Monthly Create-A-Servant Contest

[DelRey]

we got 28 entries so far. More probably coming soon. I hope Simple still enjoys this.
I have no clue who will be the front-runner. gonna be interesting to see if the ones who appeared in the story will have an advantage

[SimpleScribe]

we got 28 entries so far. More probably coming soon. I hope Simple still enjoys this.
I have no clue who will be the front-runner. gonna be interesting to see if the ones who appeared in the story will have an advantage

How could I not, Del? This is very exciting! Every time a new sheet is posted, I am also filled with unbridled glee along with my aforementioned anxiety. The reason why I'm always so anxious to get my chapters out quickly is because the chapters that are already out may have skewed people's perceptions on the Servants I have already written on. It just does not seem fair to me to paint the sheets I've gotten to in a more fleshed out picture while the ones I haven't gotten to are still awaiting me to write their spot in the limelight. I'd humbly request everyone to not take my ongoing story into account of your voting, but... people often have radically different criteria for their voting process.

Still... at the very least, I am enjoying the new edits everyone has made in their sheet's relationship section in response in my story. They have provided me a massive boon in brainstorming their interactions.

[WhiteFrenzy]

“A great apocalypse, the world flickering in and out like a faraway star. Fire that consumes an entire nation. Gods and humans fighting to the death, leaving behind nothing but memories. Zombies crawling from their graves to devour the living...

Ragnarök. Doomsday. Maitreya. Rapture.

Revelation. Apocalypse. Frashokereti. Armageddon.

Do you know what all of these are? What do all of them have in common?

They are wishes given shape. Humans want to believe they will end with a bang instead of silently disappearing in stardust—these words are fear itself. Deep down, don’t we all want to believe in a future where our existence holds significance? Don’t we all want to matter, to be remembered even if only by one person?

We want our end to be important. And that’s why we keep creating these words.

Even diamonds aren’t forever. The world will inevitably continue without us one day, and yet that very thought frightens us.

—But isn’t that a good thing?

Because then, that means we still have something to lose.”

_________________________________________

“Well, just between us... I for one believe we are already well into our way to the apocalypse. One might call it the natural course of life, unable to envision a different existence. This is a world in which make-do is a motto and life seems wrong, out-of-place. The weak become strong because they have no other choice.

Simply put, when the heat is high, it’s the same as lead on paper.

But if there’s one single comforting thing about this affair is that after the 「end of the world,」 there is a 「world.」 Life doesn’t stop, it simply changes. And it changes you.

—Why, yes... You. Hello, you.

Not a self-insert character, not a creature from this place called Chaldea. Not even a distant character that’s yet to be named—no, I’m speaking to you, who’s reading these words right now.

May I call you, for the time being, my Master?

Then,

You

Master

, know that I’m a greedy Servant. I have many tiny wishes, but I’ll try to put them all into one big wish instead... So, I guess the final result is: let’s fly a little, me and you, yes? To a world seen from above the clouds. I’d even tell you to close your eyes, but then that would render the experience of reading this impossible, huh.

Oh well, let’s fly first, think second. We’ll make it work—that’s our superpower as humans, after all.”







Voyager
— THE SHAPE OF ETERNITY —


[ ♫ ]

Class: Voyager
Other Classes: Watcher
Alignment: Neutral Good
Place of Origin: North America

Height: 155 cm | 5'1''
Weight: 40 kg | 88 lbs

Natural Enemy: Harbingers at the World's End
Attribute: Human
Traits: Humanoid, Hominidae Servant, Servant, Female, Weak to Enuma Elish

STRENGTH: E	MANA: D
ENDURANCE: E	LUCK: C
AGILITY: D	NOBLE PHANTASM: C

_________________________________________


Independent Navigation D

Rather than how long a Servant can persist in this world without an established contract, this Skill measures how far they can stray from a Master and still be 「connected.」

Colors fade with time, temples crumble and empires fall, worlds die and are born anew, but words—those will always endure. However, what she ultimately seeks is not something like eternity: one day, even her name will be simply a memory. But while a connection exists binding things together, for as long or as little, one should treasure this miracle.



Magic Resistance D

Other than boosting her pain tolerance, nothing much was gained through this Skill.

“Ah... It’s not surprising. There’re really only so much words can truly do in a time where they can do anything.”



Territory Infringement C

A Class Skill originally belonging to the Watcher Class, it denounces the ability to bypass any territory or barrier no matter its origin.

「Words」 are the most powerful weapon ever created by mankind. Capable of shattering worlds to oblivion and remake them to one’s will. If thoughts corrupt language, then the same can be said about how language can corrupt thoughts.

“I spent my life folded between pages. In the absence of human relationships, I formed bonds with paper characters. I lived love and loss through them... I experienced childhood, adolescence and adulthood by association. My world is an interwoven web of words, stringing limb to limb, bone to sinew, thoughts and images all together... It was only natural that I was overflowing with words during my entire life. In other words, I’m a character created by sentences, a figment of imagination formed through fiction.”

As the weaver of powerful words that can cross time and hearts, a suitable Rank has been given to her in this Skill. Not that one should flaunt such but, truth to be said, the Rank originally should have been lower—but a certain Personal Skill seems to have boosted this one as consequence.



Route of Evanescence C

If the Watcher Class is the Class of trials, then this is the closest she will ever reach this container, much like Ikarus never truly touched the radiance of the sun.

However, rather than a 「trial」 meant for a Master or herself, this Skill serves simply to help her to 「ascertain」 what she must do at the end of the path. Akin to the personal Skill Self-Modification, the state of changing according to the wishes of a Master to better suit their worldview, she is like a blank journal to be filled with impressions that will carve the journey ahead on her soul.

“And what’s better, it also takes the form of a crow. Isn’t this little one cute? Don’t mind him flying with us, alright?”

_________________________________________

“Let’s play a game. You must be asking yourself what this journey could possibly be about—and if you’re cheeky, you’re probably even thinking that this is impossible... I’m a thing made of words and you’re a human being on the other side of a silver screen. Did I get any of this right?”

“But I assure you: these limitations are a thing of the past. We don’t need to meet each other to connect. Instead, let’s put it in these terms: we’re both gonna travel today. Your journey and mine will converge to the same endpoint, but the path we take will be entirely different. Because you’re a miracle yourself, something that the world has never had and will never have again once you’re gone.”


Although a prolific writer and even being considered one of the greatest poets the English language has ever seen, only a few of her poems were published during her lifetime.

Although being summoned under the class of wanderlust, the majority of her life was spent inside cramped four walls.

Although fascinated with the idea of death and the end that awaited those beyond that, her words spoke of a universe brimming with life.

Beneath the still surface of her life lay a fiercely passionate nature and closely guarded secrets. So it was only natural that Emily Dickinson lived an existence full of silent, secret contradictions. Her life was reclusive and solitary, hidden away in her family’s house and rarely ever leaving. There, unfettered by the world outside of her walls, she secretly created bundles of poetry and wrote hundreds of letters. And it was only due to a discovery by her sister that her remarkable work was published after her death and she is now considered one of the towering figures of American literature.


“I was no heroine off to save the world, nor a saint ready to sacrifice myself for my people. I was just that, a common girl. But in my opinion, you can have an interesting story about a person living an uninteresting life. If done well, that is just as engaging as the end of the world... After all, my

You

Master

, a million people dying—we can’t process that abstraction. But one person? That, we can empathize with. That’s just how we are.”

_________________________________________

Born in 1830, in Massachusetts, Emily was said to have been an excellent student since childhood. Educated at Amherst Academy, she later attended Mount Holyoke Female Seminary for a year. And though the precise reasons for her final departure from the academy in 1848 are unknown, theories offered say that her fragile emotional state may have played a role. In any way, ultimately, after leaving college she never participated in any sort of social life again.

Her melancholy was the result of her first meeting with death, at fourteen, when her best friend (and cousin) Sophia Holland died of typhus. Shortly after, her friend and mentor Benjamin Newton also dies of tuberculosis, and another childhood friend dies in the next year. That, coupled with her mother’s chronic illness that bound her to bed and forced Emily to become her primary caretaker all ultimately contributed to her decision to, slowly but surely, withdraw from public appearances.


“When I was a small girl, I dreamed of becoming a teacher... Or maybe a nurse... Even a housewife would do... Like every other child, I was made of unlimited potential—so it never crossed my mind to 「not become.」 Ah, but that’s not right... It did happen. Everything I was afraid of when I was growing up, I’ve 「become.」 I’ve taken on my nightmares and I’ve become those things.”

“—And yet.”

However, the myth of a quaint and helpless creature of weak will couldn’t be farther from the truth. After all, it was Emily herself who helped to devise the blueprint for her legend. In place of the young woman full of zest she truly was, she happily adopted a retiring posture. On the face of it, her life seemed uneventful and largely invisible, but there always was a forceful, even overwhelming character underneath.

She called her own heart a still – Volcano – Life, and that volcano rumbled beneath the surface of her poetry and the thousand letters that survived time. For her, stillness was not a retreat from life, but her own form of control. Simply put, she was uncompromising.

A creature that lived on her own terms.


“I think you’ll agree with me that endings are scary. They split you up emotionally and put you in places where you don’t know what's going to happen next. But, and I know you learned this lesson as painfully as I did at some point of your life, with every end of the world, there is a new one that follows.”

“So, do not pity the woman I was. And try to not pity the person you once were too. Both me and you, we are in a better place. Because, you see... I believe that the biggest changes are the ones that can’t be seen... To me, that's where the real apocalypse lay—in people's hearts.”

_________________________________________

Something in her life had always remained sealed away. Many of her poems tease the reader about that, and in those lines there’s always an almost overwhelming temptation to tell... And that would be her fascination with death. Sickness and longing was always there, shielded by cover stories. In youth, a cough. In her 30s, trouble with her eyes. In her poems, illnesses could be violent—she speaks many times of convulsions and throes. “I felt a Funeral in my Brain”, one poem says, “and I dropped down, and down” . But what they represented, too, was the unrest of her soul that not even her independence could quell.


“It’s interesting, isn’t it? It’s so easy to get wrapped up in your own life, as if it’s the very sun and moon. In our heads, it’s so difficult to even imagine a life before us... And more importantly, a life after our own. But that’s why it’s so interesting. Because, every time a meteor comes close to the Earth, we all think about the end of the world... But our internal soundtrack doesn’t turn off. We’re also thinking about fast food we want to eat, or passing a slow tractor, or making a turn in a street... And for a magical instant, brief as it is, our lives seem to be in conversation with the stars.”


By 1866, Emily’s productivity began tapering off. Not only had her family been marked by many scandals, she also had suffered a number of personal losses. On top of that, her trusted household servant got married and left her household.

With the departure of her servant, who used to manage her needs, in the next year, her reclusive tendencies became more and more extreme. She began refusing to see visitors, only speaking to them from the other side of a door, and rarely went out in public. Nevertheless, despite this avoidance of physical socialization, she was a lively correspondent. Much of her surviving letters are dated from this period.

Enamored with words and everything they represented in her world, Emily kept writing until nearly the end of her life. But finally, in May of 1886 she died of kidney disease.

There she perished, finally seeing eye to eye with death, which eluded her all her existence. And what she discovered beyond the reach of her imagination? And what path was waiting for her on the other side of her formless potential?

In truth, this Servant is not very sure. What she knows for certain, however, is that life—much like time—is something that will never stop existing. In a way or other, it will always be around her, inspiring her. And that is the answer waiting for her at the end of her path. It was her journey, one that couldn’t have been taken by anyone else. What will the person who is reading about her right now will find at the end of this journey, now? She is just as curious to know. And so, she opens her arms and invites you to walk. To fly, as she so fervently wished to do once upon a time.

Because this journey will end with the end of these words, and the little world that she created will be gone with it, but what lies beyond that... What new opportunities will be open after this experience...

Ahh, that voyage itself is something that could only happen because she met you.

“Christians claim we’re in the 「end times,」 but the’ve been saying this off and on for more than two thousand years. According to Hindu cosmology, we’re in the 「kali yuga,」 a dark period when the cow of history is balanced precariously on one leg, soon to topple. Then there are our new-age friends who believe that we’re in for a global cage-rattling which, once the dust has settled, will usher in a great spiritual awakening.”

“Most of this apocalyptic noise appears to be just wishful thinking on the part of people who find life too messy and uncertain for comfort, let alone for serenity and mirth... Well, the truth, from my perspective, is that the world, indeed, is ending—and is also being reborn. It's been doing that all day, every day. Each time we exhale, the world ends... And when we inhale, there can be rebirth and renewal. It all transpires inside of us. In our hearts. All the time.”

_________________________________________


The First Robin C

She was a woman who dwelled in possibility, with boundless talent for poetry and for reaching a person’s

Root

soul

with only her words... But her words went unheard for the majority of her life, her existence only achieving meaning after her death.

However, the power contained behind her every sentence—all the pain, all the happiness, all the eye-wide wonder that could bare anyone’s soul in front of her eyes with a single line of poetry—became a Skill capable of boosting, albeit temporarily, all of her Parameters excluding her Noble Phantasm, and beyond that, it is able to boost even her ability with her magecraft born from the possibilities dwelling inside the sea of words.

“Oh, so like High-Speed Incantation? I wonder why aren’t we using that name instead...?”



A Bird Sang C

Emily’s poems were filled with imagery of 「flying.」 Above one’s head, beyond one’s lifespan, over the entire universe... A fly, a bird, a butterfly, a grasshopper, a leaf in the wind, summer breeze in the air, nightmares in the night... So, as she so deeply identifies with those who possess wings, perhaps it was only the natural course of life that she would, as a Servant, acquire a certain degree of control over those who rule the skies.

Of course, it would be far too absurd to give her absolute control over every creature with wings, so out of a deep affection for their bright color and what they represent, she currently chooses seagulls as her symbol—that, so it can be known that she travels the lands and the seas, unburden by a past chained by so many earthly diseases.

As her avatar, even at this Rank they can act as her 「eyes,」 furthering her range when it comes to teleporting to other places.

The fact that, in the end, this is merely a Familiar (Birds) Skill named as something else is not lost on her... But maybe, it is her individuality as a writer that is constantly renaming these very common Skills? It has to be that, right?



Pierless Bridge B

Emily’s poems spoke of a woman who wished to fly away, however she was stuck to her life. And even her own shape as a Servant is a dream unfulfilled—a shadow of a revelation she never achieved in life. A journey that came to her far too late for comfort. To the very end, her memory is about a shut-in that desired to change.

But desires are a self-contained world and they can spring miracles every day. This Skill, perhaps, is one of such. With this ability that rains over her head a curtain of black and white feathers, this Servant is capable of essentially 「teleporting」 herself from a Point A to a Point B, providing the ending point is a place she knows and can properly visualize in her head... After all, according to her own words, “A world you cannot envision is a world that cannot exist.”

Maybe, it’s all about old habits that definitely die hard. Or maybe it is all about being a Voyager, so this Skill was just a must... Or even! Maybe! At the end of the day, she’s still too much of a shut-in to walk for that long... Maybe...?

_________________________________________

“You must have been looking forward to this part, am I right? I don’t think my opinions are that important, but it does tickle one’s fancy to have their hard work recognized, isn’t that so? In life, I was very particular about who could read my words, for they were my soul, they were 「me」 and that would be akin to bare myself to someone else. But in today’s landscape, in which my feelings resonated with so many... In which people are so lonely, even when they were never so surrounded by others before... Yes, I do understand the appeal of being recognized. It’s like being found in your own little corner of the universe.”


Bhargava Markandeya
“It’s just the hubris of gods and humans alike... To think this again and again, to think that their time is special, that all things will come to an end with them. That being said, I guess I do find myself enjoying the sage's journey.”

Cassandra
“There’s no big apocalypse, just an endless procession of little ones. And yet, it changes nothing how each and every day a new agony tuck her in and a new pain wakes her up.”

Sophia
“It must be lonely, to stand in that garden at the end of the road and to never move past it. But you are always changing, and you’re always saying goodbye to something even if you never know it... So, your journey will leave her behind eventually.”

Malcolm Muggeridge
“He believes dark times are rumbling toward us. I cannot say I agree, but one thing is certain: the prophet who wishes to write a new apocalypse will have to invent entirely new beasts.”

Parikshit
“The world had seen so many Ages: the Age of Enlightenment, of Reformation, of Reason. But what he brings is not the end—if anything, it’s the promise of new beginnings. I resonate with his message. After all... Maybe it’s always the end of the world. Maybe you’re alive for a while and then you realize you’re going to die, and that’s such a huge thing to comprehend. So, you look around for answers and the only answer is that the world must die with you.”

The Keres
“Truly... Never a good sign when the crows show up...”

Laevateinn
“Look at this child. The apocalypse can paint a big canvas, but it’s often the small stories that resonate the most.”

L. Ron Hubbard
“How interesting... It takes four angels to oversee an apocalypse, a recorder to make the book that would be scripture in the new world, a preserver to save a selected few, an accuser to remind them why they now suffer... And a destroyer to revoke the promise of redemption.”

Michael
“Oh, how I longed to meet them during my life... And how I missed those he called far too early... This existence in itself is a reminder, truly. We let time cascade over us like a waterfall, believing it to be neverending. Yet each day touches us still, and every creature in this world is one day over.”

Macaria
“When I look into her eyes, do you know what I see? Hope. I see a promise, I see a plea... That the very least one can do in their life is to figure out what they hope for, and then, to live inside that hope. Not admiring it from a distance, but basking under its light. And that... That, to me, is the flavor of life.”

Garshāsp
“Ah, how sad. It’s very adorable how this one protects us humans, don’t misunderstand, however… I guess she should travel. Maybe then, she could learn that not a single ending, not one day of darkness, is given without the promise for light.”

Matsukura Katsuie
“That is, indeed, the end... And one that many would have approved of. But there’s nothing amusing about his sight. It’s small, it’s narrow and it’s deeply incomplete.”

Demiurge
“Compared to me, whose world begins and ends with you, this one is very different, right? As humans, we tend to construct narratives around things we don’t understand, especially when such things appear to have an arbitrary, limitless power. Dramatic, civilization-shaking events seem too meaningful to happen by pure chance... They seem like some sort of divine punishment. Maybe, this is their own path.”

Eris
“Humans are violent, but so is she. Humans are fragile, but so is she. And, above all, humans are pathetically optimistic... I hope she keeps watching over us with the same care. Because, to be so deeply linked to each of our highs and lows, that can only be called 「love.」”

Jarir Ibn Abdullah Al Bajali
“A memory that is like a sphere, something always returning to the same point. Such is a creature that has big dreams for others, and yet cannot dream for himself. Ah, but I still believe that standing up for the truth of God can be one of the greatest things in the world.”

Unknown Soldiers
“Dreams, no matter how sweet, are still things humans will grow out from. And so are memories... It is just the nature of this world to spin and spin, and leave things behind. But that is not important for them, is it?”

Artabanus II
“The end has always been nigh. Where we once saw lightning and volcanoes as doomsday promises, today we merely see other omens. And if the world were to end, you even have to admit there’s a tiny, black splinter in your brain that’s stoked by the prospect, right? But does that mean she has won? Of course not. To greet the end is merely human. And to believe that there’s something beyond this final word, that also is.”

Anti-Assassin
“A predator that feeds on regrets? I’m afraid I am not looking forward to become a feast.”

Karl May
“Can you truly judge this one? A person should hold very tightly to their dreams.”

Louhi
“Me? I believe she should dream. Sometimes, that’s the only right thing to do.”

Simon Bar Kokhba
“Haven’t I said that to you? The greatest and most powerful revolutions often start very quietly in the shadows.”

Barbara Follett
“Walk with me and allow me to show you the purest blue of the summer sky, the melodies of a pale nightingale. The sound of your own heart. Sometimes, that’s really all we ever need to remind ourselves that the 「end」 is just a word.”

Höðr
“In his perspective, the world ended with him, but... A great friend of mine often said that there is a crack in everything, so that’s how the light gets in. Just give him time.”

The Beatles
“Ah, what joyful melodies—”

Elisabetha ○ Kupalnitsa
“I have many impressions, but should I try and put them all into a simple sentence instead? Shadows are the greatest teachers for how to come to the light.”

Sajāḥ & Musaylima
“The world ends as many times as it begins anew, and memories are born and die with it. That’s just how life is, but sometimes it can be hard to accept... However, there is a blessing hidden in this depressing reality: even though memories can be altered, stories might be forged and people might disappear in the air, this unjust and beautiful world will always be reborn, again and again.”

Prince Charming
“Ah, you don’t need to worry, because he’ll be defeated. If not by me, then by someone else. There is not a single heart in this world that remains unchanged, just as there is not a rose that won’t wither. It is the absolute nature of things, it is everything I fought against during my lifetime, but just like I’ve learned, he will too... He cannot exist in this world.”

Virochana=Vairocana
“What a sweet, nostalgic sound that is—so, that is the sound of his enlightenment.”


“How fun... We looked into so many beginnings and so many ends. All of these universes began and ended in themselves. Some of them end as soon as you read their last word, while others will find a nest in your chest and make a house there. Some of them will leave an impression deep enough to receive 「recognition.」”

“As someone who walked the thin line between life and death daily, birthing new words that contained universes within itself, pouring my own self in little blots of ink... What can I say? This occasion brings me joy. Do you feel the same? Or does the creativity of others overwhelm you? That, in itself, is also a part of our journey.”

*cawk* *cawk*

“—Oh? So soon? My, time flies when we’re having fun.”

_________________________________________


The Butterfly’s Day C

A life lost to oblivion. From cocoon to butterfly, tempests mashed in the air. Hope falling down like feathers. Nostalgic imagery she used to convey emotions became, thanks to this Skill, the conceptual shape of her struggles as a human whose body was sadly chained to a world vastly different than that of her soul. But with death came freedom, and with that freedom came a new understanding of her place in this universe.

Oh, and what if she could share this experience with others... That is because she knows she’s not the only one. A Servant, after all, is an echo of a life cut short itself. They are all a memory that never finished their pilgrimage.

And precisely because they are an unfulfilled memory, she and that black bird that flies above her head, both can now bring this Servant to somewhere else. To a place where they can, too, take a long journey and reach the other side with unclouded eyes. What do youngsters call that, in today’s terms? A trip down memory lane, is that so?

“Whenever the little one who records our journey leaves my side, this Skill will be automatically activated... Ah, do you want to know another little secret? It’s a must for my Noble Phantasm, too.”

“—And if he is flying now, that means we’ve reached the 「threshold.」 Then, allow me to indulge myself.”

_________________________________________

“You know about me. Or, at least, I suppose you know me enough for your liking... You could have understood me through these words, maybe—or maybe you went by yourself and researched my story somewhere else. It matters not when the final result is the same, that I’m now a character in your head and I’ve touched you somewhere. Will this connection last? I’d be happy if it did. But that’s not what I’m seeking.”

“What I’m seeking is to know you. You know me, but I don’t know you—I can’t know you. Because the you who’s paying attention to my words now is not the you who’s also giving me their time of the day somewhere else. I am speaking to a multitude of

Masters

you

.”

“Does that make you less special? No. You’re a singular creature that will make the world better or worse because you exist right here and now. You matter, even though you might think you don’t... Because the universe is not only made of stars and void, but also of hearts and memories and souls. The universe is all of us and humans aren’t uncaring. But it makes me much lonelier.”

“Remember when I said our paths might never touch, but we’d still reach the same end?”

“Well, I’m a selfish Servant. I want to matter.”

“I wrote about life and death in my time. I wrote of the impossibly sparkly things I wished I had, about the tiny precious treasures I’ve held. I wrote about my little dreams, about my little life, about the wish of flying somewhere else where I could be another person.”

“And those were genuine wishes I held then, but now I look back and I wish that I could have lived a little longer in that world.”

“It’s so unfair to think like that, but everything happens kind of the way it’s supposed to, and we are here just watching it unfold. We can’t control it. After all, you can say, 「I should’ve...」 all you want, but the truth is that you didn’t... And had you, the outcome would have been different.”

“You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending... And yet, the past is still a ghost hovering over our heads like a vulture, something that is not alive, but also never quite dead. The end of the world is in people’s minds... And so, the world is always ending.”

“Some might say when they look back that they saw nothing to regret and little to correct, while others would give anything they own for a chance to erase a past mistake.”

“—Oh, look at me rambling. I guess I’m just sad that we’re parting ways.”

“But I should wave at you with a smile, right?”

“Then... To you, who’s reading my words right now, I want you to know that I could not stop for death, even though I believed in it. But as a Servant made of past, it is my duty to guide you to the future nonetheless.”

“However, you are a living, breathing thing. Your world, with all of your little deaths and all of your little births, is far more vast than I could even picture.”

“—So please, before we say goodbye, let me see it. The colors of a world that can only belong to you.”



Love is Where you Breathe
The Carriage

Type: Anti-Mind
Range: ?
Max. number of targets: 1


As the colors of the world slowly fade, as if one is entering a dream, a crow of perfect black inky wings alights upon a nearby branch. Until then, in deceptive silence, it has been dutifully watching the entire journey, recording every step. But more than that, it has been learning every emotion with Voyager.

In Emily’s most famous poem, she says, “Because I could not stop for Death, he kindly stopped for me.” This phrase hints at the experience of entering the afterlife, as well as the personification of Death, who stopped for the speaker and helped them into the carriage that held “just ourselves and Immortality.”

So, a woman that sought so fervently for a life beyond her own could only give one name for this jet-black creature that would look after her steps.

「Death.」

Not the end of it all, a Death that is made of a pale scythe and flowy black robes, but rather a death that has the scent of possibility—rebirth, the chance of renewing oneself at the end of the path, like a butterfly leaving its cocoon behind.

Because the end of any world is on people’s minds. They always had the power to destroy or save themselves, but the question is what they will do with that responsibility.

In her poem, as the carriage drove the speaker along the lane, they take note of what they see around them. It was a process of putting away the life the speaker knew in order to allow this next stage of existence to take over. And so, they pass a school, fields, and the setting sun. And as such, the duty of that bird who was accompanying a woman left behind wishing the person who was walking with her well is to take this person to the place where they should be.

「Eternity.」

But what will be the shape of this person’s eternity? What will be the colors this person will encounter there?

That, as much as she wishes to know, will be an answer reserved only for the one taking that first step towards this new journey. They will be guided by the bird called 「Death」 and will disappear to the place where they belong, to this eternity promised only for them, as if taken by the carriage of her words. And their journey will, too, end. As for Emily’s, her path ended with a different answer entirely, in a different place—and because of that, she won’t see that person again.

She smiles, however. Until the very end.

Leaving with this someone, no matter if an ally or a foe, a wish that not even a Grail would hope to hear.

“Be what you always, ever have been—eternity.”

---

Honestly, I was about to not post anything with this prompt.
Not only did the theme stumped me hard, life also decided that this month was not it.
Won't bother you with the details. Just know that my first idea was scrapped because I would NEVER finish it on time. I barely managed to finish my second best thing in time as you can see. I'm not satisfied at all with any part of this sheet but it might just be me being tired. Maybe tomorrow I'll look at it with gentler eyes.
Anyway, good night. Stay safe.
Live everyday to the best of your abilities.
Help others make lots of good memories with you on them.
Make lots of good memories all the while yourself.
And have a good read.

[DelRey]

My lili boulanger got a new friend
Feel hugged, WF. I bet this month has been hard, but thank you for writing anyway.

[Morg van Destro]

So... am I wrong in thinking she's actually on the side of the 'Harbingers at the World's End' despite what she says? Her entire character is trying to make others, and maybe even herself, accept that the end is just part of the process, another step, towards something more. Her NP even literally makes a target accept the end so hard they metally die and move on to the 'next stage', but Dickenson herself will never be able to know if it was a better or worse one. She is someone trapped watching others move on, but she does it because she hopes its better for them. It all just makes her seem like someone who'd work to make The End happen because she has hope something better will be born from the ashes.
Partially it's because she can't seem to fully commit to her own philosophy, but also because it feels like she needs to believe it, if that makes sense. Maybe none of this has. Someone, feel free to say otherwise.

[Castellan]

Weh, guess next contest'll have to do. On the upside, I can actually sit down now, what a miracle of modern medicine.

[Random]

Castellan of the Silver Leg

These jokes aren't really that funny. I should stop.

[Morg van Destro]

No. Go harder.

[DelRey]

Randomss title below his name is fun to me, because its the german word for "peeping tom" or "voyeur"

[BnEl15]

Random on his way to completely redefine the Watcher-Class:

[TYPE-Lune]

Random sucks eggs.

[Castellan]

Castellan of the Silver Leg

These jokes aren't really that funny. I should stop.

I got a giggle out of them.

[DelRey]

Lune is back

[TYPE-Lune]

Just in the nick of time, except -

[pinetree]

More of a concept than a character, but I hope it’s intriguing enough.

---

Lundi Vendredi; 1,331,564,421,398 🝰 since summoning Though this is not the reason I originally decided to write this diary — or rather, this note, with the idea to create a diary, if I manage to consistently write on it from now on — I find myself immediately stricken by how easy it is to count how much I’ve lived. I haven’t been keeping track, of course, there is a point when numbers simply stop having meaning: when comparing them to other numbers no longer matters. Age itself only matters as it relates to the age of others and to the possible lifespan of a human. Having transcended such a lifespan and being too old for the comparison to regular humans to matter, it becomes difficult to care about age. Still, regardless of such musings — or rather, such tangents, which I must warn whoever finds themselves reading this (if anyone ever does), are too common for anyone to expect a reasonable coherent text from me… Oh, here I go again. As I was saying, regardless of such musings, and without even considering the fact that there are no more people with which to compare my age anyway, I still find myself being able to mathematically deduce the amount of time that passed with remarkable ease; something that I do not know whether to attribute to my nature as a Ghost Liner, the time I have lived, the state I find myself in or simply my own intellect. I find the last one the least likely, I was never good with mathematics. But I should go back to my real point in writing this passage — or note, or diary entry, or whatever else it is or might become — a point which I haven’t even touched upon despite almost exhausting the first page. Really, this was meant to be a simple note, meant to register a thought that occurred to me, one that I had never considered before but that has consumed my mind since it came to be in this last morning, I realize now that starting off with the date, if my header can be considered one, was my first mistake, baiting myself into writing a lon Nevermind, let’s not extend this first entry — or note, or passage — any longer. Let us finally get to the point, I awoke to the bright light of the sun — as always — and thought: Have I outlived God?

Innocent Monster EX An attribute possessed by servants whose true history and existence have been distorted by the monstrous reputations and gossips they accrued across the course of their life and thereafter, without concern for the actual person’s will and appearance, it is similar to a curse and cannot be removed. Entirely defined by the belief that he achieved eternal youth and immortality, this Caster is among the most unusual. Having acquired Philosopher’s Stone EX, Nicolas Flamel’s state has been changed beyond what the stone is known to be capable of and into something defined entirely by his legend: a man immortal in all ways that matter.

Clear skies, sunny, morning Some unreasonable number of years back, my husband told me of a spacefaring project he heard about, that little ark carrying our records. For no reason whatsoever, this memory has now inspired me to make some records of my own. This stone has so much processing power anyway, might as well use some more of it as personal storage, it’ll probably outlive us, if that’s possible. So I suppose this is a memoir: The Perennial Records of Perenelle. I feel silly trying to think of a clever title for a diary in my age, but it was entertaining to make it up, and God knows we need any entertainment we can get. Though I could say much about my regular life, which went appropriately unrecorded by my peers, unremarkable as it was, I believe anyone receiving this information (if anyone ever will) would be more interested in my life after my husband returned from his pilgrimage. By that point we had consistently used our fortune to embellish the holy establishments of our town and help the less fortunate around us, and sought a way to increase such participation. Flamel’s discovery of a secretive tome on alchemy prompted him to go on a journey that did end with the successful decryption of its messages and me transmuting silver and gold several times. Of course, this process was only possible due to the essence derived from the Philosopher’s Stone, yet its most mysterious secret, the elixir of life said to grant immortality, was still beyond our grasp. The process through which opposites became one, of the male and female dragons intertwining, of fixed sulfur heating and drying the mercury and volatile mercury chilling and moisturizing sulfur. When sol and luna are one: the red-purple crystalized quintessence which can produce everything metallic, it… I find myself struggling to describe this appropriately in text, rushing instead to describe the allegories that were our preferred way of recording such alchemical messages. I think it’s incredible how many others would later write in Flamel’s name. Why, anything me or that man authored would certainly be the most boring picture book ever made. Maybe I should have authored something. Flamel would never have done it, scared as he was to create the elixir in defiance of Our Lord’s plan. Though he codified much of our practices into Christian faith, regardless of origin, that last grand achievement was a step too far. No wonder that, when we eventually stumbled upon the magnum opus by chance, I was the only one to use it.

Item Construction EX The Caster-class ability to manufacture magical items. His Item Creation is so powerful that the items he creates can often be considered extra personal skills. Golden Rule, Mana Burst, Magecraft, Philosopher’s Stone and many others can be ‘acquired’ by simply creating an item with the appropriate effect.

Dimanche; 1,331,564,421,400 🝰 since summoning I appreciated needing God. When I helped people in life, I did it for them and for myself. I enjoyed seeing them happy, yes, but I also did it for a higher purpose dictated by our creator — though saying it now, I find it hard to call Him even that, considering where my feelings ended up after the countless — if I can even use this word, considering I counted them — years. Now, my purpose is dictated by the faceless, thoughtless machine that is humanity’s self-preservation. I was summoned and realized that my soul had not been on the promised plains of rest alongside my fellow believers. Be that as it may, little should change. The rules that governed the world were quite a bit different from what I believed — though I find it ironic how close they are to the beliefs of all those who manufactured the ideals I’d later be summoned into — but that’s fine — or rather, after countless (here it is again) days and months of introspection and soul-searching, I came to be fine with it. Then, I realized I was immortal. I had been betrayed and robbed of my eternal reward after death — first by the humanity I sought to help in the first place, by those who would embellish my history and turn it into legend; then by my own wife, seeking to bring me back to her side to help carry the burden of an unending lifestyle — and it was plain to see that I’d never reach it if I remained as I was. As years, and years — and years, years, and eons — passed, I came to a darker realization: I may have outlived God. If God is, and I am his child, then he had already decided on my ultimate destiny by giving up my eternal soul to humanity; and if that’s so, I have nothing else to do with him — or rather, he had decided he had nothing else to do with me when he tossed my essence to that timeless throne. If God is, and I am his child, then maybe I’ll be taken to his side on the day his son returns to us, as all other humans ought to be — but shouldn’t that day be long past? What man can believe in a promised end of the world when the world consists of two people? If God is, and I am his child, then how come I’ve witnessed countless ends and beginnings, how come I have lived beyond any other person, long enough to see his first light grow hungry enough to swallow the planets that surround it? If God is, and I am his child. If God is, but we’ll never meet. If God is, but all his creations are gone… Then what is this eternal life for? People, planets, stars, God. As they die in body and mind, becoming only memories for me to hold onto, I find myself lacking that crucial belief that spurred me on to be a good man so — so, so, so, so, so — long ago. What is my higher purpose? My mind, for some reason unknown to me, always wanders back to the old quests towards spacefaring when this dark question assails me. How insignificant must any higher purpose seem when all you can see of the whole of human existence is a pale blue dot.

Territory Creation C The Caster-class ability to build a special terrain or workshop. Nicolas is able to create an appropriate alchemy workshop that also carries the qualities of holy grounds and mausoleums. Much of his alchemic work was done to bring together Christianism and alchemical doctrine, and that is reflected on the nature of the land that he commands. The low rank might be surprising, but it is appropriate when one considers how simple the processes described by his supposed works are, even if the result is the creation of the ‘holy grail of alchemy’.

Clear skies, sunny, night. I never understood his fear until he explained it to me. It was understandable that he wouldn’t want to take people away from god’s plan, but why reveal the recipe through hidden messages, like in our tympanums? “Giving them immortality is wrong, because presenting this possibility is the same as forcing them to take it. Who wouldn’t flee from the fear of death? If I just leave the possibility of discovering it however, then they can only deny their eternal rest by their own effort and volition.” It made sense at the time, and it made my decision all the more painful. I had not expected how hard mourning would be when one is aware that they won’t follow the same path, and I truly did not expect that it would come back constantly, more painful each time. It was no wonder that I finally abused my connections in that treacherous world of magi to summon him back. I realized I was going against his wishes when I did it, but when I felt the painful tattoo take shape in my hand and saw his form rise from the summoning circle, I knew it was the right decision. The smiles we showed each other at the time couldn’t have been mistaken.

Mercredi; 1,331,564,421,586 🝰 since summoning I wonder if time killed love or

Obsolete Star-Seeker A A unique skill granted to heroes that failed to become turning points in human history. All simple voyages and challenges which are considered “likely to be overcome” turn into “events that are nearly impossible”. Had he shared his discovery with the world, human society would have experienced irreversible changes that would lead it to a drastically different path.

Jeudi; 1,331,564,421,587 🝰 since summoning I supposed you can’t call it love, not anymore. Before, it certainly was — we loved each other — now, I’m not so sure. To spend eternity with someone is to come to understand them on a level not afforded to anyone else. Knowing what they think and feel so instinctually that you might as well treat it as your own thoughts and feelings. One might say that no person can truly understand another, but such assertions only exist within the human lifespan, not to us. To us, our love and age led to a bond so tight it might as well be called an interweaving of egos. However, even if this fact brings me joy — and I do believe it does, as different as it is from how our relationship was originally — it still instigates the musings that have consumed me since my first entry in these passages — or notes, or diary. How truly alone am I, as I am — or 'are we, as we are'? Outliving God, the planet, humanity. Left behind, just me and myself.

Human Observation (End of Days & Individual) B+++ The ability to observe and understand people. In this case, it’s a composite-type skill of Human Observation (End of Days) and Human Observation (Individual). Rather than understanding others in a regular setting, the End of Days version of the skill refers to how one is able to understand how anyone would react in a moment of crisis, an ability born out of continuously witnessing the last moments of someone at the end of the world. Though one might assume such an occasion can only be witnessed once, the truth is that, on an individual level, the end of ‘the world one can see’ is just as traumatic and significant as an end that includes others outside that limited view. When it comes to Perenelle, Caster’s skill receives an impressive number of plus corrections, allowing him a higher understanding that goes beyond just moments of crisis, affording it the Individual moniker.

Clear skies, sunny, evening. Its glow is now so bright that sleeping is impossible. We’ve been used to the constant burning and healing under the oppressive light of our dying sun for many, many years now, but it’s evident that this sterile rock we once called Earth will be dragged into the star long before it grows beyond our orbit. With the approaching reality of this newest end, we had the most engaging conversation in ages: can this be it? We agreed, of course, no. There should be ways to end our life, logically, but it would be a lie to say we sought them out. As the years went by, our fear of death grew. The longer you live beyond what was afforded, the harder you fear the inevitable end. With destruction approaching, we decided to look at the many recordings the Philosopher’s Stone held. We originally put them there for entertainment once we realized we would outlive human society, but they hadn’t been accessed in eons and eons, their entertainment value expended in the first millennia after societal collapse. News, movies, books, photos, etc. Made to educate, register, entertain or provoke. As we went by them, we stumbled onto an article mentioning the very same probe that inspired me to start my own recordings now. When I saw his eyes, I immediately knew that he had an idea — or rather, that we had an idea, for the same thought came to me as well. Higher purpose indeed.

Deep Red Jewel O’ Distant Red Tympanum Anti-Humanity Rank B It is said that the tympanum commissioned by Flamel to be installed on the Holy Innocent’s Cemetery contains the secret of the Philosopher’s Stone. From formulae to religion, the codification of alchemic practices into symbols is core to alchemy itself, an art that deals in transformation. There was once a plan to contact those beyond our planet. But alchemy doesn’t really deal in just simple transformation, does it? It’s all just processes for the sake of ascension. Lesser metals into noble metals, lives into immortality. A time capsule that represents humanity and affirms its existence. A higher purpose. The meaning to immortality that they never found can simply be borrowed from something else that has already achieved it. Despite containing so little information, it’s meant to represent all. Their lives and experiences might not amount to much, even despite their age, when compared to the collective of lives that were already lost, unrecorded. But even the fact that its selection is limited already represents part of what humanity is. And so, amid the scorching rays of a long dead star, a stone floats alone, along with the remains of a long dead planet. From the other side of the universe, something watches it them just as they watched it.

[Serra]

Rider of the Uncertain Clash
⫷ Fated Foe of the War Messiah ⫸



Class: Rider
True Name: Heraclius=Armilus
Alias: Flavius Heraclius, Armilus
Alignment: True Neutral
Source: Historical fact and rumours; various Jewish eschatological texts such as the Sefer Zerubavel
Region: Eastern Roman Empire; Jerusalem; the World
Attribute: Star
Natural Enemy: Messiah ben Joseph

Flavius Heraclius was a general of the Eastern Roman Empire who took the crown in 610 after eliminating the unpopular usurper Phocas. He was involved in a series of wars against the Sasanid Empire. Initially, his attempts at defending were largely ineffective, and he's said to have at one point even considered turning his Empire into a client state to the Sasanids. However, he miraculously managed to sign a peace treaty after the Sasanids had already reached the gates of Constantinople. After rebuilding his military, he proceeded to reconquer large swaths of the territory he'd lost to them, including Jerusalem, and is credited with recovering the True Cross from his enemies' hands. Thus, he was victorious in the last war between Rome and Persia, centuries after the first conflict between them. Not long after, the Sasanid Empire was swallowed by the advance of the Arab tribes united under the newly formed religion of Islam. He earnt the respect of Muḥammad and his companions as their foe, and they likewise earnt his. The Muslim forces largely proved themselves his betters in terms of warfare, and kept conquering more and more of the Empire's territories during the later years of Heraclius's reign. Eventually, he succumbed to an illness and passed away.

When the Sasanids had first approached Jerusalem during Heraclius's early reign, certain leaders of the Jewish population of the city are said to have cooperated with them in the hope of earning independence. The Sasanids initially accepted their help, but eventually betrayed them and chose to keep the city under direct Persian control, possibly after being pressured into doing so by Mesopotamian Christian factions. Nonetheless, after Heraclius reconquered Jerusalem and reclaimed the True Cross, he added on to the bloodshed that had ensured with the battle for the city, and forbid any Jewish people from settling into Jerusalem or in its immediate proximity. Thus, he was portrayed in the Sefer Zerubavel as an escathological figure called Armilus, who would conquer the world and fight the Messiah ben Joseph during the end times: the events of the Sefer Zerubavel can be largely interpreted as a mirror to the Jewish revolt against Heraclius. From then on, Armilus became a figure in other Jewish eschatological texts as well. In some, he would fall against the Messiah ben Joseph; in others, he would be the victor of that battle; in all, he would be dispatched in one way or another before the advent of the great age of the Messiah ben David.

Parameters
STR: A+
END: B
AGI: A+
MGI: A+
LCK: B-
NP: A+ (EX)

________________________

Class SkillsClass Skills

Magic Resistance | EX

No spells short of True Magic or magecraft that comes to equal it almost exactly are capable of affecting Rider. However, this is not a problem for his destined foe.

Riding | EX

Permanently bolstered by the nature of his bond with his first Noble Phantasm, which can be seen as two mounts, and by his World Conqueror Skill. Able to perfectly handle any mount or vehicle, going as far as making them surpass their natural limits without the slightest effort.

________________________

Personal SkillsPersonal Skills

Monothelite Nature | B++



Monothelism was a sect of Christianity briefly promoted by Emperor Heraclius and Patriach Sergius in an attempt to mend the schism between the trinitarians, the monophysites, and the nestorians. According to later monothelism, Jesus Christ possessed two natures, one divine and one human, but both were guided by a single will. Eventually, all three sides rejected monothelism, and this doctrine was definitely abandoned after the Arabs conquered most of the monophysite provinces of the Empire, thus heavily changing the political circumstances which had led to the experiment of monothelism in the first place.

Curiously, the doctrine of monothelism reflects Rider's own situation rather closely. He is composed of two natures, that of the historical Flavius Heraclius, and that of the eschatological Armilius. However, both were guided by a single will, already aware of his coming role in the end times. It is a near impossibility for mental interference to afflict Rider. If one of his natures bends to the psychic assault and falters, the other effortlessly takes its place until the former can recover, and vice versa. All the while, the overarching will remains singular and unreachable, its directives and choice of methods entirely unperturbed.

First and Last Crusader (Foe) | A



When the medieval Crusades first took place, their supporters hailed Heraclius's retaking of the True Cross as an antecedent to them, and often referred to him as 'the first crusader'. All of the wars in which he was involved in life had a prominent religious component to them as well. Lastly, as a Christian showing up during the end times to fight a non-Christian opponent, in his role as an eschatological antagonist he can also be seen as 'the last crusader'. This Skill provides increased defensive and offensive capabilities while fighting the divine as well as against the demonic. It also modifies the quality of his attacks. On one hand, due to his zeal, they become holy, and gain increased effectiveness against all that is Evil. On the other hand, due to his cold actions in life and especially to his fated role in the end times, their effectiveness will actually be at their peak against those aligned with the forces of Good.

World Emperor | A+++



A composite of a high-ranked Charisma, a very high-ranked Tactics, and a very high-ranked Imperial Privilege. As Rider is fated to conquer the world, once he reawakens as Armilus, Heraclius's capabilities as a conqueror are enhanced countless times over. Moreover, he's able to temporarily draw upon a nearly limitless amount of Skills, as befitting of one whose destiny is to rule over the whole world. His Rank in this Skill does not reach EX because his dominion over the world will not be eternal, and he will eventually fall in battle.

________________________

Noble PhantasmsNoble Phantasms

Gog and Magog
Adversaries at the End



Type: Anti-Army Anti-Unit (Anti-World)
Rank: A+ (EX)
Range: N/A
Targets: N/A

Gog and Magog are two entities that appear in various eschatological texts of Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and related religions. Their true nature and relation to one another has an extremely broad range of variation. Either of them may be a country, an army, a population, an individual warrior, a giant calamitous monster, or something else entirely. Sometimes, one of them is even identified with Armilius himself. However, what stays constant is that these two entities will be involved in the end times and that they will play an antagonistic role against the forces of good.

This Noble Phantasm uses the full extent of the variability within these stories to its advantage. Gog and Magog are Rider's mounts, shapeshifters without a will of their own which obey his every thought. They can split and become his armies, they can turn into a myriad of different weapons or shields, they can grow to colossal sizes and devastate everything around them. If at any point Rider's body seems to be inhuman at all, that's likely because Gog and Magog have morphed into wings or the like. Gog and Magog are the tools through which Rider shall conquer the world. However, were Rider to be summoned before then, the capabilities of Gog and Magog would be drastically reduced.

Both during the apocalyse or during a regular Holy Grail War, no matter how drastically the form of Gog and Magog changes, they'll still remain solid and easily identifiable, composed by a cold metal-like material of peerless durability and flexibility, largely impervious to any change in temperature. Moreover, they'll be unable to take elemental characteristics with their shapeshifting. For instance, becoming creatures that could breathe lightning would be out of the question. Though their splitting and size-changing may make destroying them seem impossible at first, the damage they're dealt gradually slows down the speed of their shapeshifting, and there's no way for them to heal any of that damage. Moreover, if either or both of them are completely destroyed, they can't regenerate.

Lastly, Rider originally had a weakness to the breath of the Messiah ben Joseph. However, to give himself a better fighting chance against his destined foe, he has removed this weakness and placed it within Gog and Magog. However, the transplant of this weakness has caused it to become more acute. Therefore, they're particularly vulnerable to any attacks that are based on wind and can be classified as holy.

Messiah's Funeral Pyre
Twelve Days Ablaze



Type: N/A (Anti-Messiah)
Rank: N/A (EX)
Range: N/A
Targets: N/A (1 foe)

A Noble Phantasm that Rider usually doesn't possess at all outside of the end times. The colossal pillar of fire within which, according to some texts, the Messiah ben Joseph is destined to burn away over the course of twelve days. Rider claims it consists in the collective sunrays emitted over the course of twelve days folded into a single pillar. He's capable of controlling it through his thoughts, as well as of physically wielding it like a massive spear. However, Rider can also 'lock on' this Noble Phantasm on one messiah at a time, and have the pillar automatically pursue its target.

It grants the equivalent to an extremely high ranked Mana Burst (Fire/Light) Skill, and it inflicts heaps of additional damage, as well as absolutely excruciating pain, against any messianic figures. Anyone who considers himself a saviour or a messiah will be affected. Anyone who is considered a saviour or messiah by others will be affected as well. All Saver-Class Servants are particularly in danger.

Its innate aversion to messianic figures is strong enough that, if a target with such characteristics were to escape to the likes of the Reverse Side of the World or the Imaginary Number Space to avoid it, it would break through and follow them in a relentless pursuit. Escaping to different timelines, or stopping time entirely, will also not be able to stop the relentless advance of the pillar. Defeating Rider, or convincing him to stop the pillar, remains the only way to halt it.

Lastly, this Noble Phantasm also contains a sort of safety guard for Rider's legend. It would trigger if, at the moment when the Messiah ben Joseph first arrives during the end times, Rider is dead or otherwise not present. In that case, Rider would automatically revive from any kind of death so he can battle his fated rival. After his first return, he can revive as many times as it takes, so long as the Messiah ben Joseph continues to exist during the end times and they have yet to battle. This may be tied to the fact that Rider is often described as terribly mutilated by the time he fights the Messiah ben Joseph.

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Bond Craft EssenceBond Craft Essence

Armilus



The first Armilus was also called Amulius.

He was a Roman general who waged war against Jupiter and was annihilated by a storm.

That Rider is destined to take on his name was no coincidence.

If he is to awaken again at all, if the circumstances shall necessitate his emergence as the second Armilus and that of the War Messiah that shall oppose him, then, in every such scenario...

He is destined to conquer the world.

He is also destined to fall. Always. In every excerpt in which he's mentioned at all.

But.

The texts are contradictory.

Neither his fated rival nor him are meant to be sacrifices.

The outcome of their battle is yet to be determined.

It will be decided then. It will be the last real battle.

To him, that alone makes it worth fighting.

________________________

......

In life, Rider fought and ruled to the best of his ability. He was capable of acknowledging, respecting, and prasing worthy opponents, while at the same time remaining firm towards them, in more than one occasion veering into cold cruelty. That much has not changed. However, at the end of times, he not only gains new power, but finds his desire for battle growing countless times over. That desire growing so intense would've been a liability to Heraclius the human, but is an absolute necessity for Armilus to fulfill his role of conquering the world. Yes, a desire for battle, encompassing both the predetermined battles required to conquer the world, and the battle he has always cared about the most from the onset, the one whose outcome he strives to determine with all his strength. Therefore, his desire for battle does not diminish in any way once his world conquest is complete. Indeed, were the arrival of the Messiah ben Joseph particularly delayed in comparison to Rider's appearance...

________________________

The ancient coffin is sculpted out of solid, hefty stone. From the side, it looks like an immutable thing. There is not one more blemish and not one more mote of dust on it than there was on the day in which it was first built. At the same time, the rigid stone gives a feeling of solitude, as if no human had ever come take care of the sarcophagus since it was first built.

Seen from above, however, it reveals itself to not be so immutable, after all. In the blink of an eye, a single crack appears to bisect it vertically, thin to the point that it barely lets any semblance of light in.

It's enough.

He bursts from the coffin, the rubble chaotically projectiled in all directions as he stands, pieces of stone embedding themselves deep within the nearby mountains. As the son of a stone and Satan, he is reborn.

Not long after, his conquest of the world is complete. It came far easier than he thought it would. All the pieces aligned themselves perfectly up to that point.

Yet, ever since he first reawoke, he has not once gazed at the sky above his head.

Even so, he can't avoid it anymore.

He looks up. The dying reflections of dead stars are mirrored within his eyes.

Instantly, without reason, he knows.

They're all about to happen all at once, or have already started. Ragnarok. The Day of Judgement. The Frashkoreti. More.

Yet.

He still does not sense the one human he should sense.

"...What's the sense in keeping me waiting now, of all times!?" he mutters.

He closes his eyes and sees a breathtaking gathering.

"...Then again, why not!?"

He is fated to face that Messiah in battle. Whether he'll win or lose, he'll fall soon after.

But until then.

"Before I kill or am killed by that Messiah..."

His feet leave the ground. He takes flight towards Elysium.

"Why not fight a trillion more!?"

________________________

On the Others at the EndOn the Others at the End

Cassandra
"I know you won't find it in yourself to forgive me. But I won't allow you to erase the future before the last real battle."

Sophia, "Simon Magus"
"Guiding the choices of humanity... Yes, I have followed a path God laid out for me of my own will, and shall continue to follow it gladly. Nonetheless, there is the outcome of a certain fight I don't wish to be rigged. He has granted me that much. Do not attempt to deny it."

Malcom Muggeridge
"You have faith in God's intervention and have done your part to change the world. You've upheld your role, your faith, your principles. So, what does it matter if you think the world still rots?"

Parikshit, Emily Dickinson
"Building a better world after its end... If I am to survive the end of a world, it shall be as... Heraclius. But the sort of man I am now is the sort of man that ends before his world does."

Keres, Macaria
"Oho! Speak your mind while we have this chance, sisters of the Greek underworld. I'll become acquainted with my own death soon enough."

Laevatainn
"A fine weapon, and a loving child. Good, good! Still, I'm not the wielder you seek. The world shall end regardless of the outcome of my fated battle."

L. Ron Hubbard
"A rather poor excuse for a messiah, as far as I'm concerned. Still, I'm willing to make do for appetizers."

Michael
"Archangel Michael! I implore you. Do not cast me out just yet. Until my fated foe finally arrives, there is nothing I would wish for more than doing battle with the greatest fighters gathered here."

Garshāsp
"Ah, you... You are no messiah, and yet... Ah, indeed, you must be someone who kills the likes of me. You slay the horrors at the end of the world. How else could I explain this feeling? Then, kill me if you so wish, ignore me if I am too small a quarry for you. Just know that I won't stay dead until my fated rival fights me, regardless."

Matsukara Katsuie
"And you would attempt to eradicate the worship of Christ with this!? Your flames aren't nearly enough to take me down!! Compared to the heat of my second Noble Phantasm, they might as well be several hundred times colder than absolute zero!!"
It seems that Berserker's hotblooded nature is amplifying Rider's desire for battle to the point of making him discard any knowledge he may have had about physics and various other subjects. Nonsensical exchanges such as this one are sure to follow.

Eris
"I'm sure you're used to disappointment by now, but I am not one of your children. Right now, I'm not here as a hero, but as a righteous villain. Quite the difference, wouldn't you agree?"

Jarir Ibn Abdullah Al Bajali
"I remember you, whose face truly shone like the moon. Your prowess as a warrior has not diminished since I last saw you, but your properness as a champion of your faith appears to have tragically suffered. Though matters of the moon are outside my jurisdiction, I would be glad to put you out of your misery."

Artabanus II
"Where is your convinction? How do you hope to conquer the world and herald the end while fearing and despising the very role you have chosen to play? I shall gladly take over your role once I've run you through."

Louhi
"Hatred of humans... As much as I would love to team up with a fellow villain at the end of the world, I'm still human, too. In fact, stopping you may make for an entertaining diversion."

Simon bar Kokhaba
"You... No, you are not the one I seek. Even so, you are cut from the same cloth. I speak not of your blood, but of your souls. It would honour me to kill a good man like you."

The Beatles
"Hah. For all the confidence the one who got you here showed in life, you seem an awful lot like ants among the other guests."

Sajāḥ & Musaylima
"What a shame, that you would so dislike the role another faith has cast you in. I happen to be rather enjoying myself, you see."

Prince Charming
"Hahahahah! What a wonderful messiah! But oh, fighting you seems so dull and boring! And even so, even so! Precisely because of that... Marvelous, simply marvelous! Then, I'll come back to you for another round of laughs once I'm done with the rest! I'm certain you could tide me over until my chosen foe arrives!"

Virochana=Vairocana
"You herald and stand for emptiness, correct? Still, you only know of emptiness within the living. Perhaps you ought to try discovering the emptiness within the dead?"

Helen of Troy
"Such an empty woman all those warriors chose to fight for. Then again, my army conquered the world without a thought of their own. Would you say you're more alike to them, or to me? And what about your heroes? Who did they resemble the most?"

Cain
"...I shall honour my pact with God, and raise not my hand against you."

________________________

Creator's NotesCreator's Notes

Gog and Magog were inspired by Mao Pam from Magical Girl Raising Project: Limited but function differently under pretty much every aspect so you probably wouldn't be able to tell if I didn't say that in here

The Matsukara line is a reference to a Hyoga vs Camus fight in Saint Seiya

Uhh shit it's too late and too close to the deadline I don't have time for actual notes

This month's contest has been a blast though, I wish I'd been freer early in the month so I could've got my sheets in earlier

[TQG Imaginatorious]

Question, does anyone else feel giddy and excited when you see your servant(s)'name get added to the other relationships and see their opinions on yours? Don't tell me if it's just me that feels that way.

[pinetree]

I love it and I'm sure everyone does too, there's a reason it's become so common to do.

[Morg van Destro]

I don't think it should, since I take the approach of only adding people I think have some kind of connection.
But yes. Can't lie I love seeing what other Servants say. Both deaths mentioning Thanatos was an inviting surprise.

[DracoScribe]

-raises hand- Ay. It's very fun to see. It's also very fun to do. Two of the main reasons why I like doing it.