Fate/Antiquity (IC)

[Katie]

Fate/Antiquity

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“Is what you want truly worth more than a wish?”

“Perhaps not. But the world I envision will grant not only my dreams, but that of many others.”

“For everyone’s sake, I pray that it is so.”

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Theresa Octavia
Day 0 - Afternoon (Phase 2/3)
Nishi Ward - Shopping District

You feel like dying.

Among other reasons, the primary cause is the girl standing next to you, admiring a rather mundane water fountain. After all, she’s the one who barged into your hotel room yelling “The old man’s given us a day off!” and dragging you away, out of the hotel, onto the bus, into the heart of the city. You have not known Lumine Albright for very long, but you’re considering adding “delinquent” and “overbearing” to the description in your mind. Her easygoing smile just happens to grate on your nerves.

“S’nicer than London’s,” she finally mumbles in conclusion, before turning to you. The two of you stand in the middle of a packed square crossing, throngs of people walking past you in their mundane routines. Despite how much you two stand out, young foreigners out and about during the school day, they all pass you as if you were ephemeral, unremarkable. They have better things to do, and perhaps, so do you.

Digging into her coat pocket, Lumine pulls out a tourist trap of a map. She’s terribly excited, practically vibrating in place.

“Wanna go to the arcade? A theme park? The aquarium?” She rattles them off with surprising fervor, though before you can respond, your mind comes to a critical conclusion. This girl doesn’t have any friends.

“Or, um, we can do a cafe!”

Lysander Scriberis Archemiste II
Day 0 - Afternoon (Phase 2/3)
Nishi Ward - The Midnight Blue

You’ve done your research in the days you’ve been in Kagamihara—and the conclusion is that news travels around, especially in the Midnight Blue. Especially the kind of news that concerns you and your fellow magi.

This is why you stand outside the faded red-brown brick building right now, confronted by an aggressive amount of “no smoking” signs written in every language imaginable. Finally, you locate the hours hidden among the anti-smoking crusade, only to realize—

“It’s not open until five,” says a silk voice behind you, slightly deep for a woman.

You turn around. The woman addressing you is definitely a few years older, violet eyes boring into you. An instrument case is slung around her back, in one of her hands a grocery bag. She tilts her head and bites her lip in a way you find strangely familiar, but can’t quite place.

“You know what, come on in. She won’t mind.” With her free hand the woman fishes a key from her purse and unlocks the door, leaving you to follow in her footsteps.

The Midnight Blue lives up to its name and concept, dimly lit and adorned with blue seats, except for the music, which sure isn’t jazz. To your left is a small stage for a live performance, cases of instruments stacked neatly in the back behind a piano. To your right is a woman somehow gracefully wiping down the counter, who gives an award-winning smile to the both of you. You wonder why she’s tending bars instead of being in the movies.

“I told you, you can just leave that here, I don’t mind,” the woman at the counter calls out, before sizing you up, like a cat with a new toy.

“I’m not leaving it here. Some drunkard might have the balls to steal my sax,” your musician/escort says as she puts down her case next to the rest, before walking over and unceremoniously dumping the bag in front of the other woman. “Anyway, I brought some snacks. And a stray.”

“Nice,” she responds, but to what, you’re not sure. “Anyway, I’m Sarah Tenevere, owner of this fine establishment, and that’s Kanzaki Kasumi. What’s up? Lost? Need a phone?”

Hashimoto Arata
Day 0 - Afternoon (Phase 2/3)
Nishi Ward - Kagamihara University

Is it whimsy that brought you here, or is it fate? That despite acknowledging your freedom, deep down, you have no urge to leave your cage?

Now that you’d finally gotten yourself situated, you had ample time to truly enjoy Kagamihara. Take in the sights, the city, the food. And yet, man may leave the school, but the thirst of knowledge still remains. All it took was for you to catch a glance at one misplaced flier, detailing a history exhibit at Kagamihara University, and you knew where to spend the rest of your afternoon.

As you step through sleek, white modern halls, the bustle of students and academics alike gives the foreign environment a sense of much needed familiarity. An entire section of the school’s history wing has been retooled for display, so as you make your way through, relics from all ages, from the paleolithic to the Heian era, cover the landscape, perfectly preserved behind glass cases. And, as you can’t help but notice, watched over by a plethora of security guards.

“Sensei?”

You remember that voice. Yonagi Tsukiko was one of your students from a few years back. Bright, eager to dig into the secrets of civilizations past, and more than eager to get her hands dirty. She left the department abruptly, but people in the Clock Tower came and left as they saw fit. Just one of many unusual cases that, over the long run, weren’t unusual at all.

“It’s been a long time,” she eventually says, sheepishly looking like she’s stumbling for words. Much different than when you last saw her. Her carefree attitude seems to have been tempered by the years. “Enjoying your time in Kagamihara?”

Asakami Ito
Day 0 - Afternoon (Phase 2/3)
Nishi Ward - Kagamihara University

When you made that sole request to Shinonome Hisao, you didn’t expect an answer. At least, not this soon.

But one thing leads to another, and that’s why you’re playing lookout for Kim Se-hun at Kagamihara University, watching as he struggles to get this door open. Someone had tipped off that the university had received a mysterious donation within the last month, and that coincidentally, there would be a historical exhibit at an auspicious time. When you think about it, it’s quite simple. Kill whoever wanted this relic for their Servant, and claim it for your own.

“There,” Se-hun says as the door handle finally clicks open. “I’ll stand out here and check in case someone ends up checking in. But everything they want to put on exhibit is already on display, so I don’t think it’ll happen.”

As he opens the door, though, you hesitate to step in. On the far side, the barrel of a gun is pointed at the doorway, the owner looking none too pleased.

“Se-hun. Ito. The chairman said I wasn’t getting any help.” Higashide Asahi, lieutenant of the Shinonome-kai, gazes at you with the familiar face of someone willing to kill.

Se-hun looks to you for guidance, practically frozen in fear. The boy is clueless on how the world truly works.

“Did he change his mind? If not, know your place and run.”

Ah. There was never any intention to negotiate.

Tanabe Shin
Day 0 - Afternoon (Phase 2/3)
Higashi Ward -

A man’s gotta do what he’s gotta do, and that’s feed himself. Normally you’d be out and about trying to fish for a sale, showing off your couponing prowess, but not today. Today you gotta go out of routine and shop at places you haven’t been to for a long damn time. Proper prep means being a bit choosier in locales.

You take slow steps towards the back of the store, towards a lone cash register hidden away from prying eyes. The front may have been awkwardly converted into a convenience store to keep afloat during the housing boom, but the back has always been an otaku’s paradise of model kits and Gunpla.

Shinoda Kazuo greets you with a sour smile. You smoke his ass at pool every time you meet up, and he always complains he’d do better sober.

“Been a while since I last saw ya,” he says, trying to break the ice, but one of his hands already is frozen in place, about to give you the goods in the back like the old days. You can tell he hopes otherwise—none of your brothers has held a grudge for you going clean, not after that last hit. Not that you’re aware of, at least.

“Just the groceries?” he asks to confirm, wary eyes checking over your shoulder, just in case anyone else comes in.

Sanda Rakuin
Day 0 - Afternoon (Phase 2/3)
Higashi Ward - Setagaya Park

Good news—your fame precedes you. People have been gathering to see the “shameless Buddhist monk panhandling in the park.” The bad news is that soon enough people are going to start recording and once that happens the magic may just run out. In the meantime, though, people are willing to give you money. Entertainment is its own commodity, so even if people aren’t so gullible to fall for the scheme straight up, they’re gullible enough to part ways with their coin.

A lone child, ignorant of danger, approaches you. Seemingly motivated by altruism, he dumps a pack of Chocorooms in your “donation basket.” There, this bag of sugary morsels crinkles against the ever appealing slurry of coins and bills. You think you see the boy’s mother glare at you in disgust. Nevertheless, he is not the first soul who feels swayed by your words, and he will not be the last.

Still, you have an audience, so what is there to do but show them enlightenment?

Reinhold Dietrich Presper
Day 0 - Afternoon (2/3)
Minami Ward - Tokisaka Shrine

Tokisaka Shrine sticks out like a sore thumb. Well-maintained, it is at complete odds with the buildings that surround it, a spot of green inbetween gray. It’s the first time you’ve seen it, but it already gives off the feeling of being a magus’s residence. That old, antiquated property permeates many of the home’s you’ve seen in the past.

The last time you met the Arashiya patriarch, it was a bit over three years ago. The last time you went to their residence… Never, actually. Always met through intermediary locations, better suited for business than this relic of the past. You did remember the tidbit that the residence was behind the shrine, and as you ring the archaic doorbell, you wonder how the hell the Second Owners have let this leyline situation cause trouble in your paradise. The scuffle of footsteps is heard before the door opens with a click.

“Mr. Presper, right?” the young Arashiya heir says, in sharp contrast to the father you were expecting. The teen looks tired, bags under her eyes apparent, nervously adjusting her gloves as she glances at your secretary. Her eyes narrow in frustration.

“She stays at the entrance,” she suddenly interjects, a much more commanding tone than her meek greeting. The shrine maiden points towards the torii. “Shrine policy.”

“If that’s unacceptable, we could go anywhere else,” she says, trying to overcome her anxiety by laying out terms and conditions. “Otherwise, we can discuss any matter you have over tea.”

Cuan Yugou
Day 0 - Afternoon (2/3)
Nishi Ward - Sekigahara Headquarters

The head of the Sekigahara Group inhales deeply from his pipe. Smoke leaves his lips, like the breath of a dragon. You would think someone Sekigahara Juro’s age would be frail, but the only impression you get is that he is unnervingly resilient. His movement, though stilted at times, is just spry enough.

He has already given you an explanation of the task at hand. A Holy Grail War, where people summon heroes of old to do battle to the death, all for the sake of a wish nobody has yet to grasp. And yet, this is promising enough to make a man like him bet on you as his proxy, to achieve a miracle nobody else can have.

“My children…” the old man says, looking exhausted at the mere thought of his family. “I built them a pillar of support. But I was negligent, and was blind to the men and women they would become.”

The crease in his brow merely deepens as he watches you, trying to read your expression.

“For their sake, I turn to you. To make my wish into a reality.” Juro seems uncomfortable with how genuine his words are, delivering them slowly, carefully. “The preservation and continued prosperity of everything I have built.”

As for the matter of price…

“One billion yen.” His bargain does not come with the sense of finality you expect, as if he has already prepared for the idea you will ask for more.

Zhang Canyuan
Day 0 - Afternoon (2/3)
Nishi Ward - Sekigahara Headquarters

“Let’s take this from the top.”

You sit here in an office meeting room, accompanied by one of your handlers, the ever aggressive Mitsurugi Ayame. Odd, that they picked this impatient woman to explain the situation to you, but thinking about it, it’s more likely she volunteered. It’s been a while since you’ve been called upon, though. In these relatively peaceful times, not much can’t be settled with a few bribes and implicit threats.

For a moment, you think Ayame will actually use the whiteboard, but instead she takes a seat and puts her feet on the table. You’re surprised she looks so comfortable doing it in an office chair.

“This city will be embroiled in what’s called a Holy Grail War. That’s some idiot ritual where a bunch of people, generally magicians, in case you needed to know those were real too, summon figures from the past called Servants. These Masters and their Servants fight to the death for the titular Holy Grail, which grants any wish.” She sounds doubtful that this Grail can grant any wish at all.

“Well, so I’m told. Apparently there were three in Tokyo that ended in disaster? No success, because people naturally began to look for loopholes in the rules, such as relying on external support. You heard of the bombing incidents in Tokyo fifteen years ago? That’s the cover-up for something like this.”

“Anyway, Canyuan, we’re under an obligation to keep our hands out of it. Juro’s already picked someone else to be his representative. The other Chinese guy, Yugou.” The name rings a distant bell, of a weary-looking man entrenched in hedonism, but you can’t recall any interaction more meaningful than passing each other throughout the building. “If we put all our assets into securing this Grail, we might piss off the Shinonome, and other various groups, and Kagamihara might just burn. That’s no good, so we, and everyone else, aren’t gonna interfere.”

Ayame stretches with a yawn. The lack of grace she shows around you is immense.

“I know it sounds like a load of shit, but that’s really how it is. Don’t want to lose our best guys investigating things they should be avoiding, I guess. Everything crystal clear?”