But For A Stone (A Matou Shinji Series AU)

[skulkidcachi90]

[x] Sokaris, in Ravenclaw Tower
[x] Make a copy for her using Gemino

Time to give some use to shinji's curses.

[alfheimwanderer]

If you're curious about the dream, it is the moment of origin of this particular path - when the destabilization of a certain device that Harry had in his possession went haywire, resulting in a temporal fracture, that if left unchecked, would have consumed the entire world. Look forward to more Temporal shenanigans in book 6 of the main series: Matou Shinji and the Sands of Time.

This is also the last dream of the sort this particular Shinji will experience, and already the details are fading.

[neophyte]

[x] Sokaris, in Ravenclaw Tower

Time for her to take responsibility for our irresponsible parallel self.

[x] Make a copy for her using Gemino

On a side note - damn. Wth the main line we are doing? We'll need something like elder scroll or cursed child's time-turner to fix all this mess.

[alfheimwanderer]

On a side note - damn. Wth the main line we are doing? We'll need something like elder scroll or cursed child's time-turner to fix all this mess.

Yes, in the main line you are doing now in Broken Chains.

As for a prototype time-turner, well...something like that might have caused the problem to begin with, as the battle this vision describes doesn't happen in 1996, and comes after a lot of...well, people wanting to fix a mess.

Fortunately for all involved, except Mister Potter, the fracture is dealt with before it manages to destroy all of existence as we know it, though it does manage to create two splinter timelines. One where Harry died, and so had no influence on the timeline during the Hogwarts years, and one where Shinji never received a certain letter, which you may know a FSN/HP canon.

[Daiki]

[x] Sokaris, in Ravenclaw Tower.

Probably the only one who can figure out the timeline mess.

[x] Tell her that she is welcome to copy it, if she wants.

Don't think Shinji's Gemino copy can last long enough to study the book properly.

[alfheimwanderer]

[x] Sokaris, in Ravenclaw Tower.

Probably the only one who can figure out the timeline mess.

Do keep in mind that he's already forgetting the details, beyond the feeling of killing someone who could not defend himself.

[skulkidcachi90]

Don't think Shinji's Gemino copy can last long enough for her to get to study the book properly.

The copy would exist until shinji's death.
Wonder if Rin would mind let shinji make some copies of her gems, of course she would get some copies too (easy money).

[alfheimwanderer]

The copy would exist until shinji's death.

Technically it could outlast someone's death, though it does have a weaker existence - the copy will rot or decay at a faster rate, because its...thinner than the original, if that makes sense. Just remember that it won't work on something with magical protections, or to copy magic.

This is the spell that Lockhart has described as essentially allowing for a post-scarcity society, only the Ministry declared copies as "worthless" to avoid breaking their current economy.

[Daiki]

A shame then. Fair enough, I'll with swap for [x] Miyuki, in her Greenhouse.

The book is very likely protected against magical reproductions.

[Skull Leader]

[X] Miyuki, in her Greenhouse
[X] It's not possible - its an old book, and he doesn't want to risk damaging it, but he is willing to share

I thought about a write in here stating that if she can determine if its free of protections then Shinji would be glad to copy it for her, but I just don't think that Shinji would think that she might be an expert on this. Its a bit of a leap at this point thinking the potion expert can also determine this. Even if she might.

However I thought of another route we could take. We could [] Take the book to Madam Pince and ask how does one determine if this book has protections against copying it.

I am just throwing that idea out to everyone to see if people thoughts on it or has suggests to refine it. Cause I think it might work. Its not as if she can read the book and its his book so I am not sure it would be all together a bad idea. Not when we have her favor somewhat still. She is the expert I suppose on this subject.


As for drowning Rin in gems again...that would be Shinji just trolling the girl that laugh in his face again. It would not lead to an stable relationship of equals when all he is doing is showing her up. I think if you are going to try to get a more positive relationship with her, we will need to go about it with a different angle. Shinji has little reason to really start loving her, since its not Rin that would ever support him without some benefit.

Rin is just that girl that he desired in the past at the moment. That has been eclipsed by him meeting girls at Hogwarts that might actually care about him and show him kindness. Or at least laugh with him and not at him and also take time help him learn. A Rin path that actually leads to happiness for both is one of the hardest routes I think there is. And it does not begin I believe by throwing money/gems at her.

[Daiki]

Could work, I suppose. Might be wise to ask her if she can determine what kind of protections are on it.

Don't think she will like to hear that Shinji plan to possibly copy it through magic. Such blasphemy!

[Skull Leader]

Ok lets try this write in.

[X] Maybe. He will have to ask Madam Pince for help in determining if any magic protections are on the book, to insure that it remains in good condition of course.

I think that is enough answer to guide Shinji into this plan. If it has no protection from coping then let's copy it. And we get to look like we care about books and how to preserve them with Madam Pince.

[Desann]

[X] Maybe. He will have to ask Madam Pince for help in determining if any magic protections are on the book, to insure that it remains in good condition of course.

[skulkidcachi90]

Rin is just that girl that he desired in the past at the moment. That has been eclipsed by him meeting girls at Hogwarts that might actually care about him and show him kindness. Or at least laugh with him and not at him and also take time help him learn. A Rin path that actually leads to happiness for both is one of the hardest routes I think there is. And it does not begin I believe by throwing money/gems at her.

I think that you are really missing the point here.

I just wanted impress Rin and change her opinion about witchcraft and Shinji, remember at this point she think than both are useless as fuck.
In the other route she change her opinion of shinji and wichcraft thanks to the Wyvern's squeleton (because she believed than he killed the beast with his new powers), that help us to have a chance of interact with her later, if you have a better idea I would like to hear it.
I just hope than you woukd nit try play the nice guy with her.

[Daiki]

[X] Maybe. He will have to ask Madam Pince for help in determining if any magic protections are on the book, to insure that it remains in good condition of course.

Still think Sokaris would have been able to manually copy it. Likely only takes some time, but I don't mind lending the journal while she goes over equations for Shinji.

More points with Pince can't really hurt though.

[Cassius]

Fricking Alt TLs, can't wait though.
[x] Sokaris, in Ravenclaw Tower

[Skull Leader]

I just hope than you woukd nit try play the nice guy with her.

Rin is a tough nut to crack to be fair. And Shirou got thru to her in canon by being a nice guy so I am not sure that is altogether the wrong approach with her. Maybe, just not at the level the main route took it.

To me if Shinji is not the nice guy to her then he gets boiled down to be just another Matou to her, ie the long time enemy of her family. Maybe if Shinji could bridge the gap she has with her sister he could start an actual stable friendship with her that could grow from there. But that would be another can of worms to open for Shinji, that is frankly near impossible for Shinji to actually do because of his feelings he has about Sakura. Also without Shinji being a nice guy to her or just simply trolling her there is very little reason for Shinji to care about Rin, beyond proving to her that she was wrong to laugh at him.

I suspect that if Shinji came back to her at some later point and wiped the floor with her in a spar then she would be motivated to get stronger but it would likely set her down a path of being rivals with Shinji. Getting beyond that point would be harder.

Honestly I am not sure Rin is worth the effort it takes in the end. Sure, end of HGW Rin would be worth it but she is no where near that state at this moment. She is just some girl that he will surpass by putting in more hard work than they are willing to do. I also get the sense that they have a very low compatibility with each other. Almost as low as Ron-Hermione which to this day I still don't see how that one works.

[alfheimwanderer]

Who does he visit? [X] Sokaris, in Ravenclaw Tower
As for a copy [X] Maybe. He will have to ask Madam Pince for help in determining if any magic protections are on the book, to insure that it remains in good condition of course.

---

Pilgrimage to the Tower

Sokaris. She would be the best one to talk to about this, since while Miyuki-senpai would no doubt listen, he didn't want to worry her even more than he already had, or take advantage of her kindness. Not when she'd already done so much for him, given him so much of her time - called him her friend, despite him not having done anything to deserve that.

'At least with Sokaris, she and I know where we stand...'

That particular relationship was a much less...complicated, with her willing to help him so long as he made it worth her while in some way. Though...now that he thought about it, maybe she was only like that to keep people from taking advantage of what she could do, much like Miyuki-senpai, since she seemed to make time for Nigel, much in the same way Miyuki-senpai did for him.

'I guess she's not that cold after all...'

Since this wasn't about classwork, what would do?

'Maybe...the journal grandfather sent me?'

It was a weathered old thing filled with dense notes, written mostly in Russian, a language that he didn't understand - he could only identify it due to the odd letters that composed it. Well, it was either that or Greek, and as he knew a bit of the latter due to his study of the Matou texts, he didn't think it was that. He supposed that perhaps it could have been written in a cipher as well, in which case, there was little hope for him figuring out the contents, but he didn't think so, since there were a few pages here and there where annotations had been added in the same language - or later, in Japanese.

Some pages had what looked like complex equations and diagrams of the human form. Some pages depicted fairly intricate formations of runes. Some pages had sketches of what looked like immense worms, several times the size of a human (as the stick figure drawn for reference seemed to indicate). There was more beyond that, but the little he could make out was...tantalizing.

What secrets were hidden in his old tome? Why had the monster who was his grandfather described the former owner as being somewhat troublesome? These were all mysteries that he wanted to find out, though self-study had proven to be of little benefit.

'At least, Sokaris might be able to help me decipher what the equations mean...?' he imagined, thinking that since she seemed to have an interest in Alchemy and other unusual bits of knowledge, she might find it useful. He packed it in his bag, and quickly throwing his robes over himself, made his way out of the Hufflepuff Dorms and through the still-dark castle, over to Ravenclaw Tower.

But entering the Tower was not so easy, as every time someone sought to open the door, the bronze eagle-shaped knocker would pose to them a riddle. And right now, Shinji was in no state to answer one, particularly one that went like this...

What clings to you?
Bear it—you cannot.
Accept it—you cannot.
But hidden—it is from you.
Recite its name.

To the first couple of lines, he had been tempted to answer "Hermione Granger", since she seemed to "cling" to him in some sense and he could not bear her presence, but she wasn't really hidden from him, was she? Was it his past? That also clung to him, and he still found it difficult to accept that he had been replaced by the Tohsaka girl even now, but...that wasn't hidden from him either. What was hidden from him was what exactly he had done during the curious lapses in his memory, when...

"...my dark side?" Shinji hazarded, wondering if that was the answer it sought. "My Shadow," he said more confidently, as the door opened with a click, and for the second time that year, he stepped into the Common Room of Ravenclaw Tower. Unlike the more cozy Hufflepuff Commons, this one was...elegant, with graceful arched windows, blue and bronze silks hung on the walls, lush midnight-blue carpet, and a domed ceiling painted with stars - not to mention the marble statuary.

"Matou," a quiet voice greeted, with the boy glancing over to where it had come from to find Sialim Sokaris sitting in a chair by the fire, reading a treatise on the life of Nicholas Flamel, of all things. "You have something to ask of me?"

"...how did you know?" the Japanese boy asked, narrowing his eyes suspiciously. "I could have been here for anyone."

"Anyone?" Sokaris echoed, as a slim eyebrow arched. "You are not acquainted with many Ravenclaws, and it is unlikely you are here to visit Nigel Wroxton at his hour. Or Hermione Granger."

Shinji winced.

"...well, when you put it that way, I guess you have a point," he grumbled, scratching the back of his head. He really was rather...transparent, he supposed. "I wanted to show you something."

"Something?" Sokaris repeated.

"A book," Shinji clarified, as he made his way over to the seat across from her and withdrew the old tome from his bookbag. "It is...its a journal that ended up in his family's custody somehow. I don't know who the original owner was, or how we ended up getting it, but...I thought it might catch your interest?"

He offered it to the purple-haired girl, who accepted it with a nod, after setting aside her tome. Very gently, she began to flip through the pages, her expression mostly impassive as her eyes skimmed over the contents, though she let out a small grunt as she reached the first of the equation strewn pages.

"You require assistance with deciphering these equations? And recreating the spell they refer to?"

"...is that what they are? The calculations for a spell?" Shinji muttered, blinking. "I mean, yes, I would like some, if you would be willing."

"I am not unwilling, though it would be faster if I was able to study it in my own time," Sokaris replied simply. "As I doubt you will part with the original, perhaps a copy...?"

Shinji felt a little uneasy about that. He wasn't sure if the book was protected against duplication, and he didn't want to risk using Gemino on it...

"...I would have to ask Madam Pince, since she might be able to help me figure out if any magic protections are on the book," he said, sheepishly. "I don't want to accidentally ruin it."

"Noted," Sokaris answered. "I would not be averse to copying the contents by hand, if necessary. That way, we may study from a tome that is less likely to be damaged by our handling."

"Ah...you would be, huh?"

"This, of course, will require you to entrust me with the original for a small length of time, if you would be willing...?"

How does Shinji answer?

[ ] Yes, he will lend Sokaris the book so she can make a copy by hand
[ ] No, he doesn't feel comfortable letting such an old book out of his sight
[ ] No, he will make a copy himself
[ ] No, he would still rather have Madam Pince look it over.

"Very well, and was there something else...?"

What does he tell Sokaris?

[ ] Tell her about his blackouts and how agitated it makes him
[ ] Ask her why Granger seems to fear him so
[ ] Tell her what he can remember from his dream, and how unsettled it makes him feel
[ ] Tell her about having to choose one friend over another, and his happiness that Fitch had died instead
[ ] Tell her everything
[ ] (Write-in)

[fallacies]

[x] Yes, he will lend Sokaris the book so she can make a copy by hand
[x] Tell her everything

[Skull Leader]

[X] Yes, he will lend Sokaris the book so she can make a copy by hand

By all means knock yourself out. But I suspect this options is going to be slow and delay anything learned by it for quite a while. But its better than Shinji doing it himself.

[X] Tell her about his blackouts and how agitated it makes him

I admit I am hoping this will lead to some help on this issue. Others choices are fine with me expect the tell her everything choice. For god sake's people I thought we were trying to avoid Shinji being super attached to Sion and becoming her loyal vassal. Telling her everything will greatly increase her importance to Shinji. I don't mind playing a balance game here but tipping the side to Sion is my everything is a bit too much. Please keep this a limited focused talk people.