First of all, Save.
Javier: Drake Family Residence. Now that Javier is with Maria, he can save Drake's wife from the block of ice.
Maria: Meditate.
First of all, Save.
Javier: Drake Family Residence. Now that Javier is with Maria, he can save Drake's wife from the block of ice.
Maria: Meditate.
Damn, his stamina's too low to use Fireball.
Javier: Rest, Ask Maria about her grandmother and her Nazi hate, Tell Maria about my fight with the zombie
Maria: Raid Unimarq for food
Also Assassin is a twintailed tsundere childhood friend? Fucking hell, I gotta do everything I can for this.
Originally Posted by Arashi_Leonhart
+1
never kill blond girls.
===
what's with Assassin and rudeness?
Last edited by Spartacus; December 8th, 2018 at 09:05 PM.
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It's a tsundere thing
Javier: Rest
Bedtalk: Ask about Nazis and her grandmother
Maria: Raid Unimarq for food
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Well, since I'm in the minority, I'm going to change my votes to be the same as Rafflesiac's:
Oh, but I still want to Save.
Well, we have a tie between Talking About the Zombie Fight and Talking About the Maid's Words on Maria.
Mainly because Hermes chose only to ask Maria things about herself.
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+1, please !
Also, hello.
Javier:
Exploration Action - Atkinson Promenade: Let’s thaw out Drake’s wife. I get a distinct feeling as though if we don’t do that now, we won’t get another chance. We’re already nearby, and we can rest after that.
However, I’m going to invoke the Why Not Both suggestion from the Maid encounter: No reason we can’t talk to Maria as we walk over.
Chat: Speak to Maria About the Maid's Words on the Consequences of Her Death
Trying to deny those endings -- so it's best to disclose this as fast as possible.
Let’s get Maria’s opinion on that. If we aren’t going to kill Maria, then we shouldn’t be meeting someone who wants to her dead. Anything she gives us will have a cost far too steep to pay.
---
Maria:
Exploration Action: Atkinson Promenade
Javier’s death is guaranteed if we go alone.
- - - Updated - - -
You know, I feel as though if some people hadn’t picked edge for the sake of edge, at a few key points, we might be in a better situation right now.
Last edited by Draconic; December 9th, 2018 at 09:16 PM.
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Javier should rest. Talk to Maria about the Nazis and the Maid's Words on her.
Maria go raid the grocery store for some chocolate
- - - Updated - - -
and save the game
Hotel Manoir Atkinson, Atkinson Promenade 165, Valparaíso
Day 03
Morning Phase - 02
Severe Cold (-24 °C/-11 °F)
(BGM)Character Status
We are going to take it slow this morning. I’m not at one hundred percent, and Maria cannot be at one hundred percent if I am not, so resting is paramount.
Or maybe we just don’t want to get out of bed. It’s a really good bed, with really good, thick blankets.
“At least it does get warmer during daytime,” comments Maria. “We would be in deep shit if the temperature just went down.”
That is admittedly true. If it just kept getting colder, soon enough no amount of clothes and blankets could save me. However, last night was definitely colder than the previous one, so the possibility exists that things will get even harsher the longer this city stays magically frozen.
If that is indeed the case, then we should aim to end this crisis as soon as possible. This might not be something we can just wait until it ends on its own, the Maid’s words notwithstanding.
The plan is for me to catch a few more hours of sleep, but of course there’s no way I can sleep now. What I am doing now is going over my entire conversation with the Maid.
Am I doing the right thing?
No. This isn’t really about my right or wrong.
Is the Maid someone I should with?
Strictly speaking, she was completely right: she never outright said Maria has to die. She gave no indication as to whether she wished for Maria’s death. She did not suggest anything, nor was she coy about it, nor anything of that nature. She merely stated what she deemed to be fact.
If Maria dies, the “Singularity” will resolve “in its natural way”. If that happens, the Maid can teach me for as many years as necessary.
The Maid…probably, in the grand scheme of things, does not really care whether she teaches me for three hours, three days, or three lifetimes. She is a Maid, so she will serve as the circumstances allow. She probably does not even care whether Maria lives or dies.
Or maybe this is just me trying too hard at justifying myself. Because, regardless of the Maid’s secret desires, the fact itself remains.
“Maria.”
This girl is almost dazzlingly straightforward, even to the way she stares at you when you speak to her. Straightly eye-to-eye, like you are the only thing worth paying attention to in the whole world.
It’s kinda enviable.
“I…” Wait, maybe I should’ve thought this a little. “Um, I met someone yesterday.”
“Um, it wasn’t my ex, was it? I mean, if it was, you have my blessing, no biggie. Your mistake to make.”
“Goddammit Maria, I’m trying to be serious here.” Don’t mind the grin on my face.
“Then stop talking like a brat who’s found his first crush.”
Fair enough.
I close my eyes from a while, trying to figure out exactly how I am going to say this, and how much I am willing to share. Maria deserves to know this, but aside from that, my business with the Maid is just that, my business.
“Look, to be honest, I’m not even sure who she—what she is. She says she’s a Servant, but the only other Servants I’ve met are you and the Herald, and she doesn’t feel like either of you, so—!”
“You fucking idiot!”
A foot. On my face.
Now I’m on the floor—oh fuck, the floor’s still covered in snow. So fucking cold!
“Cold, cold, cold, cold—!”
“Stay down there and think of what you did!” Maria denies me the warmth of the bed with another kick to the face. What the hell, woman!?
“What were you thinking!? You could’ve gotten—what the fuck, man!?” I can only frown while the girl madly gesticulates while seated on the bed.
“Maria—”
“Don’t talk to strangers! Especially if they’re Servants! Didn’t your parents teach you that!?”
“Maria—”
“Ah, but the Herald’s cool. If you find her, try to get’er to help us.”
“Maria, let me back on the bed.”
“There’s a perfectly serviceable couch over there—”
“Maria, I’m getting back on the bed.”
Right, so how do I do this—oh, I got it.
“Maria, as long as they don’t know I’m giving you magical energy, the other Servants have no reason to hurt me.”
Maria is still pouting, but she crosses her arms while pondering those words.
“Hmm, well, yeah, yesterday Lancer didn’t do anything to Sakura. Ah, Archer did attack her, but I guess that’s because she was aiming that magical rocket launcher at Lancer?”
It’s kind of amazing how she can say “magical rocket launcher” with a straight face.
“But you know there’s always Caster, who might have magic to read your mind or whatever.” She shakes her head. “It doesn’t have to be Caster; who knows what sort of freaky Skills and Noble Phantasm are out there.”
Well, from what little I understand about the Maid’s powers, my meeting her did not really change anything; she already knew about Maria and me. But, yeah, I guess I should be mindful of the other Servants.
“You’re right,” I say, if only to calm her down. “I was reckless. I’ll be careful from now on.”
“Damn right you will,” she quickly adds, her voice not nearly as harsh as her words. “Yesterday was already enough of a close call; Saver had like an hour left at most when I found ya.”
She unexpectedly frowns.
“But you didn’t tell me this just to make me mad at ya. Spit it out.”
…damn.
Now I really feel like shit.
I’ve been seriously underestimating Maria Westinghouse.
So, I share the Maid’s words with her. I try to remember the exact words, to be thorough. I speak only what relates to the situation befalling the city. I have no reason to tell Maria about my magic, or what the Maid can teach me. No, that…that is something I need to think and resolve on my own.
There it is. Now I know this is Maria’s thoughtful look. She just stares at me for a while, surely aware I didn’t say everything; this girl is…silly, but she is no idiot, after all.
Finally, she lets herself fall back on the bed, and we return to our original places, just lain on the bed together. Only Maria’s clothes are properly fixed, which the hotblooded part of me acknowledges as a damn shame.
“So?” She finally says. “Tell me what you make of it. I’m the action girl; you’re the battery who happens to have a brain.”
Hey. I’m pretty sure that’s denigrating to both of us.
“Well, I can think of a few things. First, there is a ‘natural’ end to this…whole thing.”
“You said she called it Fimbulwinter.”
“Right. But at least it’s good to know this isn’t supposed to last forever.”
“Um…well, yeah, the choice of words suggests the ‘natural end’ is ‘something different to what we have now’, but that doesn’t mean it will get warmer again.”
True enough.
“Well, if this is what it takes to reach that ‘natural end’, it really cannot be anything good.”
Yeah, that is the conclusion anybody would make, isn’t it?
“It would be nice to know what the hell’s the point of all this shit, but all in all, I don’t care,” concludes Maria. “I have a deal with Saver, ya know. We’re stopping this. Whatever ‘this’ is.”
And that’s what makes Maria “the enemy”.
“Javier,” Maria continues, her voice dropping half an octave. “If your mysterious Servant friend says I’m the only one who can stop this singularity, that means I have to assume every other Servant in this singularity is an obstacle.”
She pauses. I have nothing to say about that.
“Well, there’s the Herald, though,” she then points out. “If she were an enemy, she wouldn’t have helped me yesterday. She’s definitely not with the Nazis.”
Something like a half-smile takes shape on her face.
“Then, if she is…was she spontaneously drawn to this place because it is Fimbulwinter? The singularity was the catalyst—no, was she summoned by the singularity itself…?”
You are rambling, Miss Maria.
“Ah, my bad. It’s just…”
She doesn’t finish the sentence, but I think I can do so in my mind. Yes, we owe her. Yes, it would be nice to have a strong ally.
Surreptitiously (I think), I glance at Maria’s profile. She is not looking at me, but at the ceiling, the back of her right wrist resting on her forehead while lost in thought.
I first assumed Maria accepted being possessed by that Servant, Saber, solely to stay alive when the world froze around us. However, that is not quite it, is it?
“Maria.”
“Hmm?”
“Why did you come to Valparaiso, really?”
“Going straight for the personal questions, huh.”
Ah.
What am I thinking? She’s absolutely right. I don’t go around sharing my business with people; what would I expect others to do exactly that? Am I really this self-centered?
“Mah, I guess I should at least throw you bone, what with me dragging you into this mess?”
No, no, wait. The alternative was me freezing to death. I owe you my life, Maria. Just like I owe Father Scherer.
Fuck, is this how I treat the truly, authentically good people who help me expecting nothing in return?
What the…what am I…fuck.
“It’s true I’m taking time off after high school, but I’m taking the chance to look for the person who killed my grandma.”
That’s…alright, no time for self-reflection. That’s pretty major—wait.
“How did that bring you to…”
I don’t finish the sentence. It is unnecessary; I already know the answer.
“The Nazis? You’re saying…you’re implying Nazis killed her?”
Maria says nothing. That is her affirmation.
“But, that’s…”
That’s absurd…no.
That would’ve been absurd a week ago.
Now I’m looking straight at her profile. She knows the question in her mind, I can tell, and that is what pulls my head away from her. I don’t deserve to intrude in her privacy. My business is my business. Her business is her business. Do I want to get involved in her business? Should I?
“My grandma…she was from, um, from Eastern Europe, but she lived for many years in Germany.”
Her voice is quiet, very quiet. As if prying ears could lay hidden anywhere. As if she were one of the faithful, confessing her sins in a small chamber.
“She fled Germany in 1945. She was…she did not flee a victim.”
Oh.
Oh.
“She…she lived a quiet life. She had the looks, so it was easy: landing herself a good man, making a family, the whole package. But she was always afraid.”
She sighs. It is a long, heavy sigh, full of emotions and memories I cannot begin to guess at. When she looks at me, my cold, pragmatic heart feels for her.
“Javier, my grandma was a good person. She…she probably did some bad things in her youth, but she suffered, she tortured herself her entire life. Everybody says she died a natural death of old age, but I have reasons to call bullshit.”
She looks back up at the ceiling, fire returned to her eyes.
“So, I’ve been looking for Nazis. Not the modern Neo-Nazi idiots who know shit about what they’re talking about; I mean real Nazis—survivors from the war; escaped Nazis who are still working in the shadows. That’s how I ended up here: following the tracks left behind by the ratlines.”
Abruptly, Maria jumps off the bed, the already too-familiar armor coming into shape around her from motes of sparkly, golden light.
“I just want to know why. She was just a tired old lady. What was the point in killing her after all these years? What did she know?”
Her lips are tense, along with her jaw. Her eyes, she is squinting them, desperately holding something within herself.
“Why did my grandma have to die?”
I say not a thing. What can I say? What should I say? I…don’t know how to deal with this at all.
Then, Maria clears her throat, and the atmosphere around her returns to the usual spryness. Or rather, she is really good at hiding the things gnawing at her from within.
“Alright, now off to sleep you go. I can whack you with the flat of the blade if you need the help.”
“No, thank you, Maria.”
“Good. I’ll check out that supermarket and get you some food. Catch ya later.”
Wait, we’re in a fancy hotel, there should be a kitchen with food—ah, she’s gone.
…ah well, she can use some time alone. And she is right, I do need to sleep.
*** ***
Unimarc Puerto, Errázuriz Avenue 629, Valparaíso
Severe Cold (-24 °C/-11 °F)
“Alright, backpack status: recovered!”
Maria finds her lost item carrier exactly where she remembered leaving it. The interior of the abandoned supermarket looks untouched after the previous visit. At most, more snow has piled up everywhere, seeping in through the broken doors and windows, just like everywhere else in this city.
The trip to the supermarket was completely uneventful. No trace of Nazi soldiers. The tracks left behind by the many units she escaped yesterday do remain, as the incessant snowfall of the previous day completely stopped last evening.
Maria checks the bag’s weight and confirms that it remains untouched. It is therefore a grinning girl that digs into the contents she remembers stuffing in a day and a half ago.
“Yeaaaah!” She celebrates upon the first bite of 70% cocoa chocolate. “Rock solid!”
Of course it is. Not that it is a problem to a Servant, anyway.
Maria chews on the bitter chocolate while filling the rest of her backpack with proper food. She makes sure to take only canned and instant food; stuff that only requires thawing and heating, which can be easily pulled off, especially with Javier’s magecraft.
Al in all, a peaceful visit to the supermarket.
A brief glance through a window confirms the scene that followed her all the way there.
Unlike the Nazis, who shine by their absence, zombies are everywhere. Maria noticed at least one zombie in every block on the way to the Unimarc. There were three just outside the hotel where she and Javier spent the night.
However, they do not attack. They prefer to watch lethargically from a distance. It pisses her off a little, but she decides going after them would be a waste of time, and she cannot dismiss the possibility of a trap. She has to play it safe while Javier is not at top form…or as close to top form as he can be in this environment.
Javier.
She doubts her confession will have a negative effect on their…“business relationship”. Nah, her admission concerning her grandmother is, in all honesty, the least of their problems.
Javier.
Too many things seem to be happening around her battery, yet out of her sight: a mysterious benefactor that heals his most terrible wounds, a mysterious Servant that reveals details about the singularity, the whole issue with those Children of Villarrica, and another thing she only noticed because they slept together on the same bed.
The Children are admittedly the least of their problems—if it comes to that, well, she is a Servant. She does not suspect Javier of being connected to the deaths—he did say he has not been in Villarrica since his childhood days, and she believes him. Then what will happen if—when—the Vyhmeister siblings find Javier? She can only hope she will be there if—when—it happens.
Yes, if anything, considering Javier seems to attract weird shit, she might be better off sticking close. She definitely wants to be there the next time he wanders into a Servant.
And then there is the scent.
It is not the same: Lancer has a metallic scent, like swimming in a pile of coins. Javier’s is a subtle smell of brimstone. Both are unpleasant to her nose.
The magnitude is also different: Lancer’s is orders of magnitude stronger. Javier’s is only noticeable when she is less than a foot away.
They are different, but the response within is the same: the disagreeable aroma of divinity.
It is not that Saver hates the divine. The scents do not fill her with anger or disgust. It feels more like a rote response, or an allergic reaction.
Saver is wholly incompatible with the divine.
Why the hell does Javier smell of divinity? What kind of magecraft is that (because what else could it be)?
Maria Westinghouse does not know enough about Javier Lucero.
There lies the question.
Does she want to?
“Aaaah, questions, questions! I’m bad with questions!”
Strange words from the girl undertaking an independent investigation for the good part of a year. Nevertheless, she wishes she could talk about this with someone, get a different view.
She glances outside. No change. Zombies still watch in her direction, creepily unmoving.
Well, Javier should be properly sleeping, so there is no real hurry to take this food to him.
What to do, then…?
Maria’s Choice
Last edited by Daneel Rush; December 12th, 2018 at 11:47 PM.
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Also I wonder how many levels of Regression Javier has to be on before Maria fucking kills him.
2
Three's the magic number~
Last edited by SleepMode; December 13th, 2018 at 11:47 AM. Reason: Taking Backsies
The Act of dozing off in the afternoon is a luxury indeed.
Coffee would be nice, though.
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2, we can make a new base but Sakura isn't replaceable.
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2. Leaving Sakura and Mr. Drake alone for too long may be dangerous for them.
Or maybe it's dangerous for them to be too close to the protagonists. But I'm curious about what they're doing, so... :P
2. We should also make sure that ice hasn’t broken yet either.
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Atkinson Promenade, Valparaíso
Day 03
Morning Phase - 03
Severe Cold (-23 °C/-9.4 °F)
(Quest Master’s Note: Please, do ignore the snowfall in the picture. Thank you!)
The temperature has raised substantially compared to the previous evening. It is almost refreshing, but that elation is tempered by the certainty that it will eventually begin to drop down again.
Maria glances in the direction of the hotel where (she expects) Javier is sleeping. Well, the connection to his magic circuits is steady; she would be able to tell if he starts using his circuits for whatever reason, and maybe even if he moves from the hotel.
Thinking about it, Maria knows Saver is a skilled warrior (well, duh), but she knows nothing of her Servant partner’s knowledge of matters arcane. Maybe she could get some tips on magecraft from Saver?
That is, if she ever bothered to sit down for a while and try a deeper communication with the one she is sharing her body with.
Of course, her thoughts inevitably go to that scene when Javier tried to break the ice block holding Alicia Drake. Her—no, Saver’s—reaction was very telling. That was not just about Saver’s disdain towards divinity. Maria only receives impressions and flashes of emotion from her Servant guest, so her grasp is incomplete, but that reaction felt a hell of a lot more personal.
Saver has the Nemesis Skill.
That means she has an “archenemy”. Saver’s legend was founded on her opposition to someone.
Is Saver’s archenemy the person behind the ice prisons?
The thought sets her blood ablaze and pumping, and Maria was not sure whether this was Saver’s reaction or her own. That in itself, she thinks, is a little worrying.
It’s like the boundary between Maria Westinghouse and Servant Saver becomes blurrier with every passing day.
“Really, like I can afford to worry about Javier,” murmurs the young woman with a little humor. Then again, she might just be trying to hide her worries under a carpet of false mirth.
Maria does not feel the weight of her backpack as she turns away from the hotel and takes for the Drake residence. Javier will probably sleep quite a bit longer; it should be fine as long as she makes it back before he does wake up.
Maria is a little worried about Sakura. She feels she can trust Lancer, and accept that Sakura was taken out of the battlefield unharmed, but nevertheless she feels the need to confirm her safety. So, she trudges across the snow-covered streets, slowly, carefully, mindful of possible sniping spots.
Of course, there are undead. They watch, in silence. At this point, they are merely props in the frozen city.
“Don’T Go ThErE.”
Until one of them speaks.
“RiDeR iS waTcHing.”
Maria promptly stops. Her head darts around, but there’s only she and the zombie, and the other two zombies at the corners in front and behind her.
“You’re so fucking creepy,” she spits out, perhaps hoping the master of these zombies can hear her.
Well, whatever the case, the zombie has spoken.
“So, you wanna talk today?” Maria suggests, her second try after the day before at the church’s gates. She is about to roll her eyes and take a step forward, but—
“The LuTHeraN CHurcH. Sit uNdeR the BalCoNY.”
Maria stares at the undead’s lifeless eyes until they freak her out. She looks at Oliver Drake’s house, just a short block and a half away.
Choice Time
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