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Thread: [Quest] Lost Singularity - Fimbulwinter

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    The Long-Forgotten Sight Rafflesiac's Avatar
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    1.7
    Quote Originally Posted by Arashi_Leonhart View Post
    canon finish apo vol 3

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    闇色の六王権 The Dark Six SpoonyViking's Avatar
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    I'm going to change to Hermes' 1.7 too, Daneel. Maybe from what we learn we can forestall any hostilities between Saver and Javier if the latter's divinity continues to grow.

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    死徒二十七祖 The Twenty Seven Dead Apostle Ancestors Bird of Hermes's Avatar
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    Clever

  4. #724
    Time to burn some dread Daneel Rush's Avatar
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    Outside of the Drake Family Residence
    Day 03
    Afternoon Phase – 11-B
    Severe Cold (-17 °C/1.4 °F)



    Character Status
    Health: Stable
    Sustenance: Good
    Warmth: Good
    Stamina: Stable
    Regression Level 2
    (BGM)

    This is all wrong. This entire scene feels jarring to the mind, beyond the fundamental fear this…Servant elicits within me. It’s like being lost in the Bengal jungle, stumbling into a tiger, and then having the tiger start a conversation. It’s just wrong.

    This predatory beast shouldn’t be engaging in social niceties. Half of her face remains concealed, and it feels like I’m walking into a trap. Her inhuman eyes dismiss me solely by gazing in my general direction. This…person, does not know respect, and will never see me, or treat me as her equal.

    It is a little like meeting The Maid all over again, but this time without The Maid’s spirit of service. To the Servant looking down on me from that rooftop, the existence called “Javier Lucero” could not be more insignificant.

    However, the fact remains that, to my knowledge, this is the first time the Servant sharing her powers with Maria makes this kind of appearance.

    She probably knows things. I should get as much out of her as I can. However…

    “Is Maria alright? How does that work, if you are…here?”

    Saver does not answer right away. She just…stares, her thoughts indecipherable.

    “…hmph. Aren’t you coming up here? As far as I know, people tend to be closer when having a chat.”

    I wince.

    “Um, I can’t even figure out how to get up there.”

    The Servant sighs, and I can imagine her mind is now filled with thoughts on the feebleness of the human species. Then, she leaps off the two-story house, effortlessly landing in front of it, mere steps away from me. I…am not sure I’m comfortable with this person close to me.

    “Let’s talk while we walk, then.”

    “Um, is that, is that okay? I mean, what if—”

    “If an enemy appears? Then I’ll crush it.”

    Huh. Alright, then. No, wait.

    “Maria. Is Maria alright?”

    “Yes, that’s one of the weird things,” begins Saver as we walk down the street. She wears Maria’s body and speaks with her voice—and even some of her nuances--, but it is her gait and her forceful presence that betray her identity as somebody completely different. Maria is normally a cool and positive girl, and this reflected in her body language.

    Servant Saver stands and walks like she owns the whole goddamn place.

    “This singularity is so…fuzzy.” She speaks like the snob gourmand complaining to the chef. “It has partially detached itself from the current World of Man, which means it is inevitably closer to the world in the Reverse Side. It faintly touches all the layers, all the textures and all the subspaces…all sorts of things and powers can seep in, and maybe even out.”

    The Maid did mention something like that. That the spirits of Villarrica could contact me and ‘reignite’ the divine core inside me because this…singularity or whatever has weakened the walls separating our world from these…other spaces where the spirits live, I guess.

    “But, there’s something about the Children of Tiamat that bothers me…ugh, I was not made to think, so I just won’t.”

    What is she mumbling now, this woman.

    “Anyway, the vessel. Because the singularity is strange like that and my summoning didn’t work out quite right, it seems I can somehow pull myself to the forefront like this when she falls unconscious.”

    That is such a half-assed explanation.

    “But while I am here, she sinks into the
    abzu
    primeval sea
    .”

    What.

    “No need to worry, though. There is a caring one who will look after her in there. She might even get the grand tour of my home.”

    What.

    (BGM STOP)

    *** ***

    Abzu

    Maria Westinghouse is barely herself.

    In a space where she does not belong, where the very concept of life and mortality do not belong, the very human existence of a single human girl is broken apart, dispersed, reduced to its base fundamentality, that piece of the mortal that touches the realm of the eternal.


    The light of the soul sinks. Not granted even the privileges of thought and self-awareness, she is engulfed by the divine darkness, the abyss primordial. She is to be consumed in ignorance without horror or bliss, utterly undone to become one with the all-accepting dark cradle.

    Yes, that is as it should have been.

    “You do not belong here.”

    Unaware of even herself, that which one was Maria Westinghouse merely sinks further.

    A sigh reverberates within the primeval depths.

    “I would rather like it if you would not take me for granted, ■■■■■■.”

    Within the absolute darkness of the primeval abyss, radiance divine surges to envelop the soul in peril. It is the embrace of a mother and the benediction of a queen. It is the warmth of an earthen womb and the luxury of a gilded cage.

    Maria Westinghouse remains blissfully unaware of the ultimate privilege she is partaking of, and for a short while, she is probably the safest, most untouchable mortal soul in existence.

    Spoiler:

    *** ***



    (BGM)

    “Rest assured, the vessel is fine. It’s annoying, but I still need her. If I could just destroy her soul and take over the empty body, I would’ve done it from the very beginning.”

    That is not relieving in the slightest. However, right now I can only take her at her word. Besides, I decided to talk to this Servant myself, because I want answers from her.

    “So? Who are you?”

    The Servant scoffs.

    “Of all the question, human, you start with the stupidest.” She does not sound annoyed. Just, bored. “I am Servant Saver. You need not know anything else.”

    “Why is it so important so hide your true identity?”

    “It isn’t,” admits the woman. “It’s not like this is one of those loathsome contests you magi like so much.”

    My animal instinct perceives the spike of anger the woman radiates, and suddenly I’m the feeling like I’m drowning in a primeval sea. Skin sweats, muscles tremble and knees beg for the right to surrender.

    “If I tell you my name, you will tell the vessel, and she has not earned it. We shall not speak of this any further.”

    I’m in no position to refute. This woman…The Maid is scary in a subtle, implied manner. This woman has all the subtlety of a freight train, and does not take no for an answer.

    We walk in silence for a while, with no other company but each other and the occasional wandering undead. Saver pays them no heed, so neither do I.

    “So, what exactly is your mission? Why did you come here?”

    Something about that question—the wording? The meaning?—elicits a snort from the young woman.

    “I was created for one and only one purpose: to find and beat up a certain tyrant. If the World decided I had to come here, it can only mean that idiot is up to no good again.”

    She says it with a lax, “kids will be kids” tone. It doesn’t sound like a big deal, the way she puts it. Then again, does Servant Saver even care about the singularity, the frozen city or the entombed people of Valparaíso?

    “Well, I guess I’m supposed to end the singularity and set this place straight, so I’ll also do that if I can. I only know how to fight, though, so let’s hope it doesn’t take more than that.”

    Yes, ever since she began to answer me, a tinge of cheer has entered her speech.

    “I mean, humans are weak and worthless, but they’re the current Primates, so I guess their current course of history has to be allowed to persist.” She nods to herself. “Yeah, I don’t care about you humans, but this singularity business is just no good. Gives me a bad feeling.”

    She sniffs the air and makes an altogether unpleasant expression, obvious despite the mask covering the bottom half of her face.

    “Might be the stench of divinity all over this accursed place, though.”

    …seriously, what.

    *** ***

    Depths of the Abzu



    (BGM)

    Maria Westinghouse is again herself. A complete human, in shape and identity.

    It is a miracle, in the strictest, most literal form.

    “Wha—!”

    The moment she opens her mouth, she regrets it. Water rushes into her mouth and terror fills her thoughts until a formless warmth envelops her, pulling her further into the depths.

    “Worry not. You need not breathe here.”

    Nevertheless, Maria hesitates to move her hands off her mouth closed shut. She “holds her breath” until she realizes it brings her no discomfort, nor the urging feeling of gradual asphyxiation. Then she notices she does not feel wetness either. If anything, she feels like she is sinking in the air. There is only warmth.

    Maria is enveloped in melam not her own. It is likely to belong to the owner of the voice, and it is almighty. Truly, the melam she has manifested in her battles in Valparaíso seems like a joke in comparison. Is this invisible helper that much more powerful than Saver…or is it she who is lacking, incapable of unleashing the full magnitude of Saver’s divine radiance?

    She strongly suspects it is the latter.

    In this seemingly infinite darkness without another direction but deeper down, she should be wracked with terror. There are things out there, in the fathomless dark, immense and older than mankind. However, they near not the radiance, and the warm, comforting presence enveloping her is like the night lamp she used until she was seven years old. It is like the embrace of her mother, and the approving nod of her grandma.

    “Everything will be alright”. This radiance is that idea, that feeling, made manifest. Strong, reliable, unfaltering, and caring.

    Maria feels spoiled like never before since she has memory.

    Umm…where’re we going?

    She cannot speak—her current sensations or lack thereof aside, she is indeed submerged in a seemingly infinite ocean.

    “We are already here.”

    That is when Maria notices something she is absolutely sure was not there a moment before.

    Spoiler:
    They have yet to reach the bottom of the sea (does this sea even have a bottom?). The towering ziggurat is held still and aloft in the waters, standing firm as if built on the most solid foundation.

    Maria’s feet finally touch solid ground on the very top of the ziggurat, and she only realizes how much she missed it when she sighs in relief and promptly has her insides flooded with fresh water. Her arms flail stupidly for a few instants until she remembers that, no, she will not drown in here.

    Damn it, I can do this. If the Evangelion kids can do it, I sure as hell can!

    Maria inhales as deep as she can, letting the water flood both digestive and respiratory pathways. She grimaces—this will take a while getting used to.

    She spends enough time on this to forget her unseen company until she vaguely realizes it has gotten even darker. She then realizes she is no longer enveloped in that awesome divine radiance.

    Uhh…stress levels rising…

    “Here, I am.”

    Spoiler:
    She steps out from behind the massive central pillar: a wispy, formless and featureless outline of a being, wrapped in stormy wisps of divine radiance. It seems less a person than countless wisps of light struggling to maintain the shape of one.

    “You are safe here, human. You do not need my protection as long as you stay in this temple. You may wait here until you return to your proper place, or even attempt to reclaim it from here if you so wish. What I mean to say is, my labor here is done. I should not be here in the first place, so I would rather leave now.”

    Oh…

    Maria stretches a corner of her lips dejectedly. She was hoping for some answers, and she is definitely not looking forward to being left alone in this utterly dark place. Looking over the edge of the temple’s rooftop, she vaguely catches an image of dereliction. This building has seen better days.

    As Maria slowly walks the perimeter of the rooftop, seeing nothing but dejected monumentality and the endless darkness beyond, she realizes the only source of light comes from the formless woman’s divine radiance. Maria thus looks back to the center of the platform.

    The woman—no, the goddess—has not moved a step. If anything, from what Maria can tell of the strange apparition’s shape and position, it has been following every single of her actions.

    Um…I thought you were leaving?

    “Eh?”

    (BGM STOP)

    Eh?

    “…ah!”

    (BGM)

    Maria blinks. The goddess just gasped. It sounded kind of squeaky.

    “Right! Right, leaving. Yes. My august self has no time to cater to the whims of demons or humans. Hmph. Very busy, yes.”

    Maria flatly stares at the figure, unimpressed by either her words of her high-class lady-like voice.

    The manifestation of light still does not leave. It is hard to tell, being nothing but an outline made of everchanging light, but Maria would bet the other woman is fidgeting.

    Maria Westinghouse has a feeling. A hunch might be the better word, founded on a distant memory.

    Maria remembers a puppy. A small dog looking up at his owner hard at work. It silently begs to be taken out to play, tail wagging impatiently and incessantly. The girl’s head tilts to the side, all the while she wonders if this is, in fact, really happening.

    Um…it’s really dark and creepy in here, Miss Goddess. Would it be too much asking if—

    “Yes! Yes, you are absolutely right! It’s too dark, isn’t it~? You’d be scared, wouldn’t you~?”

    Well, I wouldn’t say ‘scared’, but—

    “Yes, yes, you could stumble on something and float away into danger~”

    Nah, nah, there’re no currents here; I can swim just fine—

    “Aaah, there’s no helping you, human~”

    Maria thinks the radiance has become a little brighter—and, pinker?

    Whatever the case, Maria feels a little pissed for whatever reason.

    “Yes, yes, I am a gentle and caring soul; it would not be proper to leave you alone in the dark. Right? Right~?”

    Maria rolls her eyes.

    (…this person’s kinda annoying.)

    Regardless, this company is not worse than no company, so Maria walks back to the central pillar, sitting down next to the strange, radiant manifestation.

    Silence ensues for a while, in the time it takes Maria to realize that, yes, the goddess has handed her the reins of this…encounter. There is a strange, exuberant tension—excitement—in the water, and it all comes from the figure made of light.

    Maria feels like she is babysitting one of her younger nieces and nephews.

    …so…

    “Yes!?”

    (This goddess is way too excited!)

    Seriously, what the hell’s with this entire situation?


    Best Choice
    So, what will Maria talk about with this MYSTERIOUS DIVINE MANIFESTATION? (Warning! Despite having less time than Javier, Maria still may select up to TWO of the choices below. This MYSTERIOUS BEING is really chatty.)
    1. What is this derelict temple, Miss Goddess?
    2. Can you tell me anything about Saver, Miss Goddess?
    3. In any case, why are you helping us, Miss Goddess?
    4. Do you mind if I get some things out of my chest here, Miss Goddess?
    5. By the way, do you happen to have a name, Miss Goddess?
    6. Actually, Miss Goddess… (Write-in)
    Last edited by Daneel Rush; April 9th, 2019 at 09:26 PM.

  5. #725
    夜属 Nightkin Faux's Avatar
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    1 & 4
    False face must hide what the false heart doth know.

  6. #726
    So Many Ideas, So Little Time SleepMode's Avatar
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    The Act of dozing off in the afternoon is a luxury indeed.
    Coffee would be nice, though.

    [Collection of my Servant Sheets]
    Now Revamped!

  7. #727
    The Long-Forgotten Sight Rafflesiac's Avatar
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    - - - Updated - - -

    6. Actually, Miss Goddess, there's a guy named Rafflesiac who wants his 210 quartz and 11 tickets back.
    Quote Originally Posted by Arashi_Leonhart View Post
    canon finish apo vol 3

  8. #728
    welp, there goes my theory. I have to admit, the GM's expertise in Mesopotamian mythology is quite impressive, to have created such a mysterious figure out of such a sparse mythology.

    2 and 4

  9. #729

  10. #730
    Designated Reptile Draconic's Avatar
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    I want to say 1 & 4…

    but 2 & 4 seems like a more strategic move.

    - - - Updated - - -

    Actually, since Saver hasn’t answered Hermes’ 1.7 yet, would anyone consider changing the question to “Who is that creepy Maid who tried to trick me into killing you? What’s her true name, and how do we kill her?”

    - - - Updated - - -

    More of a question than a suggestion, mind you. I’m just bouncing an idea off the wall here, to be honest, so I want opinions on that line of thinking.
    Likes attention, shiny objects, and... a ball of yarn?
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    Admittedly, she'd probably be the hottest loan shark you'll ever meet. She'd probably make you smile as she sucked you dry.


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    Not with that attitude.

  11. #731
    死徒二十七祖 The Twenty Seven Dead Apostle Ancestors Bird of Hermes's Avatar
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    2 & 4

  12. #732
    2 & 4

  13. #733
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    2 & 4.

  14. #734
    Time to burn some dread Daneel Rush's Avatar
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    Depths of the Abzu




    (BGM)
    “Yes!?”

    Maria Westinghouse takes a moment to, well, take in the surrealism of the whole situation. She is seated on the rooftop of a ziggurat floating inside a dark ocean. Her lungs are filled with water, and she is in fact not breathing. Her only company is some light show of a divine manifestation who is all too eager to keep her company. Certainly not where she imagined herself at the beginning of the world trip to unveil the secrets behind her grandmother’s death. There is a plus to all this, and it is the absence of the headache and tiredness afflicting her in her mortal frame. Her head feels clear, and it is a blessing. The goddess’ radiance nearby remains a beacon of warmth and comfort, even if no longer enveloped in its motherly embrace.

    A woman of simple thoughts, Maria Westinghouse decides to make the best of the circumstances. So her companion is a goddess all too eager to talk. Well then, she can work with that.

    Yeah…I take it you know about Saver. At least more than I do…

    The tinge of despondency is insignificant, yet there is a change in the swirling aura. Maria feels it flow closer to her, transmitting its warmth through the liquid surrounding them.

    “I do not know what is happening in your realm, but my purview over souls tells me enough about your flawed connection with…Saver, you said? Fufu, Saver, is it.”

    What’s so funny?

    “Hmm? I, I’m not laughing.”

    Nah, you’re definitely amused by somethin’. That ‘ufufu’ thing, yeah.

    Two stands of radiance entwine each other and Maria gets the strong impression of arms stubbornly crossed.

    “I, I, I am not! I am a solemn goddess who does not laugh.”

    Er…

    The sound of a throat being cleared makes the motes of pristine light shudder in a way Maria finds a little amusing.

    “A—Anyway! As I was trying to explain…um, Saver, she is unconventional in every way. She is not a divine spirit channeled into a priestess via ritual assimilation, nor is she a Heroic Spirit from the Throne of Heroes manifesting into the body of a compatible subject as a pseudo-Servant.”

    The white melam flares for an instant, granting Maria a brief impression of the rooftop she sits on and some of the massive structure beneath them. It is not hard to imagine the magnificence of this ziggurat at one point, long before thousands of years of abandonment.

    “Saver is a living resident of this Abzu, enshrined for eternity inside this sanctuary upon completing her transcendental mission. If the World intended to unleash her as its instrument, I would believe it meant to do so in her authentic, complete self.”

    You mean, not as a Servant…

    “Mm-hmm. I cannot think of many threats to the World that would not be neutralized by that girl at her best.”

    Maria nods. She does not quite need the confirmation, yet it remains a good thing to get it: Servant Saver is strong. More important are the earliest statements.

    Saver is a living being. A long-lived remnant of the Age of Gods, kept languishing in this ziggurat for thousands of years. Not a Heroic Spirit recorded in the Throne of Heroes.

    That single fact gives young Maria a grasp of her Servant’s nature like nothing before.

    “But she ended up having to manifest as a Servant, using your body as medium. Well, whatever is happening in the world of humans is clearly abnormal enough to even allow you to come here, so it’s not that strange, I guess.”

    The goddess’ voice is strangely lighthearted given the sheer abnormality of the crisis befalling Valparaíso. Then again, Maria guesses, the matters of her world are probably not this goddess’ concern.

    “The other possibility, of course, is that whoever is tampering with the boundaries between Front and Reverse planned for the eventuality of the World’s retaliatory response.”

    Maria blinks at the possibility she had not considered before that moment. Could it be, that Saver’s flawed summoning was not a spontaneous consequence of the singularity’s nature, but a concerted effort by the Master of the singularity to weaken the agent of the Ring of Deterrence?

    “Whatever the case, your circumstances are not normal, human child. This…radically diophysitistic union is clearly unstable. I mean, even if the manifestation through your body as medium was unintended, the union should have been…Saver’s divine nature and your human nature should have blended, her divinity consuming your humanity without destroying it.”

    The swirling radiance projects a powerful sense of self-assurance, as if expressing utmost confidence in her words.

    “I think the term you humans use is ‘homoousian’.”

    The goddess could have also said that the union should have been Eutychianistic, but that would not have made things any clearer.

    Uh, yeah, that’s good to know and all, but that doesn’t help me figure out who she is. You obviously don’t intend to tell me.

    The goddess is unfazed by the girl’s pout, it seems.

    “Well, she has chosen not to share it with you, it would not be proper of me to disrespect that choice. Also, I would not want her as my enemy.”

    The goddess with almost too much common sense is about to elicit a complaint from Maria, but the mortal girl’s mind stops her before she says something regrettable. For the first time, thanks to the goddess’ words, Maria can put herself in the Servant’s shoes.

    But the way I am right now, I can’t…

    Much to her regret, the weights in her mind afflicting her before succumbing to her tiredness and coming to this place return with a vengeance.

    …I’m not good enough. I have the powers, but, ya know…

    “You’re not a legendary warrior from the Age of Gods.”

    That’s right! How the hell am I supposed to know how to fight like her? How the hell am I supposed to…

    “…not be afraid?”

    Maria murmurs in middling assent, pulling her knees closer and wrapping her arms around them. A sigh escapes her pouting lips when radiance and warmth wash over her, wrapping her like a luminescent mantle. She idly thinks that the goddess’ melam hug could easily turn anyone into a worthless person.

    “Divine that I am, I cannot claim to understand your circumstances…but fear and hopelessness are not unknown to me. The feeling that everything is outside your control, that everything is so much greater than yourself, that there is nothing you can do to resist the fate the world seemingly has designed for you. That I do comprehend.”

    Maria almost wants to lean into the warm embrace, but she reminds herself that the presence enveloping her is incorporeal, so leaning into it would just lead to embarrassment. For a few moments, she basks in it, allowing herself the moment of weakness and letting it wipe all troubles away if only for a while. However…

    Um…isn’t this when you give me life-changing advice?

    “I am the Goddess of Death, girl. My advice would be to let me reap your soul, so you may sit by my side at the dining tables of the dead.”

    …huh.

    Maria wonders whether she should fear for her eternal soul. Turns out she doesn’t feel like it.

    “However, rather than advice, I could remind you that you are human.”

    Maria does not need to tell the goddess she does not get her point.

    “As a human, it means you
    always have a choice. Even when there does not seem to be any.”

    The words carry all the conviction of a powerful, ancient divine being, and they strike deep into Maria’s own thoughts. She has no choice but to believe them. Which also means she cannot linger forever in this place, relishing the useless-person-making warmth of the death goddess’ embrace. And it is precisely that awareness of the inevitable that acts as the breaking point.

    …aaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAHHH!

    “Awawawawah!”

    The blonde girl abruptly flails her way out of the divine radiance, her mind filling the darkest sea with its resounding shout. She explosively jumps to her feet, arms flailing, feet stomping and kicking whatever unfortunate piece of debris they can find. It is completely random, haphazard, uncontrolled physical venting.

    I can’t take it! I! Can’t! Take it!

    “Eh? Eh? Whu?”

    No heed is paid to the goddess without the slightest idea what to do.

    Saver is enough of a mess, and now I’ve got all these powerful Servants who want to kill me! Me! I mean, there’s Rider, who is a Nazi, so fuck’im. But then there’s Lancer, who actually I think is kinda cool, except that he wants to kill me! And there’s that Archer who’s just a pain in the ass! And I haven’t even met ‘im, but I can already tell he’s even stronger than Lancer! And now there’s this scary-as-fuck guy with a sick poleaxe, and he’s all “I’mma kill ya” the moment we meet! Like, what the fuck! How am I supposed to deal with that!? I’d never even gotten mugged in my life, I don’t know how to deal with legendary heroes who really, seriously wanna kill me dead! I’m not some badass novel heroine, like that Catnip or whatever she’s called! Those books sucked anyway!

    “Ah, um…well…”

    The coalescent divine radiance slowly, very slowly, tries to draw closer to the girl in her outburst of amalgamated terror and rage. However, it pulls back just as quickly as it was slow just before, when Maria drops to her knees as if exhausted.

    It’s too fuckin’ scary! Her mind screams, fists slamming the stone floor before her. It’s too! Fucking…!

    Her body trembles. The cold waters of Abzu have nothing to do with it.

    All those people depend on me, and I can’t take it…

    Even the voice of her mind, too, sounds tired. Clenched fists still rest on the stone, and her forehead soon joins them. The girl on all fours can no longer stop the floodgates of her sorrows.

    I’m the only one who can fight Servants, or those creepy-ass spawn of Tiamat. I hafta help everyone, I hafta protect everyone, I hafta save everyone, and I don’ think I can! It’s too much! I can’t…!

    She pulls herself up. Seating on the stone floor, she looks up at the manifested radiance with eyes full of fear and concern.

    And Javier, somethin’s happenin’ to Javier, and I dunno if it’s something good or bad, but my gut tells me it’s bad, but I dunno if it’s really my gut feeling or Saver trying to manipulate me into hurting him because divine stuff grosses her out or whatever, and now Rider’s gonna come for me tonight, and I kinda wanna let Saver take over and handle it, but I’m too afraid of what’d happen to me if I give’er total control!

    The pace of her voice accelerates to a degree only possible because she is not actually using her vocal chords. As her mind vents its entire contents, her face distorts into all sort of ugly masks, incomplete portraits of fear, anger, frustration, self-loathing and humiliation.

    I’m too afraid to fight, I’m too afraid of letting her fight!

    I’m too afraid of hurting Javier, but I don’t know if I can trust him anymore!

    I’m too afraid I can’t protect Sakura and the others, but nobody else can!

    I’m too afraid of everything, and I don’t know…I…just…

    Letting her shoulders slump and her head drop until her chin almost touches her breasts, Maria Westinghouse is the picture of personal defeat.

    I just wanted to…I don’t know what to do anymore…I’m no good at anything in the end…

    There is no crying nor wailing. It never goes past heaves and hiccups. Trembling shoulders and shaking fists betray the tension still held within, the self-imposed burden still holding her back.

    Swirling divine power spreads around her, wrapping itself around Maria’s hands like a second pair holding them. The power, fueled by the warmth of empathy and the chill of the grave, inexorably demands Maria’s attention. The girl sniffs as she looks back up, and it only adds to her shame.

    “I will not tell you to cry. Nor will I tell you to be strong.”

    The goddess’ voice changes. Rather, a second voice joins the usual one even as the original changes, the two reverberating together as if always meant to supplement each other like this. The original voice gains the weight of age. It is firm and serene, and memories of Maria’s grandmother blossom in her mind. The second is youthful like a girl her age, and its empathic nuance lets a warm emotion flow in the girl’s heart: “she understands me”.

    “You only need to know that there is nobody else here but I, and that we will likely never meet again. So do as you will, and then we can sit and take a look at those problems one by one, for as long as we have time together. As both a mother goddess, and a purview over safeguarding, I believe I could be at least somewhat competent at giving advice to a young child.”

    The radiance, which has thus far held to the vague shape of a woman, expands far beyond that size, like a canopy of light to protect Maria Westinghouse from all the evils in the world.

    “And, well, there is such a saying, right? ‘The dead tell no tales’, or the likes?”

    Indeed.

    With no other company than the remote manifestation of a somewhat awkward but earnest goddess, Maria Westinghouse lets go of everything.

    It is good, for the perfect darkness of the Abzu is all-accepting and all-encompassing. In its infinity, both wails and tears fade into nothing.

    Special Choice
    As helpful as this MYSTERIOUS GODDESS may be, Maria’s time is limited—or at least that’s the assumption you gotta work with. What is the most important issue Maria would wish advice about?
    1. Saver.
    2. Rider.
    3. Lancer.
    4. Archer.
    5. The axe-wielding Servant.
    6. The children of Tiamat.
    7. Javier.
    8. Sakura and the other magi.
    9. Write-in.

  15. #735
    夜属 Nightkin Faux's Avatar
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    False face must hide what the false heart doth know.

  16. #736
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    Last edited by DRFan; April 14th, 2019 at 12:42 AM.

  17. #737
    The Long-Forgotten Sight Rafflesiac's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Arashi_Leonhart View Post
    canon finish apo vol 3

  18. #738
    So Many Ideas, So Little Time SleepMode's Avatar
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    Saver/Maria needs to get stronger
    Last edited by SleepMode; April 13th, 2019 at 11:49 AM.
    The Act of dozing off in the afternoon is a luxury indeed.
    Coffee would be nice, though.

    [Collection of my Servant Sheets]
    Now Revamped!

  19. #739
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  20. #740
    1. There's already plenty of NPCs who can tell us more about Javier (the Maid and Assassin just to begin with), and who are invested enough in his training or well-being that they will eventually tell him what's going on. So choosing to talk about Javier here seems counterproductive to me - we got a Mesopotamian goddess willing to help Maria, interrogating her on Mesopotamian matters seems more logical to me.

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