kaisou | [treasure 7] and i'm feelin' like a ghost, and it's what i hate the most

Entry tags:

[treasure 7] and i'm feelin' like a ghost, and it's what i hate the most

WHO: Gilgamesh + the network
WHERE: the network and maybe Gilgamesh's Serenitea pot at Vergil's house if ya'll wanna swing by?
WHEN: February 1st
WHAT: sometimes, the ghost of you is more present than ever and you have a couple of good things and one really alarming thing to address.

un; AUO, voice post; network

Rejoice, mongrels, for the Wakawaka Zabuun waterpark will be open in a mere two weeks time! It's amazing what you can get done with monetary grease to both the modern workforce and the wheels of bureaucracy! What better place to enjoy a day with your loved ones than in a fully heated, fully functional tropical paradise away from anything tropic? Vergil Vittore's previously informed me that I could 'afford to be less of a skinflint miser' and I suppose I will consider granting VIP passes to the users of this particular application if you ask politely enough.

Secondly! Zulius, ever a visionary and genius ahead of his time, has stumbled upon the concept of a Kaisou Calendar for charity. As he's either announced or will announce, I didn't care enough to check, if you're over the age of 18 and willing to show a little skin for a good cause, feel free to contact either of us. There will be a men's and women's edition; I've seen what you people get horny about. Your taste is impeccable, even if most of your vibes are rancid.

[ he sounds so cheerful, and then he's silent.

there's a long pause, as if Gilgamesh forgot to stop recording his voice. there's a few chirpy beeps, and then he starts speaking again--but it sounds a lot more. stressed? not even slightly resembling his beginning boomingly playful tone, spoken at a normal person level of voice. like he's being held hostage in his own voice post. it appears Goldie has applied a filter to keep certain zealous eyes off of whatever else is happening in his Livejournal entry. ]

And now that most people have dispersed, my body has completely disappeared. Are dreams about whales portentous? [ he's trying to channel bemused ease, but it's probably not working. ] So, I don't have a physical presence anymore, and I feel oddly... floaty. I don't know how to get out of my teapot--it feels strange and staticky when I try, like I might get swept up into whatever magic makes the transition happen and fail to come out on the other end. I've passed through the walls of my house several times and it gets no less jarring each time it happens.

Any information regarding rampant curses or unexpected magic would be appreciated.

... I do have a more focused suspicion as to what my sudden weight loss might be attributed to, but I'd rather not entertain that right now if there's some plague of de-materialization sweeping the city. It would be. Bothersome.

... thank you for your time. I suppose.

Why must this be so difficult to end--

[ how do you poke the off button when you don't have hands?? slam your spirit against it until electricity does something and you're left in eerie, uncomfortable silence, feeling odd and fallen apart. do they make gloves that let incorporeal fingers work swipe lockscreens? ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

That feels terribly easy to say when you're not the one on the leash.

[ local man who's never been beholden to someone else in his life faced with the looming threat of being beheld. it's going okay. ]

Wonderful. We do love a 'me' problem, don't we.
I'm guessing there's no secret secondary source of mana that I could avail myself or some secret trick that breaks the whole stupid system in half, is there?

The words of someone who's never had to take orders from a sadistic teenage aristocrat. It sucks. I get it. But it's better than death.

[A sigh.]

Not unless you want to take up 'consuming souls' as a hobby, and I'm pretty sure none of us want that. The only ways I know of to achieve true incarnation are to wish upon the Holy Grail--and that's out for a lot of reasons--or through the use of Command Seals, which loops us right back to the original issue at hand.

Is it?

[ for someone so terribly proud and independent and alone, the concept of being forced to trust someone else in trade for sustenance feels impossible--hellacious and karmic, sending unpleasant cold up a spine he no longer possesses. ]

What's a few souls for one's continued independence? [ he might be joking. he might not be. his tone is really--cavalier, because he'd rather eat his own non-existent spleen than be vulnerable to anyone, least of all one of his app nemeses. ]

The King owned a Holy Grail. Maybe if I go digging deep enough, I can pull something out of my golden ass. Or maybe his gaudy golden flightcraft will turn up and I'll fly back to a time where this wasn't, apparently, a concern I needed to be pressed with.

Maybe you will. More likely, the Vimana's not going to be rocketing out of the lake anytime soon.

[There was a time not at all long ago when this might have terrified him, being on the recieving end of Archer's temper. And maybe it did set off some faint alarm labeled 'common sense', somewhere.]

[On the other hand, now Waver could recognize this for what it was; frustration, desperation, a situation spiraling out of the control of someone always in control.]

[...He didn't particularly like that he could almost relate to that, and with a sigh he switched to a more private filter for Gilgamesh's sake more than his own.]

...Listen. I'm trying to help, and no one but us can hear right now. Is there anyone, anyone in this whole godforsaken city you would be even remotely willing to rely on?

Why not? I've apparently been lucky when it comes to water, recently. Being dry has done me no favors.

[ it's, all things considered, a pretty mild variation of Archer's temper

and where Archer could rip the heavens and earth asunder to change the world's progress to something he liked better, Gilgamesh... was just a man. as he'd been this whole time, up until this odd precipice, and now he's slipping into the unknown and unsure of whether he likes the concept of a noose around his neck or a cessation of existence better.

Waver slips to private and that's some small relief for Gilgamesh; doing filters and shit is hard he has no fingers. only aetheric desires. he asks a heavy question, and Gilgamesh's response is immediate and kneejerk. ]

No.

[There was the unmistakable sound of a slow inhale from someone struggling to keep a weakening grasp on their last nerve. Then a pause.]

Then I can't help you. If disappearing is your choice, then I'm not going to stand around trying to change your mind.

However. Just in case hell freezes over and you happen across someone you decide you tolerate, I can tell you how to forge a contract.

[ there's a lot he wants to do in that pause and the words that come after.

he wants to dig his proverbial fingers in and ask Waver how he's enjoying the misery of a man that's only peripherally related to whatever specter haunts him, wants to mock him for his two-faced play at apathy while he's still desperately throwing down rope, wants to ask if he means to pull Gilgamesh up or watch him hang, and which he'd like to see more

but he's tired and floaty. not himself, not all together. afraid and scared and still very, very alone. ]

If it lets you sleep easy tonight, say whatever you will. What you do with your breath is your own choice.

[Truthfully and in all honesty, he did want to help. But whether Archer or Caster, he'd never understand how to talk to the King of Heroes on any significant level. They were both terribly abrasive and god knew Waver preferred that as his own defense mechanism against people exactly like this.]

[At the end of the day, however awkward and stumbling and adversarial, he really couldn't leave well enough alone when someone needed help.]

My will creates your body, and your sword creates my destiny. If you heed the Grail's call and obey my will and reason, then answer.

They need only to hold out their hand and speak those words, focusing on establishing a connection. As for you, in this hypothetical situation, all you would have to do is agree to the contract.

Any questions, for the sake of academic curiosity?

[ it makes no sense to Gilgamesh, really. he knows there's a strange grit between him and the Professor, and yet he's here, hypocritically, bemused at the sword hanging over his head until the realization that it wasn't a prop really settled in.

... but Gilgamesh is ever himself. even when he's not himself. he's doing his best to focus on this--incantation, premium jibberish, committing it to memory just in case he's desperate enough to give this whole contract thing a shot. ]

Hmn. [ on one hand, being brusque and storming off to figure it out on your own. on the other, having every possible advantage with your back against the wall. ]

What parameters make for a suitable partner in this particular business? I have faint memories of being called by something I found worthy, so I'm drawing a blank with what to do when I'm left to procure my own plus one, as it were.

In a general sense, it wouldn't surprise me if nearly everyone on Libra had aptitude enough to qualify as a potential Master; the most basic requirement is simply possessing enough magical energy to spare. However, with you it's a bit trickier; to support a Servant on the level of the King of Heroes, one would have to be exceptionally powerful.

[There wasn't really praise in his voice as much as objective fact; he spoke of Gilgamesh as one would a force of nature and how to respond to it.]

Not necessarily in matters of skill, either--a high amount of latent power alone would be enough.

[ it certainly doesn't feel like praise. it feels like condemnation, like another hurdle to cross--not only does he need a master, but he needs one of a level of appropriate power. someone he likely couldn't outright dominate.

how very like him, to demand the best he could possibly find. ]

How does the--exchange of mana work. Is there anything particular to it, or is it a constant cycle?

[ and then there's the question at the back of his mind, crawling up his throat and choking him. proverbially. he doesn't have lungs anymore. ]

The command seals. Is there a way around them or a way to subvert them? What happens if they're all used?

Passive, kind of like being connected to a battery. Eating and sleeping like normal will also provide you with a secondary supply of mana, but that alone won't be enough.

[He paused for a moment, right hand fidgeting unseen.]

They can in theory be resisted, but I doubt it's easy or possible to do so for long. Ideally you would be able to find someone you can come to an agreement with--either not to utilize them or only to use them with your consent. When they're gone, that alone doesn't break the contract; the Master will still be providing mana to their Servant.

[ well, there's that, at least. it's a comforting thought that he'll be able to build at least some of his own mana reserve over time, but the second piece is.

as much as he expected. a memory sits sourly at the back of his teeth, and he gives a mirthless little laugh. ]

That feels wretchedly familiar. I remember a man in red who thought he was cleverer than me... [ but Waver doesn't care, and doesn't deserve to see Gilgamesh any more disadvantaged than he already is. ] So once the seals are gone, what then? Will the pact dissolve over time?

It won't, no. The seals are a mark of the contract, not a lynchpin. The idea is that without them, a Servant has the ability to sever their own contract and find a new one by simply slaying their Master outright. But if that doesn't happen, then the pact remains in place with no issue.

...I've utilized all three of mine in the past, so I can speak to that as proven fact rather than theory.

[ ... okay, that might be worth the energy to give a sigh of relief, something shuddering out of him. it feels a little less. hopeless? that he could tolerate someone else's proverbial rule if the end result was killing them for the insult. ]

I see. Is there anything else you think I should be concerned of, academically?

[Given a second or two to think:]

I don't know your exact parameters, but I'd caution you against exerting yourself with overuse of magic. Depending on the Master's mana capacity, that alone might kill them from mana deprivation, risk your existence, or both at once.

[ well, that's concerning. thanks for the worry unlock, prof. ]

And if my whole being is magic, what would cause... overuse?

[ a pause. considering. ]

Is that what powers the red sword from my memories?

...

[The brief silence that followed was very uneasy, and when Waver answered it was with a strained and anxious note.]

Yes. Generally, whatever powers a Servant utilizes in combat is the primary usage of energy. But a Servant's most powerful ability--their Noble Phantasm--is more often than not their single largest drain of magical reserves.

[ what an interesting shift of tone. if Gilgamesh were playing with Waver, he'd capitalize on that, but alas. he's ever self-concerned. ]

I see. And since you've called me by the title I've heard before in my memories [ oops, he noticed ] do you have some knowledge of what I need to be wary of?

...What you mentioned is called Ea, Sword of Rupture. Your--no, the King of Heroes' Noble Phantasm is called Enuma Elish; the Star of Creation which rends heaven and earth. An unfathomable vortex of primordial power. The only thing likely stopping it from turning an entire city--or even the planet--to glass, dust, and obsidian is the already astronomically high limits of a Servant vessel.

[ the familiarity that races through the ghosts of his bones aches. he thinks of the artifact that started this whole spiral, once, and feigns a breath that he doesn't need to take for the simple pleasure of pretending to be human for a few moments more. ]

I see. And outside of this world-rending power, what else is a Servant supposed to be capable of? Why bother with the whole mess? My memories are patchwork, fragmented things, and the King seemed... disinterested in the process, aside from the human aspect of it all.

[ the suffering, he liked the suffering. ]

He was...strange. Nothing personal.

[It wasn't necessarily fair to consider this Gilgamesh and the one he knew to be the same; he'd realized that already. That didn't make it easy to remember, and it was harder still to enforce when listening to him talk.]

I can't say I understand what Archer sought to gain. We only spoke at any length once, years ago. As you say, his focus was on the human aspect as far as I was ever able to tell. But then again, it isn't necessarily as though a given Heroic Spirit can choose to be summoned or not--despite what he probably told himself.

[It would have been very like him, Waver thought, to be convinced even his manifestation was done of his own will.]

I've no love or loathing for him. He was whatever he was, and I am whoever I am.

[ nobody thinks another Gilgamesh is more of a fucker than Gilgamesh babygirl it's okay. the king's beef is eternal. ]

The fragments of him blend together, so I cannot offer you much more than that--but from what specters of his desires I've seen in myself, the human aspect was the most important part. An eternal duty, turned into a singular fascination--to the point where it became comically shortsighted and turned back around into pointless farce. What an irritating creature.

[ Hakuno could give both of them 2d10 psychic damage at the drop of a hat couldn't she. ]

... and so that's it. Swallow my pride and tolerate a yoke, or disappear and be unremarked upon. What a joke. The universe is a funny thing.

That lines up with what little I knew of him. A difficult person to say the least, with desires well beyond the comprehension of mortals. Maybe even beyond himself, in a sense.

[hakuno kishinami would short circuit both of them as easily as dropping a toaster into a bathtub]

I think it's a little harsh to consider a contract in those terms, but that's only my perspective. It's not necessarily an easy decision when one looks at it that way, I'll grant that much.

You can call him an asshole, if you'd like. It won't hurt my feelings.

[ hakuno kishinami would look them both in the eye gg no re skill diff touch grass acquire maidens with regards the care and keeping of Gilgameshi. and like six other hoes. ]

On that, you and I will simply have to agree to disagree, given the sides that we occupy of the matter. Though there is another memory I've had from time to time... but it hardly matters in this moment, and surely, I've had more of your time than you truly cared to give.

[ we will not bring Zhuge Liang up. as a thanks for all of the everything else. ]

[treasure 7] and i'm feelin' like a ghost, and it's what i hate the most

no subject

no subject

no subject

private;

private;

private;

private;

private;

private;

private;

private;

private;

private;

private;

private;

private;

private;

private;

private;

private;

private;

private;

private;

private;

private;

private;

private;

private;

private;

private;