The Ultimate Game (PUBLIC)

[Kosviel von Einzbern]

Sephiroth dodged a spear thrust, and made a quick swipe. His opponent was fast, however, and easily jumped over that. Instead, the extended sword cut into a strange blonde man in orange with a blue headband and whiskers. Sephiroth was unperturbed, and swung again at the culprit, but the figure in red moved again, the blade once more scoring a direct hit on the now injured blonde man in orange, who was still trying to get his act together.

The spear came in again, low this time. Sephiroth quickly dodged left and took one more swing, true and sure. Instead, he ended up decapitating the man in orange, who had folded his hands together and was mixing up his fingers into weird configurations, which to Sephiroth, seemed like a ludicrous waste of time. His point was of course, especially proven, now that this bizarre hand gesturing had gotten the man in orange killed.

Sephiroth looked around for the figure in red. It was gone. No, wait. It was now with that AVALANCHE girl. Well, that just made it more interesting. And here it was, when the figure in red was with that girl, that Sephiroth decided to ask, "So, who're you?"

The figure in red smirked. "Me? I'm the Fullmetal Alchemist!"

Sephiroth raised an eyebrow. Fullmetal... Alchemist? A flash went off in the distance. "Wait, I thought you said you were cosplaying Lancet. I mean, you're not exactly Ed's height, ya know."

Edward scratched her silver hair. [red]"Well, yeah, but I wanted to see the look on your face."[/red] She smirked, pointing a thumb at Tifa behind her. Tifa, who was now giggling as she showed the image captured on that little purple camera. Edward took a close look at it. [red]"Costumes, 200 EUR. Ticket to get inside to fight, 50 EUR. Camera with batteries, 500 EUR. This picture? PRICELESS!"[/red]

"..."

As Sephiroth was just about to speak, the trio heard a groan as Naruto stood up. "Dude I think you really did cut my head off. I'm not a Highlander or anything, okay? Jeez..."

"What's being Scottish have to do with it?"

The ninja facepalmed. "Nevermind."

"So, what's next? I mean, it's already Day Three, and there's still so much stuff to do in this place. I'm thining they should've made it two weeks instead of just one." Tifa handed the camera over to Edward, who pocketed it.

[red]"I dunno, what do you guys want to do?"[/red]

"Takoyaki's over on that aisle. Great stuff, I think the sauce has just the right tang to it."

Sephiroth rubbed his nose at how things were turning out today. First, he got separated from Cloud. Then, he ran into this Tifa who just wouldn't shut her trap. She fit the costume perfectly, that is to say, oh so very snugly, of course, but damned if her motor mouth wasn't a serious turn-off. Not even this guy would try to bear all that blabbering just to get a good bedding with that one.

Anyway, he then ran into Naruto, who was another buddy of his from school, and now this Lancet... or Edward... or... whoever she was cosplaying now, who was, well, about as predictable as a pinball in a machine gone haywire. "Yeah, I think I'll go look for Cloud."

"Which one?"

"The one I was hanging out with before we got separated. Now if you'll excuse me." With a bow, mighty Sephiroth walked away. And then Tifa sighed, apparently imagining slashfics.

As such she didn't notice Naruto ninja-ing away as. She was now left with Edward, or... Lancet, or... whoever now, apparently oblivious to Tifa being the annoying type. She was soon going to find out.

[red]"Well, I guess we can go watch the FFXXII gameplay trailer or something."[/red] Edward checked her watch. [red]"That's up in five."[/red] Well, it wasn't a usual thing, since this was supposed to be E3 Material, but it was better than nothing.

"FFXXII? You're kidding. I didn't even know they were able to survive after that XXI fiasco."

[red]"You know what they say... Square just keeps on trucking. Say, have you seen my Maid Guy?"[/red]

"Not really, no. Wait, you have a Maid Guy? Is he thiiiiiiiiiiiis tall?" Tifa stretched up her hand as high as she could. "Or just this tall?" She brought it down to a head higher than herself.

Edward only smirked. [red]"The former, and then some."[/red]

"Awesome! Let's go look for him!" In a bizarre turn of events, Edward, or rather Kosviel von Einzbern, who was usually the one dragging people around by the hand, received a dose of her own medicine as this Tifa took her by the hand and began to drag her through the crowd. Today was going to be... interesting, to say the least.

[Dominik Jaeger]

This was deeply ridiculous.

It was like Halloween, except nobody was passing out candy. Dominik was uncomfortable being in the crowd, despite looking no more strangely dressed than anyone else. Maybe it was because his own "costume" wasn't a costume, but actual armor. And he could tell that none of the 'weapons' the people were carrying were any such things... though that made sense. The security wouldn't let people wander in with real weapons, someone might get hurt. Of course Dominik had managed to sneak the Hexenhammer in anyhow. He had work to do.

His contact had reached him, informing him that this building would be important for several of the targets and that they would probably get in using the convention as a cover. That made a certain amount of sense, but looking out at the crowd of flamboyantly dressed cartoon characters come to life (Some in well-made costumes, some in... less dignified... recreations), the Witchhunter felt like she was having some fun at his expense. Even if some magi were going to use this place for whatever purposes was supposed to be going on in this city, none of them would be so goddamned brazen as to try it while this gathering was still going on. It would be too dangerous, too likely to be discovered.

Though that would mean Dominik wasted a large amount of cash to buy a ticket at the door. Very annoying.

And frankly, the older man didn't have a clue what the events were here. It had a carnival atmosphere, but he couldn't see anything that looked like much fun to him. Tables of people selling cartoon doodles, books, events about stories he had no interest in... nothing for him to actually do.

He though he saw something like a mock fight, but of course the participants were clumsy with their toys and weren't really fighting to hit each other anyhow. Though one girl in red seemed to know what she was doing, before she and someone in what resembled an orange traffic vest went elsewhere.

The most infuriating part of the entire thing was that the atmosphere in the building felt... murky? Sugary? Something was wrong with it, like he was standing on a high-voltage wire and could feel a restrained tingle in the air. Crowds didn't do that, but this was a goddamn strange one. Dominik had peeked into some of the rooms not currently in use as well, and they felt the same way. It could have something to do with this vague plan the magi were supposed to be involved in... or perhaps it's just the Halloween atmosphere and someone buried a ton of Skittles in the foundation of the building.

Searching the crowd for suspicious people seemed almost pointless. How was he supposed to search out magi in a crowd, anyhow? They're not going to reveal themselves in public, and it's not like one is going to poke him in the back and challenge him to a duel.

He hadn't searched the entire building yet, though. If he had the opportunity, he'd tried to get into the basement. If someone is trying to do something without drawing attention, an off-limits area like the basement is going to be the most likely place for it to happen.

[Attila the Hun]

Attila knew that rituals that demanded extravagant outfits to be wear existed since before his own time and most likely after his death as well, mostly about religious sacrifices or some kind of worshiping or any other mean of displaying gratitude for victories and good seasons but in the end, it all went down to gaining the favor of the Gods with such events, humans always wanted more power and the Gods were always willing to give it as long as they conditions were met but that is where Attila get confused about this current event.

There are no Gods to worship or to pledge for favors anymore and yet this 'Anicon' manage to gather this much people, young people even, youngsters weren't know for giving the correct value to the Gods back at Attila time and this certainly did not changed in the actual days, after all, this event was nothing more than a meeting of a cult that worshiped not a God, but a image of a powerful being, a hero, even if a fictional one, all induced through the workings of the current age financial power, people haven gotten more greedy than Attila's memory remembered.

Not that this was a problem to the emperor, weaklings were easy to subdue and even more easy to control, they all would make fine slaves and entertainment for after Attila won the Grail War, but for now, Attila himself was enjoying the attention as well, his master was well-versed in this cult and had picked a suitable costume for Attila, even if a maid costume was usually a female costume, it fitted the character that Attila had agreed to play in order to keep his original identity a secret, for now at least.

A cosplaying Maid Guy that is as big as the fictional one attracted a lot of attention from the young and spirited eyes all around him, like followers admiring the great man that Attila was, no matter how dressed. That was how Attila saw it but for the teenagers around him, his imposing and haughty personality fitted so well the character that Attila had become something like a cosplay icon for the younger ones, everything about him fitted the character in question, making of him, a top level cosplayer.

With all that said, Attila had lost track of his master in the middle of so many people dressed in as many colors as Kosviel, if not more colored and brighter, finding that little girl in a grow up body would be tough like this but Attila knew that she was still inside the building as they master-servant connection was still strong, not to mention that it would be easier for her to find him as Attila stand out in a crowd because of his body size.

[Victoria Valentina Devereux]

It was an Italian anime convention. Vicky didn’t even know that they had those – it was certainly the first time she’d ever been to one, what with her parents not even hearing of it in the years prior. With Erin being busy with… whatever she did, she had finally conceded to this little ‘outing’ after many, many hours of pestering, and after Vicky pointed out however long she was gone was however long the clinic would be free from her game-audio.

So here she was.

Still no costume, though.

There were… a lot of people.

She tried not to get caught up in the pressing throng of the crowd as attempted to navigate her way to the booths she had marked out on her map. A topographical view of the convention grounds, however, was very different from when you were actually stuck right in the middle of it, and Vicky wasn’t a particularly fantastic pathfinder to begin with. She had paid the 50 euro entry fee and entered expecting to get a little lost, but not this hopelessly muddled.

But what she least expected was the presence of another magus.

There had been a small tingling feeling that tickled her senses that was indicative of another magus. She ignored it in favour of making a beeline towards the Square-Enix booth. They not only had previews up the upcoming twenty-second instalment, but also saleable copies of previous incarnations and spin-offs. Vicky figured that at a convention was as good a time as any to buy them, especially after she ‘borrowed’ some pocket money from Erin too.

Unfortunately, despite almost six-months of half-hearted Italian education courtesy of Erin, no practical application has made conversing in it only a little bit awkward. And salespeople in any language were experts at talking impossibly fast - which, to Victoria, when she wasn’t concentrating, sounded like a load of garbled gibberish. She had picked up something about a special product, something about a hairdryer, maaybe a snide comment about Square’s competitors, and child-care, not necessarily in that order. That, coupled with the incessant dull-roar of the crowd resulted in Victoria just giving up attempting to understand the rapid-fire delivery of the demonstration.

And so goods (bought with Erin’s money) in hand, Vicky went to get happy-snaps with everybody who looked cool while buying more souvenirs.

…

Well, not really.

There was definitely someone, or something within the crowd who was a magus; the distinct trace of prana was unmistakable. The only issue was where it was coming from. And this time, instead of disappearing, the lingering feeling of another presence refused to leave her alone.

It was kind of annoying.

Erin had so far only consented to giving her one day to explore the convention, despite how long they were going to stay in Lucca, and wasting it worrying about who was there and who wasn’t there was not the way she had wanted to spend the day. It wasn’t even that outrageous that another magus might just want to enjoy the convention, but misgivings were difficult to extract after they had wormed their way into your mind. But she wasn’t about to just waste the fifty euro she had spent on entering in just going home.

She was going to have fun. Of course. Duh.

Her aimless meanderings had somehow brought her to a wider, open space that was being taken advantage of by a group of mock-fighters. She thought she recognized Edward and Cloud before they dived right back into the crowd. The area was scattered with both people in and out of costume. Also a lone old man in a costume she couldn’t identify looking cranky (did people his age still cosplay?).

She scratched the bottom of her chin absently, fiddling around with the plastic wrapping that bound her spoils for the morning, feeling decidedly company-less despite - yes she knew there was another magus around couldn’t she just turn the damned mage-dar off? – the crowd, and going straight back into the roiling throng of bodies wasn’t an idea which really appealed to her. She really should’ve dragged somebody else to come with her. Although Erin was the only person she actually knew in Lucca – being alone sort of made her stand out.

Not that it was a big deal or anything.

But of course, situations that were 'no big deal' always had this infuriating knack for turning into bad ones without the slightest notice.

[Kosviel von Einzbern]

"I don't think he's this way..." Because quite simply, the connection seemed weaker in this direction. Yes, her training was such that it was possible to tell the distance in metres. If she wasn't proficient in prana tracking down to that level, then how would she be able to properly measure consciousness transfer costs? It was possible to spy on someone while being on the other side of the city, without using a familiar, and instead using something that was already built into the scenery.

But she could only decide to do that if she had an accurate measure of how much it would cost her. After all, Servants were expensive, and even if she had the largest tank in the War, she shouldn't be so wasteful as to not measure every 'drop' that leaves her. [red]That's even taking into account the regeneration rate of 37pr hourly...[/red]

"How do you know that?" Two arms ahead of her, Tifa's eyebrow shot up. It wasn't exactly too easy to just give him a call. The signal interference in this amphitheatre was actually pretty bad, despite being a wide open space with a giant tarp roof spread on top. Maybe tarp was very bad for signal. Well, Tifa really wasn't a sciency person, so she wouldn't know if tarp blocked radio waves. So if signal was bad, even if Ledward was packing a GPS and had her Maid Guy connected, she probably wouldn't be able to find it.

[red]"Call it intuition."[/red] Kosviel winked back.

Tifa could only shrug and go with it. Well, of course it was also a ploy to get that crazy girl to stop dragging her around. With that said, the Einzbern Master took control once again, and started walking in the opposite direction, calmly noting the presence of at least one other magus in the building. Now, there were some things that were pretty unusual about this place.

First off, it had a rather sticky feeling in the air, characteristic of something being done, though for the love of anime, she wasn't quite sure what it was. A boundary field of some sort, maybe? Well, whatever it was, it had been bugging her since the first day. Quite annoying, really. It sapped the fun out of the occasion. Now, despite being within very close reach of this second magus, somewhere in the vicinity of the FFXXII trailer, interestingly enough, Kosviel preferred to really just have a good time.

The funny old man with the notably either high quality costume, or real fighting outfit out in the distance wasn't making things any easier. How ridiculous was this situation getting anyway? At this rate, she might as well radio Klaus in the nearby parking lot and have him storm the building with his machinegun, with one of the Leysritts (it was deemed suitable to have a trio of Leysritts around to protect her for some reason) following suit with one of those halberds.

Which improved somewhat when she spotted a familiarly tall head in a clearing, standing with some other characters and getting his picture taken. Now that, that was priceless. Attila the Hun, stopping for a couple of snap shots with some cute girls. Well, perhaps being glomped by a bunch of girls was something he was used to, having been Emperor implying that he had his own harem, and all.

Behind her, she could hear Tifa whistle, clearly impressed. "That's your Maid Guy? He damn well looks the part!"

[red]"Yup. That's pretty much why I convinced him to dress up as Kogorashi. The guy's perfect for it."[/red]

"Totally."

With nary another word, the Einzbern Master resumed dragging her unwitting companion to meet with the Emperor of Huns, better known today as the Maid Guy.

In the distance, well, not much of a distance, really, but not too far away, specifically the Takoyaki stand, Naruto screamed in agony as he realised that he person manning the stand had misheard what he had told her. "I SAID NO CHILI SAUCE!" Or perhaps, she was simply paying him back for hitting on her, by giving his octopus balls some Chili Sauce. Nevertheless, it would prove to be more lucrative, as he decided to just buy that bottle of soda that looked ever so refreshing, also from the same stand. A few extra euros never hurt, especially when it was euros going into your pocket.

Or perhaps, she really was just clueless. It was her first day on the job, after all. The maid with her silver hair and red eyes, and notably sizable bust line smiled, eager to serve that bottle of 7-UP to Naruto.

Yes, today was a very interesting one.

[Brad McDowell]

This place’s sure is…colorful.

The more he explored this place, the more he suspected that the information about the ley line under this particular place is someone’s idea for a prank. How that particular prank is going to please anyone is beyond McDowell, considering that even the prankster will find it difficult to enjoy the fruits of their labor in the crowd of this many people. He started to question the validity of Robert’s information, something he hasn’t done for the good part of a decade now. Though he trusts Robert not to lie to him, he can’t say the same about his sources. Information brokering is a chain; if someone screws up in any of the part it’s going to affect the rest of them.

Then again, he’s not quite sure if the information’s incorrect or not. Considering that he senses at least two other magi ever since he steps in this ‘convention’, so to speak. He’s no stranger to conventions, but not one as variable as this, to put it mildly. At least the artworks of classical battles in modern interpretation intrigued him, at least, though the pictures perhaps put too much artistic license on their part for his tastes. Different kinds of armor is one thing, different gender of the participants was too much.

The other magi should be able to detect him too, and it remains to be seen just how the other will react. The swarm of masses should really discourage any thought of conflict in the other’s part, but he knew he shouldn’t discount the possibility of that happening. Not to mention the possibility that other participants of the war is here is not miniscule…if the information’s correct. What complicates matter is that it’s somehow difficult for him to maintain anonymity, even though he wears his usual clothing for this occasion and not the colorful stuff the other participants of the convention wears.

“Hey man, nice Joseph!”

“That’s a pretty nice prop, kudos.”

“Where did you get the frigin’ hat? That’s awesome.”

Brad didn’t quite know who this Joseph is or what prop the younger man meant, but at least he can answer the question about the hat (when he told the questioner the answer, he just mouthed “Woah, that’s dedication,” gave him a thumbs up and walks away). He can only assumed and hope that his servant would be able to blend more in the surroundings, or failing that, stay in spirit form in order to avoid unnecessary scrutiny.

Anythin’ unusual there, Gunner?

[Davy Crockett]

Davy was simply amazed by the rainbow of color and sound that was the convention, as he walked in spirit form around the convention, right behind his partner. The multiligual chatter of the massive amount of people surrounding everyone. "Ah shall nevah stop bein' amazed by what this future has to offah." he muttered to himself, before hearing McDowell's question. Immediately, the sharp eyed servant began looking around.

"Naow da problem with dis sitch-ee-ation is thet amon'st all da costumed oddities i's ha'd ta find da real ones." he thought as he stared at a person in blue menacing armor but with absolutely no magic whatsoever, before saying "Nothin' yet. Ah'm gonna move up to a higher position ta get a bettah view." Still in spirit form, he began climbing at top one of the several booths, looking at the several likely folk. He wished he could get higher, but the rafters were a bit beyond what he could jump without making a disturbance and giving all the game away.

"Damn. I got nothin'." he thought. He knew that there was some source of magical energy about, feeling stronger then he had earlier. He just didn't know how to find it. Davy was no magi, he was an adventurer. A well traveled adventurer, yes, but still just an adventurer. Even as a Servant, his knowledge of magic was limited to what the Grail put into his head, which was not as much as he would like.

Still, he felt a tingle down his spine as he looked through the crowd, an instinct born of years on the hunt. Intuition, nothing more, but if there was one thing that Davy trusted, it was his instincts. "Theyiz anothah Serv-ent hea. Ah can feel it." he said, just loud enough for his master to hear him.

[Attila the Hun]

As a man larger than life, Attila surely would not be content with just being surrounded by willing followers like those kids that approached him in order to take a picture or to ask about his costume, no, Attila will always want more, in this case, to cause a even bigger scene in order to attract even more attention, without any regards for his identity or the secrecy that came together with playing a part in the Grail War. Posing and scooping up the kids on his arms and shoulders, being himself, having no restraints towards what he could do or not but gladly being passed by as acting in-character, Attila did not held back at all, specially with girls showing more skin, but no matter how much in-character he could be, things would really take a turn to the worse if his master were to find him a few minutes later.

"Master, I see that you have found your way back."

Identifying Kosviel natural silver hair among the unusual amount of silver wigs was no problem for Attila, much less of a issue because of they connection although the disguise that Kosviel wear sure help at making her blend into the crowd. They reunion was inevitable though, Attila hadn't moved much away from the spot where they got separated as he had no interest in checking the stands of this place, so it was just a matter of time for Kosviel to get back to his side, bringing in another companion for Attila.

"And who is this raven girl besides you?"

Clearly another one completely bewildered by Attila's imposing presence and how well he fits this maid character as well, even though Attila did not knew the original of himself or of anyone in here, he could tell apart a good work and effort put on a costume even without the knowledge that his master have and this Tifa in front of him had spent a good amount of time and money on her costume, even at the underwear that would be used with it, yes, Attila could see under her clothes without even touching her, his stare to said Tifa showing all of his intentions anyway.

"Is she your apology for leaving me behind while you went to wander by yourself? Khu khu khu! Well chosen master!"

[Kosviel von Einzbern]

It turned out that she was too worried over nothing. Although it was probably because of the other magi in the building, that she was so worried, not that Attila might have been wandering around causing trouble. In fact, he fit perfectly with the crowd, and the crowd thought so too. Kosviel was, on the other hand, a lighthouse in the bad sense. Or perhaps a candle to moths. The sheer amount of prana that irradiated from her connection with the Servant was a telltale sign to anybody else that yes, there was an enemy here.

Of course therein lay the issue. Would they be crazy enough to attack in broad daylight, in the presence of thousands? There were protocols in place, safeguards to ensure the secrecy of the masquerade as the war progressed. Nevertheless, there was always the chance of someone being crazy enough to break those rules... and ruin her day by breaking them on this special occasion.

The countermeasure to that was simple. She would regroup with him and stay on guard.

"Master, I see that you have found your way back."

When she found him, he was busy posing for pictures and acting like... well, just like that Kogorashi would act. It was hilarious in retrospect. [red]"Yeah, we were just looking for you. Looks we didn't have to look far, though."[/red]

Tifa looked him up and down, clearly awed by the resemblance and demeanour displayed by this giant. It was as if the Maid Guy himself had jumped out of the screen. "Wow..."

"And who is this raven girl besides you? Is she your apology for leaving me behind while you went to wander by yourself? Khu khu khu! Well chosen master"

She blushed at his gaze and comment.

[red]"This is Tifa. Or... actually I never got your real name."[/red]

For some reason or another. It was like talking to somebody in a chatroom in that regard. Online aliases and privacy and the like. Well, that was understandable. These times were dangerous times, and privacy was an important thing.

"Ah, Donata." She curtsied, if somewhat out of it.

[red]"Kosviel."[/red] The Master returned the curtsy.

Normally, this would be the time when someone would note the unusual name, because it wasn't even a normal German name. It was a pun that came about not long after she started wearing costumes. Originally, she was just referred to as "Justica" or whatever number they had given her. It was disgusting, and she insisted on this name, abnormal as it sounded.

But apparently, Donata was too focused on the Maid Guy to notice. That was all for the better, then.

[red]"And this is Attila."[/red] At least 'Attila' was a legitimate name, albeit an unusual one. [red]"As in, the Hun."[/red]

"I see..." Another curtsy was exchanged then. "A pleasure to meet you," she said with a giggle. After all, who named their children Attila in this day and age?

Not too far off, a certain ninja in orange tripped, spilling his 7-Up all over some girl who didn't look like she was wearing a costume, unless you counted the heterochromatic eyes. Then again, heterochromia was a real affliction, so she probably really wasn't wearing a costume.

Naruto stood up and apologised, scratching the back of his head. "Really sorry about that." And just as quickly he stumbled off to do... well, something else. This really wasn't his day.

[Attila the Hun]

It went without saying that the purpose of this place was to allow these kids to have fun, as much as the Grail War may be ruthless and dangerous, one life does not stop because of it and the courage to continue indulging in one own pleasures like this is one of the reasons that Attila accept Kosviel as his master of the only and one Attila the Hun, which is also why Kosviel shouldn't stray away too far.

"Good, don't wander off again like that or I won't be held responsible for what could happen to those kids if I had to act here."

The kids were amusing and full of life but in the end, they were nothing aside mere stones for Attila to throw aside if needed and protecting his master life was a very strong motive for such a rash action, fitting for the leader of the Huns.

"Take me with you if you wish to visit any stand, I'll make sure that you get there as fast as possible."

With his large frame and strength, pushing the crowd aside would be easy and hardly anyone would dare to voice any complaints at Attila, any brave yet stupid souls that would attempt such thing would be put back in they place, Attila the Hun goes whenever he pleases and no puny roman would stop that.

With the introductions having been covered by his master, all that was left for Attila to do was to take the offering Kosviel had brought to him and so he did, as the Tifa bowed, Attila grabbed her suspenders, lifting the girl from the floor and bringing her up to his shoulder, a young but juicy fruit like this one would be savored throughly later on.

[Miya Kishima]

“…You know, Archer, while I do admit that it was my idea to go ahead and scout in this area because it seemed bountiful in people today, even if we can sense the enemy around here, it will still be… fairly difficult to go ahead and find our targets.”

Miya Kishima gazed at the overflowing crowd with raised eyebrows, a sheepish look on her face as the realization of what it means to find a single person inside such a large crowd was about as easy of a task as finding a needle in a pile of hay. That said, Miya was a little surprised that an anime convention can be found pretty much everywhere in the world, nowadays. The industry must’ve really been overflowing in popularity, as of recent times. All these costumes would make a search difficult, of course, given that Miya and Archer would be singling out a target or two, their opponents, but a Servant would exude an aura atypical of a human.

This aura would probably be a mighty spirit, given that this is a Heroic Spirit we’re talking about.

With a resigned sigh, Miya went ahead into the crowd, figuring Archer can make the decision to join her in the search or look elsewhere. She could at least trust Wild Bill Hickok to make a rational decision in this, and while Miya wasn’t making the most logical decision, diving straight into unknown territory with no thought of the enemy location, the magus was fairly confident in her ability to escape, if needed.

After all, the pair needed to create some excitement if they wanted to even consider winning the war, since it would be impossible to win a war if said war wasn’t moving.

Weaving through the people and the crowd, Miya skimmed over the relatively obscure faces of the many attendees of the convention, but her eyes focused on a giant of a sort, with a girl on his shoulder. With a smirk on her face, Miya whispered the following words, as well as directed the statement to her Servant, as well as an idea of where this figure was.

“…Seems mighty enough to me.”

[Wild Bill Hickok]

Hickok looked around him at the sights and sounds of an anime convention and raised an eyebrow in interest. His master and he had set out earlier to scout the area for traces of other masters and servants. So far they hadn’t had any luck but with a small city like this, he was sure that they were bound to find at least something to follow.

What they had found was one of the strangest things Hickok had ever seen. Currently he found himself inside what his master had called an ‘anime convention’ and whatever the hell anime was it certainly had some weird taste in clothing. It kind of reminded him of some of the carnivals and circuses he saw in the big cities….but more colorful……and fancier clothes.

A hell of a lot of damn fancy clothes.

Hickok shrugged, it was interesting at least. Maybe there would be a servant there for him to fight? He hoped so. As soon as he thought this, his master ordered him to go ahead and scout the convention for a trace of another master and servant pair.

“Yeah, yeah, alright. I’ll scout the area for you. Keep your panties on little lady.” Not bothering to listen to her reply, Hickok wandered off into the dealer’s room. It was a pretty fancy area, kind of like a big city’s bazaar during the day. There were people selling their wares to dozens of unsuspecting saps who wouldn’t know genuine goods from the cheap knockoff they use. That was fine, he thought. Anyone who got cheated deserved it if they were stupid enough to fall for it. As much as he nominally stood for justice, Hickok was a cheat himself. So it was no skin off his back.

Coming out of the dealer’s room, Hickok looked himself over. He had gotten some regular clothes from Miya and had dematerialized his gun until he needed them. He could easily do the same with his actual combat outfit as well.

Looking around he noticed his master staring at a mountain of a man in a maid outfit of all things. “Well if that ain’t damn strange I don’t know what is.” Walking over to his master he tapped her on the shoulder and pointed to the giant. “So what now? You think he is what we’re looking for?”

[Kosviel von Einzbern]

Tifa squeed as she was lifted and put on the giant's shoulder, apparently going from terrified to giddy in a matter of seconds. It was quite an impressive view, after all. Kosviel could only smile as she saw how much her new acquaintance was having fun. Yes, in a way, she envied that girl. To be able to live an ordinary life and enjoy many years ahead... But these were all needless luxuries, luxuries she could not afford.

Even this entire lifestyle choice of hers was entirely secondary to her life's goal, to make sure Grampa became proud of her, for doing something that others in the family had failed to do for five times already. She would be the one, to win the Grail, and to deliver it... or rather be delivered... to the glorious Einzbern estate on that frozen mountain, whole and complete, able to bring back the magic that they had lost so long ago.

[red]"So maybe we can start with a snack. You ever tried Takoyaki? Good stuff. And then dessert at the Taiyaki stand. Ooh, and after that, we can go RP on stage and act out a fight!"[/red]

So many choices, so little time. This was the ultimate game for Kosviel. The Arena of the Cosplay, where she could be something else, most of the time Lancet Keise, and act out various fantasies seen on TV or streamed or wherever. BD's, certainly. It wasn't exactly a coping mechanism. She wasn't secretly afraid of how she was one day going to sacrifice herself as a cup... although she'd certainly had nightmares of becoming one and being filled with dozens of lumps. Grotesque ugly lumps that were lumpy and black and filled with... *ahem*

[red]We gotta watch out for others, though. I'm pretty sure there's one or two around here... It smells like a honeytrap.[/red]


In another section of the convention, an orange ninja accidentally stepped on Darth Vader's foot. Needless to say, lightsabers were drawn and serious Imperial beatings were had soon enough.

[Attila the Hun]

With his prize now in hands, more accurately, on his shoulder, Attila knew well enough that the children here were all having fun and hardly taking anything serious but the conqueror was not one to joke about his wishes, the girl may be young but she surely was mature enough to earn the interest of the King of Huns. A problem that his master would have to deal with when this kids convention ends.

"You shall not leave my side again Master! Khu Khu Khu!"

Getting separated from Kosviel once again in this huge crowd would be a mess that Attila don't want to go through again and he makes his feelings known to his master as he squeeze her shoulder hard enough to leave a remaining sense of pain there, without dampening Kosviel movements, as a reminder that he would be right besides her at all times, unbeknownst to Attila, his action fitted with his cosplay character better than most of the actual contestants here, so much that it shouldn't be a wonder if Attila end up winning the prize of best cosplay if many were to take notice of him, something easy to happen as it is hard to miss a giant in a maid outfit.

Frivolous things aside, Attila have a good reason to keep his master close when the presence of other servants can be felt, that meaning a lot from someone that, like Attila, is not the best of the 'sensor' type out there, meaning that the enemy was too close for comfort.

[Kosviel von Einzbern]

Kosviel hid the pain behind a smile. Because it would be a weird thing not to. "I'll keep that in mind, Maid Guy. From hereon out, we're sticking together."

The trip to one of several Takoyaki booths would normally not be so long, if pure distance was one's only factor. However, considering that there was now a crowd of people getting in the way - mostly to watch the surreal duel between Darth Vader and the orange ninja, then the trip took much longer than a few seconds.

Now to be more precise, it was Darth Vader and a group of Stormtroopers who were there, and they were now up against a small army of blonde orange-clad orange ninjas. Which they were supposed to take as some kind of ninja technique of... shadow clone spawning or something.

The Dark Lord did a pretty good job by himself, whacking those ninjas with his lightsaber, while the Stormtroopers occasionally fired red blaster bolts with rubber plungers on the end.

Meanwhile, chowing down on a paper carton's worth of Takoyaki, Kosviel silently commentated on the battle in her head, as if it were some bizarre crossover shounen manga thing. "You should try this stuff. It's great, especially once you get to the octopus. Someone once said that the perfect Takoyaki is like the earth. The crust is like the Earth's crust, the filling like the mantle, and the octopus like the core. It should have a perfect balance."

Donata obliged and took a whole one into her deceptively small-looking mouth, much to Kosviel's surprise. She giggled. "Needs more hot sauce."

"No, no, too much hot sauce would ruin the balance! We're looking at balance here!"

Donata only giggled again. "You really take this seriously, huh?"

"Sure do." She offered a second doughy ball of octopus to the frilly giant. "See what you think of this compared to Leysritt's version."