Quest of Fate - Apocrypha Universe Grail War

[Bird of Hermes]

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I take it I am finally forgiven for 'A Magus, a Servant and a Dead Apostle walk into a bar'?

Also, that's a good rundown of pretty much every character. Raff I'll keep note of that.

[Rafflesiac]

You are forgiven.

[RoydGolden]

...Well, that was hot. Not as much of a threesome as I was expecting though, given Risa ran away almost immediately. As for my votes:

[X] Ask what Lancer's wish on the Grail is. (I recall asking this before once, but I don't think we got a clear answer)

[X] Past romance. (Seconding Raffles; I'm curious why she fell in love with Ota in the first place)

[You]

Ask Lancer to teach Seigi a super move even a monkey could perform

Open up about Reiner

- - - Updated - - -





We Life guard now

[Bird of Hermes]

Open up about Reiner

Question is, how? We currently have one for romance and one for friendship

[Zurvan]

Don't switch routes now

thats bad ending 101

[You]

Question is, how? We currently have one for romance and one for friendship

[SleepMode]

[X] Ask why Lancer fell for Ota (boy I hope this wasn't easily inferrable from her flashback because I do not remember it at all)

[X] Talk about friends

---

Following Raff's footsteps

[Bird of Hermes]

[X]boy I hope this wasn't easily inferrable from her flashback because I do not remember it at all

Cryptic dreams are cryptic

- - - Updated - - -

Also jut to check, does anyone else want to voice their opinions on characters or are we all agreeing with Raff here?

[SleepMode]

Potshot here

Saber is Helgi Hundingsbane: Given Protection of Fate is likely based upon this:

So Sigmund became a mighty King and far-famed, wise and high-minded: he had to wife one named Borghild, and two sons they had between them, one named Helgi and the other Hamund; and when Helgi was born, Norns came to him, and spake over him, and said that he should be in time to come the most renowned of all kings.

On the other hand, ​Monstrous Body may be attributed to his father Sigmund's episode with lycanthropy.

[RoydGolden]

Potshot here

Saber is Helgi Hundingsbane: Given Protection of Fate is likely based upon this:



On the other hand, ​Monstrous Body may be attributed to his father Sigmund's episode with lycanthropy.

Really cool that you came up with this. And if true, it'd mean I was partially right in guessing Sigmund.

[Bird of Hermes]

Seigi Nomikata
Location: The Apartment
Phase: Day – Afternoon
Condition: Exhausted



There’s only question on my mind.

Despite her seeming façade as an emotionless tool, there have always been cracks in the persona. Despite her fundamental nature as a servant, I’ve never been able to see her as merely a disposable tool. However it clear she was once truly like this but someone was close to her first.

Someone who loved her unconditionally.

“Lancer,” I ask “Tell me about Otoachibana.”

“Ota…”

She pauses as her voice trails off and her eyes wander to the side for a moment. I hope it’s a fond memory she’s recalling.

“It was a political marriage,”she finally says. “My father needed an ally and wanted to be rid of me. Ota was… she was perfect.”

That’s odd.

“Lancer,” I say, cutting her off. “You seemed utterly indifferent to her when you met. How was she perfect?”

Lancer picks up again.

“In the beginning of my life, I felt no love for anyone.-”

In my mind’s eye, I recall a past shared dream, a shared memory…

“-my father told me to punish my brother for his continual misbehaviour, so I tore him limb from limb.”

And I see it. I feel the sensation of ripping a man asunder, the splatter of blood across my form, his screams… almost songlike against my ears contrasting to Lancer’s cold voice.

“I felt nothing. I slaughtered my own flesh and blood as if he was livestock but I was completely desolate. There was no thrill to it and there was no sorrow. My father was terrified and changed my name and title to Prince Osu to replace the son he lost and cast me away because he feared me.”

I remember that indeed. I remember him trying not to scream.

But there’s her…

“I connected with very few people in my life. As you could probably tell, there was no love in our family. My father hated me and wished my dead. My aunt…”

She loses her trail once more, thinking of what could have been.

“She granted me my spear and sword but she disappeared from my life just as quick as she entered, so despite the gifts it is difficult to register an emotional attachment. I slew all the emperor’s enemies and yet he still feared me, so he sent one of his liege lords to ambush me in my own home. I realised I had no one but my wife remained.”

The memories pour in, the distance, the combat, the act of love.

“Again it was a political marriage. Many were expecting me to have a harem of young boys and girls to spend my time with instead of my wife. However she never left my side-”

I remember the dreams.

“It was infuriating. At that point in my life all I cared for was combat so whenever I spent my time with her, I was distant emotionally or making her howl. From what I understood it made a complicated cocktail of emotions.”

I remember it, it was the first dream we shared.

But I remember more.

The mock combat.

The-

Understanding.

“You hear what was going on in my head didn’t you?”

She gives a little nod and smiles.

“Correct Mas- Seigi.”Stumbling across her own words as she tries to not refer to me as a superior. “Despite my lack of warmth, she never wavered from my side. She was the only one who tried to understand me.”

I understand.

Ota was Lancer’s

“…Your only friend in life.”

Her face starts to lighten up, her expression relaxes and her tone lifts too.

“I have never felt romantic love and even after all this time I am unsure if that was what I felt for her. I spent so long utterly devoid of anything in my heart but she thawed my soul. That’s what we had, a true friendship. Even after all this time Ota may have been in love with a woman who could not love her back.”

I can’t help but draw comparisons to me and Lancer. Our relationships, our fathers… It almost scares me with how similar we can be.

“So is that your wish?” I ask “To be together with her again? The one close to your heart?”

Her expression freezes.

“

Emperor

Master

… I do not know what I want exactly. I’ve only felt complete with her by my side-“

I remember that Lancer essentially committed suicide after Ota’s death.

“It is a selfish wish but I want to be together with her again… but.”

Another hang up.

“You saw what I was like in the beginning. I was cruel for so long with my absence, I cannot help but feel that she deserves… better than me. I want to make her happy.”

Her expression fades away, the light seems to die all over again. I’ve been told the loss of a loved one is unbearable and the kind you cannot imagine if you have never felt it yourself. It is hard for me to relate, I’ve never had anyone to lose until recently.

What I need to do is take Lancer’s mind off it myself. It’s time to open up I suppose.

---

Location: London – Oxford Street ‘The Daily Ritual’
Phase: Just over Three Years Ago
Condition: Thirsty

It had been quite difficult to reserve a spot at the café; after all it supposedly held the reputation of being the best coffee shop in all of Britain for mages.

Apparently every sip was like magic, and that was just the regular drinks. Rumour had it that out the back was a selection only for mages that held potent magecraft woven into every single drop that functioned like a literal spell. From what I had seen about the faculty, one student who was failing their classes had a cup of a particular brew and afterwards didn’t sleep for three days and worked like an automaton to produce the best paper in the whole class but collapsed and slept for a week afterwards.

My first thought was that was relatable. My second was that the coffee must had been some sort of temporary self-inflicted geass. My third and final thought was that I needed to see for myself what the truth was. Besides although going to a coffee shop seemed like a mediocre 16^th birthday present from me to me, it would be fascinating by an academic standpoint.

[BGM ON]

A soft ding atop the door welcomes me to the establishment. I must be the first one in this morning. The overall ambience, despite the solitude, is rather comforting with the soft lighting and gentle music in the background.

“Take a seat; I’ll be with you in just a moment.”

An older yet refined gentlemanly voice calls out. Although I cannot find the identity of the man, I’m compelled to obey.

After making my way to a nearby double booth as café’s seldom do single seat areas, I feel an odd pulse and find myself moving past that to the far side just by the smoky area of the locale. Finding myself at a stop and sitting down after the odd experience, I hear gentle footsteps against the hard oak floor.

“Good morning young sir, welcome to Daily Ritual. Is this your first time with us?”

Master A, The Lifesaver, "the number three man female students would like to sleep with".

The owner of ‘The Daily Ritual’, this older man is something of a local legend at Clock Tower. Lukas Adalbert was a second generation magus and a remarkably poor one at that. Despite not being able to keep up with the lessons or environment of Clock Tower, he found an alternative pathway as his peers found that none could beat his coffee. Incorporating what magecraft he knew and experimenting with different brews and strengthened them far beyond their original potency.

Despite being unable to achieve a single rank of his own when released by his professors, he became a unique success creating brews that kepts students going and that even the highest ranking mages maying extra for forbidden ‘Age of Gods’ brews that King Solomon supposedly drank.

I don’t know how much of this was true but I do know that he’s… actually kind of hot. I don’t usually go for the whole ‘Grey Fox’ but in my humble and absolute opinion, he pulls it off better than Lord El Melloi II. He’s definitely easy on the eye for someone almost in his sixties. However my train of thought has gone off track long enough. Time for my order-

“Would you care for a mocha? Perhaps a brew of good fortune for a new student of Clock Tower?”

I freeze in disbelief, left speechless for a moment.

Two.

Three.

“… How did you know?”

He gives a warm chuckle.

“A good host must know his clientele through and through.”

Still, I am at a loss for words. It’s not an answer but I’m not really in a state to speak long complex sentences.

“T-that would be great thank you.”

He gives a smile and a nod before leaving me to my thoughts. But that said, some good fortune would be good. Father hasn’t said much to me on the rare occasion we’ve been at home together recently and after I started dying my hair red a few months ago, he’s spent more time at the Nomikata ancestral residence off in Japan than even in the country. It’s odd that people take note of my mixed race when I don’t know a single thing about the culture of the nation, the only foreign nations I’ve been too are Wales and Scotland. I doubt that he’ll come to, he’s always been ‘off’ for lack of a better word but I am meeting the one who will become my roommate within a few days, I hope things go well.

However as I continue to ponder the fate of what may be, I hear another ‘ding’ of someone entering. The footsteps are far louder and clumsier, probably an excitable child.
The steps are getting louder, they’re coming for me. If I look down and try to look inconspicuous perhaps I’ll-

“Mind if I sit here with you? I hate sitting alone in quiet places.”

I blink, she’s… she’s pretty hot too.

…I’m not really in a position to say no. Honestly I don’t want to.

I nod and gesture to the solitary chair before me.

“No problem, take a seat.”

She pulls on the chair roughly, dragging it against the floor before dropping herself down and looking up at me excitedly.

“Name’s Lancaster. York Lancaster. 22 Years old. Ex-Clock Tower student and freelancer.”

She reaches out

“You can call me ‘Yorkie’ if you want.”

I take her hand.

“Seigi Nomikata. Just turned 16, soon to be a full time student at Clock Tower.”

She takes my hand with a lot of energy and shakes it just as eagerly.

“Nice to see a cute kid like you has good taste coming to a place like this. The head of this place is pretty hot isn’t he? Especially for an old guy. But I don’t just like older guys, you just turned 16 so you’re fair game and it won’t be long till you’re fending off all kinds of women.”

Before I can open my mouth to say anything, she keeps talking.

“I come here a lot, I stay in most days but it’s nice to get out of the house once a week but sometimes you need to take a break from video games, dating sims and watching movies till 4 am. I know it’s not mage-like but I’m better than most so it doesn’t really matter ‘cause I can get the bills paid any ways I like.”

And talking

“But it’s not every day that you come across a cute young guy like yourself in a setting like this, like something out of an otome game. Like second or third route quality stuff.”

I don’t even know what she’s saying now.

“If you really are new here then I can show you around all the best places, it’ll be like something out of a rom-com, or a really bad sitcom. But we should have our coffee first, I always have the same thing so Lukas just makes it and I pay him as he comes so we can sit back a have a nice little chat. You’re just starting up so why don’t you tell me about yourself?”

That was definitely a lot of words. It takes a second for me to collect myself back into the poise that an elegant magus should and that this ‘Yorkie’ clearly doesn’t possess no matter how good she claims to be, however I’m merely a student and she as five-or-six years on me so I’m certainly in no position to get snooty. As the new man about town, I should probably take this chance for an olive branch she’s passed to me, or rather thrown at me.

“I’ve been here a few times but never for long. I’ve grown up in London but I was mainly home tutored whenever my father was actually present, so the rest is self taught. That said, I’ve not too much to say about myself other than I’m kind of a jack of all trades so far in magecraft but I tend to screw up with alchemy as I always end up reducing it to rubble.”

I decide to keep it professional but this woman is either in the mood to talk about herself or is angling for something. So I extend an offer myself to see what she wants.

“As I’m new as a resident, would you mind showing me around?”

I hear her whisper something vaguely about some sort of ‘route’ but her face lightens up soon after.

“ I hope the coffee shows up soon, I could really use a cuppa.” I say idly to myself “Perhaps I should have gone with t-”

On mention of the beverage, Lukas appears again with drinks in hand.

“One iced caramel frappuccino with cream and syurp and… one mocha.”

I forgot the last myth. He hates tea with an absolute passion.

After Mr A, leaves us to our drinks, we both take a sip in silence after the minor scene that I may-or-may-not have caused. I can feel the intensity and rich flavour from one slip alone, waking up my mind for the day ahead. However I am unsure if I’ll be back here any time soon other than to make an apology.

But before we leave for ‘Yorkie’ to show me around London, she gives my hands one last stroke and I feel her leg brush against mine.
I have to catch my breath.

---

Location: The Apartment
Phase: Day – Afternoon
Condition: Exhausted

“We ended up dating after a few weeks and broke up several months.”

Lancer’s face seems almost mystified.

“You two sounded as if you were completely incompatible.”

I can’t help but laugh.

“Oh we were absolutely. We had nothing in common at all; I was lonely and alone while she was an alluring older woman. That and I was sixteen and hormones were a thing. We stuck together because it was more of a convenience than anything else, we eventually saw each other less and less till we both broke it up. If anything else it was mutual but it was a good thing we did it when we did because I was beginning to dislike her, not that we did much together in the last few weeks besides… yeah.”

Lancer doesn’t seem to be able to relate to the last point but after a moment of a puzzled expression, she asks a question.

“That’s why you feel for Risa isn’t it? You feel a genuine connection, an understanding?”

…

“I suppose I do.”

“Couldn’t you say the same about Reiner though?”

At that I actually end up bucking over laughing, my guffaw echoes throughout the room.

“You actually have a point their Lancer. We-”

I take a deep breath to calm myself.

“Have you ever visited a place for the first time and it rained, so you ended up hating that place? That’s more or less what happened when I met Reiner. I’m pretty sure that barista gave me a cursed drink instead of a good one because everything that could have gone wrong with us. There’s been tension between us since day one but I think we came to an understanding in out last fight… our fists did the talking. Just as well as I’m pretty sure that we’re either going to kiss or end up properly hurting each other at this rate.”

A shame, if Reiner wasn’t so stereotypically snooty and egotistical he’d probably be my type of guy.

With my own thoughts on what could have been, I’m disturbed by a rumble in the distance.

And another and another.

“Seigi, do you feel that?”

Energy signatures, the Masters and Servants are mobilising without us.

Plan of Attack:

[ ] Go to the temple, perhaps Atsusui and Caster can help us again
[ ] Seek out an unfamiliar signature, identify the last enemy if possible
[ ] Seek out an old enemy, try and eliminate someone if you can (Write in who!)
[ ] Find the mystery assistant, I think I know who it could be.
[ ] Try and find Risa, she isn’t back yet and our friend is our top priority
[ ] Find Father, I feel compelled to for my own reasons
[ ] Stay at the apartment with Lancer, its safe here.
[ ] Write in!

==================================================

Apologies for the delay but there have been a number of things in the way. I would like to say thank you to Sunny for allowing me use of her character for this scene.

[You]

wooooo

try to find risa

[SleepMode]

[X] Try and find Risa, she isn’t back yet and our friend is our top priority

Make sure she's okay

[Rafflesiac]

I really want to send Lancer to find Risa while we stay at home resting since we're wiped, but with Archer's eyes on us that's a terrible move, and I'd hate to spend another Command Seal on a warp of all things.

So [X] Try and find Risa, she isn’t back yet and our friend is our top priority.

[RoydGolden]

[X] Try and find Risa, she isn’t back yet and our friend is our top priority

Seems the votes are pretty unanimous this time around.

[Bird of Hermes]

That’s true, (though I’m a little surprised you didn’t make any mention of me bringing back Yorker from the Mage contest.

[RoydGolden]

That’s true, (though I’m a little surprised you didn’t make any mention of me bringing back Yorker from the Mage contest.

Don't think that slipped my mind, but I didn't really feel it merited a comment. Certainly didn't expect her to be Seigi's ex-girlfriend, though (if not for all the slots already being filled, I'd expect her to end up as a rival Master for bonus drama points). Honestly, I'm a little more surprised that you brought in Sunny's Adalbert. I presume you got her permission beforehand?

[Rafflesiac]

I would like to say thank you to Sunny for allowing me use of her character for this scene.

.

[You]

its good that people are using entries in the contest for other projects
there's definitely more value in this than making a character for the sake of making a character