Post by Hakugi Rima on Oct 18, 2012 18:04:00 GMT -5
Day 1 – 12:15, Noon, Somewhat East of Town
So tired. She had flown all the way from Japan. She had not slept the entire time. If she had, she might not have been able to catch someone trying to kill her on the plane. Though, if someone had tried killing her on the plane she would likely have died anyway. It was not as if she could prevent it. Also, the plane had not flown directly to Lucca. That would have been suicidal. No, Rima had made sure to take a trip to Florence. It was a common enough target for trips. After that, she took trains to get as close to Lucca as humanly possible without actually arriving. She was severely paranoid that every action she made could lead to her death if she didn’t take the proper action. Magic circuits closed, taking routes of technology magi hopefully wouldn’t use and taking a roundabout way while dressed in a casual brown jacket, some small jeans and a school-bag on her back she hopefully looked like a normal girl on a school-trip or something. Except the white hair. Gosh, the white hair. So exposed.
After that, she walked. The short girl walked the distance towards the Italian city. She had already attracted many eyes, being such a short girl white purely white hair and a small bag on her back. More witnesses were not necessary. She may have looked like a little curious child on a school-trip, except without the adults. Treading by the streets and the fields surrounding the Italian country, Rima proceeded to traverse the last bit with the absolutely slowest method of travel. With her, Rima had a small bag containing her absolute necessities… and not much else. Expecting with every step to unwittingly step into a bounded field of someone awaiting a Master such as herself, Rima walked forward with determination as she foolishly braved the dangers that would take her life in likely less than a week.
Finally, she stopped. This was the limit to how close to Lucca she wanted to walk alone. She could not quite see the buildings over the horizon, the buildings of the smaller buildings had already spread so far. The heart of Lucca was over there, but the signs of civilization were everywhere. It was difficult to find someplace where summoning would be suitable. However… over there, Rima detected a gathering of trees, so well-placed near Lucca. The thought that it was already inhabited by other magi was obvious in her mind, but this… this was in the middle of the day, sun shining brightly. The Holy Grail War was going to take place primarily during the night, so the safest time to stride in would be in the middle of the day while walking beside a street where civilian cars flew past constantly. Manipulate all their minds to not see the brutal murder of a little girl on the sidewalk? Rima didn’t doubt that was possible. But she needed to breach this fortress of a city somehow. In any case. Those trees over there would serve their purpose. Walking off the road, she silently braved her way towards the gathering of trees…
Alright, she had arrived. This was as good a place as any. It was a small clearing with some bushes and trees hanging overhead as if to protect this area, and the ground was soft and nice. Trees blocked the view here, somewhat south-east of the city. She didn’t sense any magecraft at work here either, but knowing herself and her luck the tiny magus figured she might as well have missed any potential field that had detected her and those that would kill her was already on their way. But in any case. Since she’d be dead anyway if this was the case, Rima decided to simply continue her operation. She put down the bag and prepared the necessary equipment… A knife, and a cage filled with not quite dead pigeons, sprawling for their lives… Not my fault I need blood to draw this infernal circle, Rima thought as she prepared to take her first number of victims in this war…
There. Rima had successfully cut the pigeons apart and drawn a summoning circle with their blood. It had… felt horrible. The poor little lives. But this was a magi’s life, and this was her last mission as a magi. Coincidentally, it was also her last mission alive. Because she’d die in this war. She’d die, and the lives of the tiny pigeons would be avenged. What sweet justice that was. Maybe this war would have gone better if she had not killed the pigeons and instead gathered her own blood for a few months and used that? But, she was too young to donate blood… and that served as her excuse to kill these innocent pigeons for your own goals? You evil magus, you. Rima silently mocked her own guilt at having had to slay the little birds…
Rima silently took off the plain clothes she was wearing. It did feel a bit strange to take off her clothes here, but she had decided to meet her Servant while wearing her dress. There was no real purpose in that other than to… appear as a magus. A tiny white dress for a tiny white magus. There was nobody around to stare at her brief unclothed moment, anyways. And if there were, Rima would be dead anyway, so there would be no loss. After putting her casual clothes in her bag along with the knife and the pigeon-less somewhat bloody cage, Rima closed it. So, there. All set. Set… Rima rose to her full short height as she turned towards the summoning circle.
A cold breeze ran through the clearing as the long moment of truth awaited the young girl. A glaring contest took place between her and the opening through which a Servant would come. The blue pupils of her contacts over her actually red pupils shielded her eyes from the red circle. This was her last chance. If she wanted to, she could just abandon this circle right here. Leave Lucca. Never come back. If she did, she’d probably survive. Sure, her fate as a magus would die, but it wasn’t as if it ever had meant something to begin with. The only reason she was here was because of her family’s pride as magi. If Rima would leave now, she’d shame them, but they’d still be alive. The rest of them would simply have to abandon magi business and get honest jobs as normals. Yeah… so very likely. Rima’s family had put so much effort into her. But she was still the weakest magi in this war. She knew it. This was where she chose to die a magus or live an outcast… … … … …
Rima brought her hands up to her face and picked off the tears that were beginning to form. Don’t you dare cry now, Rima. Life is horrible, but don’t you dare cry. You are going to die, but don’t you dare cry. You are a magus. You face the challenges life issues you, even should they lead to your death. Like this one will. Rima violently brushed of the pointless moisture and walked determinedly towards the summoning circle. Having overcome her doubts, she stopped determinedly and held up her right hand to commence the summoning.
‘Ye first, O silver, O iron.’ Drawing on the powers in the air, the weak magus attempted tapping into the circuits within her. Once again reminded of how weak she was…
‘O stone of the foundation, O Archduke of the Contract.’ Who are you, Archduke, who’d put a girl like me to sign this contract?
‘Hear me in the name of our great teacher, the Archmagus Schweinorg.’ If Schweinorg really had been her teacher, would she have been a stronger magi? Not likely. Those things are determined by birth, not by how good your teacher is…
‘Let the descending winds be as a wall.’ A wall that would most likely break easily since Rima was the one summoning…
‘Let the gates in all directions be shut, rising above the crown, and let the three-forked roads to the Kingdom revolve.’ – What would happen if all of them were not shut? What would happen if the power was not enough to make the roads revolve? They had said the Grail would do it all, but if there was a case of too little prana, Rima would now be a prime example…
‘Shut. Shut. Shut. Shut. Shut.’ … Probably more like “temporarily shoved to a close and could be blown open again by mere wind”, but that would be painful to repeat five times…
‘Five perfections for each repetition.’ If what Rima was doing right now were perfections, then she had no idea what she was doing wrong with the rest of it. Oh, that’s right. Her birth. That was what’s wrong with her. Born with too little prana.
‘And now, let the filled sigils be annihilated in my stead.’ Yes, please. She’d rather not be annihilated. Though, if those sigils are filled by Rima, the annihilation would probably take both the sigils and her along with it.
Rima threw a stare upwards, momentarily. The sun gleamed into the clearing and down on her, as if trying to brighten her day. Her peak prana would be sometime during midday. She didn’t know exactly. She hadn’t kept time particularly. It didn’t make any difference. It didn’t matter as much to her as to some others. This would be close enough.
‘Set.’ As set as it could ever be. Set for her own death.
‘Let thy body rest under my dominion, let my fate rest in thy blade.’ Poor Heroic Spirit. Once so successful and proud, not to mention heroic. Forced to let him or herself be led to shame by this supremely weak girl… it wouldn’t surprise her at all if the Servant would kill her on the spot or as soon as they found a new potential Master.
‘If thou submittest to the call of the Holy Grail and if thou wilt obey this mind, this reason, then thou shalt respond.’ But if you desire a healthy chance to win, you better not. Stuck with me, it is the same as if you’d be entirely on your own. Almost. Not that Rima could imagine any being willingly submitting to her. Ever.
‘I make my oath here.’ The oath that she will keep to her death. Her oh, so, honorable death for her family that will soon take place. But nonetheless, the oath Rima will not fail.
‘I am that person who is to become the virtue of all Heavens.’ Virtues… Did she have any of those? “Is to become”? Will she have time with that before her death?
‘I am that person who is covered with the evil of all Hades.’ … Yes, because this literally bloody ritual demands that the Master claims blood from one being or another. So yes, the Master is forced to commit evil in order to enter this competition. Covered with evil, indeed…
‘Thou seven heavens, clad in a trinity of words… ’ Rima twitched. The ritual was coming to a close. Pain was coursing through her because of her use of herself as a circuit. The energy in the air made her white dress ripple in the wind… or was it just normal wind..?
‘… come past thy restraining rings, and be thou the hands that protect the balance..!’ … It hurt. Hurt more than her usual spells. Had she succeeded? Was she going to die..? She was… still standing. Was the Servant..?
So tired. She had flown all the way from Japan. She had not slept the entire time. If she had, she might not have been able to catch someone trying to kill her on the plane. Though, if someone had tried killing her on the plane she would likely have died anyway. It was not as if she could prevent it. Also, the plane had not flown directly to Lucca. That would have been suicidal. No, Rima had made sure to take a trip to Florence. It was a common enough target for trips. After that, she took trains to get as close to Lucca as humanly possible without actually arriving. She was severely paranoid that every action she made could lead to her death if she didn’t take the proper action. Magic circuits closed, taking routes of technology magi hopefully wouldn’t use and taking a roundabout way while dressed in a casual brown jacket, some small jeans and a school-bag on her back she hopefully looked like a normal girl on a school-trip or something. Except the white hair. Gosh, the white hair. So exposed.
After that, she walked. The short girl walked the distance towards the Italian city. She had already attracted many eyes, being such a short girl white purely white hair and a small bag on her back. More witnesses were not necessary. She may have looked like a little curious child on a school-trip, except without the adults. Treading by the streets and the fields surrounding the Italian country, Rima proceeded to traverse the last bit with the absolutely slowest method of travel. With her, Rima had a small bag containing her absolute necessities… and not much else. Expecting with every step to unwittingly step into a bounded field of someone awaiting a Master such as herself, Rima walked forward with determination as she foolishly braved the dangers that would take her life in likely less than a week.
Finally, she stopped. This was the limit to how close to Lucca she wanted to walk alone. She could not quite see the buildings over the horizon, the buildings of the smaller buildings had already spread so far. The heart of Lucca was over there, but the signs of civilization were everywhere. It was difficult to find someplace where summoning would be suitable. However… over there, Rima detected a gathering of trees, so well-placed near Lucca. The thought that it was already inhabited by other magi was obvious in her mind, but this… this was in the middle of the day, sun shining brightly. The Holy Grail War was going to take place primarily during the night, so the safest time to stride in would be in the middle of the day while walking beside a street where civilian cars flew past constantly. Manipulate all their minds to not see the brutal murder of a little girl on the sidewalk? Rima didn’t doubt that was possible. But she needed to breach this fortress of a city somehow. In any case. Those trees over there would serve their purpose. Walking off the road, she silently braved her way towards the gathering of trees…
Alright, she had arrived. This was as good a place as any. It was a small clearing with some bushes and trees hanging overhead as if to protect this area, and the ground was soft and nice. Trees blocked the view here, somewhat south-east of the city. She didn’t sense any magecraft at work here either, but knowing herself and her luck the tiny magus figured she might as well have missed any potential field that had detected her and those that would kill her was already on their way. But in any case. Since she’d be dead anyway if this was the case, Rima decided to simply continue her operation. She put down the bag and prepared the necessary equipment… A knife, and a cage filled with not quite dead pigeons, sprawling for their lives… Not my fault I need blood to draw this infernal circle, Rima thought as she prepared to take her first number of victims in this war…
There. Rima had successfully cut the pigeons apart and drawn a summoning circle with their blood. It had… felt horrible. The poor little lives. But this was a magi’s life, and this was her last mission as a magi. Coincidentally, it was also her last mission alive. Because she’d die in this war. She’d die, and the lives of the tiny pigeons would be avenged. What sweet justice that was. Maybe this war would have gone better if she had not killed the pigeons and instead gathered her own blood for a few months and used that? But, she was too young to donate blood… and that served as her excuse to kill these innocent pigeons for your own goals? You evil magus, you. Rima silently mocked her own guilt at having had to slay the little birds…
Rima silently took off the plain clothes she was wearing. It did feel a bit strange to take off her clothes here, but she had decided to meet her Servant while wearing her dress. There was no real purpose in that other than to… appear as a magus. A tiny white dress for a tiny white magus. There was nobody around to stare at her brief unclothed moment, anyways. And if there were, Rima would be dead anyway, so there would be no loss. After putting her casual clothes in her bag along with the knife and the pigeon-less somewhat bloody cage, Rima closed it. So, there. All set. Set… Rima rose to her full short height as she turned towards the summoning circle.
A cold breeze ran through the clearing as the long moment of truth awaited the young girl. A glaring contest took place between her and the opening through which a Servant would come. The blue pupils of her contacts over her actually red pupils shielded her eyes from the red circle. This was her last chance. If she wanted to, she could just abandon this circle right here. Leave Lucca. Never come back. If she did, she’d probably survive. Sure, her fate as a magus would die, but it wasn’t as if it ever had meant something to begin with. The only reason she was here was because of her family’s pride as magi. If Rima would leave now, she’d shame them, but they’d still be alive. The rest of them would simply have to abandon magi business and get honest jobs as normals. Yeah… so very likely. Rima’s family had put so much effort into her. But she was still the weakest magi in this war. She knew it. This was where she chose to die a magus or live an outcast… … … … …
Rima brought her hands up to her face and picked off the tears that were beginning to form. Don’t you dare cry now, Rima. Life is horrible, but don’t you dare cry. You are going to die, but don’t you dare cry. You are a magus. You face the challenges life issues you, even should they lead to your death. Like this one will. Rima violently brushed of the pointless moisture and walked determinedly towards the summoning circle. Having overcome her doubts, she stopped determinedly and held up her right hand to commence the summoning.
‘Ye first, O silver, O iron.’ Drawing on the powers in the air, the weak magus attempted tapping into the circuits within her. Once again reminded of how weak she was…
‘O stone of the foundation, O Archduke of the Contract.’ Who are you, Archduke, who’d put a girl like me to sign this contract?
‘Hear me in the name of our great teacher, the Archmagus Schweinorg.’ If Schweinorg really had been her teacher, would she have been a stronger magi? Not likely. Those things are determined by birth, not by how good your teacher is…
‘Let the descending winds be as a wall.’ A wall that would most likely break easily since Rima was the one summoning…
‘Let the gates in all directions be shut, rising above the crown, and let the three-forked roads to the Kingdom revolve.’ – What would happen if all of them were not shut? What would happen if the power was not enough to make the roads revolve? They had said the Grail would do it all, but if there was a case of too little prana, Rima would now be a prime example…
‘Shut. Shut. Shut. Shut. Shut.’ … Probably more like “temporarily shoved to a close and could be blown open again by mere wind”, but that would be painful to repeat five times…
‘Five perfections for each repetition.’ If what Rima was doing right now were perfections, then she had no idea what she was doing wrong with the rest of it. Oh, that’s right. Her birth. That was what’s wrong with her. Born with too little prana.
‘And now, let the filled sigils be annihilated in my stead.’ Yes, please. She’d rather not be annihilated. Though, if those sigils are filled by Rima, the annihilation would probably take both the sigils and her along with it.
Rima threw a stare upwards, momentarily. The sun gleamed into the clearing and down on her, as if trying to brighten her day. Her peak prana would be sometime during midday. She didn’t know exactly. She hadn’t kept time particularly. It didn’t make any difference. It didn’t matter as much to her as to some others. This would be close enough.
‘Set.’ As set as it could ever be. Set for her own death.
‘Let thy body rest under my dominion, let my fate rest in thy blade.’ Poor Heroic Spirit. Once so successful and proud, not to mention heroic. Forced to let him or herself be led to shame by this supremely weak girl… it wouldn’t surprise her at all if the Servant would kill her on the spot or as soon as they found a new potential Master.
‘If thou submittest to the call of the Holy Grail and if thou wilt obey this mind, this reason, then thou shalt respond.’ But if you desire a healthy chance to win, you better not. Stuck with me, it is the same as if you’d be entirely on your own. Almost. Not that Rima could imagine any being willingly submitting to her. Ever.
‘I make my oath here.’ The oath that she will keep to her death. Her oh, so, honorable death for her family that will soon take place. But nonetheless, the oath Rima will not fail.
‘I am that person who is to become the virtue of all Heavens.’ Virtues… Did she have any of those? “Is to become”? Will she have time with that before her death?
‘I am that person who is covered with the evil of all Hades.’ … Yes, because this literally bloody ritual demands that the Master claims blood from one being or another. So yes, the Master is forced to commit evil in order to enter this competition. Covered with evil, indeed…
‘Thou seven heavens, clad in a trinity of words… ’ Rima twitched. The ritual was coming to a close. Pain was coursing through her because of her use of herself as a circuit. The energy in the air made her white dress ripple in the wind… or was it just normal wind..?
‘… come past thy restraining rings, and be thou the hands that protect the balance..!’ … It hurt. Hurt more than her usual spells. Had she succeeded? Was she going to die..? She was… still standing. Was the Servant..?
