Makes sense, he is the Supervisor after all. Still, that always kinda bothered me; if so many of the people knew about the war, you'd think that they'd end up with more prepared participants instead of all these half-trained teenagers being drawn into a battle to the death... Eh, whateverOriginally Posted by PhoenixAct
Well Rin and the other Masters (except Shirou) did summon their Servants on purpose. So maybe they did have a couple of months notice, just not the fifty+ years like usual?
If you're going through hell, keep going. - Winston Churchill
There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so. - William Shakespeare
Well, the von Einzberns most likely had more than a month's notice, since Ilya summoned Herakles quite some time prior to the War proper (not clear on how long, but I've seen multiple people say things like 'about a month').
"Those who say it can not be done should not interrupt those who are doing it."
-- Chinese Proverb
They clearly did have some kind of notice, yes.
I believe that the wars happen basically when the Grail has collected enough prana to summon seven servants (which is normally after 60 years), so it makes sense that it'd be possible to tell when it was nearly full.
The Mother
She was aware.
It wasn't like waking from sleep, for she never slept. The darkness receded quickly and her mind began to process her thoughts immediately. For her this was more like returning to the world, she always existed but usually in a more abstract, conceptual way. She never had a physical body, not unless she was needed.
She was on top of a high mountain, the chill wind whipping about her; while she was aware of the extreme cold she couldn't feel it as such and it certainly didn't cause her pain. She stood atop the snow, her feet making only the lightest of impressions as though she weighed little more than a feather. Her gaze was fixed, surveying a land that no mortal eye would be able to see through the thick clouds but she wasn't looking with her eyes.
The information entered her mind unobtrusively, like it had always been there. She was in a country called Japan, Nippon in the local tongue. Then it happened, the targets flared in her mind's like beacons and she could hear the echoing of a thousand tiny voices crying. As usual she felt sorrow, a maternal desire to reach out to those voice and comfort them and make everything all right. Which she would.
Suddenly she was overcome by a feeling like an unholy blade being driven into the centre of her soul and she gasped in pain, a rarity for her. Two cities were much brighter than the others, raging infernos instead of simple beacons and the voices they contained screamed much louder. Her sorrow was replaced by a maternal anger, one that demanded blood.
The names of those two cities were imprinted in her mind, like words carved in stone. Misaki and Fuyuki... Those would be the first two locations she visited this time.
She was one of the twenty-five spirits of justice, her title was The Mother and her role was to protect the children and avenge their suffering.
Unable to bear the screams any longer she cut her connection to the greater human consciousness and began her descent down the mountain. Her little ones needed her.
- - -
Author's note: Just a small snippet of an idea from me, seeing as I haven't posted anything in a while. The character in question is actually from an original piece I've been working on.
If you're going through hell, keep going. - Winston Churchill
There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so. - William Shakespeare
In~teresting.
I admit, I'm curious - but I'm also still waiting for another chapter of "Bundle of Joy."
“Love will be cruel to who it entices — love will have its sacrifices.”
— Carmilla Theme
"Evil isn't the real threat to the world. Stupid is just as destructive as Evil, maybe more so, and it's a hell of a lot more common. What we really need is a crusade against Stupid. That might actually make a difference."
―Jim Butcher, Vignette
Disclaimer: As usual I do not own anything from the Nasuverse.
Dirty Pair
Ryougi Mana walked in to her schools karate dojo at the end of her second week, of her second year in high school not expecting anything interesting to happen.
She had joined the school karate club last year, during her first year of high school. There had been … not words over it, but she had been able to tell that her mother hadn’t strictly speaking, approved. However at the time it felt like something she had to do. The only one she practised against at home was her mother and she was never going to beat her if it stayed that way, if she always knew everything she could do. So she had joined the karate club, hoping to improve herself by sparing against some new opponents.
She hadn’t been expecting much, yet she had still been very disappointed.
For most of those who had entered the club with her, this was there first time practicing any martial art, ever. And she could beat those in the upper years with ease, even the black belts. Even the instructor was nowhere near her level. She wasn’t making any progress here, worse she was stagnating. Frankly she’d have quit a long time ago if it hadn’t been for the fact that being a part of the club annoyed her mother.
Today the second years like her had been paired up with the first years, to spar with them a little, over the basic they should have learned last week.
Mana had been paired a red-haired girl, specifically because this girl had apparently practiced martial arts before. Big deal, she’d already beaten other girls like that. Plus this one looked way too nice to be a serious martial artist.
The bowed to each other and sunk in to their ready stances. Her first blow was a straight-punch, it was almost lazy by her standards but still usually enough to get through the defences of anyone in this dojo. The blow never reached its target, her opponent had caught it around the wrist and was smiling at her sweetly.
Mana raised an eyebrow and sunk back in to her ready stance. She tried the same attack again with a bit more force and this time the girl pushed it aside with her right hand. Again the girl was smiling at her. She was intrigued enough that she almost missed the open-palmed strike to her solar plexus, getting her arms down just in time to block.
For the third time Mana adopted her ready stance, but this time she took a second to examine her opponent. The girl was also standing ready in a basic left-hand fighting stance. However her posture and the exact positioning of her limbs weren’t as sloppy as a beginner’s usually were; and now that Mana looked, she could see the girl had a little muscle on her, the tight-compacted kind that came from hard work and practice, rather than the kind that came from working out. She looked the girl in the eyes and despite the fact that the girl was still smiling, she liked what she found there. Her eyes weren’t looking at Mana’s eyes or at any part of her body like most novices made the mistake of doing; they were staring through her, beyond her.
Mana felt a tingle run over her skin and she wondered, had she found what she was looking for in this girl? Well, why not test her and find out?
For the third time she aimed a straight-punch at her opponent, this time going for the head. Her opponent again batted it away with back of her left hand and retaliated with another open-palmed strike at her chest with her right. Mana stepped to the side and brought her leg up to hit her opponent’s stomach. The girl grabbed her leg with and kicked the other out from under her but maintained a hold on the leg, falling to the ground with her, attempting to pin her down. She managed to get her free leg up and press it against the red-head’s chest, pushing her backwards and forcing her to release her captured leg.
Both of them sprang back to their feet and came at each other again. She aimed a backhanded blow at the first-year’s head, she ducked and attempted to sweep Mana’s legs out from under her again. Mana leapt over the attack and landed just in time to duck backwards from the follow-up round kick aimed at her face.
She rushed forward, and aimed her fist at the girl’s throat. She spun to the side and attempted to use the momentum to land a blow on the back of Mana’s head. The second-year turned and caught the incoming fist.
Mana wasn’t aware of how long they went at it, only that neither of them was doing karate any longer. At some point she became vaguely away that the rest of the class had stopped practising and were simply standing around, watching the two of them. She felt exhilarated; she had finally found someone who could challenge her. They ducked and weaved through each others attacks, blocked and countered. Neither of them were aiming for spots that would win them points in a tournament; both of them were aiming for weak spots that would drop an opponent in a real fight.
All too soon their spar was interrupted by a shrill whistle. The instructor marched over and began yelling at the two of them, but Mana couldn’t hear her. Her blood was thundering in her veins and she could feel the grin tugging at her own face. There was sweat on her forehead and rolling down her back, her muscles ached a little. All of it felt so good.
The girl was still smiling, however it was no longer sweat and innocent, but savage and excited. Her eyes sparkled in a way that matched her new grin.
Later, after the two of them had received a long speech on “safety” and “discipline”, they began their walk home. Mana was still on a high from the fight and the girl as ever, was smiling.
As they reached the school gates Mana turned to her and said:
“I never got you’re name.”
“Ah, it’s Tohno, Tohno Akiko,” the red-head replied and bowed.
“Ryougi Mana,” she responded and returned the bow. “Well, it was a good practice, Tohno Akiko-san.”
“It really was,” Akiko replied, nodding her head vigorously.
“Would you be interested in meeting up over the weekend, for another go?” she asked.
“Sure!”
“It’s a date then,” Mana said, extending her arm towards Akiko, who grasped it firmly.
- - -
AN: And that's how Ryougi Mana became friends with the daughter of Tohno Shiki and Kohaku. Yeah this is sorta somewhat related to the Babysitter Akiha piece.
If you're going through hell, keep going. - Winston Churchill
There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so. - William Shakespeare
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