl. “Now please, there are other people here to see me.”

The woman nods before turning on her heel, eyes immediately beelining straight to your Master. He straightens up in response, but no words exchange the four of you. It's all rather…

…

Tense.

You both make your way over to the Priest, who's still wearing that obnoxious smile. You don't trust him for a second and from your Master's posture, he doesn't either. Still, it must be a necessary meeting. You tune out of the conversation before it even begins, instead deciding to…

[] Try and grasp that power you felt earlier.
[] Try and grasp those memories you nearly had.
[] Try and grasp a new concept or idea to work with.

[Rhomeo]

While the two men talk, you decide to reach down at the power you'd been holding back before. It isn't, as you'd previously thought, the ability to reach in and see other people's thoughts. No. It was the power to see…

…

Spirits.

And there was one in the Church, watching you. You try to tell George, but you find yourself… captivated by this being. Its power is ridiculous, far above your own. It's like a golden shining light, taking up all of your senses.

And it moves.

It's coming.

“Master, there's a spirit coming.”

“Spirit?”

“A Heroic Spirit, and it's coming for us.”

George, to his credit, maintains a composed visage while talking to the Priest. He seems to round up the conversation rather smoothly and gives the man a quiet smile before turning. You both make your way out of the Church, but just as you're about to exit…

“She saw me.”

It's a voice that inspires command. So much so that you have to turn, to which you see a black-clad man with golden hair and red eyes. Anger brims just below the surface. One wrong move could result in you losing your life here.

“Uh… hi,” you manage, rather feebly.

You're entirely taken by his presence, it's… utterly ridiculous. Who is this man?

He merely gives you a smile.

“Father Kotomine, I didn't realise there was already a Servant without a Master,” George starts, his face surprisingly calm.

“Ah, that would be the argument I would use, yes,” the priest responds with an outstretched hand. “Unfortunately, your Servant knows the truth, doesn't she?”

You swallow. Hard.

“Not so fast, Kirei,” the other man smiles, taking a few steps forward. “This girl isn't yours to play with; she's mine.”

“As you say.”

And so, the golden-haired man walks over to you. It's slow. Deliberate. Every step has a purpose. You want to turn tail and run, but you can't pull the strength to do so from anywhere. Then, as he stands in front of you…

He pats you on the head.

“You will return to the Church this evening, I wish to talk to you. Return with your Master now, I'm sure you have much to explain.”

Unable to contain your surprise, you nod under his hand and he drops it. The smile on his face is not… a pleasant one. Perhaps something you would attribute to a hunter who just killed a mighty beast.

You and George make your leave of the Church, but to your Master's credit, he doesn't immediately accost you with questions.

Not out loud, at least.

“You can't just use your powers like that,” he almost seems to sigh. “At the least can you explain your skills to me? I'd like to know in advance before something like that happens again.”

[] Eh, why not.
[] No, definitely not.

[Rhomeo]

Well, it can't do any harm, can it?

“I'm a puppeteer, of course; but I imagine you already knew that.”

“Your Workshop gave it away,” he responds, a slight smile touching his lips.

“Of course. Well, there's a fair bit more to me than just that. I'm… not quite human, where I'm from I was called a magician, but you would call me a youkai, I imagine.”

“A youkai… Japanese spirits?”

“Yes, that sounds about right,” you smile sweetly, skipping beside him. “As such, I have a natural affinity with these Heroic Spirits. It makes it easy to spot them, I guess you could call me a bit of a spirit radar. That man from earlier though… he wasn't quite right. A Heroic Spirit, but not a Servant.”

“Are you saying...”

“He's the one who won the last War, yes.”

Silence rebounds along the link for a few moments.

“Well, thank you for trusting me with this.”

“You did ask nicely, after all!”

George chuckles and shakes his head. Despite that cold exterior, you think he quite enjoys jokes. You'll have to keep that in mind.

Master-Servant Synergy increased!



After returning to your Workshop, you set out some papers you'd borrowed from George to plan out the rest of your day.

You have 3 action points to spend!

[] Make more dolls!
- [] Quantity.
- [] Quality.
- [] Mixed.
[] Explore the city!
- [] Take George?
[] Spend time with George!
[] Work on reinforcing your Workshop. “We can make you better.”
[] You have an idea… (Write-in)

In some instances, you will have the option to do multiple things during a period of time. Usually resigned for day phases, you'll end up with a fluctuating number of Action Points depending on prior choices/other commitments.

[Rhomeo]

You decide to spend the majority of your day making dolls. It's… well, you find it exciting, but you imagine anyone else would find it extremely boring. Lots of sewing, creation of cloth and imbuing with prana. Most of the process is easy to expedite with this new type of magic, much to your joy. You manage to make a few dozen dolls in the end, with most of them of a particularly high quality. You've got enough to set up a platoon now, which means you'll have to make a platoon leader!

You decide to name her Marisa, after your… friend. You think you did pretty well! (https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/459099971266957313/CWXycEf7.png)

Unique Doll gained!
Marisa – A golden-haired platoon leader, modelled after your 'friend'. Has a huge lance!

After you finish with the dolls for the day, you decide to head out into the city while it's still light. Rather than fade into spirit form, you skip through the residential district towards the biggest pinprick of mana in the area. Eventually you make it to a giant staircase, which you take a short breath before ascending. It takes far longer than it might otherwise, due to your short stature, but you're determined!

By the time you make it to the top, the sun has noticeably shifted in the sky. If you could be panting, you would, but instead all you do is clutch your book closer to your chest. With a skip in your step, you make your way into the temple proper. A huge weight seems to bear down on your shoulders as you make your way through the gate, and right through it-

A Servant, clad in red, staring at you.

“Reihai!” you greet him with a broad smile.

“That's a strange way to greet someone,” a voice says from behind you, causing you to shift your head back. Behind you is a girl clad in red (http://anime.astronerdboy.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/x03-Rin-is-the-star.jpg), just like her Servant. “What are you doing here?”

“Looking at the sights!”

“Well, that's as good a reason as any. I'd ask why you're so blatant in your exploration, but… it is still daytime. Considering your stature I'd have to guess you're Caster, but looks can be deceiving.”

You merely smile back at her, prompting her to continue after a smile of her own.

“You seem friendly enough, so I'll ask you; do you have any idea what may have caused that wave of prana last evening?”

Uh oh.

“Um… that was me.”

The girl's eyes blaze with fury for all but a second before you bow deeply, avoiding eye contact.

“I'm so sorry! I… there was something I was trying and… it just went wrong, I'm sorry!”

As you right yourself again, you note that the flame is gone. The girl merely shakes her head, smiling.

“No, it's fine,” she smiles, brushing the fringe away from her eyes. “I imagine I'm the only person it inconvenienced. In return, however, I want to ask a favour of you.”

A… favour?

“Maybe, it depends,” you respond cautiously.

“Oh, it's quite simple. I just want to have you agree to a cease fire until a certain… element is dealt with.”

“Which element?” you prod.

“One of the enemy Servants, Berserker, is too big a threat at the moment. Until he's gone, I'd like to avoid fighting any other enemy Servants.”

“That seems fair, consider us under a ceasefire until then.”

The girl smiles and extends a hand to you. In the background you notice the man in red tense as you take her hand with your free one, shaking it up and down.

“I'm Tohsaka Rin, for the record,” she smiles, hand on her hip.

“I'm Caster, of course.”

“I guessed. This was… interesting, thank you, Servant Caster.”

After giving the red-clad girl a quick nod, you make a quick escape of the Temple and straight back down the stairs. It doesn't take all that long to return home, but when you do-

“What did you do?” George groans as soon as you open the door, surprising you.

“What do you mean?” you frown, cocking your head to the side.

“The ceasefire! You didn't even consult me.”

“I knew you'd be okay with it, so I didn't bother asking!”

He seems stunned for a few seconds before smiling and shaking his head.

“Well, you're not wrong. Fine, but at least ask in future, please?”

You smile and nod, which is enough to let you disappear back up to your workshop. Looking over the piles of dolls reminds you of something rather important.

Ambition gained!
Create Life
One of your life's ambitions is to create a doll that can act independently of you… maybe this world can allow you to do so? Rewards: 50 Destiny Points, gain unique Doll.

Night is closing in, what do?

You have 2 action points to spend!

[] Make dolls!
- [] Quantity!
- [] Quality!
- [] Mixed!
[] Scout!
- [] Where?
[] Interact with George!
[] Go to meet with the golden-haired man at the Church?

[Rhomeo]

Just like you had during the day, you start your evening making dolls. It's a boring process for anyone other than you, as always, but you find some peace in it. It gives you some time to think over what you might say when meeting the golden-haired man again, so it's not even worthless in that aspect. After darkness has totally fallen over Fuyuki, you make your way down to the front door. On the way, however…

“Where are you heading off to?” George questions as you move down the hall.

“The Golden Servant, he wanted me to meet him,” you admit, turning your head to the side.

“Ah, I see. That's...”

You turn back to look at him and he gives you a smile.

“I'll be coming with you.”

“But- he'll kill you!” you exclaim, worried.

“Not if you do your job,” he smiles.

Okay, that was a good point, but… you were far stronger at your Workshop than away. This was going to be…

…

Problematic.


You and George return to the dark Church, noting the overwhelming presence of the golden Servant as you walk up the hill. He's standing a dozen or so feet from the Church's doors and, rather than you, talks to your Master.

“I don't recall inviting you, mongrel.”

“I wanted to come, but I have to keep my Master safe. Is that okay?” you smile innocently.

Through some small miracle, the tense atmosphere eases up. George, on the other hand, seems totally calm despite the monster standing in front of him.

“Very well then, so, you know why I've asked you here?”

You go to respond, but he cuts you off.

“It's because you're not mine, and I'm going to change that.”

… eh?

EH?!

For some reason, you aren't able to contain the massive blush that spreads across your cheeks. The golden man's grin is enough to tell you that it's very noticeable.

“You see,” he starts to explain, a small smile curling at his lips. “I own every manner of wonder, from people to relics. All except for you, my little Caster. You're not from this world, aren't you? And so, I will take you for my own.”

You only manage to stammer cutely, the blush continuing to spread across your face. The man seems to find it humorous, but decides to continue.

“Of course, you are still a Servant, which means you are trying to claim the Holy Grail. This means that I will have to participate in this Grail War, achieve victory, and take you for my own when all is said and done. Until then, you will fight by my side.”

“Y-yes, I'd like that-”

“Hold on a moment,” George cuts in, eyes narrowed. “I haven't said I'll approve of this quite yet.”

Goldy's eyes narrow as well, but it's only after a few terse moments of total silence that George starts laughing.

“But of course, I will, I'd be a fool to deny an opportunity like this.”

“Good, because the other choice was to kill you and install someone competent as her Master,” Goldy smirks.

“It doesn't matter now, does it? Everything worked out!”

“In a manner of speaking,” Gold-man mutters, still watching George.

“That it did,” George nods sagely. “Although I still expect you to explain what this 'other world' business means.”

Ah yes, about that.

“I guess I don't know all that much about it, in the end,” you frown, clutching the tome up against your chest. “My world is… different from this one. Magic exists more freely and spirits are well-known. As Caster I received a lot of knowledge relating directly to the system, but… a lot of it is blurry. Memories that I can't quite seem to tap into.”

“A side-effect of not existing in this world in the first place,” the golden man cuts in.

“And because of that,” you continue smoothly. “I'm missing certain memories of my own life too. Simply put, I shouldn't be here. Bar drinking from the Grail, I'll never be a proper member of this world.”

“So you're telling me you didn't explain anything or tell me your name because… you're from another world entirely? Another timeline?” George confirms.

“Something like that!”

“That complicates things, there's… so much wrong with that, from a magical perspective. The Grail truly is a dangerous device.”

Silence prevails over the three of you for what feels like far too long.

“We should return to the Workshop for tonight, Caster. There's a lot I need to think over and prepare for, now.”

“I'll meet you by your quarters tomorrow evening, Caster,” the gold-haired man smiles as he turns from you.

Well.

“My name is Alice, by the way.”

George looks at you with surprise, but it doesn't take long for him to break out into a grin.

Master-Servant Synergy increased!


By the time you return home with George in tow, the sun is starting to rise. Another day, another bunch of stuff to do!

You have 4 action points to spend!

[] Build dolls!
- [] Quantity!
- [] Quality!
- [] Mixed!
[] Go and visit Gil?
[] Go find and visit Rin! (2)
[] Explore the city!
- [] Take George?
- [] Take Gil?
[] Set up a new workshop somewhere on the Leyline, you don't have enough mana to work with! (2)

Some choices take more than one Action Point, signified by (?) where ? is the number of AP needed to enact that choice. These are usually one-off choices, so consider picking them!

[Rhomeo]

Quite similar to the day before, you end up spending some time in your workshop slaving away over your dolls. In fact, you get so caught up in your creation process that you entirely lose track of the time. The sun makes its way through the sky as you carefully stitch and decorate every doll with a precision that's totally inhuman. By the time you finally decide to stop, you've made enough to form another platoon! This one, unlike the first, is made up entirely of Hourai dolls. Whereas before, they'd been Shanghai dolls.

You end up naming the platoon leader Reimu (http://orig09.deviantart.net/8bb9/f/2013/061/0/f/hakurei_reimu_touhou_render_by_kemzlophe-d5ws93g.png), after another of your… 'friends'. She seems pretty cute, enough so that you give her a pat on the head before leaving.

Now, it's time for you to get out and find a new place for your Workshop! You'd already mentioned it to George and he seemed fine with the concept, so long as you did all the work of finding a suitable location. Some would call him lazy, but it did make sense. A normal Magi forming an entire Workshop over the course of a few hours would normally be impossible.

It takes all of a few minutes for you to quite literally stumble through an abandoned house's wobbly gate. It's not much of a looker from the outside, but the positioning couldn't be more perfect. Everything is set up just so on the Leyline, and you briefly note that you somehow ended up wandering quite far from the rest of the city. So a remote location, on top of a leyline, that's totally up for grabs?

Score!

“George, I managed to find a good spot, and it's not even that far!”

“Understood, I'll be there in a few minutes, then.”

True to his word, it doesn't take your bespectacled Master long to arrive, and you quickly decide that he'll work on setting up some early Bounded Fields while you build your Workshop. Entry to the mansion is… breathtaking, even despite the rundown state of the building. You trudge through the grand entry hall and end up going down some stairs rather than up, leading you to a huge basement. Just like that, you know you needed this place. A grin plays at your lips.

After a few hours have passed, you've more or less recreated your Workshop back at home, with far more capabilities to expand than before. Happy with your progress, you ascend back up to ground level, where you notice that there's a distinct lack of Bounded Fields surrounding the house. After a quick mental check, you find George standing out on the second floor balcony, staring out into the city.

… he looks lonely.

Without so much as a second thought, you tackle hug him from behind. You end up pushing him against the balcony because of it, pushing the air from his lungs, but the fact that he doesn't try to throw you off makes you think it's fine. After a few seconds, you take a step back.

“What's wrong, Master? I don't think it'd be like you to mess up like this,” you frown at him with a serious look.

“It's...” he trails off, a very distinct hurt in his eyes. “Tell me, Caster, what's your wish for the Grail?”

Your wish?

“I want to create life,” you respond simply, moving past him to lean against the railing. “It's been my wish for as long as I've been making puppets. I want… to make something, that's a part of me, I suppose? I don't know how to explain it, but that's my wish.”

“Creating life… that's a worthy goal. Mine is a little more selfish, I'm afraid.”

“Tell me.”

You turn your head to look at him just in time for him to smile and shake his head.

“I should have expected that. It's my wife, I want to bring her back.”

Oh.

… oh.

“I'm sor-”

“Don't be,” he cuts you off, turning away from the railing. “You're helping me win this War for her sake, so I think accommodating both of our wishes is more than feasible. Come on Alice, we've got a lot of work to do.”

Master-Servant Synergy increased!

And so you do!

You have 2 action points to spend!

[] Gil said he was going to show up…
[] Go back to the other house and gather your things!
[] Make dolls!
- [] Quantity!
- [] Quality!
- [] Mixed!
[] Go scouting!
- [] Where?

[MatrixOne]

This Is Canon - Rho Certified

Long ago.

...

There was a string of pipes, plastic and metal, arranged in a spiral like a bunch of snakes thrown into a basket, each of the pipes following a neat path straight to the patient's throat.

"Doctor?" One of the surgical technicians asked, to check if he was still there.

George gave a faint nod in response, his eyes still closed as he had two fingers pressed to the back of the patient's hand.

Another pulse of prana painted a new image in George's mind. It was as he feared - this patient wasn't a normal human. He could sense the pathways in her nervous system, akin to a forest burnt down in an instant, without warning.

Her Magic Circuits are destroyed.

This is what happens when someone poorly taught and inexperienced tries their luck with Magecraft. None of the medical staff had any idea, of course. They'd just say there was nothing they could have done, and the girl would never have control of her body below her neck again.

"Wait there." George said, turning his gaze to the rest of the staff. Light manipulation of the mind was something every Magus had to know, to avoid involving others in his work.

No, he was about to involve someone.

Another pulse, like a sonar, revealed the inner workings of the girl's nervous system. He timed the pulses with the beeping of the heart monitor, keeping it steady as his own magical influence recreated the damage within himself, a tiny bit at a time, before fixing it and imprinting it back on the patient. One wrong move, and what happened to her would happen to him.

One done...

He switched off the surgical lamp, which always irritated his eyes much like the sun itself.

This was going to take time.

***

***

Later.

Another knock on the door, and then a muffled voice from behind it.

"George?"

"Hm?" He answered absent-mindedly, not opening.

"Just checking in. They said the surgery lasted thirty hours."

Thirty two, actually.

"I'm fine, just need to rest a while. Keep me updated."

***

***

Later that week.

He held the clipboard sideways as he jotted down the notes, and the girl watched him from the hospital bed.

Once he was finished, he nodded to her.

"Very well, I am George Alanai, your doctor. May I have your name, too?" He asked with a kindly smile, adjusting his glasses.

"..." She kept quiet, not even attempting to hide her mischievous grin.

He raised an eyebrow.

"Very well. I'd considered that I might get a disobedient patient, but disobeying certain rules of the world didn't do you much good in the past, did it?" He tapped the clipboard with his pen in mild annoyance, and with that said, he left the room.

After that, he only came for daily routine checkups, to write down her condition and leave. But one of those days...

"Hey, doc?"

He looked up, surprised.

"Yes. What is it?" He said, not raising his gaze from his clipboard.

"Just wanted to say... Sorry. You really came through for me, and it's not like I didn't wanna tell you my name, all right? You know how it is."

"Yes, I know." He finally looked at her. "But I don't think you know much of it, yourself."

"Huh? What are you saying?" She pursed her lips, pretending not to understand.

"I'm saying," He sighed, his kindly smile returning to him. "That someone should teach you."

...

The look in his eyes told her that his offer was, indeed, a serious one.

As realization came over her, she gave him the happiest grin in response.

***

***

Long after.

Without giving her actions a single thought, she tackled him in a hug from behind, pressing him up against the railing, making him exhale from squeezing his chest.

He didn't try to slip out of it, content with only smiling, as though he was waiting for it to happen.

She pushed her face into his back. "Hey, you really screwed up with that Bounded Field, didn't you? Do I have to fix everything?" After one final squeeze, she hopped back, pulling him by the sleeve of his coat.

"I'm not very good with those." He admitted.

"You don't ever apply yourself to anything!" She teased. "Shameful for a Magus, really."

"I wonder who I got that from."

The fact that she was able to move around and cast, wearing a ring just like his, was proof that he applied himself at least once.

"Come oooon," She tugged at his sleeve. "Or I'll put snow in your shirt again."

"...It's not even snowing." He shook his head, letting himself be pulled back to the Workshop with exaggerated reluctance.

[Rhomeo]

It doesn't take long for you to arrive back at your old home. George had seemingly already settled into the new manor, but that didn't help you all too much. Upon entry back into your old Workshop, you have to decide how to take your puppets to the new one.

… hah, just kidding.

You attach strings of prana to each puppet and have them follow you as you return back to the manor, taking them all straight down to the basement and livening the place up a little. So, with your dolls at your new Workshop and a whole night left, you walk up to the ground level and-

“I don't remember giving you permission to move,” Gilgamesh states, yawning. “It took me a whole ten minutes to find you, you realise?”

“I was going to come and tell you!” you apologise, bowing deeply. “We had to move because my Workshop wasn't on a leyline, so… we moved!”

“… understandable,” he nods. “I'll allow it. Now, are you ready?”

“For what?”

“The War's just started, of course, so it's time to begin patrolling. I'll be accompanying you.”

“Ah, let me just ask George first-”

“You would defer to your Master when your King stands before you?” he glares, voice shaking ever so slightly.

“It doesn't sound like you should defy him,” a familiar voice rings through your head.

“Understood~!”

“You're right,” you smile at him sweetly. “Let's go, then!”

The pair of you leave the manor, winding your way down the winding road that leads up the hill and down into the Residential District. No words pass between you as you move past the extravagant buildings and straight through the abandoned market. It doesn't take all that long to make it to the Fuyuki Bridge, where Gilgamesh actually sparks up a conversation.

“I noticed you didn't bring any of your dolls with you,” he comments, looking sidelong at you. “Why?”

“Ufufu~, I did though!” you exclaim as a small copy of you peaks out through your hair.

“… I see.”

He doesn't seem all that impressed.

As you step off the bridge and into the Shinto District, you follow Gilgamesh's lead as he starts to make his way into the city proper. You've hardly spent any time making your way downtown, when-

A huge presence pings on your inner radar.

“My King? There's another Servant nearby.”

“Where?”

“Over there,” you point confidently.

“Very well, we'll meet them on our terms.”

As confident as ever, Goldy walks forward with you by his side. Barely a minute has passed before the presence seems to notice you and hone in straight to your location. The closer it gets, the bigger it gets in the back of your head. Standing next to Gilgamesh makes it seem small in comparison, but compared to you…

… and there it is.

A small girl walks around the corner, hands clasped behind her back. She looks alone, but you can 'see' the presence behind her. Following her.

“Oho, what's this?” the white-haired girl grins, turning her gaze to the two of you. “A pair of Servants wandering through the city on a date?”

“N-no!” you look away, blushing.

Gilgamesh beside you merely sighs and shakes his head. Across from you, the girl looks incredibly amused.

“My name is Alice, and you?” you ask, trying to keep the conversation neutral.

“Illyasviel von Einzbern,” she curtsies, smiling. “It's rare to meet as polite and honest a Servant as you. What are you doing dragging this man around with you?”

“Don't even think about it, vessel,” Gilgamesh interrupts, stepping forward.

“Oh? And what are you going to do about it, hmm?” Ilya turns her smile on him.

“Hey! No fighting,” you glare at the two of them.

Through some small miracle, the both of them seem to take a figurative step back.

“Very well,” Gil concedes, folding his arms.

“And you look out for your friends; you're a rare one. I wish you good fortune in the coming War, I hope you survive long enough for us to fight.”

With a light wave, the white-haired girl turns back around and disappears from your view. The overwhelming presence of her Servant leaves with her, much to your relief.

Well.

What d-

“This is where I must leave you I'm afraid, dear Caster,” your gold-haired companion cuts into your train of thought. “Kirei seems intent on boring me to death regarding my blatant actions in this War. I'll see you again tomorrow night; and bring more dolls.”

As he walks off, you find yourself taking a deep breath of relief. But now you're alone.

[] Continue patrolling? (Major Action! Takes 2 AP from tomorrow, or costs 3 DP for no AP cost)
[] Go back home!

[Rhomeo]

Despite the loss of your partner, you make the decision to continue patrolling without him. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on your point of view, you don't end up coming across anyone else on your travels. Disappointed, you begin the trek back home. It's only after you've resigned yourself to going home that you sense a presence.

No… two presences.

You think you recognise one of them, but you're not sure. With that in mind, you flit through the city streets to attempt to meet them as they depart from the bridge. It seems you're in luck, as just as you turn a last corner-

“Stop.”

The red-clad Archer is staring you down from a dozen feet, with his Master and another boy beside her. Then beside him… is…

A Servant.

Oh boy.

“Stand down, Archer, it's just Caster,” Rin waves her hand, giving you an odd look. “I didn't think you'd be the type to go on patrol, if I'm going to be honest.”

“Ufufu, good to see you again, Archer,” you greet the Servant, who gives you a blank stare. “Who is this you've got with you, Miss Tohsaka?”

“This is Emiya Shirou, he… summoned by accident, I guess you could say. I'm taking him to the Church so that Kirei can explain a few things to him.”

“Should you really be telling an enemy all this?” the woman in the raincoat cuts in, eyes shooting daggers at you.

“Caster and I are under a ceasefire, Saber.”

“Oh? So perhaps I should take Shirou and return home, so you can enjoy your ceasefire?”

“Do you trust me, Miss Tohsaka?” you state, seemingly out of nowhere.

Rin turns her eyes on you, evidently battling with the repercussions of saying 'yes'.

“… I do,” she eventually manages, folding her arms.

“Good. Because I've been in contact with the survivor of the Fourth War.”

Rin tosses her hair aside, as if that's only common sense.

“Well, of course I knew that Kirei was a survivor of the Forth-”

“No, the Servant.”

From your point, you notice that both Saber and Rin look surprised by that. Interesting.

“Who?”

“A golden-haired man, with an enormous presence. Even as a human, I mistook him for a spirit the first time we met. It's why I found out.”

“And so… you're saying he belongs to...”

“Yes, the Priest.”

Rin takes a step back, shocked. Saber looks aside, clenching her fists. Archer is as passive as ever, of course, and then the red-haired boy…

“So what, the man I'm supposed to be getting help from is someone I can't trust? Then what am I supposed to do now?” he complains, his face going sour.

“If you wish, since I'm the bearer of bad news, I could teach you about the War instead? As Caster, I have access to information other Servants don't,” you mention offhandedly with a smile.

“That's true,” Rin confirms. “And I… need some time to think all this over.”

“Master?”

“Mm, yes Caster?”

“I ran into the Master I brokered a ceasefire with, who was taking another Master to the Fuyuki Church to meet with the Mediator. Fortunately, I managed to tell them about his possession of a Servant from the last War. Unfortunately, that means I was pulled aside to explain the War for him. Do you approve?”

“Understood, I'll be there in a moment.”

Wait.

No, that's probably bad.

“Master-”

“I'll find you, just follow the lad back home.”

“So, Caster...” the boy starts, the Servant beside him remaining silent. “Should we-”

“My Master is offering to explain things to you in my stead, would that be okay with you?”

The boy's eyes seem to glow with annoyance for a while before he sighs and shakes his head.

“… fine, I'll take you back to my house.”

“Is that really a good idea, Shirou?” the Servant mutters to him.

“I just want to go home.”



Emiya Shirou's house isn't quite as grand as your own, but it has its own Eastern Charm to it. In fact, that probably means more to you than that Western look your own manor has. Still, it's all lost on you due to the intense stare of Saber. You'd both been left outside at the behest of the blonde Servant, who now fills the silence with measured breathing.

It's… kind of creepy.

In an attempt to break the tension, you pull your lone doll from its hiding spot amidst your hair and place it down on the ground. Then, with a quick flourish, you have it stare back for you, then add your own stare for good measure. Saber, now forced to switch her stare between two individuals, gets annoyed and ends up frowning at you.

“I'm Alice, a pleasure to meet you,” you greet her with a smile, your little doll waving for you.

She seems stunned for a moment before bowing in response.

“I am Servant Saber, but you may call me Arturia.”

Arturia, huh? It doesn't ring any bells, but you'll have to run it by George at a later date, then.

“It's a pleasure to meet you, Artruria.”

“You as well, Alice,” Saber even manages a quiet smile.

“So, about that golden-haired Servant...”

“What about him?”

“He called himself a King,” you start, leaning up against the outer wall of the Emiya residence. “Not to mention I'm pretty sure he only sees me as an item, the way he talks about me. You look like you know him personally, so...”

“I do. He and I were participants in the last Grail War.”

That's… surprising.

“But I thought Servants didn't carry knowledge of Grail Wars between them?”

“Normally, no, but I'm a special case,” Saber acquiesces, looking somewhat uncomfortable. “The man you're talking about is Gilgamesh, the King of Heroes. He talked about me the same way, once, about how he wanted to take me for his own. He's not a particularly… good Heroic Spirit. Telling us about him just means we're going to have to deal with him later.”

“Oh, by the way, what are your thoughts on your Master? Oh, I'd like to state upfront, I have no intention of harming him. You might be Saber, but killing other Masters isn't how I want to go about this War. I know firsthand that getting along with your Master is important… and he seems like a genuine person, if a little clueless about the whole situation. I regret not being able to explain things to him myself, but I guess it's better that George do it in my place. Is that why you think he might not like me?”

“Shirou is...” Saber stops herself, as if gathering her thoughts. “He means well and has a good heart, but I feel he has a lot to learn as a Magi. Not to mention how much trouble he's already put us through tonight. I… apologise, that was likely far too personal.”

“No, it's fine,” you smile. “I understand things like this can be difficult.”

“Do you really?”

Your smile falters a bit, but remains steady.

“Thank you, that's all I wanted to know.”

“Any time, Caster,” the blonde nods.

Just in time for George to make his way through the gate, give Saber a nod and make his way down the road. Giving the woman a quick farewell, you step up to match pace with your Master. By this point, the sun is starting to raise in the East, with the lamp posts beginning to flicker out, their duty done.

“Ufufu, how was it?” you question, folding your arms behind your back.

“Problematic. The boy learned well enough, but I don't think he was in a good mood to begin with,” George mutters, frowning. “I'll have to return tomorrow night to finish up, will you accompany me?”

“Of course, Master!”

George gives you a warm smile.

Still, you had to think about what to do with the rest of your day! It's been a long night and even though you're a spirit, you somehow feel fatigued.

You have 3 action ponits to spend!

[] Build dolls!
- [] Quantity!
- [] Quality!
- [] Mixed!
[] Rin wants to talk to you… (2)
[] George wants to talk to you… (2)
[] Create a unique doll! (3)
[] Interact with:
- [] Who?

[Rhomeo]

After you return to your Workshop, you come to the decision that with what little time you have you should dedicate it all to creating the perfect doll. After locking the door, you fall into a trance of creation. Prana flows from your fingertips, forming the base for the figure. It takes a fair bit longer than you'd initially guessed, but you suppose that's the price you pay for 'perfection'. After you're done with the base, you mould its features almost entirely from memory.

…

It takes a long, long time.


Ambition fulfilled!
You've created life. (Check Character Sheet for details)

In front of you stands the form of your doll.

And it moves.

There are no strings to make it move, but it does. It reaches out for you, but instead brings her hand back to touch her own face.

“Who… am I?”

You want to answer her, to reassure her… comfort her.

Slowly, you reach out and embrace her. It's… more comfortable than you'd thought. She's not cold, like your puppets normally are. And this one even hugs you back.

It's…

…

You pass into the void.


By the time you come back to, the world is different. You'd not been in spirit form before, but you can understand why Servants would spend their time in it. It's comforting, as though you don't have to constantly maintain your body with prana. Feeling a lot better than you did before, you allow yourself to reappear, right in the heart of your workshop. Waiting dilligently is your doll-

No, not your doll, your friend.

“Alice!” the girl's face brightens. “I was so worried-”

“Ufufu, no need to worry about me!” you proclaim, grinning brightly. “I'm sorry to have worried you, are you okay?”

“Never better! I was waiting, because I… I wanted to thank you. For this. For my life.”

You have to admit, you're more than a little curious about how it must be like, being born into an adult's body. Still, first things first is to decide how to go about… how you're feeling right now.

You have 2 action points to spend!

[] Rest. (Limits you to interacting with Youmu/George, or creating dolls, costs no action points)
[] Build dolls!
- [] Quantity!
- [] Quality!
- [] Mixed!
[] Introduce Youmu to George.
[] Interact with:
- [] Who?
[] Scout!
- [] Where?

[Rhomeo]

Considering your current state, you decide staying near your Workshop for the evening is probably a good idea. The ambient mana from the leyline will make restoring all your lost reserves a simple enough affair, but to restock will take the entire night.

Which means you're stuck with what are likely the two most important people in the Grail War for you!

“Alright, Youmu, I guess it's a good idea for you to come and meet George,” you state, with an outstretched hand for emphasis. “So let's go!”

“If you say so,” she replies with a serious face, falling in line behind you.

Together, you leave the Workshop and make your way up the dark stairs. You note that the doll… no, Youmu behind you doesn't complain about the lack of light. Something to note for the future, you think. After a quick scan once you reach the top of the staircase, you quickly ascend the second one in the lobby and towards the living quarters. Considering how little you'd explored the mansion you pretty much knew the layout off by heart just from your time in your Workshop. Reading mana and how it flowed was pretty easy if you knew how.

The pair of you come across George in one of the many studies, reading through an impossibly large stack of papers. He turns at your entry, parting his lips to greet you, but stops when he notices Youmu behind you. Even with her extreme strength she doesn't show up as a Servant, but that prana signature isn't something you can just ignore.

“Master, this is Youmu, she's my friend… I made her today,” you explain. Youmu, to her credit, makes a small bow and remains silent.

George stands up slowly and moves over to the pair of you, casting an appraising eye on her for a few moments. Eventually, he breaks out into a small smile as he turns to look at you.

“Well, I see you fulfilled your wish; I'm happy for you.”

“Now we can focus on your wish!” you exclaim, a shine in your eyes.

George doesn't reply, instead giving you a… sad look.

“Oh, by the way, I meant to ask you – I gave Saber my name and she gave me hers in return; Arturia. Does that ring any bells, mm~?”

“Arturia...” he scratches his cheek as he thinks it over. “Sounds like it's derived from the male name, Arthur, but other than that? I can't think of any blade-wielding Heroic Spirits that are female with that name. I'll do some research on it for you.”

You give him a quick bow and leave the room. Youmu trails after you, leading you back down to the basement where you focus on soaking up as much energy as you physically can.

It's more relaxing than you would have thought!


After a long evening of mostly rest, you awake to a new day feeling invigorated. You can do so much!

You have 6 action points to spend!

[] Go apologise to Gil for not showing up last night. (2)
[] Rin wants to talk to you… (2)
[] Saber wants to talk to you… (2)
[] Show Youmu around the city? (2)
- [] Invite someone else?
[] Build dolls!
- [] Quantity!
- [] Quality!
- [] Mixed!
[] Interact with:
- [] Who?
[] Explore the city!
- [] Take someone with you? (Youmu excluded)

[Liono]

This Is Canon - Rho Certified

"Well, hello there," Xelphen Delfria (http://img-cache.cdn.gaiaonline.com/7f08f2bcea81261879e3fc1888eb73a1/http://i1204.photobucket.com/albums/bb416/YaoiWolf_TeruHayashi/RyunosukeMiyagy.jpg) said to himself as he entered this new city. Walking down the streets, he noticed many things, ranging from a man with glasses with a blonde-headed girl to regular humans heading towards wherever they were going that day. He was looking for one person today, one lady by the name of Illyasviel von Einzbern. Xel always wanted to see the action of a Grail War, and he thought Illya would be the most... helpful in his endeavors.

"Oh, hello there, sir," a tiny girl's voice that came from behind said. Xelphen turned around.

"Oh, hi," Xel replied, "Hey, can you tell me where a person by the name of Illyasviel is?" There was something wrong with this girl, something about her was very creepy.

"Oh... You mean me, right~?" she replied in an ominous voice. "Also, you should welcome my Servant as well, say hello, Berserker."

"Oh! Yes, of course," Xel replied, caught a little off-guard, which is something he shouldn't ever do. "Hello, Berserker."

"Hahaha," Illya laughed, "What do you want...?" she asked in a low, quiet voice. "No, no, no, Berserker, you should hear him out, then we can kill him."

"I'm here to help you with the Grail War," Xelphen said bluntly. He really didn't know if he chose the right person, this Master seemed very... How should he put this...?

"And what could you do to help me? I've got Berserker right here, and I think I'm strong enough to kill them all, wouldn't you say?" A flash of red light shone through Illya's body, her Magic Circuits appearing before him, then disappearing again, her skin as pale as it was before.

"I have healing magic," Xel said to this tiny girl that stood in front of him, "It would be bad if Berserker or you were to just die due to injuries suffered on the field, wouldn't it?"

"Yes, it would be... Though, is it really that useful when I start cutting them into pieces or when Berserker smashes them into the ground?" Xel had started to answer when she slowly walked up to him and whispered in his ear. A shiver went down his spine as the uncomfortable space between him and the twelve-year old closed in, Berserker watching from a distance.

"If you can help me kill Emiya Shirou, I don't care. I only want to see him die, drenched and drowning in his own blood. I don't really care who you are. There are only two rules, you help me murder Shirou, and you don't betray me. I don't think you have a reason to be a traitor, right?"

"No, ma'am," Xel responded. He needed to be careful around her. She was dangerous, and most likely had ten times more power, definitely more, than he had. Though, if he could get a surprise on her...

With that answer, she leapt away. "Well then sir, we have a deal! I hope I enjoy playing with you~! Follow me!" She walked into a nearby house, loud giggling following in her footsteps.

[Rhomeo]

“That black-haired girl is here to see you,” George informs you, immediately bringing you to your feet.

“Okay! I'll be right up!”

You give Youmu a look before ascending from the Workshop, where Rin is waiting for you. She brushes her hair aside as you come into sight, giving you a surprisingly warm smile.

“Caster, it's good to see you. Would you care to take breakfast with me?”

“I'd love to, but can I bring my friend with us?” you ask as you reach up on tippy toes to pat Youmu on the head.

“… why?” Rin frowns, confused.

“Well… she's a doll. You can tell, right? I made her yesterday, took me all day too! I want to have her make new friends, and see the city. Plus, I… want to keep an eye on her, as her friend. Being so new to life is probably a pretty stressful experience and all, ufufu~”

“Mm, that seems fair to me. You don't seem the type to betray me during the day anyway.”

“Of course not! I haven't even fought in the War yet, after all.”

Rin merely shakes her head and makes her leave of the manor, forcing you and your companion to trail after her. A short glance at Youmu confirms that this was the right choice, with a look of almost giddy excitement you'd expect to see on a child's face, rather than a woman's. After a few minutes of silence, Rin starts talking aloud, engaging Youmu in what you can only call a normal conversation. Your friend seems to appreciate it, talking back with as much enthusiasm as she can muster.

It makes you feel warm inside, like you've succeeded at winning the lottery.

2 Destiny Points gained!

It doesn't take all too long to arrive in Shinto, where you immediately put the pressure of choosing a place on Rin. She doesn't seem to mind over much as you're dragged through the growingly busy streets. You're eventually dragged into a nice looking restaurant, all the signs pointing out that it's only open in the mornings. After you're showed to a seat and peruse the menu, you end up ordering a cinnamon roll. Since nutrition doesn't matter, you might as well just go for taste!

Rin, to her credit, seems rather modest with a Belgian waffle and a steaming cup of coffee. And then… Youmu…

“Will you really eat all of that?” Rin nearly giggles.

“I'm hungry,” Youmu blushes behind her mountain of food.

In the time it takes for you to make it through your cinnamon roll, Rin finishes her meal and drink, with Youmu… having a totally clean plate.

How in the world did she manage that?!

“So, I called you out today for a reason,” Rin starts, sipping on a new cup of coffee.

“And that's because…?” you ask, tapping your finger against your own cup, filled instead with green tea.

“I want you to help me ambush and kill that golden Servant.”

…!

What?!

“George?”

“Mm, yes, Alice?”

“Miss Tohsaka wants us to ambush that golden Servant.”

“… I see. Are you looking for my permission?”

“You know it!”

“Do what you have to,” the voice says assuringly.

“But… how could we pull it off and why would you want him dead?”

“I talked with Saber yesterday, and she mentioned that during the last Grail War he was… a problem,” Rin explains, tapping her fingernail against the porcelain cup. “I was going to ask Emiya today for his help to try and deal with him tomorrow evening. Can you try and lure him into an ambush for us?”

“It won't work,” you shake your head. “Gilgamesh has this… weird way of sensing things, I think. When we first met, he noticed I saw him while we were in the Church. He said things about me that he couldn't have known. It has to be a power of some kind.”

“Like some all-seeing eye? That's problematic, to say the least. Well, if we can't lure him into an ambush, we have to try and take him head on.”

“How about asking Saber, in that case? She seems to know more about him than I do,” you suggest, swirling the tea in your cup around a little. “I was planning on going to meet her later today, actually.”

“That sounds like a good idea,” Rin smiles at you. “Well then, I think that should do it for today. Did you want to ask me anything before we separate? I assume you already know where I live, or your Master does.”

“I'm not sure he does, actually. Might I accompany you home, my lady?” you smile, standing up and giving a short bow.

“Why, I'd be honoured,” Rin smirks. “I was going to go shopping, but I guess I'll show you to my home first.”

Rather out of nowhere, Rin comes around the table and links arms with you. You notice the spiritual presence behind her tense up at that, but otherwise he does nothing. Together, with Youmu tailing along, you make small talk and window shop a little as you leave the Shinto District. After crossing the bridge, you delve into the Residential District until eventually coming across a beautiful Western-style manor. Rin bows as you split, which leaves you to walk to the Emiya residence with Youmu.

As you're walking with Youmu, you take her arm in yours and pull her over towards you. Unfortunately, she's not expecting it in the slightest and practically falls on you. With your quick reflexes, you manage to catch her in your arms. She's… surprisingly light, actually, as she looks up at you with a massive blush creeping over her face.

“I-I'm sorry!” she stammers, still blushing. “I… I didn't think you were… going to do that…”

To show your appreciation, you pull her up into a warm hug. Youmu's breathing is quite loud next to your ear, and as you pull back you notice the quiet smile on her face.

“You're so cute, you know that?” you giggle, causing another blush to flush through her cheeks.

“I am not!”

Feeling successful with your hugs for the day, you continue to the Emiya residence with Youmu still in your arms. She complains for the first few minutes, but quickly gives in when you refuse to put her down. You realise just how awkward it is when a casually dressed (http://img4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20121209202138/typemoon/images/a/ad/Sabercasual.png) Saber looks at you in confusion.

[] Greet her warmly!
[] Have Youmu greet her!
[] Throw Youmu at her? (Unlocks secret spinning Youmu Phantasm)

[LardDude]

This is Canon - Rho Certified

Today's a new day! Thinking about what there is to do, you--

"Build dolls."

The Voices. -sigh-
They're always there, interrupting your own thoughts with commands of their own. At times they do agree with you, which has a similar feel to how an echo mimics your voice, but other times... you've been forced into doing something that's not quite you. You're always left feeling like one of your dolls afterwards, with somebody else pulling your strings, and that concerns you. Granted, The Voices don't go against you often, and you've even found yourself to be almost reliant on their input, but...

But why? you ponder for a moment.

From when I entered this world they've had control over almost everything I've done. This couldn't be a Servant or Master at work, could it?

No. No Servant or Master would be able spare so much to control someone in this manner. Plus, you've found The Voices to be quite handy at times, providing you with different points of view, things you wouldn't have even thought of and...

"Hug."

...hugs?
Hm. Guess that rules out malevolent intent.

Could there be somebody else trapped inside of me? Another spirit perhaps?

That would make some sense, what with the summoning ritual not going as planned.

Was it possible?

Would anybody be that knowledgeable on the subject?

You couldn't imagine being the first, but it is a possibility, and one that you don't have much time to dwell on - the Grail War is a much more pressing matter, so you'll leave The Voices out of mind for now.

[Rhomeo]

“Ah, Saber, hello,” you smile at the other Servant, even as she continues to look at you with a critical gaze.

“… Caster, hello,” she eventually responds. “Why are you carrying a woman in your arms, exactly?”

Without so much as a shred of hesitation, you put Youmu back on her feet and beam proudly.

“And now I'm not!”

“… quite.”

Youmu is blushing heavily at this point, whether from embarrassment or something else, though, you can't quite tell. Now, you totally came here for a reason.

Right, asking her about Goldy!

“So, Saber, I imagine you probably don't want to talk about it… but I need to ask you about Gilgamesh,” you start gingerly, hoping to get her talking.

She's clearly uncomfortable, but given a few moments with her thoughts she nods solemnly.

“No, I understand the situation. Gilgamesh is… well, as I said, he's the King of Heroes. It stands to reason that he's more than just show, considering what age he's from. I can't speak for all of his abilities, but he does have the capability to use multiple Noble Phantasms via some kind of portal. I'm not quite sure how it ties into his legend, but he uses it to… shoot them at enemies?”

“He shoots Noble Phantasms from a portal,” you deadpan.

“It sounds ridiculous, I know, but he's the King of Heroes for a reason.”

“So, what else do you know?”

“He has… his own Noble Phantasm, on top of the portal. I never saw it myself, but it was capable of wiping out an entire Reality Marble in one blow, considering he killed Rider by himself.”

“That's… kind of scary,” Youmu pipes up, practically interrupting both yours and Saber's train of thought.

“Yeah, it is,” Saber nods, before cocking her head to the side. “Who are you, anyway?”

“Oh, pardon my manners, this is Youmu. She's my… ah, friend,” you introduce her with a smile as the woman in question bows.

“It's a pleasure to meet you, Saber,” she declares as she straightens up.

“The pleasure's all mine. How did you and Caster here meet?”

“She made me!”

Ah, of course she'd say that.

“You two must be rather close then.”

Youmu nods rather seriously, eliciting a small chuckle from yourself. Saber's smiling, which can only be a good thing. You decide you're going to leave them alone for a while, until-

-?!

A pounding headache overtakes you, and-


…?

What's going on?

You're in a totally white space, alone. You feel… weightless. When you try to look down at yourself, you see only more white space.

“Well, this is a problem.”

A voice?

“What problem? I can't see any problem. All I can see is white.”

“Now, you see, that's the problem,” the voice continues, sounding… tired. “I want you out of my head, but you keep forcing me to take all these ridiculous actions. I refuse to hug any more people, you understand?”

“But there's another voice- understand all these actions are based on luck- And it tells me to hug!- I'm not lucky all the time- your head...?!”

The voice sighs.

“Therein lies the problem. You all exist in my head. I'm Alice, but you – you aren't. I don't know what you think you're doing, but I'm done with it. If you won't leave, I'll just force you all into submission, one by one.”

“Good luck with that. We've done things in your favor before! I'm the real Alice! Sounds like fun. I'd like to see you try.”

The voice sighs again.

“So be it.”



By the time you come to, you note that… nothing's really changed. You're still standing beside Youmu as she talks to Saber.

…

… but.

[] Go home.
[] Stay.
- [] Talk to Saber.
- [] Talk to Shirou.

Uh oh! Due to how much we've strayed from the Servant's original personality, they've started resisting our choices! Picking any choice in italics will incur a resistance check, and then a penalty roll depending on how the check played out. Consistently choosing resistance-based choices will end up pushing the Servant's personality aside altogether…

…

But at what cost?

[Rhomeo]

A good part of you wants to stay behind and talk to Shirou, or spend time with Saber, but-

“Youmu, let's go home,” you murmur, gesturing with your hand. “I have some things to attend to.”

The artificial woman gives you a strange look before nodding, giving a farewell to Saber before falling in line behind you. Her face seems to get more and more serious as you walk in silence, as though she…

… hmm, no, unlikely.

You end up returning home rather quickly and descending straight into the basement. Youmu watches over you as you work, falling into a frenzy as strings of prana form the small wooden bodies of your puppets.

And the day passes by.


Now you have to figure out what to spend with your evening.

…

Hmm.

You have 2 Action Points to spend!

[] ???? (2)
[] Make dolls!
- [] Quantity!
- [] Quality!
- [] Mixed!
[] Interact with:
- [] Who?
[] Scout!
- [] Where?

[Rhomeo]

Before you can so much as make a decision, you black out.



Ah, the white world again. That could only mean…

“You didn't resist me, despite making all those bold claims,” the voice begins, a slight presence of anger in its tone. “Why?”

“Why not? I choose the choice that I believe is the most important. Speaking of which, I didn't choose this action for myself.”

“So, some of you make choices simply because you can, others because you want to achieve 'something'. Excuse me for sounding dubious, but why should I let a group of voices who can't even agree on how to answer me control my actions?”

“Because we know things. Like an attack that will happen on this city. Because you need a little fun and excitement in your life! Before you die, you know.”

“An attack…?”

The voice seems to trail off. You can practically hear them thinking before a long drawn out sigh echoes all around you.

“I'd always suspected you knew things you shouldn't. What's going to attack, then?”

“Something big and dangerous… it has an 80% chance of killing you… tomorrow... A giant monster that can only be destroyed if you break the core. I know you can't kill it.”

“Something a Servant is incapable of killing is indeed dangerous… but that doesn't explain your choices to this point. If we're going to be attacked by something a Servant can't harm, then why all the traipsing around the city? Why the insufferable number of hugs? Why not forging proper alliances rather than half-baked ones, and preparing? I have nowhere near enough dolls to fight a Servant, let alone a monster beyond one.”

“Because my fellow voters are idiots. Because we did not know about it right away. There's a voice that speaks to us, too.”

“Voices within voices...” the voice seems to chuckle. “Alright, I'll believe you for now. If you can agree to take the time leading up to this monster seriously, I won't resist you. I want to go home alive, after all.”

Before you can manage another response, however, the world suddenly crumbles.


As you re-open your eyes, the first thing you see is a transparent skull staring back at you. To your credit, you don't jump back or scream, if only because of the sharp rapier pointed at your neck. The blade reflects the dim light of your Workshop rather ominously as the man… no, the Servant, cocks its head to the side.

“U-”

As you go to speak, the Servant presses the pointed blade against the skin of your throat. Any further and you'll likely die. He hasn't killed you yet, which means… what, exactly? As you go to try and speak again, the figure presses the blade deeper into the soft flesh that is your throat. It's just enough for a rivulet of blood to trickle down and stain your shawl. You imagine you won't get another chance.

You decide to try and wait him out, then. If he hasn't killed you outright, he must want something. But… the seconds tick by, quickly turning into minutes. He makes no further moves, the blade pressed uncomfortably into your throat. No, he wants you to do something…

“George, I don't mean to alarm you, but there's a Servant in my Workshop.”

“What?! I haven't even sensed anything, are you okay?” the response is immediate, and worried.

“Minus the blade to my throat, I'm fine.”

“I'll come down, Youmu is with me, it won't take long.”

Assassin seems to notice your glazed expression, as a smile grows across the skull-face.

“George, I think the Servant wants to kill you. Make sure Youmu comes in first.”

“Don't worry, I was already planning on it.”

With a creak, the door slowly opens. Youmu makes her way in, katana at the ready. George follows closely behind, wary of his surroundings to an extent you suddenly feel the need to replicate. That practically saves your life, as the sudden flex in the Servant's arm gives you enough time to dodge to the side, avoiding a thrust from him. Without so much as a cautionary glance towards you, he turns towards Youmu, who's already shot forward in an attempt to strike at him.

With an almost subtle gesture, he brings his offhand across his torso and out – just in time to catch Youmu's blade and throw it aside. She's thrown off balance for just long enough, as the Servant steps forward and plunges his blade straight into her chest. Her eyes bulge in their sockets as he pushes her straight to the ground, but he's not looking at her.

He's staring straight at you.

Without so much as a shred of hesitation, you reach out with your prana. Blue strings form at your fingertips before exploding out in a huge net, covering the Workshop in a matter of seconds. The Servant steps back, pulling his sword free just in time for the first wave to hit him. The two full platoons are moving together, with the lances at the front making what you can only attribute as bombing runs on the ethereal figure. From behind them, the other full platoon rains down a constant barrage of magics, ranging across all four elements.

Youmu stands up to attempt to take advantage, but in the corner of your eye, you spot it.

A giant urn. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgQOrmlNxYc)

A puff of white smoke suddenly envelops it and from the darkness, a figure steps forward. Clad in armour that looks far too heavy for any normal man, a blade larger than you and a mask of metal (http://img07.deviantart.net/9c7f/i/2014/040/6/8/mask_of_the_father_by_shrinkhead-d75q89m.jpg) he emits naught but an aura of power. Youmu brings up her katana in defiance, but the artificial blood leaking from her chest betrays her injury, which is more than enough for the figure to step forward and swing.

Unable to fully block it, her blade clangs aside uselessly as his behemoth of a sword tears through her chest. The smell of charred flesh reaches your nose.

She needs your help.

But you can't give it to her.

In one final push, you crisscross your hands in a splendid display of dexterity, causing your dolls to move in for a final strike. In fact, it's Marisa that leads the charge and pierces straight into his chest, along with all the other ones with lances. Blood pours forth, and a savage grin touches your lips. You hear a scream from Youmu, but the fact that she roars afterwards calms your heart, considering that she'd have to still be alive to do that.

That's about when you see it. A flicker of flame.

You don't have much time to react as Assassin's hand plunges to the floor, causing a number of columns of flame to shoot into the air. You jump to the side in an attempt to dodge, but you end up caught in a pillar anyway. It's not quite as intense as you thought it would be, but it burns hot enough for you to have to hold back a scream. If your clothes could be set on fire, you imagine they'd be burnt off.

When the flames eventually die down, you note that Assassin's body is… well, gone. Dead, then. The other one, the man Youmu was fighting, he was gone too. Somehow, you mange to breathe a sigh of relief. Your hands drop and the dolls drop with them, cluttering together in a large pile on the ground.

“That was...” George gulps, blinking in confusion.

“… pretty awesome,” Youmu grins, as though she'd already forgotten her wounds. “You're going to patch me up, right Alice?”

You can only nod stupidly in response.

Maybe you should have set up those Bounded Fields yourself a while back, eh?



You have 5 Action Points to spend!

[] Fix up Youmu! (3)
[] George wants to talk to you about something important… (2)
[] Illyasviel wants to talk to you… (2)
[] Build dolls!
- [] Quantity!
- [] Quality!
- [] Mixed!
[] Interact with:
- [] Who?
[] Explore the city!
- [] Take someone with you?

[Rhomeo]

You decide to start the day by working on Youmu's injuries. Most of her body is fine, but there's some specific things you need to deal with. If she'd been a doll through and through it would just involve layering her skin over with prana, but… Youmu was a bit more than that. After you'd finished with her, she'd undergone some sort of transformation.

It wasn't like you didn't know what happened, but it was… too hard to explain, really. It just 'happened'.

Still, repairing her wasn't an impossible task. Just a time consuming one.

“Can I ask you a question, Alice?” Youmu suddenly pipes up, eyes turning as far as they can to try and see you from the table you'd put her on.

“Sure,” you respond easily, turning back to her with a multitude of tools.

“I appreciate you helping me now, but… why didn't you save me before?”

You'd been expecting this line of conversation, of course. Thinking back on it, if you'd decided to go with helping Youmu it would have been child's play to mix the dolls between working on both assailants. Since you didn't make the choice, however, it never occurred to you to just do both things.

“It was… the stress at that moment didn't help me make a rational decision.”

“Well… I can't blame you for that,” she murmurs, turning her eyes away from you. “You were probably thinking about your Master, right? Maybe… maybe it would be better if I just left. It would make things easier.”

In a brief wave of clarity, you find yourself… not controlling your own body. In amazement, with no input from you, your body steps forward and takes Youmu's hand in yours.

No, Alice takes Youmu's hand in hers, staring down at her best friend. You know it's her. It has to be.

“Youmu,” she starts, the voice sound almost foreign. “You're my best friend. I made you. With my own hands. There's no one I would ever treasure more than you, but I made a choice that I thought was the best at the time. I knew you'd survive, because I put in effort to making sure you would never fall. I can't lose you. I won't. So please, don't leave. I...”

She trails off, with Youmu looking practically stunned. The doll-woman parts her lips to speak.

“If you're her best friend, abandoning her would be a bit much, don't you think?” George states from the doorway, causing the two girls to turn their eyes to him. His smile is light, but it is there. “Not to mention you do talk to me more than Alice does, after all.”

Youmu's face breaks into a smile as she turns her eyes back to you.

“You're right. Both of you. I'm… I'm sorry I even brought it up. Will you forgive me?”

You don't even answer, taking control right back from Alice to take Youmu in your arms and squeeze her tight. The cute little 'oof' sound she makes is enough to make your day.


After finishing up with Youmu, you decide to head up and talk to George. He mentioned he needed you a few minutes ago, so…

[] Just listen to what he has to say.
[] Bring something else up!
- [] What?

[m139]

This is Canon - Rho Certified

“Not to mention you do talk to me more than Alice does, after all.”

So, what had happened to Youmu when Alice was, well, talking to the voices in her head?

Well, after walking around Alice for a while and finding her unresponsive, Youmu decided to go find George.

It wasn't to hard, really. All she had to do was go upstairs and knock on the study door...

Except no one answered.

She tried again. Still no answer.

Cautiously, she opened the door. She peeked through the crack. No one.

She opened it a bit more and looked around. Nothing. At least, no person. All that was there were the bookcases lining the walls, a couple of chairs scattered about, and George's desk, covered with a couple of books and stacks of paper.

Finally, she opened the door all the way and let herself in. Nothing happened. She made her way to the desk cautiously. Was he hiding behind it? Under it? She checked. Nothing.

Now satisfied that she was indeed alone, she allowed curiosity to guide her. What were these fancy papers on the desk, anyway? She picked the top one up.

"The inclusive igneous rock known as granite is light colored, with grains large enough to be visible with the unaided eye. It is..."

Hmm. Interesting. She picked up a book and read the title: Rock Formations on the Peninsula: A Study of the 10th through 15th Layer.. Even stranger. She was not quite sure how that would help with the Grail war and whatever, but whatever George was doing...

Suddenly, she heard a shuffuling from the door. She whirled around. There was a man coming through it, carrying another huge stack of papers with a few dusty books on top.

His head peaked around from the side. "Oh hi, Youmu. Could you clear a space on that desk for me?"

Youmu picked up a couple of the books, and George moved forward and put down his load.

"There," he said, "Now what are you doing here?"

"I was just coming to see you."

"See me? Why I'm honored. Here, have a seat." He pulled up a chair and motioned to her. Once he was seated, he sat in his own chair, and continued, "Sorry I was not here earlier. I was busy collecting more materials for my research. But what is it you would like to talk about?"

"Well, it's about Alice."

"Hmm?"

"She has this glazed look and she's just standing there. I... I don't know what happened to her."

"That is it?"

"Yes."

"Don't worry too much. Alice is from another world, and her ways are quite strange. After all, if she has the ability to create life..." He got up and walked to the balcony.

She followed him, "Then what?"

"Maybe... maybe she can help me."

"With your rocks?"

George turned around and smiled. "So, you saw what I was reading, eh? Not quite with the rocks, although that may help a bit...:"

"With what then?" Youmu walked forward out onto the balcony, and grasped the rail beside him.

He looked her in the eyes. "With getting my wife back."

Youmu gasped, her eyes suddenly filled with concern. "Oh, no! What happened?"

George took a deep breath, then looked into the evening sky. "It was late that evening, on a night much like this one. The two of us had gone out of the city, and were in this little canyon, taking a break for the day. She had said I had finally done enough to deserve one, and the canyons were beautiful in the evening light.

We were just about to go back to the city, having happily spent the afternoon together, when suddenly..."

He paused, his hands gripped tightly against the rail. "There was an earthquake." She and I were tossed far apart. And then, Rocks fell between us. And that was the last time I saw her."

He sighed.

"I tried to get her out, I really did! But even with my magic, it was too much, so far away from the Leland. And so, I went back to the city, to find some help. But, that evening, the volcano erupted. They all said it was useless. Perhaps it is..."

Youmu interrupted "Unless Alice can bring her back?"

George turned to her. "Perhaps, " he said, then returned his gaze to the city, "But she may not even need to..."

"What do you mean?"

"I've had these dreams... where she's trying to contact me from under the stone. If they are really her-"

"Then what?" Youmu asked. He had suddenly gone unresponsive, and was staring forward as if looking at something beyond the city.

"Hold on." He said then, turning to Youmu, continued,"We've got to go downstairs. Alice is in trouble."

[Rhomeo]

It sounded pretty urgent, so you decide it would be best to just hear what he has to say. Confident in that, you make your way up from the basement Workshop and move towards George following your inner radar. You find him in a living room you'd never seen him in, staring at an… obnoxiously huge tv. Had George brought it here himself? Hmm, questions for another day perhaps. The first thing you notice are the fast-moving images on screen.

So fast, in fact, that you wonder if a normal human would be able to keep up.

Your eyes flit to the moving text on the bottom of the screen…

Attack on Tokyo, Japan! Some new form of technological warfare?

And in George's hand, a letter. His eyes stare at the screen blankly, as though he can't believe what he's seeing.

He asked you up here to talk, and now he isn't saying anything…

“Hello? You called?” you ask him, taking a few steps forward in worry.

George turns to you, his eyes panicked.

“What are we supposed to do against something like that?” he whispers, before turning back to the tv again. It's by now that you realise that it's in fact a recording, replaying the same thing over and over. A set of movements too fast for human eyes to track, but you can see them.

A monster. (http://img01.deviantart.net/8019/i/2014/247/e/4/behemoth__herokiller___parahumans_fanart_by_sulici us-d7xx2jr.jpg)

With a subtle action, he extends the hand holding the letter back to you, signifying that you should read it. Whatever it is. You comply and take it from his hand. A letter from the fake Priest, as Rin so lovingly calls him. Calling for…

“A meeting?” you frown, looking up at George. “What about?”

“I don't know, but with this thing rampaging in Japan...”

“It must be because of this monster, huh...”

“That much is obvious,” George snorts, picking up a remote and shutting the TV off. “The real question is what they expect us to do about it.”

Well…

[] Go to the meeting. (Locks in actions for tonight)
[] Don't go to the meeting. (???)

[Rhomeo]

“I don't think you should go, Master.”

“… why not?” George frowns, turning to you.

“We don't need to go. We already know what it is about. They are going to talk about the monster. It is big, giant, and will most likely, apparently, kill me. How do I know this? Well, there is a voice that speaks to me, but only at night. I think it would be best if we stayed, both so I could find out something, and so that we can prepare for the attack. It will attack this city, just so you know.”

“So you're telling me that because we're under attack by a monster that's capable of destroying Servants that we shouldn't work together?” he exclaims, looking dumbstruck. “I took you for a smart person, Caster, but that's just ridiculous. If whatever this… thing… is, comes to Fuyuki, then we need to work together with the other Masters to deal with it. The message was from the Mediator, so whatever the case is, I'm sure everyone else will show up. As for you keeping things from me...”

George's face looks hurt at that, enough so that it looks like you punched him in the gut.

Now you feel bad.

“I don't want to lose you, George,” you murmur, tears brimming in your eyes. “I already failed once before, don't do this to me. Please.”

His face crumbles as he sees your tears. For a moment. Instead of responding, he merely walks past you and out of the room.

Master-Servant Synergy Decreased!

[] Go after him.
[] Stay here.

[MatrixOne]

This Is Canon - Rho Certified

He was there to kill the woman standing in line in front of him.

He watched her with a sadistic smile, her long, black hair that fell on her back, and each piece of jewelry that she had. Each piece of her necklace, every ring and earring containing a small gem packed to capacity with Magical Energy. The rolled-up sleeves of her light brown hoodie showed no signs of a Magic Crest on her arms. It made sense that she'd use humans for prana, when her circuits were subpar. Of course, murdering people excluded her from the community of Magi immediately, making her easy prey for the likes of him.

"First time in Tokyo?" He asked her, his smile suddenly without any traces of earlier malice.

"What, did my eyes give it away?" She sighed. Her dark skin color kept drawing attention, which wasn't desirable for a Magus on the run from the Church Executors. "...Oh. I'm sorry, Father." She added, noticing the clerical collar on his black shirt.

Yes, one look at him, and she was already nervous.

Good.

"Don't worry about it. I recommend you try anpan, it's great."

Her eyes lingered on him for another moment. "Thanks, but I'm not in the mood for sweet stuff. Need something with substance, I guess."

"Nonsense. You should reward yourself from time to time, you know." His smile only grew wider. "We'll have anpan and coffee, please." He placed the order before she could stop him.

"There are a lot of people here." She whispered, leaning in slightly so others wouldn't hear.

"That's never stopped you before." He whispered back. "Thank you." He claimed the order.

***

Later.

The two of them were sitting at a table, him casually leaned back as though he owned the place and her curled up in the seat with an expression he could only describe as pathetic, holding her cup of coffee with both hands, like she was looking for some comfort in its warmth.

"I see you haven't touched your anpan." He said, putting down the crumpled up wrapping.

"..." No answer. Again.

His eyebrow twitched. Playing with prey this boring wasn't fun at all.

"Help me understand something. A Magus with no future and no Crest, and instead of laying low, you decide to go on the run?" He continued talking, not noticing the sudden flash of recognition in her eyes. "I don't see the point in making your already short life, that much shorter."

A loud crash behind him interrupted the speech. He could sense a disturbance in the Field he had prepared beforehand. Turning around to investigate the noise, he saw...

...

"Careless morons." He muttered. The waiter had dropped some plates on the ground, and was now picking them up, apologizing to the customers.

"What's the matter, priest? You seem to be on edge." The girl mocked. Something was different about her attitude now, the way she was carelessly enjoying her anpan.

"I've set up countless Bounded Fields all across the district, looking for you, and now they're destabilizing. Of course, I don't need them anymore."

"Seems to me like you're paranoid." She laughed.

"What kind of a Magus doesn't have a single Workshop or Bounded Field? How can you expect to accomplish anything, without a Magic Crest or..."

He stopped his sentence halfway. The girl had a sip of coffee, and licked her lips.

The shiny symbols of power were already in the air.

Before he could finish manifesting the Black Keys, a dozen black feathers pulsing with dark energy of an ancient curse were flying in his direction, straight from the girl's mouth. The resulting impact hit him in the center of the chest like a cannonball, sending him crashing through the window as an enormous Magic Circle was inscribed on the floor of the restaurant, causing everyone inside to collapse.

Before he hit the ground, he already had eight Black Keys between his fingers. Rather than cushion his own landing, he took that second of flight to aim a few Keys to disrupt the three Magic Circles that were appearing on the wall, each Circle turning in his direction, ready to spit powerful spells. With all these people drained for prana, this girl could possibly fire a few B rank spells that would turn this parking lot into a steaming crater.

But there was a bigger problem.

Literally.

"So this is why my Bounded Fields were acting up." He said, eyes wide, as he jumped off the roof of the car he had landed on.

"What is that thing?!" The girl ran out of the restaurant, forgetting all about the conflict. "Wha... Weren't you supposed to make sure anything like that couldn't happen? What good is the Church if it can't protect...?!"

He gritted his teeth. "This is new. I don't think there was enough time for warnings, Mage."

"But..."

"That Magic Crest." He looked at her, his expression serious. "It's on your tongue, isn't it?"

She nodded, silent.

"Interesting." He said. "In that case, if you were connected to my Magic Circles, you could drain the whole district, am I right?"

"Why? You want to kill everyone?"

"There's a town," he explained, sealing the open wound on his stomach with a thread of prana. "It was picked out as a sacrifice for a ritual that keeps happening every sixty or so years. I expect the Supervisor of that ritual to throw every single spirit against the monster."

"So you mean to boost them with my prana..." She bit her lip. "We'll never make it there. We'll die here, in this city."

"You're wrong. You store all additional prana within your Reality Marble, am I correct? Then I'll gather energy, while you get to Fuyuki. Talk to Kotomine... No, Tohsaka Rin. Tell her that a Command Spell connected to your Magic Crest will have multiple times the strength." He unceremoniously stuck his finger in her mouth, grabbing a single string of prana and attaching it to his hand.

"It'd be smart of me just to say screw it, bail and not look back." She shook her head, bloodred lines of energy appearing all over her body, a sign of heavy reinforcement Magecraft.

"You're not smart." He patted her on the back. Without waiting, she shot off in the opposite direction of the behemoth, fast as a bullet. Her speed was... It was reckless, placing an incredible strain on the body. It would take a tremendous amount of prana to keep her going, but with access to all that spare energy, she could make it to Fuyuki fast.

Best get to work, then.

Two minutes, maybe less. The monster was making quick work of the city, district by district. Every Magic Circle connected to the priest's consciousness was now alight, working together to weave a final, huge Bounded Field across as much area as possible, every single ounce of life force fed by a tiny string of prana to the girl's Reality Marble, like a straw connected to the ocean.

And damn, she was fast.

[Rhomeo]

For once, you note that the whisper of voices in the back of your mind agree.

Go after him.

By the time you catch up, he's already by the front door, slipping a coat on over his shoulders. Without a word, you take up position beside him, a determined look on your face. The sound of shuffling feet behind you signifies Youmu's following too, which George takes as general acceptance. Together, you leave the manor and start the trek across the city towards the Church. Twilight has fallen over Fuyuki, accentuating the city's beauty.

You'd say it reminds you of home, but… where is home, anyway?

…

Without any conversation to fill the trip, it takes an awfully long time to even reach the bridge. At least here you can look out across the water, taking in the sights that go along with the final few dregs of sunlight available to you. Streetlights begin flickering on as you reach the Shinto side of the river, signalling the true beginning of the evening.

You suppose you shouldn't be surprised as you crest the Church's hill that a large number of figures are already there. Most of them you recognise, but a few… Oddly enough, you can't pinpoint either Gilgamesh or the priest. Honing in on the person you know the best, you end up next to Rin. Archer is nowhere in sight, but you suppose that's kind of expected. Minus the armoured Saber and a man in blue, you note you're the only Servant not in spirit form.

“Ah, Caster, glad you showed up,” Rin flashes you a confident smile. “You and your Master are the last, just waiting for that fake priest to show his face.”

Considering you'd come over to talk to her, it's somewhat annoying that you're interrupted by the booming sound of the church doors opening. Everyone's face turns to Father Kotomine, who slowly shuffles over towards the group. All faces are grim and silent as he opens his mouth.

But no sound comes out.

… no, that's not it.

You can tell that he's talking, but something's wrong.

With every ounce of effort, you try to hold on. To remain tethered to the body you've been stuck in for so long.

… but.

You fail.


The first thing you notice are the stares.

At your feet lays the prone body of Alice, clearly unconscious. No one says a thing. Just…

They just stare at you.

Unnerved, you look down and notice your body.

It's pure shadow.

[] Write-in.

[Rhomeo]

It's only after you try to talk to everyone that you notice you… can't. Really, it's a feeling you can't describe, apart from… it's not you. Not the body you're used to. Still, you feel compelled to…

Your formless eyes drift over to your Master George, the person you're most familiar with. A brief 'woosh' echoes across the area and then-

“… the hell?” the blue-clad man mutters, his eyes switching between you and George.

“A Servant that can shift forms...” Kirei mutters, unheard by the others. In fact, it's only from your viewpoint that you notice his smile.

“Hello everyone, I'm Caster,” you declare with George's voice and a quick bow. “I have no ill will towards any of you, for the record; I'm here to help you deal with Behemoth.”

“This is why I didn't want to come, for the record,” you add, silently, to George. “I'm sorry, I didn't quite understand this was what was going to occur.”

“… thank you, Caster, I think I understand. You still have a lot to explain, though.”

You give a mental nod to him before turning your attention on the others, who are only just now recovering.

“Wait, 'Behemoth', what's that?” Rin calls out, folding her arms. “Do you know something we don't?”

“Haven't you seen the news? That's why we're all here, right? Behemoth is the thing that showed up and levelled Tokyo, or did everyone just happen to miss that?”

“That's not the problem,” the woman in the suit cuts in, glaring at you. “You called it Behemoth, like it was a title, or a name; not as a description. Why?”

“I know what it is. I know some details that the Grail has bestowed upon me, and I know that we all need to band together to repel it. The guy's tough, and even if we give it all we've got… we won't be able to kill it. If Gilgamesh used EA, there's a chance, but if not… I'll expect some of us won't survive.”

“EA…?” Kirei and Saber murmur together, with varying levels of worry.

“It's way too strong to take head on,” you continue, unperturbed. “Normal attacks won't pierce any further than its outer skin, and since it's a dynakinetic it controls all types of energy. Radiation included, which means...”

“… we can't even get close to it,” Rin realises. “Okay, so, why should we believe you?”

“At the very least, whatever Caster is saying about its capabilities are true,” Kirei states, drawing all eyes back to him. “The city of Tokyo was mostly destroyed via radiation, not physical destruction as you'd expect from a creature of that size.”

“So he stole information from his Master, that doesn't prove anything,” Illyasviel smirks, turning back to you. “If the Grail gave you knowledge of this, it must have given you something to prove your knowledge, right?”

“Lancer,” you begin, turning to red-eyed Servant. “You know, she really likes your earrings. I mean… really likes them. Or is it because you're the one attached to them?”

For what's likely the first time in a long time, Bazett blushes and stammers out an awkward response as Lancer turns to her with a critical stare.

“Emiya Shirou, you have the catalyst that summoned Saber in your body. It's what keeps you from being sick, because it originally belonged to Saber.”

“A catalyst…?” Shirou raises an eyebrow before turning to Saber. Her face gets flustered as she furrows her brow, evidently explaining something to them.

“Then Archer, I know you're there. Did you tell Rin that you kept the pendant in your pocket? … ever since she revived Shirou? Or should I say, in this case, Emiya?”

“What's the difference between Shirou and Emiya?” Rin frowns, turning her eyes behind her.

“Father Kotomine, next time you head into the city, leave some mapo tofu for me. Oh, and, your friend will be coming by soon to crash the party.”

The priest just nods thoughtfully.

“Tohsaka Sakura, how does it feel to sit by the bonfire?”

She just stammers and takes a step back, her hand clutching at her chest.

“And lastly, Emiya Illyasviel. … your Father loved you.”

Illya's face scrunches up as though she's been hit. In a flash, Berserker fazes into existence behind her, eyes glaring down at you.

“It's fine, Berserker,” she says immediately, raising a hand. “I just… need a moment.”

Everyone notices the kneejerk reaction; even the suspiciously quiet man that you hadn't said anything about. It's actually only now that you get a good look at him. He's… young, but old. Wrinkles on a young man's face, with blotches and rough patches of hair – but fierce eyes staring straight at you. It's unnerving, to say the least.

“Okay, so judging by everyone's reactions, it's safe to assume you proved yourself,” Kotomine states, smiling. “So, with your knowledge of the creature, what do you suggest?”

“As Caster, I know of everyone's powers, so I'll be able to manage them against the Behemoth during the battle. But one thing is for sure, without the help of Gilgamesh and his strongest Noble Phantasm, it won't be enough. We need to ask the King of Kings for help. In fact, he's on his way here, along with another friend who can help. Should be any minute now. Other than that, we'll be getting help from the Church in at least two days, perhaps the Association, and from a special otherworldly entity – tomorrow.”

“You want to ask for help from Gilgamesh?!” Saber explodes, eyes flaring. “There's no way!”

“Hold on now, Saber,” Rin defuses her almost instantly, waving her hand. “If Caster really has knowledge of everything, then I'd expect him to know what he's talking about. Do you think it's the best choice?”

“I do,” you nod.

“Then that settles it,” Rin states with a smile.

“… fine,” Saber grumbles, standing down.

“So who's this other 'friend' that's coming?” Shirou asks, cutting through the tension with a sort of finality.

“Celine Sirard!” a voice singsongs its way across the group, drawing all eyes to her coy smile (http://puu.sh/m9br0/7391104ce6.jpg). “I'm here for one Tohsaka Rin-”

“What sort of mongrel meetup is this?” another voice slices through the conversation, belonging to none other than Gilgamesh.

Well, fuck.

“My King, it's good to see you!” you start, making a totally honest bow.

Gil's eyes glance over you before falling down to Alice's limp form. His eyes flare with anger as he looks back up at you.

“I can explain-”

“You have no right to talk, mongrel,” he growls, raising his right hand. A golden shimmer appears behind him and Kirei immediately turns his head.

“Gilgamesh, attacking a Servant in the middle of a meeting is a little...”

“… over-the-top,” Rin finishes, shaking her head.

“Well, everyone would attack you straight after,” Shirou comments, nodding.

“And I'd be the first,” Saber finishes.

“Oh, it's good to see you're here, Saber,” Gilgamesh defuses almost instantly, turning to the blonde-haired woman. “Come to a new War to be mine?”

“King of Kings, we need your help to take out the monster that's coming to Fuyuki. We need you to use your strongest Noble Phantasm; for all of our sake's as your subjects,” you bow, falling to the ground.

You hear the sound of his feet turning towards you, just in time for a chorus of arguments from everyone else. Considering how much you'd proved yourself to them, it was no surprise that they'd come to your aid now. By the time the voices die down, you hear the footsteps of Gilgamesh again.

“Rise.”

You do so, coming eye-to-eye with the King of Heroes himself.

“I'll agree to help you – but whatever manner of creature this is, it's not worth of my greatest treasure. Be glad that I'm helping you at all. Now, begone.”

Everyone says a few words of goodbye before filing off. You think you did quite well, considering.

Probably.

… somehow.

There's still a lot to figure out, though.

Not to mention you'll have to carry Alice back home with you.



By the time you arrive back at the manor it's practically early morning. You have a lot you need to do and nowhere near enough time to do it.

You have 9 Action Points to spend!

[] From your knowledge, the Magical Girls are showing up today… (3)
[] Deal with Alice? (3)
[] In your travels, you run into Xelphen and Tongue-Chan! (2)
[] Rin wants to talk to you! (2)
[] Saber & Shirou want to talk to you! (2)
[] Rider's Master has been asking after you… (2)
[] George wants to talk. (2)
[] You got a new power…
[] Interact with someone.
- [] Who?
[] Get used to your new body!
[] Find a new body to copy?
[] Find a new body to inhabit?

[MatrixOne]

This Is Canon - Rho Certified

"Phew."

Only after the crowd at the Fuyuki Church had cleared up, Celine allowed herself a moment to catch her breath. Working with devastating amounts of prana with her body fading in and out of two separate worlds and forced to run, run like hell for hours... That wasn't healthy.

She stumbled outside the front gate of the Church, not responding to the red headed boy's greeting not because she didn't want to, but because turning her head to smile back meant that the streak of blood could drip from the corner of her mouth, and she wasn't looking to make a scene. The only one she thought could heal her around there was the priest, and just the thought of asking a Church member for help made her want to laugh.

But she couldn't.

"Oww. I can't let Tohsaka Rin see me like this, can I..." She mused, lowering herself carefully to sit on the steps of the paved path to the Fuyuki Church, so well-maintained that it reminded her of a hospital square. Clutching at her stomach, she tried to assess the damage to her body. Her reinforcement Magecraft was the only thing currently keeping her from falling apart, and that too was starting to wear off. It would take an impressive doctor to sew the wounds shut with threads of prana, which was the only way of stabilizing her condition without forcing her to further maintain her body with reinforcement.

Well, I'd better get out of here.

She raised herself up...

...

Not quite. There wasn't enough strength left in her. As soon as she sat down on those steps, the full backlash of her reckless overuse of prana hit her like a hammer. In this state, every limb felt like she was trying to move it against a strong current, and her vision was darkening, as though someone was shutting the blinds...




Xelphen Delfria walked out of the Fuyuki Church, behind Illyasviel, Berserker next to her. Xelphen could still feel that the Servant didn't trust him, and he had to be careful. From what Xel gleaned so far, Berserker was a very powerful person, and could easily snap him.

"Illyasviel, do you mind if I go out for a bit?" Xelphen asked her.

"Sure, do what you want," Illya replied. Xelphen wasn't sure how she would react after Caster had proven their knowledge to her-Emiya, was it?-but she seemed to have quickly recovered. Illya was calm and acting like herself, at least on the outside. Xelphen sighed and separated from the group.

It was then he noticed the woman who leapt into the meeting, the one who announced herself as Celine Sirard, sitting on the steps that sat in front of the Fuyuki Church. There's something wrong with her... It was the fact that she looked very damaged and tired.

"Hey, are you okay?" Xelphen said, running over to her. He gave her his hand.




...!

A man's voice snapped her out of her trance, a pleasant voice, not like the typical vulture Magus she would expect.

"Yeah," she stared at him with one eye closed. "It's why I'm bleeding out on the pavement, right?"

Jokes aside, she was grateful for the help. She gripped the extended hand and allowed the man to help her up, flashing him a smile of gratitude. "I came here straight from Tokyo, so you can imagine. I shouldn't be alive."

She pulled out a red cap from her backpack and plopped it on her head with a tired sigh. Her friends would always point out how the way she dressed made her look like a pokemon character, but instead of arguing with that image, Celine embraced it. She could do much worse than a pokemon character.

"Tch, sorry to be such a bother. My name is Celine Sirard, by the way... I'm here to help against the monster. I'll... Probably have to stitch myself up some, before getting on with this. Something's telling me the priest would much rather kill me than fix me up, but he's a priest, so that's to be expected, ahaha~"

Her bright laugh made her further forget about the weight on her limbs, and soon she was walking alongside Xelphen, only leaning on his arm for support.

Surprising how easy it was, just talking to someone like-minded. She never thought much of other Magi before, but in her eyes anyone coming to Fuyuki at this time could only be there to help. Magus or not, if Xelphen wanted to risk his life against a monster, he was all right in Celine's books, and she opted to lose herself in a casual chat about random things.




Celine and Xelphen chatted away as they walked down together, the lady leaning on him for support. They made small talk to pass the time, and they stumbled upon many strange things.

"Yeah, I like coffee, iced," Xelphen said, replying to her question about what he usually drunk in the morning. Now, he needed to get to the point of what he was doing. "I can heal you, Celine. I just don't have a workshop here in the city."

He pointed towards an empty alleyway. "That's where the surgery is going to be. I really hope you can make some sort of workshop for the operation." The two slowly headed into the alley, dust and trash everywhere. It was not a place where you should try to fix someone, but it was better than the others.

Xelphen watched as Celine set up the Field that would stop people from coming close and warn them about threats. Xelphen sighed, it was going to have to do. He only hoped no-one was out at this time.

"Celine, lie down here," Xelphen said to her. Once she did, he closed his eyes and felt the prana flow through him towards Celine. He hoped nothing went wrong.




During their short talk, she prodded Xelphen for details about himself. Apparently, he specialized in healing, that much she'd found out, and he was there to help Illyasviel von Einzbern with the Holy Grail War. Celine didn't know much about the premise of the War, the entire idea of a Grail War seemed somewhat silly to her, but she kept quiet about that. This man was nice to her, he wasn't out to kill her or steal her secrets.

"Well, if you can fix me up, coffee's on me." She told him while setting up the Bounded Field. The red lines of reinforcement on her body provided enough light in the alley that the two of them didn't even need another spell for a light source.

To an untrained eye, Celine wouldn't seem all that hurt. Tired, maybe, but not hurt. But in reality, the only reason she could still move was heavy reinforcement Magecraft. Without it, her body would fall apart like a house of cards under the giant pressure of a Reality Marble-powered super sprint.

She cleared up a spot beside the wall and spread a blanket on the ground, the one she'd kept in her backpack for nights when she couldn't afford a hotel. The Magus's cold fingers on her skin made her flinch on instinct, but she couldn't just put herself in a trance for the duration of the procedure. Her part in it was just as vital - while he had to sew her body together, her job was to slowly disable the reinforcement as he worked to compensate its influence with his own.

It took the better part of an hour. The red lines were disappearing one by one replaced by shiny blue threads, and even those soon faded into her skin, leaving just a few scars. Xelphen was an artist, taking care of each wound faster than Celine could shut off the reinforcement in her chanting trance. To the girl's surprise, that was all it took. If she was on her own, she'd butcher the procedure and probably just make the damage worse, but with Xelphen's help, despite her innate pessimism, she surmised that she'd make it out... Fine, actually.

"Well, I hate to say it, but... I'm glad I trusted you with this." She bumped his shoulder, her coy smile back where it belonged. She was already walking, Xelphen's prana stitches fully replacing the strain of her own Magecraft. "This is all new to me, Magi of different families working together, helping each other. Bit surreal, if you ask me. Didn't think Magi had it in them. Not sure if they should!" She trotted out of the alley, not having to lean on him anymore. Unlike with fully physical wounds, her damage was mostly fixed the moment Xelphen was finished. "Oh yeah, the coffee! I almost forgot." She pointed her index finger up with a mock-serious expression. "Ah, it seems I'm completely broke at the moment. Blame the economy. Looks like it'll have to be your treat, after all~!"




"Heh, fine then. You still have to do something for me, okay?" Xelphen replied. "What kind of coffee do you want?" They went to a nearby cafe and ordered their drinks. Xelphen escorted her to Rin's place after they were done chatting again, then he went to Illya's castle of a home. He reflected on how so much happened today. First the meeting, Caster in all their glory, and then Celine today.

Xelphen sighed. He was exhausted.

[Rhomeo]

After returning to the manor you decide the first order of business is dealing with Alice. It's her workshop in your basement, after all. With that in mind, you descend into the darkness where you'd left her unconscious form as you arrived. To your surprise, she's still passed out. You waddle over to her side and press a finger into her neck, confirming that she's still alive.

After making a decision, you decide to find a pen and paper to leave a note for Alice. After a bit of searching, you find… nothing. No papers, no pens. Just materials for dolls, dolls and more dolls. It's kind of boring, really.

“What are you doing?” a soft voice calls out from behind you.

You whip your head back just in time to see the girl in question pull herself up to a hunched sitting position.

“I was actually looking for something to leave you a message, but… It doesn't matter now; I wanted to talk to you,” you start, smiling at her. “Hello there, I'm Caster, it appears I can shapeshift; how are you feeling? Are you okay?”

“I'm fine, thank you,” she responds, looking down as if to check herself. “Still a little tired, but...”

“I'm glad you're okay, then. I'm unsure about what this means for you and I, since I'm Caster and that should make it so that you're no longer tied to George. In the meeting, after you passed out, I ended up taking George's form and pretty much proved to everyone I had knowledge of what's going on and what's about to happen. We managed to convince Gilgamesh to help us, which is good considering we only have three days until it gets here. So, long story short; you wanna' help us fight Biggie Smalls?”

“Fufu, so long as I can stay here for the time being.”

“Alright, that's fine by me. What about Youmu? Will she help?”

“So long as I can stay here with Alice,” Youmu cuts in herself, detaching herself from a shadow you couldn't fully see into. “Is that okay?”

“Fine by me.”

Youmu beams at you. It lightens your heart a little, watching her. After a quick farewell to the pair, you leave the basement.

With the morning growing closer, you decide to spend the rest of your time getting used to your new body. It's nowhere near as powerful as Alice's form, but… it has potential. If you spend more time actually focusing on acclimating, you think you could actually increase to Servant level.



You ascend to George's study by his request, where he's waiting for you in the seat by his desk. He motions for you to take a seat as well, which you do. It's probably pretty weird for him, sitting across from himself.

It takes a fair bit of effort not to burst out in laughter.

“So, Caster, I need you to tell me about your power. I understand you have knowledge of this world as a whole, but what's your limits on copying? Can you do it to multiple people? Is there a time limit? Power limit?”

“I'm pretty sure I can only copy one person at a time,” you start, scratching your chin. “There's a limit of one person per day, but as far as I know there's no limit to who I can copy. If I wanted I could copy the King of Heroes, I think.”

“Hmm, interesting. Are you planning on copying anyone else any time soon, or are you just going to stay in my form?”

“Nah.”

“… okay then,” George nods.

Well, that was fun!



Drawing on your massive font of knowledge and power, you remember that today's the day the Magical Girls are supposed to show up! After making sure you're all ready, you leave the house and go out into the city.

… but there's just one problem.

Where are they going to show up, anyway?

Yes! Rin's house, that's where they'll be! Everyone who's anyone stops by Fuyuki's Guardians house if they want to do anything. With a spring in your step, you make your way over to Rin's house. And…

… they're not there. Even Rin isn't home. How sad.

Well, time for your second option; a random English café you passed by when you went out with Rin that one time! Confident that you made the right decision, you spend a lot of time walking from Rin's house to the Shinto District. Upon arrival to the restaurant, you're surprised to find that you actually made the right choice.

How about that.

As you walk over to them, you make note that the lot of them are in casual outfits. No magical girl outfits here. Now that you give them a once over, you note that there are three faces you don't recognise. A particularly… curvy girl with a kind-looking face and ashen hair; beside her and sitting way too close is a thinner girl with mismatched socks and brazenly purple hair. Sitting on her own, apart from the group, is a…

… she looks just like an Einzbern homunculus, now that you give her a once-over. Your eyes meet for a brief moment, but she doesn't seem to care about you all that much.

“Can we help you?” the bluenette, Sayaka, mutters as she notices you standing around.

“Well, I know you're Magical Girls and you're here to deal with what took out Tokyo.”

The sound of eating seems to stop altogether. There's a brief flash of purple as a bright light encases the raven-haired Homura. You go to react, but-

You don't have the time to. In the blink of an eye, the world around you has taken on a black and white hue. Surrounding you are all the Magical Girls, transformed, tied together with golden ribbons originating from the similarly clad Tomoe Mami.

“Who are you, and what do you want?” Homura asks surprisingly calmly, considering there's a gun now pointed at your head.

“I'm Servant Caster, of the Holy Grail War going on in this city. I thought I'd come to welcome you to the city, and opening with knowing who you are seemed the best idea...”

“Well, you thought wrong,” Homura deadpans, adjusting the gun in her hand. “Give me a good reason why we shouldn't kill you right now.”

You note that the pinkette, blonde and homunculus rip-off all look uncomfortable at the word 'kill'.

“Because if you do, you lose a potential friend. I came here to ask you for your help, and I will answer any questions you may have. Please, let's just talk.”

“If that thing took out Tokyo… shouldn't we be trying to get more friends, Homura-chan?” the pinkette chimes in, looking worried for you. It's pretty cute, actually.

“I agree with Madoka, we should at least hear him out,” the blonde reinforces her, smiling.

“… fine. So, you say you're a Servant of the Grail War… then how did you know who we were?”

“Well, we're a collection of memes and we get our knowledge from that, but we kind of lied and told everyone else we got our knowledge from the Holy Grail. That's how we know about Biggie Smalls the Behemoth, and how super hench he is. Like the fact that he's a dynakinetic and his skin gets twice as thick every point five percent deeper you go into his skin. This isn't my real form either, for the record, my power as Caster is the ability to copy others, and we're currently in the form of our Master, George.”

“Wait, wait, hold up,” Sayaka cuts in, shaking her head. “What the hell is a Master and a Servant and a… what's a collection of memes?”

“I believe 'meme' is a term used in popular culture denoting a behaviour passed from one individual to another by imitation,” the ashen-haired Magical Girl points out, a sweet smile playing at her lips.

“As for your other question,” you continue, unperturbed. “A Servant is a spirit or concept summoned by the Holy Grail for a deathmatch between Magi. Masters are the Magi portion of it. Look, it's all pretty complicated, you don't really want to know about all this, do you?”

“Not really,” Homura admits. “But you mentioned that you lied to others, so why tell us the truth?”

“You're not my enemies, you're just allies. There's nothing for me to lose by revealing my powers or identity to you; only things to gain.”

“I think he's being honest, Homura,” Madoka says from aside her friend. “Let's believe him.”

“… I want to, but I want you to prove it. If you have knowledge from your… identity, then tell me something that proves I can believe you.”

“What you're doing here is time magic,” you start, turning your eyes over the realm of black and white. “It only works via contact, hence why you've got me wrapped up in all these ribbons and are all connected to each other.”

“Anyone could figure that out,” Sayaka snorts.

“Tell me, Akemi, how many tries did it take to save her?” you murmur, turning your eyes towards Madoka.

“M-me?” the pinkette squeaks, confused.

Next to her, Homura immediately dropped her gun. Her eyes are shining with a light you can't quite place, but-

“I trust you,” she states, eliciting a sigh of relief from everyone else around you. “And I'll need to talk to you alone at some stage.”

She turns to look at the others briefly, giving them each a quick nod. There's a collective bright light from each of them, and-

You're back to how you were before, with the drinks still hot and the girls back in their casual clothes.

“Now that we have that sorted, we can get introductions out of the way; even though I assume you already know who we all are,” Mami claps her hands together, smiling.

“Well, I mean, I already introduced myself as Caster, so…”

“I'm Kaname Madoka, it's great to meet you, Caster!” the pinkette starts them off with a broad smile. It's infectious enough that you join her in it.

“Miki Sayaka,” the bluenette follows up, giving you a small salute.

“Yeah, yeah, I'm Sakura Kyoko,” the redhead mumbles, leaning back in her chair. “Sup?”

“Tomoe Mami, a pleasure,” the blonde gives a short bow.

“I'm Mikuni Oriko and this is Kure Kirika,” the other buxom girl smiles, her hand on the purple-tops head. “It's good to meet you.”

All eyes turn to the white-haired girl who's still apart from the group. She doesn't say anything, apparently content with… stacking cups on top of each other?

Huh, strange.

Just in time to make things even more confusing is the arrival of George, who hones straight in on your position. There's no surprise that everyone looks confused at the sudden addition of another 'you'.

“Ah, George! Everyone, this is George,” you introduce him.

“… what,” George manages, more than a little confused.

“These are Magical Girls! They're here to help us with Behemoth.”

“Well, that's good to hear.”

“We want to do our best to help save lives!” Madoka states loudly, although you notice her hands are shaking as she talks.

It's about now you notice that you're starting to garner stares from what few other people are in the café.

“Maybe we should take this outside?” you suggest.

“I think we have some other things to deal with first,” Mami apologises. “Perhaps we could meet up sometime tomorrow?”

“Sure!”

Lots of stuff gained! Check Character Sheet for info.



After your time with the Magical Girls, you've returned home…

Now wat.

You have 3 Action Points to spend!

[X] Homura wants to talk…
[] Find a new body to copy.
[] Find a new person to occupy.
[] Interact with:
- [] Who?
[] Scout!
- [] Where?
[] Just stay home and rest...

[Rhomeo]

After taking a bit of time alone to decide what you want to do with your evening, you place your hand on the front door and-

Black and white.

The subtle feeling of a string around your wrist almost makes you want to rub at it by principle, but the young raven-haired girl in front of you keeps you from doing it.

“Alright, Caster, was it?” Homura questions, rolling the name around on her tongue. “What you said, about saving her… how much do you know?”

“I know that this isn't the first time you've gone through a timeline,” you start, leaning against the wall as you talk. “Probably not the first hundred, or first thousand, considering your appearance and personality… but this is the first time something this drastic has changed, I'd imagine. Your verse has mixed with two others, which has… changed things.”

“Well, you're not wrong,” Homura sighs, leaning against the wall beside you. “So, you said you're a collection of… memes, but I'm assuming you likely mean personalities. A collection of consciousness', if I had to wager a guess. If that's the case, what reason do you have to help us? Whatever happens here won't affect you.”

“Personalities – yes! That's the word! Anyway… I think it's better that I give these guys all I've got, however much that may be. I may not be able to support them in all the right ways, and I'll not always make the best decisions… but if I try hard enough, I'll know that I'll have changed this world for the better and that's what I'm here to do.”

“That's… rather noble, actually,” Homura seems surprised, almost guilty even. “I'd taken you for a prankster, but seeing you as someone who's secretly serious… hmm, maybe.”

She moves off of the wall and runs her hand through the back of her hair before flicking it out.

Yeah, she's definitely using magic to make it splay out like that. How the fuck?

“I've decided you're a good person, Caster. A bit strange and you go about things weirdly, but… a good person. But I have a condition, for all this; for helping with this monster.”

“A condition?” you inquire, cocking your head to the side. “What is it?”

“After we deal with Behemoth, I want you to come back with me to Mitakihara to kill Walpurgisnacht.”

“I'll have to discuss it with George first, but I can't imagine him having too much of a problem with it. I'm not making any promises, but I'd be more than happy to help,” you answer with a smile.

In as rare a sight as anything in this world, Homura smiles. (http://i.imgur.com/42rJj4M.jpg)

“Thank you, Caster.”

Relationship increased!



After saying farewell to Homura, you set out into the night with the intention of running into a specific Master. You knew about everyone but him, so-

Aha, you lucked out!

“Ah, hello?” you call out to the man, trying to get his attention.

He spins around, raising a hand as if to strike you – but stops after noticing who you are.

“Caster, you scared me,” he breathes, lowering his hand. “What do you want?”

“I just wanted to talk, seeing as though I didn't say anything in the meeting towards you – hi!”

“… hello,” he blinks, definitely confused. “So, what did you want to talk about?”

“I wanted to learn more about you and I wanted to hear if you had any advice or ideas regarding fighting Biggie Smalls – what is your name, anyway?”

“You can call me Meltdowner, if you want, it's what the Association tagged me as. So, you want my advice on this thing? Don't expect us Masters to do shit, it won't work well for you,” he mutters, scratching his cheek as he talks. You find yourself fascinated by that action alone, with how decomposed his skin looks from this distance you're kind of confused as to how he's not peeling the skin off…

…

Ew.

“You look like you've seen a lot. 'Sup with that?”

“Most people aren't that direct,” he laughs, reaching inside his coat to pull out a cigarette. “Yeah, I've been around a long time. If I had to guess, you have too. Doesn't matter now, though, with this thing coming along. Anyway, I've got stuff to do, I'll talk to you later, Caster.”

Relationship increased!



You decide to head over to Rin's manor to talk about battle plans, which after arrival you realise you don't really have one in place. Talking to Rin about it seems like it was the best idea, as she knows Fuyuki rather well and gives you a lot to think about.

Battle Readiness Rating added!



You stay up late into the night talking with Rin, with the new day dawning over Fuyuki.

What do?

You have 7 Action Points to spend!

[] Call everyone together for a team meeting! (5)
[] The members from the Church are arriving today… (3)
[] Madoka wants to talk to you! (2)
[] Youmu wants to talk to you! (2)
[] Bazett wants to talk to you! (2)
[] Tell George about Homura wanting you to go with her. (2)
[] Xelphen and Tongue-Chan are wandering around Fuyuki together… Investigate? (2)
[] You run into Oriko and Kirika shopping together! (2)
[] Plan the upcoming battle.
- [] Do it with someone?
[] Interact with someone.
- [] Who?
[] Wander around the city.
- [] Take someone?
[] You got a new power…
[] Get used to your new body!
[] Find a new body to copy?
[] Find a new body to inhabit?

[Rhomeo]

After you're done at Rin's, you make the trip back to George's manor in spirit form; it's a refreshing experience. You note offhandedly that being in spirit form doesn't feel any… well, less draining than your normal form does. From what you understand about the Grail System using spirit form is supposed to be a method to conserve prana. So why…?

You don't have much time to think on it as you arrive, your trip sped up by your practical usage of your ghostly abilities. Feeling somewhat proud, you enter the manor through a wall and materialise inside George's study. He's not there, of course, but you already knew that. Because-

“Well, I'm glad you decided to come back for the day, Caster,” George near-smiles as he opens the door, barely even giving you a passing glance. He walks straight past you and to his desk, which he sits at rather unceremoniously. Once he's settled in, his eyes turn over to you. “You only show up when you have something important to talk about, and you look particularly in-thought today; what's going on?”

“It's about Homura,” you begin, slipping on a sordid frown. “She visited me last night, and… she had a few things to say to me.”

“… like?” George pushes you, raising an eyebrow.

“She wants me to go and help her fight something in her Home City once the Grail War is over and done with.”

George looks surprised for a few moments, but his face eventually relaxes and he…

… he smiles.

“Did you promise to help her?”

“… no, I said I'd talk to you about it first.”

“I see you're all about helping others fulfil their wishes, Caster,” George laughs. “Well, if it's after the Grail War is done, I don't see any reason to keep you. Unless… were you asking me to come with you?”

“… how do you feel about it?”

“Me? Well, I imagine by the end of all this I'll owe you a lot, if you win the War for me. Assuming I do win, though, I think I'd rather… well, besides, what help would a Magi be, really?”

“Assuming we do win, I'd understand your reasons for staying behind. But I can imagine the Magical Girls'll need all the help they can get, and with how tough Walpurgisnacht is I can imagine your healing would come to be quite useful in the fight,” you implore.

“I understand where you're coming from, Caster, I honestly do. You want to help them, and that's noble, but I...” he balls his fist up on the table. “I just want to win this War and leave magic behind for a while. I hope you can understand.”

Unable to convince him, you leave it with an apology and a nod. No point in pushing him.



After the discussion with George you decide to head out and find the Church members that are supposed to be arriving today. You decide that, since they're members of the Church, that's where they'll probably go first. After moving into spirit form, you glide over the city and the river, taking in the sights. It never ceases to amaze you how nice it is to just… let everything go for a while.

… huh.

No, you had to focus.

It doesn't take long to arrive at the Church, which you gracefully land in front of and return to your corporeal form. You make your way across the sun-baked stones and to the wooden doors, which you push open.

Inside is a small gathering of people in varying degrees of Church dress. There's Father Kotomine by the altar, whose eyes immediately turn to you on entry. A blue-haired woman in a simple nun outfit, standing aside a more intricately clad white-haired woman with a metal breastplate, and what looks to be a hooded monk standing behind the two women are across from Kirei, barely even noticing your presence. Standing beside the Father himself is a simple-clad white-haired nun, with a blonde priest in glasses.

It's…

A strange sight, to say the least.

“Hello,” you start, taking a few steps inside the building. “I came here to introduce myself…?”

“Ah, Caster, I thought you might show up,” Kirei smiles as he outstretches a hand. “I was just talking about you, in fact.”

As all eyes turn to you, it becomes apparent whatever he said must have been alright, as the blue-haired woman gives you a quiet smile.

“I thought it might be a good idea for me to explain what I know about Behemoth to the new arrivals.”

“Hrm, that's a good idea, but I think it might be better to leave that for tonight – we have other matters to discuss here first.”

“I'm afraid I won't have time tonight,” you admit with a frown. “There's supposed to be a meeting tomorrow morning, though.”

“That should work. If that's all, Caster?”

You nod and leave the Church, but just as the doors are about to close-

“Wait!”

You turn back, and the blue-haired girl runs over to your side. She nods at the door and notions forward, so you walk all the way out and she follows, closing the door behind her.

“I'm sorry about that,” she apologises with a small smile and a shrug. “Father Kotomine is just on edge, as are we all.”

“It's understandable, I just hope we'll be ready to stop Biggie Smalls together. Is there something you wanted, uhh…?” you trail off, hoping for her name.

“Of course, I'm Ciel, I look forward to working with you,” she smiles, extending a hand. You reach out and take it, exchanging a warm handshake. “I hope whatever you're doing tonight goes well, by the way.”

“Thanks,” you thank her sheepishly. “I hope your meeting with, ah, Father Kotomine, goes well.”

She gives you a nod of thanks and disappears back inside the Church. What an… experience.



You spend the remainder of the day working on attuning yourself to your new body, as well as figuring out your new power. It turns out there's something similar to a switch buried inside your consciousness that you can only flip when people aren't looking at you. It's… really tempting…

You flip it.

And everything goes dark.



When you come to, you find that the dining room you'd been standing in has… been absolutely destroyed. There's nothing but splinters of wood remaining of the furniture, and the walls… Gods, the walls are filled with gouge marks.

Whatever you did, you're not sure you want to do it again. But, somehow, you think you managed to gain some control over it.

Whatever it is.



Night falls over Fuyuki for what will be the last time before Behemoth's attack. You've prepared in advance for a long evening, but…

You have 5 Action Points to spend.

[] … you feel compelled to go to the Greater Grail. (5)
[] Have a team meeting! (3)
[] That white-haired Magical Girl wants to talk to you. (2)
[] Madoka wants to talk to you. (2)
[] Youmu wants to talk to you. (2)
[] Find a new body to copy.
[] Find a new person to occupy.
[] Interact with someone.
- [] Who?
[] Scout!
- [] Where?
[] Just stay home and rest...

[Rhomeo]

For some reason, you feel a compulsion from the collection of thoughts in your head to go to the Greater Grail. To go and see the thing that dragged you into this world to begin with. To meet it face-to-face.

It's a simple thing, really. Simple thing. It's just under the Temple in a cave system, and it's not like it's dangerous in and of itself. But…

… why do you feel so damn tense?

Despite your better judgement, you realise you're already there; at the cave mouth. You'd made your decision long before this, you realise. Long before. No, you no longer had a choice, you had to go forward. To move in and meet the Greater Grail; whatever it was, now. You knew it wasn't the thing it was supposed to be, but what did that even mean? What the hell could you replace that monstrosity with?

Your feet drag along the ground as you make your way into the cave, eyes scanning the walls with a feverish glare. It doesn't take long for you to realise you're being watched, but you can't pinpoint whatever it is. Determined not to give up here, you push forward further into the cave. The feeling of something following you sends tingles up your spine, but you shrug it off. Eventually, it disappears, and then-

You come out into the main part of the cave.

It's dark, but you can see just fine. From your memories, you're pretty sure there's supposed to be a giant mound of flesh sitting in the middle of the expanse, but there's not. There's just a single, lone woman, her back turned to you. It takes barely a second of looking at her to realise that she's on a scale you can't even fathom. This woman could crush you like a bug in an instant, with the sheer amount of prana making up her form.

“Um-”

“Hello, Caster,” a female voice cuts across yours. You can practically hear her smile from here. “I've been expecting you.”

“Oh, good, that makes this scenario a little less awkward for me. And you are...?”

“Who I am is irrelevant; what matters is why you're here. You… did come here for a reason, yes? Or are you expecting to be given choices, like you always are?”

You can practically- no, never mind, the voice is outright giggling at you by this stage.

“But I'm already omnipotent,” she tuts as she turns to face you. Her skin is golden, with deep violet eyes and seemingly endless golden locks. It's a sight to behold. Not beautiful, you surmise, but just… something.

You also realise you didn't say anything and she'd responded as if to answer the question you'd only thought of.

“Oh come on, you haven't realised it yet?” she smiles, catching your eye.

So, your thoughts drift to your own world. The real world. And just as they do-

“Not quite, I'm afraid. As I told you at the beginning, my name is irrelevant, which would make that particular identity impossible for me. Are you going to ask a question, or simply come up with more wrong ideas?”

“I have four questions – who are you, what're you doing here, what verse are you from and will you interfere with the world?”

She cocks her head to the side for a few moments before her smile dims slightly.

“I told you; who I am is irrelevant. What I'm doing here is supporting your little Grail War. What verse I'm from… I assume you mean universe, to which I would answer this one – the one you're not a part of. Which brings me to your final little question, which, if anything, should be the other way around. Do you plan on interfering with the world? I belong to it, after all, while you don't.”

You don't up deciding on what to say, but she nods all the same.

“As always, you can't seem to focus on what you really want. Perhaps you should be given choice after all? Most of those thoughts are so scattered I wonder if you can ever truly work together. No matter. Let me be clear with you; I am already involved in the Grail War. I have been from the start.”

She gives you a little wink.

“From the very start,” she singsongs. “For 250 years. Do you understand, yet? I won't answer any more questions you don't decide on together, by the way, it's too cluttered in that little head of yours.”

Again, before you open your mouth, she gives you a coy grin.

“My my, I don't think you understand what questions I was talking about. No matter. That power you use to copy and inhabit people – I didn't give you that. Somebody else did. The other one, however… yes, that was me. Your body contains a shard of my soul, which contains a unique power. I hope you get a lot of use out of it, with what's going to happen tomorrow.”

You go to ask another question, but you're interrupted again. It's by this point you realise you don't even need to talk.

“George's wish can be fulfilled, of course,” she says almost seriously, that smile still on her lips. “But he's looking in the wrong place.”

The sound of a loud crack emanates throughout the hollow cavern.

“I'm saying no such thing,” she glowers. “I'm saying he can achieve it in another manner, if he bothered to look inside himself. He has a shard as well.”

Never before have you seen such a horrifying smile as the one that spreads over the woman's face.

“You can discuss things in death, if you wish?”

Her hand runs through her golden locks rather proudly.

“No white hair here, I'm afraid. As for dealing with my Behemoth, you already have the tools necessary to defeat him, you merely need use them correctly.”

Violet eyes stare you down for a few moments before she pulls her hand down to her hip.

“Your most valuable asset is one you haven't cultivated yet; you may have missed the opportunity. Who knows, perhaps you'll still luck out? As for your… outburst, I see everything you think, as disjointed as it all is. Some of it gets lost in interference, unfortunately. Can't help that!”

What happens next is so fast you don't even have time to react. In one instant, she's halfway across a huge cavern, and then-

“It's not about whether or not I want you dead,” she breathes in your ear. “It's whether or not you annoy me~”

As soon as your thoughts drift to the idea of a date-

“You're starting to annoy me.”

Your lip trembles a bit as she steps back, smile as bright as ever.

“Now that you're done with your nonsense, I want to have some fun. Firstly; who are you? You were so incessant about asking that of me that I feel I should do it to you too.”

“We're Caster, a collection of consciousnesses and personalities that know things inside and outside of this Universe,” you say, almost surprised at hearing your own voice again.

“And yet, you still have no idea of who I am,” she counters. “So you're practically useless. Amazing. I'm sure George would be proud to have such an amazing Servant that can't decide on what personality it has.”

“Well you're not wrong, but one personality tends to be more tactically-minded whilst others tend to have more knowledge about the Universe. It's a bit like a Government, really. Of course I'm still curious as to who you are, but do you have any other questions?”

“Not for now, but I do hope you'll come back if you win tomorrow,” she states, giving you a little wave. “Goodbye, Caster, I hope you die tomorrow.”

Well, that's rather morose.



Somehow, by the time you emerge from the cave, the sun is already rising.

… how much time did you waste in there?

It doesn't matter, you have a lot to do and nowhere near enough time to do it.

You have 10 Action Points to spend!

[X] Behemoth arrives today. (5)
[] Have a final meeting? (3)
[] Madoka wants to talk to you! (2)
[] That white-haired magical girl wants to talk to you! (2)
[] Kirika wants to talk to you! (2)
[] That hooded Burial Agent wants to talk to you! (2)
[] Youmu wants to talk to you! (2)
[] Bazett wants to talk to you! (2)
[] Xelphen and Tongue-Chan are wandering around! (2)
[] Plan the upcoming battle.
- [] Do it with someone?
[] Interact with someone.
- [] Who?
[] Wander around the city.
- [] Take someone?
[] Practice with your power.
[] Get used to your new body!
[] Find a new body to copy?
[] Find a new body to inhabit?

[m139]

This Is Canon - Rho Certified


Earlier that afternoon, as you (well, we, actually, since I'm part of you/me, too) were walking back home after the encounter with the magical girls, you passed another small cafe. There was someone in a booth not too far from who you thought you might have known, but you could not really tell because a plant was in the way. But, now that you were at home not doing much, you suddenly realize who she looked like: Youmu. Was it her? You still can't be too sure. That plant was just too much in the way...



And we still would not be sure, except for we have the amazing power of omakes and fourth wall breaking. And since we do have this power, well, I can tell you that it was, in fact, Youmu. Now, the next obvious question is "What was she doing?" Well, that question has a fairly obvious answer: eating!

But that was not all. You see, she was also sitting with some others and talking to them... But perhaps it is best to start a little further back on this timeline...



After we left Alice and Youmu in the basement, Alice began making dolls. For a while Youmu watched. And then, she watched some more. But soon, she got a bit bored. So she left the room. She would talk to George, she decided. So she went upstairs, with the intent to look in his study, when she heard voices coming out- ours and George's.

Drat. she thought to herself, sitting on the steps, Everyone's busy.

Then, suddenly, she got an idea. She would go exploring. She would go exploring outside. A smile of excitement crept across her face. It would be fun.

And so Youmu left the mansion and began her wandering in the city.

Now, as we all know, Youmu, although an adult in some ways, was still a child in other ways. She was not quite born yesterday, but four days ago- well, that was still pretty close. And, well, the city layout of Fuyuki was still new to her. So when I say she wandered out, well, she did really wander out, going no where in particular.

Fortunately for her (or unfortunately, if you think of it that way) she was not the only one wandering about that day. There was also a boy by the name of Shirou, who was wandering about trying to find something useful to help the city (and himself) prepare for the attacks. His wanderings seemed sort of aimless, as he did not quite know what to do. Accompanying him, was, of course, his servant Saber.

And here was a familiar face! A friend of hers!

"Hello, Saber! Finally, a friend!" Youmu called out, running over and giving her a hug. After releasing Saber (who had been standing somewhat awkwardly the entire time: hugs, as we have gone over, are not everyone's thing), she turned to the guy beside her. "And you must be Shirou! I saw you at the meeting."

He smiled. A girl had noticed him! And she already knew her name.(She was kind of cute, too.) But then, just as quickly, that girl turned back to Saber. Aww...

"So," Youmu asked, "What are you guys doing?"

What are we doing? Saber thought, What have we been doing? Just wandering... Outwardly though, she showed none of her thoughts. Instead, she turned to her master, "He can tell you."

She was looking at him again!.He had to say something, something.... "We are going to go eat." he said, "Would you like to come, too? I'll buy."

"Yay!" exclaimed Youmu, hugging Shirou, "Thank you thank you thank you!"

Shirou smiled. Saving hungry beautiful people was so easy! If only tomorrow's fight would be the same way... She was at the meeting, though. Perhaps he would get valuable information from her! Two birds in one stone! Yeah!

The three of them then continued on their way to the little random restaurant that everything seems to happen in. Unfortunately for them, it was mostly filled, as there were, apparently, some extra people who had just come into town that day and filled a whole lot of the seats. The regulars pretty much filled every other seat.

Since there was not enough seats, and because no one really wanted to wait they went to another, much less crowded restaurant a little further down the road.

The three of them sat in a little half circle booth not far from the window, with a nice, big, leafy plant in the middle of the back wall seat. Shirou sat on the left, Saber was in the middle, and Youmu sat on the right.

After they were seated, they obviously ordered. Shirou ordered some boring stuff that is not even worth mentioning, Saber ordered almost everything (because she knew what she did not like) and Youmu ordered every single thing (because, well, this was only her second time eating, like ever). Both Youmu and Saber exchanged glances, and then smiled. Everyone gave a little chuckle.

As they waited for the food to come, the talk shifted to more serious things: namely, the impending attack. They discussed what they knew of it, and battle plan stuff. But then the food came. And conversation ceased.

All three began eating, Youmu and Saber occasionally glancing at each other, and made comments about this or that particular dish. Their respective plates were each emptied at about the same pace, and they both enjoyed their food until...

About two thirds of the way through the final plate, Youmu stopped suddenly. eating and talking, her spoon full of tiramisu half way to her mouth.

Saber looked at her, "Are you okay?"

There was no response.

Shirou leaned over the table (his food was long gone) "ARE YOU OKAY?" He said, almost loud enough to be considered yelling.

"Hh?" Youmu said, looking at the source of the loud voice, "Oh, yeah, I'm fine. But, who's that?" Youmu pointed to some previously completely unimportant npc who had just walked into the little restaurant. He was wearing, for some reason, a full out suit with a red tie. He was fairly young (about Youmu's appearance age), had fair skin, and a mass of barely tamed brown hair. He sat at a table where he could be conveniently viewed, but was sitting with his back towards them and just far enough away that he . His simple order of a ham sandwich came quickly, and he began to eat.

Shirou responded, "I don't know. Do you?" He asked, turning to Saber.

"No." she said, "He doesn't seem in anyway important. Why are you looking at him so intently? Is he important? Do you know him?" She turned to Youmu.

"Me? I have never seen him before. But, I suddenly feel... I feel... I don't know how I feel... What's going on with me?"

"I think," said Saber, finishing her last bit of tea, "That your falling in love."

"What? Is that bad? What is that? What do I do?" She grabbed both of Saber's shoulders and started shaking them.

Saber put down her now empty teacup, and removed Youmu's hands from her shoulders. "That's a hard question, one no one really can answer. What you do now, is up to you. Be careful."

She gave what might have been a smile then turned to Shirou, "Shirou, I just saw Rin walk out down the street. You already paid right? We should go talk to her, like you were hoping to earlier"

Shirou, kind of in a daze himself, nodded. "That's right. I forgot." He got up from the bench seat and Saber followed. Then he turned to the remaining person, who was once again staring at the well dressed man. "Bye, Youmu. Good luck!" he said. Then both he and Saber dashed out the door.

And Youmu continued to watch the man eating. When he finished, he turned to push in hie seat. For a second, their eyes met. And then, he was gone.

She remained seated until a busser asked her if she was still using the table. At that moment, she broke out of her daze and realized the restaurant was pretty full: it was near dinner time. So, she told the waiter she was done, and got up and left, the long forgotten tiramisu still half eaten.

Just outside of George's mansion, she stopped, and picked a small blue morning glory from the garden.

She stared at it for a while, smiled, and tucked it into her hair.

Blue. His eyes were blue.

[Rhomeo]

Together with George, you make your way through the streets of Fuyuki in the direction of the Church. You'd had George send messages out for everyone to come, so you were hoping they'd all trust you enough to show up.

As you move up the hill to the Church, to your surprise, absolutely everyone had showed up. From Shirou, to Rider's Master, to the Church members and even a bunch of faces you don't recognise. Everyone notes your arrival and goes quiet as you move up, probably because of how strange it is to see two George's walking side by side. You know you'd think it would look weird as hell. There's no table or chairs or anything else fancy set up, so you take your position at the top of an improvised circle of bodies. Unlike the first time, Servants are actually in their physical forms, here.

“Thank you all for coming,” you start, giving everyone a brief smile. “Now, I wanted to make sure that everyone was aware of the plan for the upcoming fight...”

After giving it some thought, you turn to Alice.

“I want you to use your strings of prana to connect to everyone so we can all communicate telepathically. Would that be possible?”

“I mean, in theory I should be able to,” she responds, tapping a finger against her lips. “Is that all you'd need me to do?”

“That should be enough, yeah. Now...”

Time to explain what you just learned.

“Our overall plan is to have George engage Behemoth with the Master Shard, while everyone else gives support where they can,” you start to explain, hands on hips.

“… the hell is a Master Shard?” Lancer comments.

“It's my ability; it allows me to use any powers I want, basically,” George explains, before blinking in confusion. “Wait, no, I… I don't know how I know that.”

“Aha, it worked!” you grin. “So long as you know how to use it, you should be fine. Speaking of, you should probably use Dimensional Invulnerability, Conceptual Damage and Fusion Beams. What do you think?”

“That seems… a bit much, but I think that should work.”

He closes his eyes for a moment and nods. You go to say something, but you're interrupted by Archer.

“It's coming,” he states suddenly.

Oh.

Fuck.

“Homura-”

Black and white. You look around, and as you expect, everyone's linked together with golden ribbon. It had taken less than a second, really, so you had about 4 seconds left over after the time stop.

“How long?” you ask, looking over at the raven-haired girl.

“One minute, maybe less,” she mutters. “Make it quick.”

[] Strategy?

[Rhomeo]

"Right: that -points where biggie smalls is coming from- emits radiation within 100 feet of it and only a few of us can survive that. Although I feel like it goes without saying, keep your distance. Behemoth hits like a truck.

We're gonna have to give it our all here, guys. Every single one of us. It's gonna be a tough battle, even for the strongest of us, so give it your best shot. Gil, Saber, Ciel, Lancer, Arcueid, you with the green hair, and Aozaki – you guys can chunk that bitch. Same goes for you Magical Girls, bar Homura and Oriko.

George, Kirika, Sayaka, Aiko, Arceuid, Greenie – you guys can take his hits, so you're pretty much our frontline, but keep your distance if you can. Any questions?"

There's a resounding chorus of acceptance from the group, after which you nod at Homura, who pulls her hand towards her shield and-

-colour returns to the world and you watch as everyone you'd ordered dashes off towards their respective locations. You start to move too, and then-

-everything is black and white again. Homura wraps a small bit of string around your hand, linking you directly to her. You note that you're not the only one that's been dragged in – the Magical Girl whose name you'd never gotten is here as well.

“What d'ya want?” you ask, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

“I never got a chance to introduce myself,” the Magical Girl starts, rubbing her hand on the side of her skirt before offering it out to you. “I'm Audrey, it's good to properly meet you, Caster.”

Wondering how on Earth she thought this was the right time or place for this, you turn your gaze over to Homura. She shrugs non-committally as if to say 'just go along with it'.

“Long time no see,” you respond, taking her hand in yours. “Is introducing yourself all you wanted to do, though?”

“Of course not! I'm not going to put Homura at risk for something that stupid – I just thought it was the polite thing to do. You don't know about my power, right?”

“Audrey, you shouldn't-” Homura starts, reaching a hand out.

“It's my choice,” Audrey cuts her off, frowning. “Anyway, I think my power can take out Behemoth in one go. I can give it a shot, if you like.”

“So, what's the catch?”

It's almost kind of cute as her lip curls up into a coy grin.

“You're pretty smart to pick that out, huh? Let's just say that my power is going to cause ripples up and down the timeline. Removing an influence as important as Behemoth is no small feat.”

“What do you mean by ripples?”

“Cause and effect from Behemoth being removed from existence, there's a potential for the entire War system to disappear,” she explains with a sigh, hand on hip. “Look, I'm offering to help you here. Do you want it, or not? The odds aren't high that things will go wrong, I just thought it was important to tell you.”

“Well, go for it, I guess.”

Giving you a quick nod, she turns back to Homura, who turns the dial on her shield-

-returning colour to the world. Her hand arcs up into the air, pointing in the direction that you expected Behemoth to come from. You turn, just in time for his massive form (http://41.media.tumblr.com/c567e01d11716cdbc02e4ece9917324b/tumblr_n7zp0qazkb1txp8gjo1_1280.jpg) to come into view. Before you can so much as truly grasp his full size, he simply…

…

… disappears.

All that build-up.

All that preparation.

All of it.

… gone.

In the blink of an eye.

You turn on your heel to Audrey, who gives you a toothy grin.

“See? No side-effects at all!” she exclaims, patting down her outfit once for show.

“I don't suppose you could explain what the hell you just did,” you manage, looking around in confusion. “I mean, I don't even sense the other Servants!”

“Nice perception you have there! You're right, there are no other Servants around – and that's because we're 11 days back into the past, in another Universe. Here, there's no such thing as that monster Behemoth, and the Greater Grail wasn't using the living corpse of some deity; no, here, everything is normal.”

“Normal?”

“Well, as normal as you can get with this world,” she giggles. “Anyway, I just thought if I was going to write Behemoth out, it needed an explanation, so here we are. Not to mention if I'd just disappeared him there'd be a dozen loopholes and anomalies. This way, nothing can really go wrong. Oh, speaking of-”

She waves her hand about as she did the last time, and now-

…

…

Huh?

You recognise the girl in front of you, her explanation and the black-haired girl a few feet behind her, but… everything behind that…

… it's gone.

“Where is this? Who're you?”

“This is just outside the Fuyuki Church,” she starts, folding her arms behind her back. “And me… I'm Audrey, it's a pleasure to meet you, although we've already met. How are you feeling? Are your memories scattered, or…?”

“We've met? Wait… what memories?” you frown, touching a hand to your temple.

“I think you went a bit too far,” the raven-haired beauty comments.

“No… wait, I think I remember you, Homura.”

The girl looks surprised before blushing.

“Well, at least you remember something,” Audrey chirps. “Still, it's not good that I wiped them entirely, sorry, that was a mistake. Look, I know it's not much reconciliation, but I can answer your questions, if you want?”

“So, what's Walpurgisnacht?”

“It's a roaming Witch,” Homura explains, stepping forward. “You promised to help with it, remember?”

“… yeah, I do.”

The small smile that you'd seen only once before snaps onto her face for a brief moment.

“I'm glad.”

“Anything else?” Audrey questions.

“I was going to ask about who you are, but I actually think I remember! You're a Magical Girl… and so is Homura, right?”

“Yup, you're right! Good to hear you didn't lose everything at least. Anything else?”

“So, how did you wipe my memories?”

Ah, now that hit a sore spot. She looks a bit guilty as she turns away from you.

“It's my power, I had to do it so that you wouldn't be able to use any information you weren't supposed to have. You were dangerous,” she mumbles, avoiding eye-contact.

“So, what are you going to do now that- wait, why were you here to begin with?”

“There was something in this timeline that needed to be dealt with,” she says carefully, smiling at you. “And it's dealt with now, so I guess Homu-chan and I might stay for a while to enjoy the sights!”

“I don't suppose you could help me out with the War?”

Audrey opens and closes her mouth a few times.

“I don't think-”

“What harm could it do?” Homura cuts in, to your surprise. “It's not like we have to directly participate.”

“Good point!” she grins, turning to you. “Okay, we'll help out – but only in non-violent ways, 'kay?”

“Cool! Would you be interested, in, uhm… maybe going on a date?” you manage, despite your best intentions.

Audrey bursts out laughing.

It's kind of embarrassing, really.

“Okay, sure! You better not let me down!” she grins at you, giving you a thumbs up.

And so your interaction with the two Magical Girls ends, but now for the most important matter. With your powers drained since your memory wipe, it's time to consider something pretty damn important.

Whether or not you'll change your form.

So, the only obvious choice is yes!



You end up deciding on Madoka, who with only some minimal effort on your part you end up finding in a random café with her friends. Homura and Audrey are absent, of course, and none of the girls seem to recognise you. After a quick introduction with them all, you ask if you can talk to Madoka alone. You have to give it to her, her innocence is on a whole new level when she agrees; much to the distress of her friends.

After you explain the situation to her, she agrees enthusiastically.

What happens next is… way too weird for you to describe.

Best to just leave that be.


http://puu.sh/milRG/1af5329104.PNG



So… now you have to return to George. You can feel the slight tug of a connection pulling you towards him, but it's not quite there.

Not quite.

How do you go about this whole situation?

[] Find George and explain to him in detail everything you know.
[] Find George and introduce yourself as his Servant, but little else.
[] Find George and…? (Write-in)
[] Don't bother with George, go off and do your own thing! (Write-in)

[Rhomeo]

After deciding that finding and explaining everything to George is the best course of action, you head out in the direction of his house. Luckily, nothing goes wrong on the way there and you arrive with a fair amount of daylight to spare. With practised hands, you push the gate open and move up to the door. You've already decided to explain everything to him, but there's a more urgent issue at hand right now.

Using said hand, you knock on the door.

You have to wait a few minutes before it opens up, revealing the form of George. He looks down at you in confusion for a second or two before understanding flashes across his face.

“You're… Caster,” he states uncertainly. “Aren't you?”

“I'm your Servant, silly. I was looking for you!”

“I see,” George deadpans. “I don't suppose you could explain why you're my Servant considering I haven't summoned you yet?”

“Well, I jumped timelines – but we're friends!” you state with a big smile.

“I'm sorry, but you're going to have to explain a little better than that. It's not that I have any reason to distrust you, but… I don't have much reason to trust you, either.”

“I am here because someone took me here. I really don't have anywhere else but with my Master. You should feel a response from your Command Seals while looking at me.”

“Whether or not you're actually my Servant isn't up for debate,” he sighs, folding his arms. “The problem lies in the fact that I never summoned you. You must know something, with that comment about timelines – so start explaining.”

“I kind of had a memory wipe, too… hehehen~. BUT I am supposed to meet the person who did it… and knows everything...” you beam at him.

“Fine, fine, I guess that's good enough. Our link is stable and that's all that really matters for now-”

“What's going on?” a voice calls out, forcing George to turn around.

Standing behind him is a short blonde girl clutching a large tome, eyes moving between you and your Master in curiosity. As your eyes lock with hers, the smell of sizzling flesh overcomes you- Yelping, you clutch at your hand as a blood red symbol (http://i.imgur.com/7bq02qj.png) imprints itself onto the back of your hand. George stares at you in confusion, as does the blonde girl.

… you can feel two consciousnesses brushing against yours.

“What the…?!”

“...”

“…?”

“...”

Silence pervades the entrance hall for a solid minute.

“Uh...” Alice frowns. “You're my Master?”

“A Servant being a Master? That's a little odd, isn't it?”

“I mean, it's entirely plausi- what are you doing?” George comments as you step into the house, making a beeline straight for Alice.

You reach your arms out for a hug, and just as you go to put your arms around her-

She disappears into spirit form.

You fall flat on your face against the wooden floorboards, with a rather satisfying 'thunk'.

You're pretty sure you hear George let out a small chuckle as he closes the door. Alone on the floor, you curl up into a ball and sob uncontrollably. Eventually, the presence of George comes up on you and pats you on the head.

It's nice.

A small hum emanates out from you as he pats your head a few more times, giving you the strength to right yourself back into a sitting position.

“You like hugging people then, I take it?” George smirks.

“Yup!”

Rather expectantly, you extend your arms out to him. After a quiet sigh, he leans down and embraces you. It's so much of a surprise that you don't even know what to do. Still, you feel like you and George have bonded from this experience.

… somehow.

Relationship gained!

You don't have much time leftover in the day, and it'd probably be rude to leave the house after what happened…

You have 3 Action Points to spend!

[] Leave the house and go do something else! (3)
[] Have a team meeting with George and Alice! (2)
[] Go apologise to Alice? (2)
[] Interact with someone. (Limited to people in the house)
- [] Who?
[] Do something else? (Limited to actions in the house)
- [] Do it with someone?

[MatrixOne]

He was there to kill the woman standing in line in front of him.

Sitting...

No,


Sitting in front of him. Something wasn't right. This diner, the situation, it all felt too familiar.

"I see you haven't touched your anpan." He said, putting down the crumpled up wrapping.

"..." No answer. Again.

His eyebrow twitched. Not because of the girl, but because of the memories that he could feel in the back of his head. Her face... Fear, and then nothing. It was the nothingness, that terrifying feeling that made him want to never explore that memory. Seal it off and forget.

"I keep getting the date wrong," he kept talking. "It feels off by a week. What's up with that? And you, without a Crest or anything, but on the run regardless-"

He turned around on instinct, as though there was a noise behind him. But the sound of broken plates wasn't coming. It was only his imagination, or... A fake memory...?

"What's the matter, priest? You seem to be on edge." The girl mocked. Something was different about her attitude now, the way she was carelessly enjoying her anpan.

"I..." He couldn't get the words out of his throat. The memory was approaching now, about to hit him like a truck. The void that made him want to scream and run away, and beg not to go through it for the second... First time.

The girl had a sip of coffee, and licked her lips.

The shiny symbols of power, they...

They were already-

No.

No.

He wasn't going to let that happen. From the very start, his hand was clutching at the Black Keys under the table. Now, it was just a matter of a flick of the wrist.

... and the spell never came.

With a thud, the girl's head rolled down onto the table, knocking over a cup of coffee and spilling it. It happened so fast, no one in the diner noticed. People were chatting away in ignorance, just behind him. The jukebox was still playing music.

Her eyes were still looking at him in disbelief.

Unsure what to do, he just waited. Waited for life to drain out of those eyes. It felt like an eternity, those twenty seconds.

"... ah." He stoop up from his seat and wiped his face with a napkin. The target was dead, but his work wasn't done. If this girl was Sealing Designated, then all of that knowledge, it was right there in front of him.

With a shaky hand, he stuck his finger in her mouth and severed the Magic Crest using a shard of solidified prana. Next, he marked the table with a simple Magic Circle, and it burst into flames.

The fire would be contained within a few meters, and there'd be nothing left of her body but ash. He evacuated the diner with the others, like he would after any job.

The mission was complete, but it felt like he cheated fate. Like that's not how it was supposed to happen.

... weird.

Well, the only person with the skills necessary to extract the Crest would be Kotomine Kirei. He was babysitting some stupid conflict of local Magi families so he could use the distraction, and Fuyuki wasn't all that far...

Besides, there's no smuggling a severed human tongue to a plane.

"Kotomine Kirei, huh..."

That name somehow made his skin crawl.

[Liono]

This Is Canon - Rho Certified

Xelphen Delfria was in his workshop in the middle of Fuyuki, muttering under his breath. In his hands was a square, wooden plank, a magical circle drawn on its cracks and splinters. Chicken blood was provided when he needed something to draw the circle, and it had worked perfectly. Xelphen knew it was time to summon a Servant.

The Summoning Circle was complete. His workshop was situated in an dusty, cobweb-filled attic, but it would have to do. Xelphen set the plank down and got ready for the chant. He knew it was mostly meaningless, but there was something about chants and formalities that was just... right with him. It made him feel a little important.

It was time.

"Fire and water split with earth and air. Light and darkness exist within a chaotic void.
These opposites become anew, finding themselves within each other, each time power comes forth.
Fill, fill, fill, fill, fill.
Repeat these tears for five years.
Chained forever to this broken world of magma and ice, nature and lightning.
I say to you...
I am your master that controls you, but you are my weapon that fights this war. My survival.
If you will stay and fight to hold the Holy Grail, then answer this call.
Time and space will bring us together, existing within the same sun and moon.
This is an oath stating that I will treat you right and fairly, when our destinies become one.
Will you come join me to complete this perfect pact between Master and Servant?
Let the world fear the two of us forevermore!"

Now he could only wait.

[Rhomeo]

So, with what just happened it feels appropriate to go and apologise to the blond girl for your actions. There's even a total consensus on that fact within your chaotic mindset, so you bound through the house and towards a lone door set into the staircase. This leads to more stairs, which you dutifully pad down and open yet another door – leading to the girl's Workshop.

Damn, it looks better than yours ever could.

There are a number of dolls lining multiple workbenches, all staring down at you with lifeless eyes. You'd say it was creepy if you didn't feel oddly attached to them somehow. Weird. At any rate, the person in question that you'd come to see is busy at one of the benches doing… something.

“Hey! What are you up to over there?” you inquire, going up on the tips of your toes to try and look over her shoulder.

“I'm making the attempt to create a fully autonomous doll,” the blonde responds, turning briefly to check that it's indeed you, after which she turns back to her work.

“Oh… am I interrupting you? I came to apologise.”

“I appreciate that you meant well,” the girl sighs, stopping at her work for a few moments to turn and speak with you. “But I really don't want to be hugged. Not everyone wants physical contact to seal a bond of friendship, so I'd rather that you stopped entirely; no offence intended.”

“None taken – my apologies. Is there anything I could do to help make it up to you? Can I help you with building this doll, at all?”

“… you want to help with the doll?” Assassin cocks her head to the side, seemingly confused.

“If I can help in any way, I want to,” you enthuse, nearly bouncing forward.

“While I appreciate your offer, I'd rather work on this alone, if it pleases you.”

In a flit of madness, you extend your hand towards Alice.

“Servant Assassin, I order you to do your absolute best in creating this doll.”

The room is bathed in a red glow, and-

Alice is bathed in the glow most of all, humming with pure energy. She doesn't even say anything, simply turns around and begins working again.

Not wanting to disturb her, you leave the Workshop and make your way up the stairs in the direction that you can sense George. Eventually you find him in his study, where he's in the middle of reading something. After hearing your entry, however, he turns and gives you a brief smile.

“Caster, how can I help you?” he starts, shutting the book as he turns entirely towards you.

“I wanted to ask about how I'm a Servant and a Master at the same time. What's up with that?”

“I don't recall any instances of it happening in prior Grail Wars, although it's a plausible premise assuming you're a Magi yourself. You… are, a Magi, correct?”


“I think so, yeah. I can change forms, at least,” you mutter, thinking it over.

“… that reminds me, I don't know your identity. Who are you, Caster?”

“My current form is that of Madoka, a magical girl, my true identity? I don't know myself.”

“Selective memory loss?”

George seems to blank for a few moments before snapping his fingers. Getting up out of his chair, he pulls a particularly thick tome from a nearby shelf and flips it open on top of the other one on his desk. Silence prevails as he scans the words.

“It's entirely possible from magical backlash, but considering there was no summoning ritual… Caster, I'll need you to lay on my bed for a few moments while I examine you,” he starts, standing up and moving over towards a set of drawers.

“You want me to lay on your bed?” you squeak, blushing. “I mean… you'll have to take me on a date first...”

Despite that, you move over to the bed and lay down. It's actually comfier than you'd been expecting for someone as serious as George. He comes over after a few moments of fiddling and unceremoniously pulls your shirt up – just past your stomach – and places a small collection of gems around your belly button. Then, in the centre of it all, a polished steel candle that's freezing to the touch.

“I need you to focus on your earliest memory in this world,” George states.

For some reason you feel yourself compelled to think about… something beyond your consciousness. It nags you so incessantly that you focus on it, and then-

Burning metal causes you to yelp in pain, but through sheer determination you manage to leave it on your skin. George nods after a few moments and pulls it off, which causes a thankful gasp to pass your lips.

“This is… troubling. Come and talk to me later.”

He doesn't say anything more, simply moves over to his desk and begins reading through the book still on his desk. Not wanting to disturb him, you make your way out of the room via spirit form, allowing the gems to fall with a soft thud against the blanket.

Well, that was an experience…

What do?

You have 5 Action Points to spend!

[] Talk to George about what happened?
[] Your date is today! (3)
[] You feel compelled to visit the site of the Greater Grail… (2)
[] You should check in on Alice and see if she's finished that doll! (2)
[] Go out on patrol with the Magical Girls – they're looking for something, apparently. (2)
[] Introduce yourself to the Guardian of Fuyuki. (2)
[] Take over somebody else!
[] Get used to your new body!
[] Change form to someone else!
[] Go scouting!
- [] Where, with who?
[] Interact with someone.
- [] Who, doing what?

[LardDude]

This Is Canon - Rho Certified

Meanwhile...

“...George, Kirika, Sayaka, Aoko, Arceuid, Greenie – you guys can take his hits, so you're pretty much our frontline, but keep your distance if you can. Any questions?"

The frontline, huh? I'd only ever dreamed about being this powerful...

Myself and the others let out a chorus of agreeance, Caster nods towards Homura, then colour is restored to the world. I race forward in the direction of the being, alongside Kirika, Sayaka, Aoko, Arceuid and Greenie, but we don't manage to get very far before Behemoth is in our faces. We hardly have a moment to take in its entire size, never mind the time to set up an attack, before the fight starts. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCAZbnWeVRg) He... It gets the first swing, striking with ludicrous speed given its size, causing Greenie to be sent backwards a fair distance.

I begin charging up a fusion beam, converting its damage form to that of conceptual. Kirika, with abnormal speed, starts attacking the beast with her claws; Sayaka starts dancing around the thing with her estoc; Aoko uses her magic; Arceuid, her claws; Ciel starts pummeling it with her monster of a weapon; and Greenie's just picking himself back up.
From outside of the radiation zone, Archer rains arrows down upon the Endbringer, which barely sink into its skin. And... weapons start flying through the air. Huh?
A quick glance over my shoulder confirms that Gilgamesh is the source of that, and that he's actually helping us. Weaponry being pulled into existence through a wall of golden portals, only to be launched towards the even larger wall of horror. That's almost poetic.
Wait... where's Caster?

Realising I'd let my guard down for too long, I turn back to Behemoth and concentrate on putting as much power into my attack as possible. As I release the intense power from my palms, I expected my nerves to feel pain... or at least something, but I don't feel anything. Weird.
Behemoth lets out a deep, Earth-shaking roar as fusion meets flesh.
Electricity begins sparking between its fingers, then, within the blink of an eye, Biggie points one hand towards me, immediately fighting back my beam with lightning.

Shit.

My body becomes infused with plasma and pain, and I can't help but yelp as I fall to my knees.
The Behemoth deemed me a worthy target... Hm. Let's see if I can distract him from the others.

Pulling myself back onto my feet, I go to race around the mighty creature as it swings at the two Magical Girls still poking at it. Catching them both off guard, they get flung far out of sight.
Greenie charged towards Behemoth, letting out a heroic scream, in the moment it became preoccupied with the two Magical Girls. His sword, a green glow, slices straight through its left leg. Another Earth-shaking roar as the lightning becomes even more intense.

Lancer and Saber take the places of the two Magical Girls, but now that Behemoth has been severely hurt, he's appearing much tougher than before. It seemed to be a bit of a pushover compared to how Caster was describing it, but I'm guessing that the battle's only truly just begun...

Arriving at Behemoth's rear, as it continues to swing and wreak havoc upon them, I fire off another laser into the centre of its back.
It doesn't even flinch.
With my beam still blasting into the Endbringer, it changes its focus to me, granting the rest of the group a little breathing room.

Aoko continues to shoot her magic at the beast, and Arcueid continues to slash at the creature wherever she can, despite how little effect their attacks are having. If this were a typical being with a mind that didn't just focus on death and destruction, I imagine it'd be laughing at how negligible our attacks were starting to become. Even my beam was starting to have less of an effect on it.

Biggie whipped around with the same amount of speed it's always had – even with one leg severed – and proceeds to swing at me with electrified fists. Being too fast for me to dodge, the blows being thrown at me start to become too much. That's when a blinding light pierces through Behemoth's centre, consuming my vision and then...

...

“Julia...? Jule, is that... is that really you?”



I. Am. So. Tired.

With countless amounts of thoughts bouncing around my mind, I start to open my eyes and see-

“He's awake!”

A pale, red-eyed girl (http://puu.sh/lXQK4/c3d316e217.jpg) standing above me, grinning for a moment before solemnity overfalls her face.

“Are you okay, George?”

“You mean apart from getting my arse kicked at the end there?” Youmu lets out a short giggle. “I saw her. I saw my wife - Julia.”

“Oh. You were knocked unconscious,” she bluntly explains to me, “although whether it was thanks to fatigue, Behemoth or Saber, I am uncertain.”

“Saber? What- was that Excalibur?”

Youmu provides me with the final details of the fight, stating how Saber used gold version Excalibur, which let out a huuuuge beam that penetrated the heavens. She also went into extensive detail about what happened to Behemoth afterwards, which explains the total lack of remains nearby.
During this time, I stood up and brushed the dirt off of my clothes.

“Disintegrated, huh?”

“Yessir. Say... do you know where Alice is?”

Turning my head away for a moment, I attempt to contact Caster.

Caster, are you with Alice?

…

“...well I'm not getting any response from Caster. Did you notice where they went?”

“Oh! Forgive me, I hadn't even noticed she'd disappeared too, but no.”

A worrying trend, indeed. Saying that, Homura and that purple-eyed girl are nowhere to be found also. Hm. No matter how hard I try, I can't sense Caster anywhere. Maybe if I use...

“My Command Seals are gone.”

“So does that mean-”

“Yes. Caster, and probably Alice, no longer exist in this Universe. As far as I can tell at least.”

Youmu looks crushed. Her best friend, her very creator, no longer... “exists”. She starts to tear up, so I head over to console her. Accepting my embrace, I hold Youmu in my arms as she weeps into my shoulder. I take this moment to look at everyone else, and...
Illya. Berserker. They're gone as well.
As are Rin and Kirei. But not Archer and The King of Heroes...?

Two whole minutes go by before Youmu starts to calm down; just as Saber walks over to invite the two of you to talk to the others about what happens next.

“Sure, right behind ya.” I nod.

As I start to weaken my grasp around the doll, she grips onto me.

“Don't leave me.” Youmu says with a desperate whimper, looking up from your chest.

“I wouldn't dream of it." In an attempt to comfort her, I brush the doll's hair away from her face and cup her cheek with my hand. Surprisingly, she's warm. "C'mon, let's go talk to the others. Maybe we'll get some answers.”

[Rhomeo]

As the sun rises over the rest of Fuyuki, you find yourself descending into the depths of George's house once more. Considering it's been more than long enough for Assassin to finish the doll with your order, you imagine everything should be all good by now. So, you descend, exiting out into the doll-filled workshop.

Upon your entry, you take note of your Servant slaving over yet another table, doing… something or other. A quick check confirms that there's no human-sized doll in sight. Upon your second check of the room, you decide that there is definitely no larger doll amidst the mass that currently stock the tables. There's already 37 dolls, by your counting, which kind of says wonders about how much Assassin is in love with her craft. For a brief moment, you feel a sting of pride.

For what reason, though, you have no idea.

The room itself is pretty small, so other than the five tables littered with dolls, there isn't a particularly big space for anything else. Assassin is still slouched over the table across from you, working on… yeah, you can't see it at all.

“How's your work coming along?” you call out, hoping to grab the girl's attention.

“So-so,” is the response, the girl not even bothering to turn. “I sent Marisa out to get some tea a little while ago, so I'm making a kettle!”

“What's a Marisa?”

“Marisa is the name of the doll that you commanded me to make – she's a copy of a… friend. If you ever run into her, she has golden hair and wears something not dissimilar to a maid's outfit. Don't… don't call it that, though, it's a witch's outfit, really.”

“Do I get to meet her at this tea party, or… am I not invited?”

“I wasn't planning on making it a party per-se, but...” the girl turns and flashes a quiet smile your way. “Sure.”

Score!

“Thank you~! I'll see you then!”

Now if only you knew when 'then' was.

Unfortunately, you don't think you have the time to ask her, as she turns back to her work. Happy with that, you make your way out of the workshop and back up the stairs. Just on time, there's a brief knock on the door. Unsure of who it is, you make your way over, and-

“Hellooooo? Caster, you in there?” a voice very similar to Audrey's rings out.

No, it's definitely a trap. You step back from the door, and thankfully, it's locked. Still… it did sound like Audrey… so you step forward, unclasp the lock and throw the door open. Standing in front of you is not Audrey, rather-

It's Homura.

“Oh, Homura – what a pleasant surprise! Come on in!”

The raven-haired girl, however, stares at you. Very intensely.

It's extremely uncomfortable.

“Why are you Madoka?” she deadpans, still staring.

“Madoka was happy to help, after I asked, so I thought it was a good idea at the time. Our only goal is to help people we care about. Madoka's was the same; so we asked her. I want to keep my promise of dealing with Walpurgisnacht, so I thought I'd need a strong form – and Magical Girls are strong. Because I copied her, there are a lot of skills I learned. How to protect others properly. I want to keep that.”

“You… you don't understand do you?” Homura mutters through gritted teeth. Her hand reaches over to her shield, you reach out a hand to-

-stop her, but the world is already black and white. There's a small string attached to your outstretched arm, connected to Homura's. One hand clutches at her stomach (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISGDAXsS8c8), and in the other…

… a gun.

“All Madoka ever wants to do is help people. Every timeline. Every. Timeline. She sacrifices herself for her friends without a single thought. Do you know what it's like to try and protect someone like that? You can't, can you? And now you take her form, without understanding any of that. What sort of friend does that? Why should I let you live?”

You notice that Homura's visibly shaking, tears sparkling in her eyes. The hand on her stomach clutches incessantly at the cloth, but all throughout, the gun remains fixated on your head.

For some reason, you step forward. You don't even know if you're really controlling yourself as you move into Homura's personal space and…

… and…

You wrap your arms around her.

So close to her, with the raven-haired girl in your arms do you notice how frail she is. The sheer amount of space between her clothes and her actual body is disturbing. You have to wonder if she ever really eats anything. Or gets any rest.

You wonder if she takes care of herself at all, with her obsession over Madoka.

To your surprise, small sobs come from your shoulder as the world returns to its normal colour. A loud clunk signals her dropping her gun, but she makes no move to hug you back. Just… sobs into your shoulder. You don't feel the need to do anything as you clutch at her tightly. It's a sweet moment, one that you don't think you'll forget.

“What are you two doing over-” a familiar voice sounds, before cutting herself off.

Ah, yes, good job Audrey, you always pick the best times to show up. Homura doesn't even flinch, just continues her flood of tears into your uniform. You give Audrey a sad smile, to which the girl merely nods and backs off. It takes a good few minutes for Homura to eventually step back, her eyes red and puffy. (http://i.imgur.com/Xwqrm18.jpg ) You decide to give her a knowing smile, to which she nods, her form shimmering for a moment before she returns to her school uniform. Luckily, her eyes go back to normal with it, but you're pretty sure that's because of magic on her part.

Audrey returns just on cue, giving you both a knowing grin.

“So, time for that date you promised me, right Caster?”

You half expect Homura to react to that, but she just looks… happy. Somehow. Audrey, for her part, merely grins and snaps her fingers.

Just like that, you're no longer standing in the doorway of George's house, but rather-

“Why are we on top of a school?!” you exclaim, taking a step back in confusion.

“Don't ask questions,” Audrey snickers. “Just enjoy it. Classes are just getting started, so no one's going to disturb us up here.”

Homura, for her part, is still busy looking happy.

“But- how did you- … how is this a date, exactly?”

“I used my Magical Girl power, silly! As for the date...”

She snaps her fingers again, and a picnic basket complete with blanket appears out of nowhere. Yeah, you have no idea how she does any of this. With a grin still on her face, she takes a seat and pats the space across from her, which you tentatively sit down in. Homura makes a beeline straight for your side, sitting… rather close to you. You're practically touching. Without so much as an attempt at being graceful, she pulls a trio of sandwiches free from the wicker basket and tosses you and Homura one each. Biting rather merrily into her own, she gives you a knowing look.

“You probably wanted me to answer questions, right? If it's within my power, I'll do my best. Probably. No promises,” she winks at you.

Since you're hungry, you decide it's best to start it off by eating the sandwich. It doesn't taste particularly good or bad, but you feel… energised.

+2 Action Points every turn for 4 turns!

“Is it good? I made it myself!” Audrey smiles brightly, her own hands empty. Homura beside you is still nibbling away, not saying anything.

“What wish did you make to become a Magical Girl, if you don't mind me asking?” you inquire, leaning forward a little as you talk.

“I wished that I had the power to change something,” she states simply, pulling a trio of cups from the basket, followed by a small Thermos. “I don't really know if I got my wish, to be honest, but I always think it's a bit more complicated than that however you look at it.”

She fills each of the cups with steaming hot tea before passing a cup to both you and Homura, who's now finished with her sandwich. You're not too familiar with milk tea, so when you drink it you can't really tell if it's good or not. Maybe? It's not sweet or strong in any way, so you can't really gauge it one way or the other. Once you're done, you put the cup down back on the blanket.

“How does one become a Magical Girl, anyway?”

Homura stiffens beside you and Audrey's eyes cloud over. She taps the cup in her hands a few times before giving you a sad smile.

“That's not something I really enjoy talking about, I'm afraid.”

You decide to leave it be, which seemingly ends the 'date', if you could even call it that. After some cleaning up on Audrey's part with another snap of her fingers, the second snap relocates you back to George's house – alone. A short glance out the window reveals that night is already oncoming.

Did she just fast forward time on you? How rude.

You have 4 Action Points to spend!

[] The Magical Girls are going out on patrol to look for something… join them? (3)
[] Talk to George about what happened today with the ritual. (2)
Find a new body to copy.
[] Get used to your new body!
[] Find a new person to inhabit.
[] Interact with someone.
- [] Who?
[] Scout!
- [] Where, with who?
[] Stay home and rest?

[Liono]

This Is Canon - Rho Certified

It didn't work. Nothing came.

"Well what do I do now?" Xelphen said to himself, sighing. He wasn't joining this particular Grail War, that's for sure. There was nothing here for him now. Maybe he could still participate, if he asked one of the Masters after they were done summoning. He heard a girl from one of the Three Families named Illyasviel was here in Fuyuki...

Of course that wouldn't grant him his wish, now would it? He was most likely to be killed by the Master he was serving, if Xelphen somehow survived to the end of the War. Although, he could stay in the city and enjoy the sights. He heard from others that Fuyuki was a very nice and beautiful place when people weren't fighting over the Holy Grail. He wondered if there were any fishing spots around here...

For now though, sleep would prevail for the night.



He couldn't talk (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGqvpMQQ48o), move, it didn't even feel like air was passing into his lungs. Where am I? Is this a dream? He floated there in the murky darkness, thinking to himself. It was pitch black all around him, nothing but the a faint glow emanating from his body, the photons reaching nowhere but emptiness. His immobilized body silently drifted across the sea of darkness.

Suddenly the scene before him shifted, transforming into a gruesome sight. Xelphen's mother, father, and little brother Daniel stood before him, crucified and the stake jutting out of their mouths. Each of them skewered with multiple sharp pieces of steel, blood splattered on the walls, their eyeballs pinned to each hand with a fancy red sewing needle.

Is this a vision...? I need to get home quickly! It was then he looked down at his hands. His little 10 year old hands. And now that he looked at the victims in front of him closer, he noticed that the mother and father had blonde hair like him, unlike the brown hair his adopted parents had. And that didn't look like Daniel at all... "Argh!"

The memories came rushing back.




SIGHTLESS SLAUGHTERER STRIKES AGAIN!
Aims for an entire family, leaving only one child left behind!

Xelphen (http://img-cache.cdn.gaiaonline.com/16f13eec9345ab984716e66d4edafaed/http://i1003.photobucket.com/albums/af156/DrakeandKieve/Anime%20Guys/Picture402.jpg) was brought to an adoption site, after the incident. There two people had adopted him. Drake and Elliot were their names, and they were good people, treating Xelphen well. But it was obvious that Xelphen was traumatized by the murder of his real parents and his brother Nathan, as he was almost always despondent and had lost all feeling in his life. Drake and Elliot tried to help him, but even with the help of a therapist, he didn't do much of anything than focus on the task in front of him.

Of course, revenge was first on his priority list.

It was when he was 12 that the accident happened. Xelphen lived within an earthquake-prone area, even for Japan, this one being massive. The family were under a parking building at the time, and they ran for their lives. The walls violently shook, cracks and fissures were forming in the earth, the building began to collapse around them. While they were running outside, a crack in the ceiling had gone too deep, and part of the concrete fell. The momentum crashed into Xelphen's head, knocking him unconscious.

It was lucky that Daniel was behind and saw the whole thing go down. Calling for his parents, they carried him out of the building, and when the quake was done, they got him on an ambulance to the nearest hospital.

When he woke up however, he was diagnosed with retrograde amnesia, suppressing his memories of anything past that date.

It was then his adopted parents made the decision to never talk about his real parents, in the hopes of restoring his life and emotions back.

And it worked. Xelphen experience more happiness and joy in his life, and despite those first few weeks of confusion, everything turned out all right. Except for the fact however, that Xelphen always felt... disdain for the world. There was something from his forgotten past that reached out and gripped him into darkness and a feeling that he needed to... kill someone, someone very important...

He used his new healing powers at 14.

He used his second power at 16.

His first murder was at 18.



Xelphen woke up with a start, a new outlook of life on his face. He felt different after getting his memories back.

"Hehehe... Hahaha!" He was laughing so very, very hard. His sides hurt. How could I be so stupid? "Why should I fight a war to grant my wish-

-if I can just do it myself the old-fashioned way?"

Skill... gained?
Insanity: You aren't what sane people would call 'normal'... But who cares what they say? You went down this path, this destiny, and you don't care for reason. You just want blood. Forces you into insane options, gives negatives to social rolls and bonuses to ruthless actions.



He could see his first target, a red-haired man in his late twenties walking down an alleyway. Xelphen couldn't sense magic around this one, and it was obvious he didn't have a weapon. Xelphen gripped the knife in his right hand and quietly sneaked towards the man in the alley. Xelphen thought he looked like a Steve.

Slowly, slowly...

"You seem like a fine specimen."

Steve spun around, obviously startled. Using his free hand, Xelphen pinned the man to the brick wall next to them, crazed eyes staring into the unlucky victim's soul. He took his knife and stabbed the sharp metal into Steve's leg, cutting deep within the muscle. He slowly sliced down, yanked it out, and lacerated the other leg. Blood sprayed out onto Xelphen's clothes. It felt warm, like the soup his mother used to make.

"Oh you're a little naughty, trying to fight back... Let's disarm you..." Xelphen said slowly and plunged the red knife into both of Steve's arms, blood coming out with such a nice gush. The thick, crimson fluid was everywhere now, but Xelphen felt a thrill of excitement flow through his body.

As Xelphen stared into the man's small, pain-filled eyes, he decided to do Steve one last favor. With one slice of his knife across Steve's abdomen, he let all the internal organs come out. The intestines had an amazing shlurp and plopped onto the ground. The last thing the man will ever see are his innards spewed out in front of him, writhing in agony.

With the man slumped against the wall, Xelphen took his blood with his index and middle finger, coming up with an idea. After a terribly long time, he had a painting (http://www.pd4pic.com/images/drawing-wings-loud-insect-cicada-screech.png) in front of him. It took so long to get the details right, but he didn't mess up. An image of a crimson cicada was on the brick wall, hanging above the dead man's lifeless body.

A gasp. A woman at the end of the alleyway was in shock of the scene before her. She stood there, bound to her spot as Xelphen got up and stared at her. Then he ran. We don't need a witness, do we? She finally started to move as well when the woman saw the crazy murderer sprint towards her, but he was too fast. With the blunt end of the weapon in his hands, he knocked her out.

"I can't have you waking with that bruise and headache, can I?" Xelphen muttered to himself. Sheathing the knife, he knelt down and whispered a chant to focus on his healing, strings of prana all around her head. Soon, the dark lump on her skin transformed into clear, pale, unaltered skin. She wouldn't feel any pain waking up.

"But... You'll still remember, won't you?" Yes she will... Yes she will... Yes she will... Of course she will... You know what to do Xelphen... Yes, I do. He readied himself again for another chant.

"I hear the wind among the trees,
It plays celestial symphonies;
I see the branches downward bent,
Like keys of some great instrument,
Like keys of some great instrument."

All his strings of prana now focused on her medial temporal lobe, his sight peering into her memories. He saw what he expected to see, a bloody man and feelings of fear. Xelphen then took the time to slowly, slowly chip the memories of the event away, until there was nothing of the killing left in her brain. Gone forever. He picked her up and left her at some random's house.

Xelphen got home, heading straight into the shower and putting his clothes in the laundry. The hot water cleaned his body of any scent, and left him feeling new again. Tired and sleepy he crashed into the comforting bed, and immediately went to sleep, dreaming of ever newer things.

This was the start of a brand new life.

And he could not wait.

[m139]

This Is Canon - Rho Certified

In that other universe...

Talking had been no use. No one had noticed the exact time when Caster and Alice had disappeared, or had been destroyed. It was guessed they had just been obliterated by the Behemoth, and their names were added to the list of casualties. Well, at least Alice's was. No one really knew what Caster's true name was, or if he/she even had one.

But life went on in that universe, and in between the rebuilding of the city, the Grail War, and the news reports of other monsters, plus the announcement of a major motion picture that would feature the destruction of the Golden Gate Bridge (everyone was surprised it was actually still standing), George and Youmu were left largely to themselves. And so, they decided to take the matter of finding out what really happened into their own hands...


A month-ish later

They were at the site of what once was a canyon. Now, it could, at best be called a small valley. The earthquake, plus the following volcanic eruption, had filled in the area so that it was simply gently sloping. Young trees and shrubbery had begun growing here and there, and it was, in general, your after-the-rain idyllic sort of landscape.

Except for one thing...

There was a giant hole, about six feet in diameter, in the center of a patch of volcanic rock. On one side, there was a bunch of roughly hewn steps... although to be honest, they could hardly be called a staircase, for the steps were so uneven and of various sizes. The sides of the hole had a strange appearance as well... They definitely were not dug- the glassy appearance gave that away.

George and Youmu were at the edge of this hole. It was around six in the morning, and the two of them had just woken up at their small campsite nearby.

George had with him one of the large, battery powered lanterns, with a couple of spare batteries in the bag he carried. Youmu had a lot of food on her, both for George and for herself. They were prepared to be down there all day. And so began their descent.

Down and down and down they went. The hike itself took about three hours. In that time, they went almost a mile underground. The amount of distance they covered lengthwise was much larger, and they descended slowly so as not to slip on the smooth stones.

But they eventually reached the bottom. It was warm and musty, like any place deep underground is. On the ground, next to well, a rock face, was another electric lantern, this one bigger, and a bag mostly empty of food. The large lantern was always left wherever they ended the day before, and the bag that had once been full of food had been left there because Youmu had had to carry George up about two days before- he had passed out from overexertion.

George placed the small lantern down, and begin fiddling with the controls of the larger. Pretty soon, the small little area was filled with light. George turned to the right, and checked the wall. He muttered something about "rocks" "depth" and "soon", but as to what exactly he said, Youmu could not tell. In fact, ever since they came here and started digging, it she had never got a definite answer on what they were doing. All she knew was that somehow this really long tunnel was supposed to save George's wife, and possibly Alice and Caster. And it was that "possibly" to which she hung her hopes.

She took a seat on a step a couple of feet away. Meanwhile, George stood on the lowest step, facing the wall. Then, he began to use his fusion beams on the wall, vaporizing the rock in front of him and leaving a glassy look around the edges. Youmu watched, as she had every day he had done this, with a bit of indifference. Suddenly, though, she sat up straighter. This time was different.

Every time he had done this, the beam had been larger, stronger and faster. And although this time, it was larger and stronger than last time, for some reason, it was slower. Was George becoming fatigued? No, it couldn't be, he had just started. Then why?

The question remained in her head for about an hour. She did not bother asking, for she knew George would not really hear her. He had been way to obsessed with this idea of finding everyone recently. So Youmu just watched, moving up the lantern as George moved forward,

At the beginning of the second hour, Youmu's question was answered. With a short cry, George stopped the beams for a second. Then, he looked through a hole about the size of his head. Then, he enlarged to about a window's size and turned to Youmu.

"I've found it." he said. "Come, bring the small lantern."

She did so, surprised by his sudden change of attitude. For the first time since they had begun the digging, he seemed really elated, and not so somber. She peared into the darkness in front of her, lantern in hand. She saw a giant swirling black mass, where colors would every so often appear before being absorbed back into the blackness. "What is it?" she said, still looking into the... the ... the thing.

"It's a wormhole." replied George.

"A... a wormhole? Here? How did you know about it? What's it going to do? How? What?"

"I suppose..." replied George, putting his hand on her shoulder to quiet her, "I should start from the begining...

"As you know, the grail has the power to bring back the souls of heroes who have died. But, as it did in Alice's case, the heroes do not have to originate from this world's timeline. There are other universes, other timelines, and things can get a bit mixed up and confused.

Alice, as we have said, came from another universe somewhere. I believe Caster did as well, although I'm not quite sure who exactly Caster was... But anyway, that does not matter so much. Point is, people can pass through universes. And that is exactly what Alice, and I think my wife did."

"Your wife?" Youmu could not help but give a small gasp. "But, but, how?"

"This wormhole. As you remember, my wife and I were walking through a canyon- what this place used to be, when there was an earthquake. I thought, just like everyone else, that she had died. But then, then the dreams started...

The first time, it was in a misty place. And, through the mist, I saw, from a distance, a glimpse of her. It was only a moment. And then she was gone. I woke up, sweating.

The second time, some months later, it was the same, but this time, she was swimming towards me. Again, it was brief. But then it happened again. And this time, her image was clear enough and long enough for her to mouth the words 'I'm not dead.'.

I began to become under the impression that she wasn't dead. And then I began to question my own sanity. Surely this was just a sign of grief? I read to comfort myself. Yes, all these random occurrences were perfectly normal, even a year after. So, I was simply grieving naturally. And then...

Then I came across a very strange book. It was hidden at the bottom of a box in an attic of an old friend. The cover was dusty, so much so that I could not read the title. But, the contents were all there, as was the research. Apparently, numerous people had seen the same woman- my wife- in the fog. If I was crazy, I was not alone. But if I was not crazy, then there was something to it. The book hypothesized that someone might be trying to speak across dimensions...

But was that possible? I began to research that. There were, of course, the naysayers. But there were also claims by people who said they had. And they had some things that seemed like proof. And most of them claimed the way they did it was through a wormhole.

Suddenly, all of the stories I had heard of ghost and aliens came to me. Perhaps they came through wormholes, too? No, I said to myself, there is no way. It was an ordinary earthquake and she's dead. Period. But then I began to research geology and rock formation. I even took samples from this rock- surface of course- here. And I found that this earthquake was a bit anomalous, even for, well, an event like an earthquake. The eruption was strange in a similar way.

Of course, I did more research. Maybe I was crazy. Certainly everyone around me thought so. But the more I researched, the more I came to the conclusion that this earthquake was no ordinary one, but one caused by the opening of a wormhole. And this wormhole was the cause of all the strange things that have happened for quite some time, as well as the reason my wife is not here. I believe she fell into the wormhole. And somehow, she is able to contact my sleeping mind. I have even seen her recently. This time, she even managed to say one thing: my name.

And to see this swirling mass, this wormhole, proves that everything was true. More importantly, it proves I have a chance to save her. I have been waiting for this chance, for years: at first, I was going to get her back by winning the war, but then that failed. And it turned out I could find the wormhole."

Here he paused, and his hand slipped off Youmu's shoulder. There was silence for a moment. A long moment.

Then, Youmu spoke, "But, can it get us to Alice?"

"I... I think so. I believe this wormhole touches many points in space and time: based on my research, that's the only way that it would be possible to get multiple messages across. It is as if someone took the separate clothes of reality and folded them all together, then with a single thread, bound them up. By entering this wormhole, we can exit at any cloth the thread touches. There's just one thing: once we leave I have no clue if we will be able to go back into it again. I will loose the power of the fusion beams, and I'm not sure if I can get back to another wormhole. It is a complicated sort of thing. Exiting is easy... You can create your own hole, if you wish- thread the string where you want to go- but you must find the string again to enter it- one that sometimes may rethread itself..."

Again there was a pause. And then again George spoke, his voice more tired than before. " Time does not pass for people within a worm hole, although all time can, at least it theory, pass through it. I... I'm going to exit where I can get to my wife. I'm not sure if I will be able to go find you and Alice again. Yes, you and Alice. I will help you find where the thread intersects wherever she is, and can make a hole for you to enter. But as for me, I will go find my wife. And I will exit there. And then, if I can re-enter the worm hole with her, I will find you again. But if not... I guess this is goodbye."

Youmu turned around and looked at George. For an instance, there was silence, and they both stood there, looking at each other. Then, as the tears began to fill her eyes, Youmu threw her arms around him.

They both began to cry, and she whispered "Goodbye."

They stayed that way for a very long time.

Finally, she released him, letting her hands slip off until only one remained in his grip.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

Tears still around the rims of her eyes, she nodded in the affirmative.

"Good," he said, "Let's go."

He squeezed her hand for reassurance, and then they stepped through the little dirt window into the black swirling mass.

And so began their trip into the wormhole.

[Rhomeo]

After arriving back, you decide it's probably best to check up on your Servant. One quick mental check to confirm she's in the basement and you descend the flight of stairs, leading into the cramped room. It's so small that it takes you all of one second to notice the other presence in the room, and to confirm that…

… Alice was asleep.

You weren't even sure Servants needed to do that, but whatever. The other figure is standing beside her makeshift bed, looking down at her. In the dim lighting you can't quite make them out, but they're definitely not standing there in an aggressive way. A few brief thoughts later and you realise the best course of action is to probably just call out.

“Uh, hello? Marisa?” you try to get the figure's attention, your voice only a few levels above a whisper.

They turn in an instant, golden hair flashing in the light for a brief moment.

“Yo! You must be Caster!” a female voice responds, full of enough energy that you can practically hear her smiling. In a slight panic, you shift your gaze over to Alice, but she hasn't stirred in the slightest.

Well, if this doll was modelled by her she'd probably be used to whatever it does, you think.

“Yep, that's me. How are you, Marisa?”

“Good! Just got back from Tokyo, really busy place and all!”

“What on Earth were you doing in Tokyo?” you blurt out. “Didn't Alice send you to get tea?”

“Uhh...” she rubs the back of her head with her free hand sheepishly. “Well, you see, the thing is… I got kind of lost.”

Noooo, you don't need another cute girl acting cute in your life – you have more than enough!

“You got lost and managed to get to Tokyo…?!”

She laughs nervously.

“Yeah, it's pretty far away, I decided I'll just stick to flying after all that. I have no idea how these train thingies work.”

“I can teach you, if you want.”

Marisa's eyes light up.

“Okay! That's a promise!”

Sweet lord, what have you gotten yourself into.

Relationship gained! Promise made! You're fu-



So, after ascending the first set of stairs, you ascend the second set up towards George's study. For some reason you feel, standing outside the door, as though you're outside a counsellor's office or something. Taking a quick gulp, you push in on the door handle and move inwards. George is at his desk, waiting for you. One brief glance over to his bed and you shuffle over, taking a seat.

“So, about that ritual we did...” he starts, interlocking his fingers. “I asked you to think back to your earliest memory – which you didn't. Not consciously, at any rate. It was muddled, but I did see something. I saw myself, summoning you, in this very house.”

He leans forward towards you.

“A memory that neither you nor I have, I should state. Why do you think that is?”

“Because when my memory got… wiped, so to speak, she didn't clear this one out for some reason,” you respond thoughtfully.

“Very good,” George's eyes shine. “I'm glad we came to the same conclusion. So, if she left this one behind for you to find, what do you think that means?”

“One of two things; she either wants me to find out more, or she wants me to accept life as your Servant and not do anything else.”

“Definitely plausible,” George nods before leaning back in thought for a few moments. “I think you need to talk to her directly. There's nothing more I can get from your memories, they were a mess – unless we wanted to try more direct methods. There's no guarantee that would work, however, considering your nature as a spirit. Beyond that… we could just leave it be.”

“I'll talk to Audrey directly,” you decide.

“Alright then, good luck.”

Ambition evolved!
Figure out what happened… Part 1
The timeline has shifted, you need to figure out how… and why. Audrey is behind it, of course, but how? You need to befriend her and get the information out one way or another!
Rewards: 50 Destiny Points, Trait gained, Second Part Unlocked.



As you leave George's room, you feel…

…

…

… compelled to…

A consciousness touches yours, but it's not one you're familiar with. Then, it expands out, linking you to a half dozen others. You try to pull your mind back, but you can't.

“Caster-san, it's okay!” a familiar voice peps up, catching you off guard.

Eh, Madoka? What-

“We were testing to see if you having Madoka's form would allow you access to the Magical Girl telepathic network,” a sweet voice cuts off your thoughts. From the tone alone, you're pretty sure it's Mami.

“We're off hunting witches! You wanna' come with?” another voice adds its thoughts to the mix.

You can tell empathically that about half of the girls involved aren't interested in you coming, but…

…

For some reason, you feel like you need to go.

Or something bad will happen.

[] Go with them. (Destiny Point Choice – Courtesy of m139 and LardDude!)
[] Don't go.

[Rhomeo]

In the moments after your agreement to go along with the Puella Magi, you'd been abducted by a few of them to go and meet the others. They'd insisted on roof hopping after the fact, which you seemed to be a natural at somehow. After your arrival with the mass contingent of Magical Girls this fact was quickly exclaimed by Sayaka, which caused a dirty look from Audrey.

… you don't want to go there at all.

They apparently knew where they were heading, so everyone started heading through the streets. You find yourself walking along with Madoka and Audrey, who are exchanging small talk. Through some minor miracle, you manage to leave a good impression on Audrey, who's smiling and laughing along with every word. It kind of dies off after an ominous presence starts to beat down on you, stopping all of the other conversations around you short as well.

“It's just in this alleyway,” Mami states, taking lead of the group. “Is everyone ready?”

“Do we know anything about what we're fighting here, or what?” you ask, hands on hips.

“Nope!” Kirika cuts in, grinning brightly.

That's… helpful.

After a round of confirmations from everyone, you move with them into the alley. There's some kind of distortion that you've never seen before, and everyone files straight into it like it means nothing. Against your better will, you walk inside, and your world shifts.

A giant white expanse extends out in front of you, taking up your entire view. (http://i.imgur.com/3tJX4zd.jpg) The other Magical Girls seem kind of surprised, as though they expected something different. In fact, the only two that seem unsurprised are Oriko and Audrey, who both exchange a knowing glance between each other. There doesn't seem to be any inclination of which direction you should head, nor are there any signs of enemies.

“So, Oriko, Audrey,” you start, looking across the barren white landscape. “Why don't you two look surprised, anyway?”

“Because the Witch here is going to reveal itself pretty soon,” Audrey smiles, rocking back and forth on her heels. “Speaking of, you should probably get ready for it.”

“She's talking about mental fortitude, for the record,” Oriko chimes in, a quiet smile touching her lips.

Before you can say anything else, a freezing chill creeps over your body. It takes a few seconds for you to realise it's not cold, but rather something trying to take over your system. You flush your system with prana and the presence is forced out, but after a quick glance at the others-

“O-Oriko? What's wrong?” Kirika exclaims, touching her friend's shoulder.

The fair-haired Magical Girl lashes out at her friend, eliciting a small yelp from the purplenette. Looks like whatever that presence was, it got through to her. A multitude of spheres begin to float, exiting from different areas of her Magical Girl outfit. Kirika looks alarmed and confused, along with everyone else. Homura, in preparation, pulls out a gun from her shield.

“No!”

In the blink of an eye, Kirika dashes forward into Homura's guard just as two sets of claws come out from her arms. The raven haired girl has no time to react as the magical steel cuts straight through the front of her chest, blood spraying over the white snow. Gasping in pain, Homura leaps back, blood seeping through the stark white of her outfit. Everyone else has their weapons out in an instant, pointing them at the lone purple Magical Girl. Another wave of cold hits you, and you once again flush it out of your system. It's much harder this time – it looks like the Witch is getting impatient. As you look at your group, however…

… not everyone else was so lucky. Sayaka's determined stare devolves into a savage grin, Homura pulls her hand away from her bloodied clothes as though it doesn't even register any more and Kirika… well.

“Madoka! Get Sayaka to stop fighting!”

Madoka, gripping at her bow, nods at you as you manoeuvre past her and towards Homura, who stares you down.

“Homura, please, stop fighting!” you call out, hoping to get through to her.

You imagine it's due to your strong relationship with her that her eyes go back to normal, eliciting a smile from you. As you turn back, you notice that Sayaka has gone back to normal as well, but the others-

Kirika screams a battlecry, her claws a flurry as they smash straight through Kyoko's guard and gouging into her chest and arm. Kyoko for her part takes it badly, thrown entirely off guard with blood pouring from her wounds. Mami manages to fare far better, bringing Oriko to a standstill after shooting her floating balls from their trajectories. Again, the freezing wave comes on, far stronger than the last two times. Unfortunately, you fail at flushing it out of your system.

Without any way to control yourself, you pull back on your string, take aim at Audrey and let fly. Incapable of dodging in any way she takes the shot head on, falling into the snow. Your consciousness returns to you after the shot, but it's far too late to undo the damage by then. By the time you turn your attention to the others, you're surprised to find that everyone has either snapped out of it or been shaken out by someone else – all except Kyoko. The red-haired spear wielder jumps through a flurry of shots from Homura, followed by an incredible display of dexterity by parrying and deflecting every other attack that comes her way.

And then everything changes.

Well, everything is still the same, you suppose, but now there's a short girl with white hair and red eyes (http://static.zerochan.net/White.Len.full.1223209.jpg) standing in front of you and your group. There's an incredible aura of malice surrounding her, and all the girls that had been fighting immediately turn; all except for Kyoko, who readies her spear for another attack.

“Stop,” the girl commands, raising a hand towards the still-controlled girl. She goes limp, like a puppet with its strings cut. “I'm surprised you all entered my domain, I never expected so much fun in one evening.”

“Witches… witches aren't supposed to talk,” Mami breathes, blinking in confusion.

“There's no way she's a witch,” Sayaka narrows her eyes at the girl. “No way.”

“But the grief...”

The girl simply grins at you.

“What do you want?” you question, taking a step forward.

“To have fun, of course! It's so interesting luring people in here and forcing them to kill their loved ones, you know? Magical Girls are the best, I think I'll keep you in here forever; can't have you killing each other too fast, though. That would be…. boring.”

“If a witch could talk, this is what I'd expect it to say,” Oriko scowls.

“So much malice...” Madoka mutters, taking a step back.

“Why do you hate boring things, anyway?”

“… is that really a serious question?” the girl deadpans, staring at you. “I suppose I could show you.”

Her hand extends out towards you, and from it a bright blue orb shoots out at you. It hits, and-

-nothing.

The reaction is instantaneous, with a loud twang sounding from behind your shoulder. A magical arrow flies straight past and into the girl's chest.

From that day forward, you're not sure you'll ever see an explosion as bright or colourful again in your entire life.



As the explosion clears, you're deposited back into the alleyway rather unceremoniously. There's a small clink of metal as something falls to the ground. It's closest to you, so you pick it up. You're not sure how, but you recognise it as a grief seed.

…

Hmm.

Smiling, you step forward and deposit it into Audrey's hands. It's only now that you note there's still some stained blood seeping through her outfit, from where… you'd shot her.

“I'll put it to good use,” Audrey winks at you. “Thanks. Hopefully everyone can actually get some use out of it after what just went down.”

“You should probably head back for tonight, Caster,” Sayaka yawns while stretching. “We'll have some talking to do after all this.”

“Indeed, it's rather problematic that a Witch is capable of talking,” Mami comments thoughtfully.

“Do you mind if I join in?” you ask coyly, somewhat copying Madoka in your stance.

There's a general chorus of agreement. Hooray!



After that disaster…

You have 8 Action Points to spend!

[X] Meeting with Magical Girls! (3)
[] Introduce yourself to the Guardian of Fuyuki. (2)
[] Teach Marisa about trains! … damn it. (2)
[] Talk to Audrey. (2)
[] Take over somebody else!
[] Get used to your new body!
[] Change form to someone else!
[] Go scouting!
- [] Where, with who?
[] Interact with someone.
- [] Who, doing what?

[Rhomeo]

“Caster! You're back!”

Hardly even a second into walking through the front door and you're accosted by a particular golden-headed woman. Well, you suppose she's technically a puppet, but with how lifelike she looks… that feels kind of rude to think of it that way. Still, you made a promise that you intend to keep and you imagine that's why Marisa is standing in front of you now!

“You said you were going to teach me, right? Let's go right now!” she enthuses, beaming a smile you don't think is entirely possible.

With an enthusiasm you didn't know you had, you take Marisa's hand in yours and drag her out of the house. Entirely off-key and with no distinct tune, you begin to sing about… trains. For some reason. Marisa, to her credit, somehow manages to join in and sing along with you. You're kind of lucky that the person you're going with is lighthearted enough that they don't care that you suck.

Oh, now you've made yourself sad.

By the time you reach the train station, it's… not open. It won't be opening for another hour, at least.

Marisa looks devastated.

“How about we go for a walk on the train tracks?” you suggest, looking around for a way to get in.

“That sounds awesome!”

In the span of a few seconds, not only has Marisa made her way through a side gate like it was nothing, but is already skipping down along the tracks like she was born to do it. Something tells you that you've probably bitten off more than you can chew this time around. Sighing, you make your way after her and make an attempt at explaining how you're supposed to use the trains for transport. It's pretty obvious it's going in one ear and out the other, but Marisa seems happy that you're talking to her either way.

By the time you hit the next station, Marisa's done with her skipping and breaks you out of the confined railway area. To your surprise, no one notices the two of you leaving. Probably not expecting a pair of girls to be walking along the tracks, in all fairness. Still, you feel like the entire situation was an excellent bonding experience. Somehow.

The obvious follow up is to take Marisa on your little scouting mission to the restaurant you had in mind. She's pretty enthusiastic about that as well, so you head out together with a pep in your step. Luckily, by the time you arrive in Shinto, everything is already bustling. It's kind of a relief, you wouldn't have wanted to be early here as well.

After perusing the styles of restaurants, you eventually settle on a high-class Western style place that's in one of the many tall buildings situated within Shinto. Marisa seems surprised by your choice, but doesn't otherwise comment. Maybe she was expecting some kind of Japanese place? You're pretty sure she's Japanese. Probably.

…

You should probably ask Alice about that, now that you think on it.

Thoughts aside, you wait in line for a while before getting assigned a table to yourselves. It's actually at this point that you panic, remembering that food costs money – money that you probably don't have – but checking a pocket reveals a small purse with a single plastic card inside it. Looks like you'd been saved by some otherworldly presence or something.

It doesn't take long for you to decide that you want a sundae, and after placing your order you don't even have to wait all that long for it to arrive. Looks like there's a distinct lack of people coming in today, for whatever reason.

And then you see her, carrying a tray with your sundae on it.

A woman with burgundy hair, in a ridiculously cute maid outfit, looking distinctly out of place. She places it down in front of you with a polite word, but as her eyes glaze over you, you notice a spark in them. The fact that she remains by your table, staring, is what gives it away.

This woman is a Master.

“Thank you… um, would you like some too? There's room for a third?”

“Y-you're welcome, but, I really shouldn't...” she stammers in response, stunned. Even Marisa across from you looks at you like you're crazy.

Despite what she'd said, the strange foreign serving woman takes the third seat of the table, looking at you incredulously. It's… kind of awkward, to be honest. She's not saying anything, Marisa is busy eating her sundae and you're sitting there with your own.

“Here, have some of my sundae! It's really good,” you exclaim, pushing the confectionery over towards her. “Oh by the way, I'm Caster, and this is my friend, Marisa. Nice to meet you!”

“I'm not sure how to feel about a Servant being so callous about their identity...” the woman mutters, picking up the spoon as she talks without even thinking. “No matter. My name is Bazett, Bazett Fraga McRemitz.”

“Oh, that's an Irish name, isn't it?” Marisa chimes in, leaning forward with a sparkle in her eyes.

“A-ah, yes,” Bazett blushes, shovelling a small portion of your sundae into her mouth.

You feel like you're treading a really fine line here for some reason…

“So, how about that weather, huh?” you attempt to pull the conversation back to something resembling normality as you pluck the cherry off the top of your sundae. Bazett almost looks sad, until you place it in your palm and offer it out to her. In a way you can only describe as cute, she picks it up rather gently and plops it in her mouth.

Gods, this is starting to feel outright wrong. Why is any of this even happening? AhhhhHHHHhhhhh.

“I'm not sure I can attest to how good the weather's been,” Bazett responds, continuing on with her meal. “I've been so busy working lately that it's hard to gauge.”

Out of the corner of your eye, you notice that Marisa is leaning in really close to Bazett… for some reason…

“Thanks for the great service. I'll make sure to recommend this place to all my friends. My first visit couldn't have been better; don't you think this place is great, Marisa?” you exclaim, loudly, with a lot of eyebrow movements. Bazett shoots up in an instant, turning on a dime and bowing rather deeply to the manager that's appeared behind her.

“I'm so sor-”

“No, this is the sixth time in the last two days that I've caught you doing something strange like this. No more. Go and get changed and get out of my restaurant.”

… woah.

Oh boy.

Ah.

Um.

You catch Bazett's facial expression out of the corner of your eye. She looks absolutely crushed. Marisa catches your attention and gives you a solemn shake of her head, as if to say it's not your fault! Damn it, now you have to do something for her! You wait outside of the restaurant for her to come out, and while you are, you notice that Marisa is holding something shiny. One question leads to another and you find out she stole it from Bazett. You're quick to take it back, avoiding what could potentially be a life-ending crisis.

Out comes Bazett, still in the process of slipping on her gloves. (http://orig00.deviantart.net/c1a4/f/2010/167/f/1/bazett_fraga_mcremitz_by_melchiax.png) She notices you and makes a beeline, probably intending to say something, but as you offer out the earring to her, the words die in her mouth.

“I found this on the ground before I left,” you make up, offering a smile. “Is it yours?”

She practically snatches it from your palm and affixes it straight to her ear. There are no words that come from her mouth, despite the flapping of her lips, so she settles for something far more awkward. She hugs you.

…

Oh God, she's squeezing so hard someone please save me-

AaaaaaAAAHHHHHhhhhhHHHHHH

You practically feel some of your bones breaking, so by the time you're released you feel like you actually lost some of your health. If this was an RPG, you'd be astonished at how much your little red bar had decreased by.

“I can never repay you for this,” Bazett exclaims. “Thank you.”

“Anything for a friend!”

Bazett mouth sort of gapes open for a bit before she nods, smiling.

“I owe you for this. In the War… I won't seek you out.”

And that is, as they say, that, because Bazett makes her way past you and towards the stairs. You turn to Marisa, who gives you a huge grin.

“Well, that was fun! But I think I should go back to Alice now, she's probably getting lonely with all those dolls for company.”

You're not sure if that was a joke or she's being serious, but either way, you let her go as well.



Now it's time for your meetup with Audrey! You'd sent her a message through the Magical Girl telepathy network. So, what's up next is… where you're meeting and what you're doing, you suppose.

[] Take Audrey somewhere!
- [] Where?
[] Let her take you somewhere!

[Rhomeo]

When you tell Audrey over the link that you wanted to take her to the batting cages, the response was immediate and… bubbly. Was she even capable of making a sound like that? You'd never heard her make anything similar to that before. Weird. After hashing out the details with her, you set out and… realise you actually have no idea where you're going. You ask around, but none of the people seem to have an idea of where you're going. Audrey contacts you a few minutes later asking where you are, to which you embarrassingly admit that you have no idea where you're going.

Her laughing echoes over the link for a solid minute before she agrees to pick you up. By the time she arrives it becomes apparent that you can technically hone in on other Magical Girls through the link, so you'll have to keep that in mind. On the way there, you practice flexing the mental muscle responsible for finding other Magical Girls nearby. You surprise yourself by pinpointing a few specks on the edge of your radar, but you can't quite tell who they are. Maybe with more practice you'll get better?

After a few minutes of walking, you arrive outside what you can only assume is a sporting complex. Ah, maybe if you'd known to ask about a complex rather than batting cages… oh well. As you enter, you pull out your card and make the necessary payments for the two of you. Audrey kind of giggles at that, to which you raise an eyebrow.

“Normally I'd object to someone paying for me, but that's technically my money to begin with,” Audrey winks at you. “So I'll let it slide this time.”

Ah, well, that explains where you got the credit card from. The two of you file into the complex itself, then hone in on the section where the batting cages are advertised. To your surprise, the place is totally empty – right up until you remember it's a school day. The only people who would be around are those who were skipping school.

Wait, no, there's one other person here-

There's a girl with pink hair, gripping her bat in such a fashion that you think she's going to take on the world cup. (http://i.imgur.com/njnqScg.jpg) It's kind of… cute? Maybe? You're not really sure. Taking Audrey's hand in yours, you make your way over and call out to grab her attention. The pinkette turns to you just as the ball comes flying at her, to which she yelps and swings – letting go of the bat in the process. It goes flying out and hits the ball mid-air, causing it to go straight up and hit the home run button.

…

Amazing.



“Hey! My name's Haruna, Haruna Mochizuki,” the girl extends her hand to you, grinning.

Never mind that you'd caused her to nearly get hit by a speeding ball… Audrey, to your side, merely looks amused.

“I'm Morgana,” you smile, taking her hand in your eyes.

“And I'm Audrey, it's a pleasure,” your compatriot chimes in, giving you a knowing look. “Do you come here often?”

“Oh, no! I only just arrived in town today, actually,” the girl laughs, hefting her bat up to her shoulder as her hand detaches from yours. “Just thought I'd come and see the sights a bit before I have to start working.”

“How would you like to spend the rest of your free time with us, then?”

Audrey gives you a surprised look, but it's quickly replaced with a grateful one. Maybe she wasn't actually all that comfortable being alone with you? Huh, maybe you're bad at reading the mood. Haruna, to her credit, accepts graciously and suggests you take advantage of the batting cages for the moment. You'd never used one before, so the experience is… something. Through some miracle you manage to get more home runs than the other two girls, but they do pretty damn well themselves. All in all, it's good fun, but there's still time left in the day for something else.

So, of course, you invite them back to your place.

“Hey George, I'm bringing a couple of new friends back with me – do you mind?”

“… are they related to the Grail War in any way?” is his immediate response.

“No, but Audrey is the girl that wiped my memories.”

“Then that's fine.”

Well, great success! You fill up the gap back to your house with small talk and learn a bit about Haruna – namely that she's actually 19. She doesn't look it, but you aren't going to question a girl about her age if she gives it willingly. Audrey, you note, doesn't say anything relating to her own age. She's definitely older than the other girls in her group, but she doesn't seem to lord it over them like Mami does. Well… that's probably not the only thing Mami lords over her friends.

Lewd thoughts abound.

When you get back to the mansion you find the front door unlocked, but there's no sign of George nearby. After entering through the dining room towards the kitchen, however… there's smoke.

Uh oh.

“It's probably Marisa, I'll go and deal with it,” you sigh, moving through and into the kitchen yourself.

Inside is… a disaster zone.

There's a distinct lack of anything resembling order within the kitchen, not to mention the sheer amount of smoke. Standing in the centre of it all is…

Marisa?!

How does one person create such a disaster, anyway?

“Marisa! What on Earth are you doing?!”

The blonde turns to look at you, very much on fire. As is… the stove, the toaster, the microwave… even the sink is on fire. Through some miracle, the fridge isn't – but that's only because it's encased in a block of ice. All of it's magical in nature, you can tell that much. All originating from the flaming girl in front of you.

“Marisa, put this fire out, before it burns down the entire house!”

She cocks her head to the side before snapping her fingers, and just like that, everything reverts to normal. Minus the charred black burn marks, anyway.

“What were you thinking?” you exasperate, rubbing the bridge of your nose in frustration.

“Well, when you cook something, you use fire, right? So I was just cooking the food!” she exclaims, looking rather proud of herself.

“That's- that's not how it works.”

“… it isn't?”

Oh, wow, she looks really depressed now.

“I can teach you how to cook; I'm actually going to do something for my friends right now, if you wanted to watch?”

And just like that, her personality does an 180, transforming into something reminiscent of a puppy happy to see their master after a long day. You move over to the cupboard and pull out the bread, flipping the kettle on along your way. After removing enough slices of bread for the people involved, you make your way over to the fridge and pull out the necessary ingredients. Despite how freezing it must have been just a few moments prior, everything inside isn't even frozen.

It doesn't all that much effort to finish the sandwiches, make the tea, put it all on plates, saucers and bring it out to the other two girls. You'd rushed in case they felt left out, but they'd ended up talking to each other about something. Audrey actually looked kind of peeved that you'd been so fast, but the expression quickly shifts to a polite smile.

“So, everyone, this is Marisa,” you introduce your blonde friend, who's still grinning ear to ear.

“It's a pleasure to meet you,” Audrey nods.

“That's a cute outfit!” Haruna extends her hand. “Where'd you get it?”

“Alice gave it to me,” Marisa responds smoothly. You'd nearly had a heart attack thinking she'd give away that she was a puppet, but it looks like she was smarter than that. Barely.

Everyone settles in to eat, demolishing the sandwiches in a few bites each. Audrey looks kind of disappointed again, actually, but Haruna seems happy enough.

“You look cute in that dress by the way, Audrey,” you say offhandedly. “Y'know… it kinda makes you look like an Egyptian Pharaoh – just without the beard. I like it.”

Haruna and Marisa look at you confusedly, while Audrey just… blushes. Huh. Well.

Guess you can count that as a success!

Relationship gained! Relationship changed!

After you're all done with your tea, you bid everyone farewell and make sure to scold Marisa for trying to do something with no one else to supervise her. She seems a bit annoyed at that, but she acquiesces rather easily.

Now, onto figuring out what to do with your evening.

You have 4 Action Points to spend!

[] You need to teach Marisa about basic life skills… (2)
[] You need to get a good grasp on what the city is like – scout! (2)
[] Someone has showed up on your doorstep… (2)
[] Homura wants to talk to you. (2)
[] Audrey wants to talk to you. (2)
[] Interact with someone.
- [] Who?
[] Just stay home and rest… (4)

[Liono]

This Is Canon - Rho Certified




The question is, when the world sees you for what you truly are, will you succumb to their Dark Light? (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTH_e_tUPuE)



A woman walking down a dark alleyway, swiftly trying to make it to the other side. She didn't know why, but she felt watched. Someone was behind her, but as she looked back, no-one. She felt like something will happen to her, someone dangerous will come. She didn't have time for this, she chose this path because it was quickest to her destination. She shouldn't hold herself up with silly scares she only imagined.

Turns out, she had a gift of premonitions.

"Hello there, miss."

"Aaah!" A scream of pain radiated out as she was hit by Xelphen's new magic. Using his magic, he sensed where her pain receptors were most sensitive. With a wave of his hand, jet-black arrows dug into her stomach and climbed inside her body. Another set of arrows jabbed at her legs violently, piercing straight through her bone, coming out, and circling around to attack her arms. "Uugh! AAAAAH!"

"I love the sound of your scream, miss. Very rich and smooth, like someone rubbed velvet over my ears... Would you like your eyes or your innards sent to your family?" He wasn't sure which one they would prefer. Eyeballs were a good source of fluid, pop a hole in them and squeeze, but then again, who could resist the sound of twisting and stretching a liver like a chew toy? This woman would know their tastes, but alas, she was almost dead.

Xelphen walked over to her and put his mouth next to her ear. Tonight, he would eat. Terror-rich blood overwhelmed with pain stimuli was always his favorite. And he had to eat now, while she was alive and still had blood within her. Cold meals never suited him. He hoped it was as smooth as her bloodcurdling, helpless scream.

Xelphen bit down on the soft flesh of her neck. It was absolutely delicious. So much better than rat or chicken blood. Who knew the secret to immortality would be so pleasing to the tongue? He stayed there, sucking the blood out of her veins, sucking out the reason her heart existed, sucking out the crimson fluid that delivered oxygen to her muscles. Then it was all gone.

He let his teeth free, open to the air again. Then, he promptly loosed a black arrow into the victim's neck, he wouldn't have any ghouls here in Fuyuki. The first and last time he made one, it was an annoyance. And there was enough blood on the floor to create his signature, a cicada. Like always.

"Hmm?" Xelphen leaped out of the way of an incoming attack, the sword projectile jamming itself into the wall. A man (http://i2.wp.com/www.cartoonleap.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Fate-Stay-Night-Unlimited-Blade-Works-02287.jpg) stood there, holding more of the swords in his hand. "And who are you?" Someone with magic for once looked to challenge Xelphen. This would be fun.

"My name is Kirei Kotomine, and I am a member of the Church," the man said before him.

"A member of the Church, huh? I supposed you were sent here to kill me?" Xelphen asked, snickering.

"Of course, Dead Apostle," Kirei said, a smile appearing on his lips. With one swoop, more of the swords flew at Xelphen, slicing the air towards the intended target. Xelphen quickly dodged, the swords now aiming for a garbage can, lying on the ground. Too easy. Xelphen took a step towards the Church member, a long stride quickly closing the distance between the two.

Another throw, another dodge.

Another throw aimed, another dodge paired.

Another throw set on its target, another dodge wel- oops, this one nicked his shoulder.

Xelphen was close to Kirei now, able to fight him up close. He sent a black arrow his way, slicing through the side of Kirei's arm. With a hard thump, Xelphen smashed his fist into Kirei's neck, kicking his nose in. A knife in his hand, Xelphen dug the razor-sharp metal into Kirei's stomach. The man was lying on the ground, blood flowing on the floor. He looked delicious, but Xelphen was too full tonight. The woman filled him up like he had Thanksgiving tonight, so Xelphen left it and went home for the night.



Kirei slowly got up, touched the area around his stab wound, and casually walked off.

[Rhomeo]

After a brief inner battle, you end up deciding that the best thing to do for the evening is rest. You've been feeling at odds with your current form for a while now, so it should probably be worth it. Fading back into spirit form, you set yourself up in one of George's empty rooms; meditating on the link you have with the pinkette. As the night drags on, you have a number of revelations and find yourself greatly attuned with your body.

Stats greatly increased!

Choose 3 (May pick more for 5 DP each, may pick an option more than once for increased effects)

[] Roll for chance to increase stats.
[] Roll for chance to regain memories.
[] Remove naïve trait.
[] Boost Optimist trait.
[] Boost Selfless trait.
[] Boost Magical Girl trait.
[] Gain the Thaumaturgy Magic branch.
[] Gain Sorcerer trait.
[] Gain Brave trait.
[] Gain Just trait.



It's a new day!

You have 8 Action Points to spend!

[] Haruna wants to spend the day with you! (3)
[] Introduce yourself to the Guardian of Fuyuki. (2)
[] Teach Marisa life skills! (2)
[] Talk to Audrey. (2)
[] Something happened last night… (2)
[] Take over somebody else!
[] Change form to someone else!
[] Go scouting!
- [] Where, with who?
[] Interact with someone.
- [] Who, doing what?

[Rhomeo]

“You're looking well, Caster,” George smiles as you enter, surprisingly not as his desk for once. “What can I do for you?”

“I wanted to ask you what it means since I'm a Master and a Servant at the same time,” you admit, clasping your hands together tightly.

“I think I understand,” he nods over at the desk chair, which you hone in on even as he continues standing. “All in all, I don't think it changes too much in the short run for you, beyond changing your tactics in the War to accommodate another Servant. In the long term… it means that Assassin will have to die, I'm afraid. You know that the Grail requires the souls of Heroic Spirits to work properly, correct? I'd suggest holding onto a Command Seal for that situation.”

“Mm… speaking of the Grail, why do you want the Grail, Master?”

“Why do I want the Grail? Well, I suppose it's a necessary question if we're supposed to trust each other. I want to resurrect my wife. Not as glamorous as some other Magi might dream for, but it's important to me nevertheless. What about you, Caster, why do you want the Grail?”

“I want the Grail for my memories, but more than that, I want to win.”

“A worthy goal,” George smiles. “I hope we both succeed.”

You give him a thankful nod and stand up to leave. You feel that things went well, all things considered.

Relationship increased!

Ambition lost!



On a trip to the Fuyuki Bridge, you run into a peculiar face – a young girl with stark white hair and beautiful red eyes. She reminds you distinctly of Audrey, minus the eyes, so it shocks you a little. Enough so that the girl notices you and flashes you a toothy grin.

“I wasn't expecting to meet a Servant out here; I'm Illyasviel von Einzbern,” the girl introduces herself, curtsying as she does so. “May I have the pleasure of knowing your name?”

“I'm Morgana, it's a pleasure to meet you,” you respond with a curtsy of your own.

“So polite! I'm surprised. Hmm, as a reward, I'll tell you something interesting. Can you believe a Magi tried to attack my Servant last night? I'll give him credit, he managed to survive a direct blow – but there was so much blood… I wonder if he managed to crawl very far?”

“A Magi tried to attack a Servant?” you question, a little dubious about the whole situation.

“Well, I don't believe he was a Magi any longer, maybe once upon a time. The way he moved and acted makes me think he was a Dead Apostle; a vampire. Against a Servant, however, he didn't really stand a chance. He likely thought I was an easy target.”

For some reason, you think that the girl would probably be able to fight him off herself.

Terrifying.

Relationship gained!



You arrive at the Fuyuki Bridge in spirit form, only returning to a corporeal state after arriving at the top of the steel supports arcing over the main section. Legs dangling, you look out over the city and find yourself at peace.

Unfortunately, that peace is broken by what sounds like an argument from below.

A quick glance reveals two mops of hair bobbing up and down as they yell; one blue, one red.

“Hello down there!” you call out to them.

Both jump at your voice, turning their heads upward to look up at you.

“Madoka?” the bluenette has a double take.

“No, it's Caster,” the redhead frowns. “What are you doing up there?”

“I'm enjoying the view! The wind is lovely up here!”

Sayaka, for her part, looks horrified as you stand up and start walking along as though you don't have a care in the world. Kyoko, on the other hand, merely grins. Well, you seem to have broken up whatever argument they were having.

Hooray, you guess?

You didn't exactly get anything of interest out of this scouting trip, either…



You're not sure why, but Audrey's apparently asked you to meet her on one of the rooftops in the Shinto skyline just before sundown. She seemed pretty serious when she asked you, and refused to do it over the Magical Girl link. With no reason to refuse her, you're there early. And-

-it hits you.

Like a tidal wave, your memories pour over you like a flood.

Memories of another world.

Another George.

Another you.

… and Audrey taking that all away from you.

“Looks like you found out a little prematurely,” a voice calls out from behind you, disappointed. You turn, only to lock eyes with the violet-eyed girl. “I'm sure you have questions. Ask.”

“Why?” is all you can manage, still staggered from the influx of new information.

“Why did I take your memories from you? Or why do you have that knowledge in the first place? Why did I make it so you'd get your memories back? You'll have to be a little more specific, Caster.”

She's smiling.

“Why would you take away my memories like that? What possible reason could you have for it?”

“Oh come now, Caster, I thought you were smarter than that.”

Her smile lowers a little.

“You're a threat to the existence of everything – an entity that has knowledge it shouldn't. So, I thought the best thing was to put a limit on you, to make sure you'd do the right things. You have potential to help this timeline, but given too much power you'll cause chaos. I couldn't allow that.”

“I'd assure you we are a being with kind desires, but you wouldn't believe us, would you? What does this timeline even need help with? Is it worth killing Assassin, worth Behemoth killing everyone in the other timeline?”

“It's not about what this timeline needs help with, it's just a means to an end. What this timeline ultimately needs is the Greater Grail's destruction, the fallout of which will kill you. Whatever happens, you're going to die, I'll see to it one way or another. You can choose whether that happens now, or on your own terms. As for the other timeline…” she simply shakes her head. “It doesn't matter. You're a threat to all timelines, I can't allow that.”

Her smile is starting to fade.

“After all this we're going to cease to exist, we'll have no reason to continue as we are. You left that timeline to die, to suffer. For what? A means to stopping us? They died because of you, I hope your end is worth it,” you retaliate, brow furrowed.

“You… this is exactly why this needs to be done,” Audrey scowls. “I give you the opportunity to ask questions, to learn about why I'm doing this – and you throw it back in my face. You argue. You fight. For what? Because you think you know what's best, when you know so little? You're an idiot, Caster, I don't know why I ever had any faith in you.”

Her smile is nearly gone…

“Tell me, Audrey. Why are you doing this? I want to learn.”

Her lips twitch a little before raising back into something… resembling a smile, you suppose.

“I already told you, because you're a threat. To existence as a whole. You speak of protecting those in the other timeline, but if you exist, you put not only them – but everyone – at risk. You're an anomaly that's caused ripples up and down every timeline, distorting things and shaping futures in ways they aren't supposed to go; only for the worse. I came here to remove you, but after I learned that you were a… person… it was hard. I watched you, for a time.”

She seems to be struggling with something.

“What did you see?” you ask cautiously.

“The fate of every timeline collapse into nothingness under the weight of your presence. You… don't know what my power is yet, do you?”

She looks at you expectantly.

“No, what is it?”

“I write.”

She smiles at your shocked expression.

“Well, it would be more accurate to say that I rewrite things… my power is the ability to change reality however I wish. Whether that be teleporting myself to another timeline, or removing a person's memories. Before you ask, due to your anomalous state, I can't just write you out, nor can I remove your memories entirely. It's annoying, to be completely honest with you.”

You don't really know how to respond to that, but what comes next-

“Oh, and if I were to ever become a Witch, I think my name would be Juliet. With a h.”

“You're Rho? Rhomeo? Our GM?”

“Gods above, no,” she wrinkles her nose. “I'm using him as a tool to communicate to you, so that you can control this little Avatar in the world. Without you, Caster would be… far, far worse. To put it simply, your 'GM', or whatever you wish to call him, is a person I wrote into your world for the sake of moving things along.”

Uh, what?

You can't even begin to wrap your head around that.

“To answer your question – no, I'm not him.”

“So what comes next? Will you kill me, despite our good intentions?”

“That depends, dear Caster,” she smiles at you. “Do you want to keep your memories, or not?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Of course you do, but you've done nothing to make me think you deserve it. You only decide to ask me after you explode, all emotional for no reason even after I try to give you my wisdom. Tell me; what have you done to deserve a power like this? Why should I risk letting you walk around with that sort of knowledge, when you could use it to destroy everything?”

“I don't want to destroy everything. Have I even participated in this war yet? I just want to save the people I care about: Youmu, George, and Alice. And if I end up destroying everything in the process, so be it. I don't know the entire future, but I'm going to try to make it turn out the best. You can help me, or you can hinder me. I will still try. And if you erase my memories, I will still try. Even if you kill me here, I'll get your Rho to write something else. And I will save them. In another universe if need be.”

“Fine, you can keep your memories then.”

Her body shimmers for a moment, her casual clothes morphing into an outfit that really doesn't make sense on her (http://img13.deviantart.net/2f02/i/2013/235/a/d/illya__archer_install__by_villyane-d6jckv6.jpg), not to mention the fact that her eyes changed colour…

Wait, no, that's just a carbon copy of Clo! You've been betrayed!

“You can keep your memories until your death, Caster,” she states, raising a hand at you. “So do me a favour – and die right now.”

[] Strategy?

[Liono]

You're not the first and you won't be the last.



"Little hungry today, wouldn't you say?" Food. Food.

After last night's meal, he couldn't stop himself from starving again. Human blood would sate him again, another night couldn't hurt, right? With the moon out, he set out for another tasting of the food of legends. Xelphen walked into another alleyway as usual, his favorite dining place. He decided to wait it out today, trapping prey into his trap.

After a while...

"Oh, who is she? (http://static.zerochan.net/Illyasviel.von.Einzbern.full.820733.jpg)" A girl was standing in the street, a perfect target just waiting in line of sight. He licked his lips, he had never eaten from a child before. Her hair is whitish-silver, despite her age. Her irises are red like roses, she's not normal. Well, she still bleeds red, does she not? Maybe I might taste a different color? But she is a child, Red! She still bleed blood, L. Blue... Let's drink from the cup. He slowly stalked towards her, arrows materializing from his hands.

"Berserker~!"

"ARRROGHOOO!" A deep roar echoed from a form near the girl, a massive being (http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/typemoon/images/b/b6/Berserkerbattle.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20150517164958) appeared out of thin air next to the girl, strength flowing out in an aura of pure anger. Who is this? I believe it is Servant Berserker, from the Grail War our Xelphen tried to join. From what I can understand, he's fighting the most powerful Servant in terms of pure power and brute force. You really did your research, Xelph. Kill it then, Xelph. One stride later and Berserker swung his weapon down, and from a lucky break, Xelphen dodged out of the way. The giant smashed the concrete into dust, cracking the surrounding sidewalk and tearing it into pieces. With a desperate look in his eye, Xelphen unloaded the black arrows he had on hand into the Berserker, but to no avail.

He wasn't so lucky next time. With another swing, Berserker smashed his club into Xelphen's side, sending him flying into the nearby wall. Blood spurted from his mouth, and pain shot throughout his battered, broken body. His ribs were shattered in numerous places, his leg was snapped in half, and Xelphen hit his head a little too hard. But, Berserker didn't follow up strongly, and slowly smashed his club next to Xelphen. Using this time, Xelphen took the chance to summon all the arrows he could handle and sent them flying into the Servant, like machine guns firing into an enemy soldier. It ripped many holes in the Servant, and would make a normal human dead.

He then took his time and ran as fast as he could, limping and holding his ribs. Xelphen then looked behind him, and saw Berserker regenerate its body from where the wounds were. The white-haired girl turned and smiled at him as he left, slowly and slowly. Who does she think she is?! I'll kill her, even if I... Calm Red, she kill us before you make a dent in her. She doesn't seem to be the type to let anybody who attacks her escape. She'll die at the end of the day. I swear it! First, Xelph needs healing, dumb oaf.

"Hahaha... Pain feels so good, doesn't it... I can feel what my prey feel, this pleasure..."

[m139]

Wormholes are a very interesting thing, even if they are just your regular, single dimension, Point A to Point B wormhole. So, when you have an inter-plainer (one that spreads across plains, i.e., universes), intra-plainer wormhole (spreads across a single universe, allowing different exit points), and time insensitive (spreads across time, well, everywhere) you can imagine how difficult the whole set up is.

Now, I'm sure there is a really long drawn out explanation for how all of this works, and I am sure that, if I wanted to, I could write a ten thousand words or so post that you might read at least the first paragraph of, but, since George explained at least some of it right, I will summarize how the rest works in one word: magic.

Needless to say, both George and Youmu encountered wormhole magic when they entered the wormhole. All at once, it was as if they were in a thousand pieces, and at the same time all together. All at once all knowledge of all time flooded into their memories, and the fates of all the world were exposed to them. Timelines surrounded them, and each seemed as if a separate string, all coming from the same source, and all tending towards the same end.

Well, at least most of them tended toward the same end. There were a few outliers...

And it was to one of these that Youmu directed her motion towards. I can't describe how exactly she "swam" towards it, because you do not really have a physical body in a wormhole. Perhaps "directed her thoughts toward it" is a better terming of the event that actually occurred.

But I digress.

Anyways, this particular timeline was even different from most. Unlike most of the other outliers, which just, well, ended in the darkness, this one seemed pretty solid up to a point, like the normal timelines, then seemed to have a bunch of wispy strings coming out of one end. One was more solid then the other, and turned back, eventually, to the normal end; this was the most probable end, all things left alone. But still, the wisps, which were alternate endings that wandered pretty much everywhere, still existed. In was as if the timeline did not know exactly where it was going. It was as if fate, the eventual end to which all things were suppose to go, was being countered by some person...

And then, she saw her. Even as her mind rushed over the whole entire timeline, all the way from its very inception to its probable end, and as her mind looked over every other timeline at the same time, she saw her.

She saw Alice, instantly poofing into this timeline, creating a major crock in the line of fate. But it seemed that all would have gone back to normal, if not for someone else who also appeared, and this person being, well Caster.

She watched it for a while, following the most probable string, and saw all the events unfolded. The bloody grail war. Caster and Alice surviving. And then, George having Caster kill Alice with a command seal.

Wait, what? Again she watched that short scene. Again she saw it. How? What?

She did not understand. How did it come to this? How in the world had it come to this? George would never have killed Alice before. Why now?

She watched the whole thing over again. And this time, she saw it.

There was Caster, standing across from that girl with white hair on the roof top. She heard the white haired girl, Audrey, explain that she had caused everything. She had moved Alice to this world, a world where she would inevitably die. She had left everyone in the other timeline to die to the Behemoth.

Slowly and slowly, the anger was boiling up inside of Alice. She watched the fight, cheering for Caster, but before Caster could win, the fight was broken up, and Audrey disappear. And in the end, after the Grail War was over, she watched Audrey kill Caster, and George loose his wife once again.

No. No! NOOO!!!

Alice could not die! George could not loose everything he wanted! Even caster, who was being manipulated by the white hair girl, should be saved! They all deserved a life! Especially Alice! How could Alice die like that! It was terrible!

Her anger might have been directed towards George, or Caster, except that she was friends with George and actually liked Caster some. And so, her anger went towards the only one it could go to, the one who had created this entire situation, one that would bring death to them all: Audrey.

Hate piled upon hate, and as her emotions piled up, there began to grow a hole in that timeline. And exit had been created. And through this exit, Youmu fell, returning to her human form (well, close to human, since she is not really human human) and entering the timeline...




“You can keep your memories until your death, Caster,” she states, raising a hand at you. “So do me a favour – and die right now.”

Audrey said, looking directly at us. Then suddenly, there came a crackle from above and behind her.

A giant whirling black mass appears, high in the sky, and from it lightning and other flashes of color descend.

And then the voice

"HOW DARE YOU!" comes a female voice, full of rage.

An instant later, the body from which the shout was issued becomes visible in her descent.

Her swords are drawn, her face is angry, and she's set to strike exactly where Audrey stands.

You would be a little surprised, except that you knew, from the amazing power of meta-knowledge, that this was going to happen.

Still, you can't help but be quite grateful. You will have to seriously thank her for this if you survive.

After all, who can tell what the future has in store for us now?

[Rhomeo]

“Homura, stop time! I need-”

Black & white.

“-you to come to me.”

You blink. That was fast, although you suppose it isn't too hard for someone with a power like hers. The raven-haired girl looks at you expectantly, a small string tied around your right wrist. Across from you stands Audrey, effectively trapped in time.

“Why did you need me?” Homura opens, her voice seemingly wavering. “And why is Audrey here?”

“Audrey and I were talking, and she told me to ask her questions… but then she said I needed to die, and...” you manage, your hands balling into fists. “And then I called for you.”

No, you need to calm down. Your breathing steadies as you go back over your memories with Audr- Wait, no, there's a blank spot. There's no way to tell if it was important or not, but there's a gap in your memory to do with Audrey.

That could be a problem. Was it important? Was it a way to deal with her?

You'll never know.

“She said… you needed to die?” Homura whispers, so quiet you can barely hear her. “But then… that means...”

Something feels wrong…

“Homu-”

Colour returns to the world.

Audrey's eyes swivel over to Homura… and her hand falters.

“Audrey, is this…?” Homura steps towards her friend. “Is this necessary?”

“I already told you, Homura, this was going to happen eventually,” Audrey manages through gritted teeth. “Caster has to die.”

“But she's-!”

“She's not Madoka. You know that.”

“Homura, please.”

“… I can't.”

Homura takes a step back, shaking.

“No, no, no, no, I can't do this.”

“Homura…?”

Audrey looks genuinely worried at her friend. She's…

What's with this overwhelming feeling of despair? It's like that feeling you got inside the Witch's Lair.

In one fluid motion, your bow appears in your hand. You draw, a bolt of pure magical energy forming alongside a string of ether. You aim for Audrey – the person behind it all – and shoot.

It connects.

But as the smoke clears… the person standing there isn't Audrey.

It's… it's George.

His eyes are shining.

“I was so close,” he whispers, reaching out as if to grab onto something. “She was right in front of me… and you stole her from me.”

Uh, what?

“Julia was right in front of me and you stole her from me.”

Who the hell was Julia?

Something was wrong. The feeling of despair on the rooftop was only increasing, and Homura… she was rolled into a ball against the cold concrete of the roof. You had no idea what was happening any more.

What was any of this?

“George, I didn't steal your wif-”

“Go to hell!”

His hand raises up and a beam of light appears in his palm. You move to dodge, but whatever it is, it's too fast. The light blinds you as it pierces straight through your stomach, and you wince in pain. Scuffs of footsteps behind you tell you of another presence behind you, and you duck and turn-

Youmu?!

“You left us! You left us, you left us you left us you left us you left us you left us,” she screams, trying to cut you in half over and over again.

Fuck.

And then… it happens.

The driving forces in your mind split apart into two.

… no, you were always multiple people, but now, you have the potential to be more.

It doesn't seem like Youmu or George agree with that, though.

As your body starts to shine, a beam slices straight through and takes out your entire right arm. You imagine blood would be spurting everywhere if the sheer heat hadn't cauterised the wound. Showers of blood spray the ground from behind, however, as Youmu drives her blade through your back. She twists, and you feel the need to cough up blood, but before you can-

-you become-

-more.



From an outsider's perspective, things would look pretty weird. Two Madokas, splitting apart from each other in a flash of light, only to look at each other in confusion. George and Youmu look pretty confused too, in all fairness. Enough to stop their assault, at least.

One raises their hand, and the other turns to them.

“I can't believe you would ever even think of hurting them!”

A bright light envelops the rooftop, and when it fades, there's a blonde girl, confused. There's no time to stay that way, though, as a trio of beams cut through her like scissors through paper. With barely even time to scream, she expires, torn apart by George's barrage.

Just like that.

The Caster that screamed at her compatriot kicks them, just in time for Youmu to lunge past, blade slick with blood.

…

This entire situation is only going further and further downhill.

… and then the world around them shatters.

A great Colosseum forms around you as despair becomes all you can think of or imagine. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdXTqxTWxcM) A great figure stands in the middle of the giant arena, as if watching everyone.

But that's the least of everyone's problems, still locked in combat.

The more aggressive of the two Casters is bathed in a bright light for a few brief moments before returning as a copy of George. He seems to take offence to that, raising his hand and peppering them with a trio of blasts from his palm. As soon as they make contact with the new Caster's skin the beams seem to dull, as if they can't achieve their full effect.

“How could all of this happen? I only wanted to save you… and now you are all trying to kill each other… no, I can't watch this happen!” the other Caster cries out, turning to run towards the Witch. “I'm sorry!”

A loud screech pulls the passive Caster's attention, giving them just enough time to dodge underneath an errant swing from a small doll. It lands in front of her, blocking the path. From all around her, dolls begin to pop up, watching.

Waiting.

“I order myself to achieve the maximum level of synchronisation with the abilities I had copied.”

There's a brief red light, followed by the sound of beams cutting through the air. By the time the last remaining Caster stumbles back…

Nothing. Only death. George turns his face towards the last remaining Caster and raises his hand.

[Rhomeo]

And, even before he can do anything, the remaining caster crumbles to the ground.

"I'm sorry." They say softly, looking at the ground, tears streaming down their face, "I'm sorry for everything. I only ever wanted to save you... But all I ever did was hurt you more and more. Nothing can make up the pain I caused. Not even my death. But if what you are about to do can make you and Youmu just a bit happier- then, then at least there was some point to my life."

Caster paused, and stifling a sob, continued, "Go ahead kill me now. Make this one point of my life worth living."

With that, the remaining bit of Caster raised her tear-filled eyes and looked upon, for the last time, the faces of those they had loved.

And so, without a hint of remorse or guilt, George did as she wished.



From on high, Audrey frowned. She'd wanted to find another solution – something better. Slowly, she descended from the clouds and down to the Witch's shoulder. The peons tried desperately to reach her, but so close to their master they wouldn't risk anything. She already knew that.

She'd technically made them, after all.

“I'm sorry about all of this, Homura,” the white-haired girl whispered to her friend.

A single tear fell from her eye, falling, falling, and…

…



“Homura-chan?”

Slowly, the ravenette's eyes fluttered open. Madoka, in her school uniform, knelt in front of her. Sayaka with that forever annoyed look stared down.

“… Madoka?” she breathed, jolting forward. “What happened?”

“We found you asleep on the roof, silly!” Madoka giggled.

What… what happened?

Her memories felt… fuzzy.

Confused, she stood up and moved past the two girls to the edge of the building, looking out over Mitakihara. Had she really fallen asleep on the roof? It didn't feel like her. Something was…

… wrong.

Something was missing.

But what?



In a Workshop that's nowhere near Japan, George reaches out. His hand finds flesh – a face.

He had no memory of how he'd saved her, but…

… in the end, it didn't really matter.

He had her back, his Julia.

A genuine smile spread across his face.



“Are you my Master?”

Shirou looked up to meet the eyes of the woman in front of him. Blonde hair, regal armour, a beautiful face. He had to be dreaming, surely?

No, this is definitely reality.

His head whipped to the side, but whatever voice had spoken in his ear was gone.

Gone.

… gone.



That world was gone.

Caster was gone.

… and in her sacrifice, Audrey was gone.

Life returned to normal for the reality of all timelines, everything balanced out.

For now.