cagedinflesh | Fate/whatever

[SO IT'S FATE/ZERO.

EXCEPT.

Instead of Gilles it's...an Avenger that manifests inside of the small apartment home Ryuunosuke's invaded, emerging from the summoning circle with his trademark maniacal laughter.]

Well? Not even a round of applause?

[Okay so the makeup is kinda weird, but clowns are supposed to be tricksters, right? So it kind of makes sense for a demon, actually. All he can do is stare, but being asked for applause - hell yeah he can do that!]

That's - so cool, damn right man!

[He doesn't just applaud, he gives a whistle with his fingers in his mouth.]

[He makes a show of acting coy, drawing his hands into his chest as if to say "applause, for me?" and then waves his hands forward, like "you shouldn't have".]

Well, that's enough of that.

[He closes the distance between himself and Ryuu swiftly, taking his hand with both of his own to give it a few shakes.

No buzzer since...he doesn't wanna kill his new Master.

He would. But. He can't right now at least.]

Now I'm not one for formalities, so we'll skip the business greetings. Just call me Joker, kiddo.

[ After the devastation that was the Third Holy Grail War, his father was incapable of continuing to be overseer. His father was a young man, then, but still recalled the blackening of the Grail and understanding what it meant -- to complete the ritual would be to summon the end of everything. It was why Reiji Kotomine placed the task on his son, Kirei, to watch over the Fourth Holy Grail War. The strain was too much; the desire to be involved in order to stop the destruction too great. But Kirei who had always lived up to his father's expectations; Kirei who was seen as a pure, uncorrupted soul would be capable of watching the events as it as only an overseer could.

He understood what could be lost in the completion of the ritual. Logically, he understood it. Morally, he understood it. The end of the world should be avoided, and all Masters understood. Yet he remained indifferent to what it actually meant. The suffering of the world pleased him -- and that very thought terrified him. He had wished that he could have convinced his father to not grant him title of overseer. But Kirei was a man cursed -- his father would not survive to the end of the Fourth Holy Grail War; the strain was too much even as a bystander. And Kirei could only feel anger that it wasn't him killing his father.

Stress upon stress was piling up on the young overseer -- he felt like if he continued to remain in this war that something inside of him would be destroyed. He adamantly denounced "happiness" and "joy;" he adamantly buried all feelings of pleasure over hearing how the Masters were struggling and running scared. He continued to attempt to act as he should; he continued to attempt to live up to the expectations yet feeling his control shuddering, trembling, cracking.

It was a welcome distraction to see that he was being called upon rather than left to his thoughts. Seventh Master. Berserker. Kirei understood that this young man was pulled into the war "accidentally." He doesn't believe there is anything that is by accident, but he kept that thought to himself. Calmly, he met him in the darkened church. ]

I am not surprised to see you, Seventh Master. Tatsumi Kitano. However, I do not know if there is anything that I can offer you. Your Servant is still alive, and so sanctuary cannot be gifted. Yet... if you have any other concerns, I am willing to listen. [ Yes, it was a welcome distraction, but he also could not appear eager to keep him. An overseer was to be a neutral party and in the case of the madness that was this war, it meant that he had to appear indifferent to the point of apathy. ]

[It's a nice place, he hasn't ever been to a church before, so Tatsumi can't help looking around. Maybe there is something a little creepy about it too, but...]

Ah - [He shouldn't be surprised the priest knows his name, if it's true the church watches over the Grail War, but it's still a shock nonetheless. He dips into a bow.] Thank you, Father. Henr- Berserker told me about the things these mages do, and I wondered if the church would help. I'm sure you're supposed to be neutral, but we don't want the Grail, I just don't want any innocent people to be hurt, and you know they will be!

[ His eyebrows come together for a brief seconds before he looks away. He feels his shoulders drop as he recalls what he knows of the seventh Master. The fill-in, as it were. ]

If I may stop you, Tatsumi Kitano. [ Once more, he repeats his full name, raising his hand. ] If we were capable of helping, we would have brought our Executors to deal with the matter. Yet... we cannot. No human is skilled enough to be capable of killing a Servant. That goes for whether or not the Servant is still receiving their mana from a Master or not. [ He steps forward and starts to slowly circle the young man, explaining the situation as it seems that Berserker only explained so much. ]

If that Servant is not like your Berserker, what then? We would be feeding more mana and chaos to the Grail. That is why the Church cannot assist. The possibility of what can happen is too much. It is why my predecessor is not here before you. It is why he is placing his hopes that the madness of this ritual will be stopped by your hands. [ He finally stops to stand in front of him, looking defeated himself. ] Are you saying that you are incapable of completing this task? I suppose that is unsurprising... yet if your feelings are heartfelt there is but one thing that I can give you.

[ Rolling up his sleeve, he shows of the unused Command Seals upon his arm. ] Do you understand what I am offering, young man?

[He has to nod, because he understands what Kotomine means, it isn't a simple solution, but he still can't just accept that either.]

You'd give me one? [Hell, he didn't even know that was possible.] Wait, if you have those, can you use them on Servants? That would be really useful, more than anything I could do with it!

[He's already used one, but that was a one-off, he shouldn't have to ever use one again, it's just that Jekyll, or Hyde or whoever he was then, wasn't in his right mind.]

I would. [ It seems he understands that much but not the rest. ] These Command Seals cannot be used on Servants that I do not control. They are unused from the previous Holy Grail Wars. These are essentially all that is left from the defeated Servants.

[ Stepping forward, he takes hold of Tatsumi's hand. A small glow and the used Seal is "returned." ] If I could, I would have commanded all Servants to kill themselves. I'm uncertain, however, how you would view that, young Master. [ Because that is what his morals and common sense tells him what he should do. If he has the power, they should be sacrificed so that no Master need die and finish the ritual. So long as it can be held off -- what? What, then? ]

Well. What do you think of that?

[He marvels at it, that extra stroke that had faded, returned to its previous brightness. It reminds him how much he still doesn't understand.]

If all the Servants die, what happens then? No one wins right, so they can't misuse the Grail, then? [He frowns, trying to reason it out.] And they've already died so I guess it's not so bad... But also Berserker's my friend so I wouldn't want him to die... Then again thinking about our own preferences would be a bit selfish, I guess.

[ Honestly, he is a little surprised by that answer. ]

Correct. If all Servants die simultaneously, theoretically... there would be no winner. The Grail is attempting to choose a Master from seven, after all. If all win, no one wins. However, it would mean that there is an excessive amount of unused magic now flowing within the Grail. A Fifth Holy Grail War would start, then, in a short amount of time...

[ So it solves the problem and doesn't solve the problem at the same time. ] However, I am troubled that you view your Servant to be your friend. [ He rubs the naked skin over the top of his own hand. ] But I suppose that in the end it doesn't matter. I am here to attempt to protect the lives of the Masters, yet I cannot do so the fullest of my abilities. The madness of this war... the loss will be the absolute end of everything.

[ The thought stirs something in him, again, just when he thought he had found a distraction. ]

Yet I have been asked by the Church to remain neutral in order to not affect the outcome negatively. [ A long pause. ] Do you believe there is more than one kind of evil, Tatsumi Kitano.

Edited 2017-10-08 08:40 (UTC)

Why is that troubling, is it bad...? We're working together and understand eachother, so of course we're friends.

[That question though. Maybe they tie in, in a way, even if Kirei doesn't realise. Does the church know the Servants' identities? He's not sure either way.]

I guess so, what do you mean? I think actively hurting someone is evil, and letting it happen is too. That kind of thing. Or do you mean something else?

[ Kirei tells himself it doesn't make him happy to have to give this news. ] Your Servant is part of the Grail whether he likes it or not. The information that he has about it is due to the Grail telling him it. If circumstances had been different, he may not have even become your Servant... but have been one that you had to kill.

[ His eyes close. ] In short, he is called upon this world to kill... regardless of his feelings on that matter. Why do you think you can be friends with such a being? [ A reasonable question, he feels. ]

The evil that the Church is committing. There is hurting someone purposely, and there is looking away when you see someone being hurt. I believe the Church is committing the latter evils in its attempt to remain neutral. Its desire is, to put simply, not have hands dirtied by the outcome. [ Kirei rarely ever talks this much but feels... like sharing more and more of his thoughts. Odd. Is it a way to drown out what he has been thinking about? ]

Once the Grail was supposed to be created for a single wish. It was a wish that the Holy Church accepted, and thus did not kill those who originally took part in the ritual of its creation. The point of the wish is to find the Root. That is the start of all magic to better understand it. For the Church, that is -- [ He gestures above his head. ] Which is why we were fine with acting as neutral parties. However, now we are acting as neutral parties in order to save ourselves from possibly helping the coming of the end.

You who has a high sense of justice... what do you think of these facts that I have set before you?

...I think you're right, if the church is choosing to watch and not step in, that's wrong. And especially bad coming from the people who should most be willing and able to help. If the mages want to fight among themselves, that's fine, as long as they don't bring other people into it. Including any mages who haven't willingly signed up. Or Heroic Spirits to do their fighting for them, I don't think that's fair to people who've already lived and suffered. The church should see that and that it's wrong and stop it. ...Sometimes to stop evil deeds, people have no choice but to sink to that level, if they're only concerned with not doing that, I can understand why, but that's bullshit. Thinking about yourself like that is totally against the point.

That's why I admire Berserker, and know we can be friends. I know he's part of the Grail and all that, and he says he's evil and he's killed people, but he's not turning his back on evil deeds now. Even though he could have ignored it to keep himself from giving in to it all, or stayed true to his old self, he isn't! He's working hard and if someone like him can do that then why not such a huge organisation that's supposed to be built to help!

[ Of the Masters that he knows, Kirei believes that Berserker's Master may be the most green and most "kind" of them. The reasons for fighting this war are by all accounts "good." Yet he does not believe a magus with such little power will be able to do much against the others. If anything, it would be kinder to have him die here than see what will happen to him. It would be better to die quickly and suddenly than see all his ideals of justice die.

But even if his senses tell him so, he also would like to help. His eyes dart to the side -- yes, he wants to help because it is the right thing to do. The Church is not doing anything but standing by until the end. Until the end, hm. If he does nothing, he will be aiding in the destruction of everything. When he puts it like that to himself, he understands why he has to help -- an amateur Berserker Master will not survive to the end. ]

I understand. I will lend my assistance to you. That is really all that I can do. No one else of the Church will assist in this matter. In fact, I believe most of them have fled the city in preparation for what may be coming. [ The Beast may be something that the Church could battle, and perhaps, they are wanting to do so for the sake of their religious ideals. But Kirei -- Kirei feels he is at the crossroads of what he should do and can only believe that he should do something least he go mad during this war. ]

Your ideals are ... they are what they are. I believe if they survive through this war that will be something worth seeing.

--You will? Thank you so much, Father! I knew you'd understand, how could you not, right? Berserker didn't think so, so now I get to rub it in his face!

[He grins from ear to ear and reaches out for Kirei's hand to shake it between both of his.]

That's awesome thank you! If you have any suggestions on what we should do that would be pretty helpful, but we've been scouting out that Reiroukan Master's property...

Her?

[ Is he stupid? No. He is green and too much faith in his Servant. Faith. He breathes out a half-laugh. His head drops as he decides to not comment on how Berserker understood Kirei's stancr even before asking -- yes, if he did nothing, he would not uncover anything. But if he loses himself to the madness of this war and assist a heartfelt request, something will come of it. ]

Why did you choose her?

[Of course he's stupid. So stupid he doesn't even realise it. Sure it's due to ignorance, but even if he knew just how hopeless his cause is, he'd still try.]

Do you know her? It was just sort of where we ended up, I heard a mage family lived there and then he could sense Servants in the area so it was a good place to start.

To call her family a "mage family," like it is a common ancestry, is a crime. [ Kirei allows his surprise to fade to something ... else. If Tatsumi meets with that Master, he will die.

The Holy Church has information on all of the participants; everyone should also have an idea who is involved, too, but it seems he underestimated the amount of information that the young Master could gather on his own. Keeping him alive to the end will be difficult but he feels like it will be entertaining.

His eyes widen as he shakes his head. No. Not entertaining. That is not what he meant. ]

Are you hoping to convince her to join your cause, or kill her?

[ And he doesn't answer the question given to him but gives him another instead. ]

Edited 2017-10-14 16:19 (UTC)

[He nods.] They pretty much run the city, right? I'm not too optimistic that I could convince her, but I want to try anyway. If I can't, then yeah, I guess we have to kill her... That isn't my first choice with anyone though, no matter how bad they might be, it would be best to talk rationally first.

That will be impossible.

[ On both accounts. ]

The Master that you seek is one that truly and absolutely desires the Holy Grail. She is not someone that you will be able to convince to stop, and you will be incapable of killing her. [ No, that would be sending a kitten into a lion's den. ]

If you've already decided that if you cannot convince her that she should die, I should show my desire to assist you by killing her myself. [ Kirei finds himself surprised by his own words. He's starting to feel some unreasonable amount of interest, and uncertain if it is "right." What he is doing, it will only prolong Tatsumi's suffering in the end, even if he understands the Holy Church is wrong in doing nothing -- so what does he think that he's doing? ]

Fate/whatever

gimme ryuu...

what a terrible combination

1/2; it's fine they're just two very happy guys

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au | fate/prototype

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