kaisou | text: un: coffeelvr4ever

text: un: coffeelvr4ever

WHO: Hansa Cervantes and...YOU!
WHERE: the world wide webs
WHEN: Following the library portal opening!
WHAT: Let's talk cool facts!
WARNINGS: H for Hansa being Hansa

for anyone who decided to check out the records in that library that just popped up, i have one question. what's the wildest thing you've learned about your "past life", if you've checked your name out?

i'll start. my past life had a holy hand grenade launcher in his robot arm. very monty python. 🦾 your turn!

(and if you're an otherworlder or whatever, just tell me a cool fact, i need some extra material for sermons :P)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Now you're treating it like you entered a regular sports competition back then. It was a war. Your actions and his are going to be different because of who you are as people, naturally. Not to mention the chaos of it all.

[nooooo comparing yourselffffff]

Besides...you survived, didn't you? You're here, today, after everything.

[It was easier to think of it that way. In the clinical and matter of fact descriptions committed to his haphazard research, rather than the reality of it. If Waver thought about the situation on the level of a human rather than a mage, he’d inevitably think about the sky tearing itself apart and a workshop full of unspeakable horrors—that would put him right back at being pissed off Flat was so careless, and that wasn’t going to accomplish anything.]

It’s not like I did that on my own. I’m alive because someone else protected me. Without him, I’d have died at least three times over back then.

Who was he?

[He tilts his head.]

Another mage in the war?

No—the whole system of the war is built around a system of pairs. A Master and Servant; respectively, a mage and the summoned spirit they call forth to fight for them, manifesting in one of seven classes. Saber, Archer, Lancer, Rider, Caster, Assassin and Berserker.

[It occurred to him briefly that what passed for normal in his world was in reality completely out there to most.]

I know it probably sounds insane, hearing it as someone relatively ordinary. But the Holy Grail War is fought between seven heroes of myth and legend, alongside the mages who called them forth. When I realized Kayneth was planning to enter the war…well, I was a vindictive teenager. I stole his catalyst and was out of the country practically by nightfall.

The only reason I lived through that stupid choice was because of Lancer.

Classes...like categories, I suppose.

[Okay. Sure. Categories of spirits, made to fight for magic people. Sure. That's just how it is. (It feels familiar, again, in a way that itches at the back of his mind.)]

Catalyst to...what, summon, a spirit? No wonder your mentor was pissed. [He actually lets out a laugh - the gall of it.] Lancer protected you as your summoned partner, then.

Right. Sabers are heroes known for wielding swords, Archers for bows, and so on.

[…He made a note to ask how the hell that made Gilgamesh an Archer, but he suspected the answer was very obvious and very stupid.]

He was right to be furious, that much I don’t blame him for. It isn’t an easy thing to come by, a catalyst needs some connection to the specific person one wants to summon. Regardless, once a contract is formed, a Servant dies if their Master is killed. So it’s in their best interest to keep us incredibly easy to kill mortals alive.

…He was too damn loyal to consider it just an obligation, though.

Edited 2022-09-09 18:07 (UTC)

Self explanatory.

[A specific person...ah. So its like gaming the system to get the toy you want, he thinks.]

Loyal, huh. That's a good guy you got then. It all worked out for the both of you - he probably was lucky to get you, too.

I know he thought he was. And sure, he could have gotten a hell of a lot worse. It's hard to regret stealing Kayneth's catalyst, I don't even want to think about how that could have ended up.

[laughs]

...It never felt right. I was just a stupid kid, nobody some great hero should have had to put up with or answer to. But he never once said a word in complaint. Neither of us were the strongest competitors by far; I wasn't that impressive of a mage, to say the least. But that never seemed to mean anything to him--Diarmuid saw worth in someone worthless, and it felt like we really could have done the impossible together. Maybe that was the near-death experiences talking, or just the optimism of a nineteen-year-old brat who hadn't learned otherwise.

[Waver paused as if he only just realized what he was saying, pressing a hand to his face with a bitter laugh. What a mess of stupid sentiment--he was usually so much better at keeping that locked down.]

I--sorry, I don't know what's wrong with me today. I don't talk like this often. Never, really.

[He listens. It may seem unusual for someone who seems so carefree with a ready bit of snark for any occasion, but he sits, and he listens quietly. Whoever this Lancer was...truly, it was someone close to Waver's soul. A man that changed his life, quite literally.]

[After a moment, he lets out a huff, shaking his head. Diarmund...? The name seems familiar, but he's not exactly some expert of grand legend and myth in general.]

There is nothing wrong with you. Honestly, what you're doing is good for the soul. I think that Diarmund would be happy you're remembering him like this.

Oh, there's plenty of things wrong with me. But that aside, I'm not the sentimental type. [he said, like a liar.] He just...left an impression.

[A little twitch of his mouth up at that. Oh. Of course.]

A very positive one, it seems.

Obviously. I wouldn't be here at all if not for him, so that much is a given.

[Now he's actually smirking.]

Yes, of course. That much is obvious.

...What? Why are you looking at me like that?

[asked in complete earnest, because he might be stupid about this specific topic]

...You can admit that he's more than just some guy who saved your life a few times, you know. No harm to it.

I don't see how that matters much here. He was my friend and my knight--that much should be obvious.

[hansa: is that what they call boyfriends now]

Ah. Well. All I have to say is that when you say it like that, it does sound like something like out of a fairytale. Your knight in shining armor...

[yes]

Well, Servants are essentially from tales like that, so I can't say you're far off.

[Shrugging, Waver took his sunglasses from his pocket and slipped them back on. Whether that was out of habit or because he knew he was turning a light shade of red was up in the air.]

[Now that's a cute flush in the cheeks. Hansa's grin grows wider.]

He swept you off your feet, huh.

E-excuse me?

[OFFERS NOTHING BUT A PLEASED GRIN LIKE ^_^]

I-...I-I don't know what gave you that mad idea, Cervantes, but it's utterly absurd. It's not as though I'm stupid enough to fall for any man who happens to be nice to me.

[two isn't a lot of nickels, but]

You can call me Hansa, you know. Cervantes just makes me think of my father.

[And a huff at that.]

You're not stupid. The way you describe him, if I were in your shoes, I probably would have fallen for him.

I am absolutely not having this conversation. Not with you, not with anyone, not ever. I've already said far more than I ever wanted to as it is.

[And a little laugh.]

Alright, alright. I won't press more, honest. I really do appreciate everything you've told me.

You're someone who has been through much. I'm glad you continue to do what you do.

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