kaisou | ⚔ // to the beginning

Entry tags:

waver velvet/lord el-melloi ii

⚔ // to the beginning

WHO: Waver + open
WHERE: A labyrinth.
WHEN: Early November. Continuity is a lie, just vibes.
WHAT: Waver gets lost in his own head, this time in a more literal sense.
WARNINGS: Fire, death, mortal peril, toplevels are all marked accordingly!

[The world beyond the tear is, upon first appearance, empty. The ground underfoot reflects the skies above as if it were a mirror; countless stars spread across heaven and earth, illuminating the darkness of night and the black moon overhead. Drifting past at eye level are shards of crystallized light no larger than palm-sized, as though the smallest stars couldn't decide whether to come to rest in heaven or on earth. Each floating fragment holds something within it like a vision within a crystal ball--in one, flickering orange of fire. Another, a swirling spiral of colors in gold, crimson, and black. A third, silhouetted trees in a dark forest. Fourth, the pale glow of a city skyline.]

[Somewhere in the paths of this labyrinth is the one whose memories have shaped it. Dead, alive, in danger, there is no way of knowing.]

[To move forward, all that must be done is to reach out and take a star in your hand.]

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[The world within the fiery fragment explodes.]

[It had been a residential district in the southwest of a large if quiet city. Opulent homes of old mage families had stood upon that ground for generations, and now the Makiri and Tohsaka estates were no more than flaming rubble in an unrecognizable expanse of fire and death. Overhead if one could see through the fiery haze, even the moon itself seemed an endless black void...but only so for a fleeting instant before a cloud of smoke passed through the sky, returning it to a dim yellowed glow overhead in a blazing orange sky.]

[Dozens of Fuyuki City's homes--the remnants of them--collapse as fire encompasses the land in all directions, creating a hell that seems to have no end. Faint screams echo through unbearable heat carrying choking smell of smoke and burning flesh. To stand still is to die, and to move forward could easily mean the same.]

[But the only way out is through.]

Edited 2022-11-05 01:26 (UTC)

[Within the spiraling fragment lies a massive and wide river, coated with a purple haze spawned by deeply dark and cursed magic. Perhaps it's better that the air--smelling of rotting fish and blood--isn't clear, because that would reveal the form of the colossal monster that stands in the river's center.

[On the banks where you now stand, unspeakable monsters crawl from the water. At least four feet tall, they almost resemble starfish in shape--massive tentacles lined with compound insectoid eyes, a mouth full of too many sharp teeth grinding and scraping together in their center. Some appear even more malformed than others--spindly segmented legs and transparent wings twitching uselessly in places they did not belong, ambling along the ground in a threat of numbers more than power.]

[High overhead, a golden airship circles erratically...as though it's somehow having trouble remaining airborne.]

Edited 2022-11-05 01:14 (UTC)

[The forest seems endless, an expanse of trees mostly bare in the early winter season. Night has long since fallen, and the forest cover is so thick it's barely possible to determine direction by the stars or moon.]

[It's silent and still. Perhaps even tranquil in its isolation and quiet; this forest holds some ambient feeling of magic in the air, a presence of something powerful enough to make the area itself feel like a world cut off from the outside. No sounds of the distant city, no lights of the skyline...just the night air and the trees.]

[Until the distant sound of splintering and collapsing wood resound through the night, trees either knocked down or torn out from their very roots. Much closer is the sound of frantic approaching footsteps and a flash of black and green between the trees--which is to say, the Professor himself running for his life. He'll reach out to grab your hand or arm and pull you along insistently, snapping:]

Don't ask questions, just fucking run and don't stop until I tell you to!

[In the direction he'd come from, the sound of metal grinding on metal and an unholy scream cut the chilled winter air.]

[On a hill high over the city, a curving road beneath the dark of a fading sunset lined by streetlights. The city skyline can be seen in the distance, and if one looks further out they can just about make out the shape of some colossal impact, as if the river had been struck by a meteor near the bridge.]

[Something horrible had shaken Fuyuki in recent days, and perhaps it was the aftershock of that something which led to tonight feeling so quiet as if in the tense calm of a temporary ceasefire.]

[Two figures walked along the road in the silence of a lapsed conversation. A few steps ahead, a man resembling someone in his early thirties--'resembling', because something about him felt much, much older. Though he wore ordinary dark clothes and a green scarf against the early winter chill, nothing about him was 'ordinary'. Anything more than a passing glance would reveal there was something ethereal about him, some kind of flawlessness that brought to mind demigods and fae alike. Everything about his presence would feel inhuman to those who could sense as much; like he radiated ancient magic beyond all mortal power. Despite all of that, there was nothing threatening in the way he moved. He carried himself with the pride and strength of a knight, with all the power in the world to protect others. Wavy dark hair was pushed back out of his face, and golden eyes were hidden by a pair of dark sunglasses.]

[Walking behind him was a figure far less remarkable. No more or less than a mortal human and a full foot shorter than his companion, he looked far younger than his likely age. Green eyes were downcast with straight black hair hanging in his face--young or not, he looked exhausted. Like he'd walked through hell the past couple days.]

[In much the way of shades and memories, they passed by without notice of any other presence, continuing down the road overlooking a city on the brink of a future disaster.]

[...And in the direction from which they'd come, the click of a cane on the pavement heralded the person hesitating to follow them, staring off into the distance in silent unease. A person with straight black hair and green eyes...wearing very familiar sunglasses.]

Edited 2022-11-04 11:48 (UTC)

[In the blackness of space, what other option has Takame ever had but to seek a crystal's light?

To be met at the end of it with deafening silence was more alarming than abject chaos. To be surrounded by trees and naught else made his keen eyes dart everywhere to find a way forward, a path or anything. He would make one himself if he must. But this incredible presence even he could sense...

Before he could think much, some kind of path was being made and suddenly Takame was running. Running with his hand grabbed by the Professor. With no explanation.]

What is--?! [He was told not to ask questions and just run. So he did. But he couldn't help looking behind him and reaching for the hilt of his Gunblade upon hearing that horrid scream.] An enemy?!

Sort of-?!

[Pouring reinforcement magecraft into his right leg, Waver glanced back over his shoulder as he ran; the chaotic sounds of grinding metal and splintering trees was closer than he would have liked, but its source wasn't yet in sight.]

Don't bother, you can't fight this--mortals don't stand a chance!

Mortals? [Even in the thick of it, the word choice was too strange for Takame not to notice. Indeed, Takame was mortal but he's eliminated gods before.

He'll not ignore the advice, but if the Professor was in danger too.]

Will aether work? Can it be shot? Kept at bay?

Only by something as strong as itself, which neither of us are!

['Humans' sermed too light a term. Left room for argument where there was no time to waste on the semantics. The creature chasing them was beyond the demons of the Qliphoth, beyond anything that could be fought or killed--more akin to a force of nature than a living thing.]

If--if we can just get the hell out of here, the exit to this damn labyrinth has to be somewhere-

[There's a light growl at being underestimated, but he also was not aware of what he faced here. This presence was monstrous... and he was a tank now. He could not charge blindly, especially not with someone with him.

Someone who knew where this was. Whose memory this belonged to. Takame still drew his sword, but rather than shooting whatever chased them, he shot above their heads. Waver had a rounded barrier form around him from the same energy that came from Takame's weapon.]

Should it reach us, you're protected. Keep your eyes open for a path.

[Protected, like that would matter against the thing that chased them now. How could he even begin to explain the nightmare out for his blood, least of all while trying to get away from it?]

Believe me, I'm trying!

[And it was about that point that a log came flying at them--or something that had once been a log, now corrupted and blackened by some dark power to augment it to levels even some mythical weapons could not attain.]

[By luck or skill, Takame sensed immediate danger. And acted.]

Down! [Despite being pulled, Takame used his own forward momentum to push himself and Waver down, rollng on the ground and out of the way of the corrupted projectile. Even his Heart of Stone would not protect against that.

He would apologize in helping Waver back up with a verbal one to come later. For now he stared at the corruption radiating from the log, then the direction it came from.]

What in the seven hells?

[Honestly, he didn't know what else he expected. Quite literally rolling with the punches, as it were, he didn't look entirely concerned about being pushed off his feet as he quickly got back up. The corruption seeped off the log like blood from a wound, leaving it no more than a mundane piece of wood.]

Berserker. [He practically hissed that in answer, glaring into the darkness.]

[From between the trees emerged a monster of black metal armor, shaped like a human but contorting like an animalistic monster--the single slit in his helm glowing with blood red light. He moved as though completely robbed of reason and thought, clawed gauntlets slamming into the nearest trees in wild swipes that tore chunks from the wood as though it was made of tissue paper.]

...Even only in memory, I'm the one his Master wants dead. You can't fight a Servant--no one can. Don't get yourself killed on my account, Takame.

Edited 2022-11-05 21:43 (UTC)

[Berserker. Even the names of threats Takame committed to memory. With the name, Takame half expected some manner of Marauder to come forth. But what did appeared to be a high ranked voidsent... on the same level as a primal. Like someone's worst nightmare made manifest.

Whatever was said about Masters and Servants was stored for later. For now, he gave reapplied Waver's barrier and formed a separate one around himself.]

I won't. But I will not retreat and see you die for it either. [Said reloading his cartridges and entering a stance to parry what attacks came their way while keeping what momentum he could.] Run and I will follow. Tell me to take a stand and I will. [Just give him an order.]

[Rose "lucks" out into finding this fragment. She's prepared for a fight, she always is, but that doesn't make the scene in front of her easier to comprehend. She's fought gods. She's fought eldritch abominations. Hell, she even nearly turned into an eldritch abomination once.]

[But this isn't something that she was prepared for. At most, it reminds her of the rampant destruction on the First. She wasn't a fan of it then and she isn't a fan of it now. Unfortunately, she's been in enough of these to know that the only way out is through, and so she draws her scythe and starts to get to work. She cuts down several of the smaller monsters, but they keep forming. Lovely.]

I don't know whose this is, but I could use your help! These are too persistent for my liking.

You can't fight him, please, just-...this isn't how it was supposed to happen--

[Plate armor grinding against itself, Berserker hunched over with ragged breaths echoing through his helm. A primal was likely the best possible comparison; a being made of concentrated magical energy, but something older and greater and more terrible--powered by belief thousands of years old and a primordial rage forced upon him like shackles.]

[And then the concept of arrogance in human form stepped out of the darkness, a man in blue coming to stand behind the mad knight with a haughty stare locked on the Professor.]

'You have singlehandedly ruined a perfectly laid plan to win this war.' [So spoke the distant shade, in a voice that seemed to echo as memories often did.]

[...For whatever reason, that actually seemed to frighten the Professor more than the Servant itself.]

Shape ist leben!

[The incantation was snapped harshly, magical energy channeled through wire that shaped itself into a rudimentary sparrow. The glowing bird flitted through the monstrous creatures, circling around them before the man at the other end of the line pulled sharply to draw it tight enough to cut through several at once.]

Sorry about this, but we definitely need to get the hell away from the riverbank!

[The golden airship was, gradually, looking much less golden--slowly but surely being overtaken by some horrible black corruption, it shook as though two people were fighting over the controls.]

[If Takame had to fight, he would. Whether he would succeed or not didn't matter. It was only due to Berserker's similarity to a primal that Takame seemed to stand up with such seemingly undeserved confidence. But in the air of battle nothing scared him anymore.

The only thing keeping the Au Ra aware beyond said heat was the newcomer into the fray and the shaken Waver who did not want him to fight.]

The words of an apparition mean nothing. [Said half as an insult and half to Waver as a reminder. With the man in blue's echoing voice and focus away from him, Takame's eyes subtly scanned the area for the tear that would lead them out of this memory.]

[Waver managed a small nod to acknowledge he'd heard Takame; of course, that was true. This wasn't real, none of it. Because the man before him and the Servant breathing raggedly at his side were both long dead.]

'That catalyst you so thoughtlessly stole was to summon a Saber beyond parallel. And you, you third-generation wretch, you couldn't even do that right!'

[...So why did he flinch back at that snapped statement? Why did he raise a hand to the level of his collar as if to make sure something was still there?]

Takame, please, just... [Just what? What the hell could they do? Fighting a Servant was madness. Running away was to have Berserker tear both their heads off as easily as breathing. Before he could figure out what the right course of action was, the haughty shade spoke again:]

'All you are is a tragedy, Waver Velvet, and a cautionary tale about what happens to those who don't know their place!'

[Waver Velvet. Habit made the name stick in Takame's mind. The Professor's name, clearly.

Whoever this man in blue was... well, it was not Takame's business. But the way he spoke to Waver made Takame broil with anger, baring his fangs at this shade of the past.

He was told not to fight back. He would oblige but standing here did nothing.]

Professor. [Pointedly using the original title rather than his name, but there was a grit in his tone signaling urgency. He looked back to Waver through his peripheral vision. "Give me an order" was his only thought as he took gradual steps backward as if preparing to run again.]

I refuse to abandon you. But what would you have me do? Tell me.

[It ached like a long-healed broken bone, to hear a voice beside him asking for instruction--knowing it wasn't the right voice, that none of this was playing out as it once had. It was all a twisted and distorted reflection, and every second of it only served to twist a knife deep in his heart.]

[This was all wrong. But that meant the strictest rules may not have applied; that the instructor made from memory did not have what had once given him a lethal edge. He wasn't real, Waver reminded himself; he wasn't real, which meant striking back wouldn't be killing any living breathing human.]

I...need you on defense. [His hand was white-knuckled on the cane at his side, eyes darting from Kayneth to Berserker and back again.] Don't let Berserker touch your weapon, but...I just need us both to stay alive for one instant. Can you do that?

[Defense was his job. But if his weapon couldn't be touched, he couldn't parry. It would seem the time was nigh to recall his evasion techniques.

Keep the aggression and dodge.

He nodded.]

Understood.

Just so long as he doesn't take hold of it--not that it matters, if he gets the chance we're both dead.

[The mage in blue narrowed cold eyes, mad knight beside him staring them down like an apex predator ready to pounce.]

[Stillness fell in much the way as it did the instant before every conflict; combatants primed and ready for their enemy to so much as breathe wrong.]

[Which happened the instant Berserker's clawed gauntlets curled around a massive two-handed sword as blackened as the rest of him. At the same second came a sharp click from the cane's handle-]

Fervor mei sanguis.

[-and with an incantation spat like poison, a silvery liquid coming to life like a wild and chaotic serpent lashing out towards the memory of an arrogant mage.]

[Which still left Berserker swinging for Waver's head with that massive blade.]

[It was well known to him. The calm before the storm.

The first strike like lightning flashing, the single instant of a battle's beginning. And the time between seconds that were all one had to decide.

With the flow more befitting a lighter blade, Takame's shield reactivated and he put his sword before him to clash with Berserker's before it got to Waver. A quick deflect whose momentum he used to hop backwards before it could grab hold.

A Samurai's disengage. He could only hope it bought the time needed, but he would do anything to give more of it.]

[There was little more than chaos behind the animated mercury; it was beyond his capability to truly control at all. A more powerful mage--like the one before them--would have made it dance like graceful wind and flowing water. Someone like the man who had inherited it could only pour in magical energy and aim the resulting chaos in the right direction, like someone swinging a blade ill suited to their hands.]

[The silvery serpent connected not like hurricane gusts or torrential currents, but more resembling a wildly swung hammer barely kept on course for the weight and force behind it. But it struck all the same, lashing directly into the long-dead memory to send him flying backwards--colliding with an already damaged tree in a harsh impact.]

[Berserker's greatsword collided with Takame's gunblade with a tremendous impact more comparable to Susano's colossal weapon than anything the size of an ordinary sword. Whether the professor had been exaggerating or not, the fact remained that it was very clear this was a creature beyond nearly any capacity to be truly fought, at least for long.]

[But with sparks flickering in metal on metal against the dark night, he was still repelled with that same inhuman roaring--at the same time his Master was thrown from the concussive force of the mercury weapon, and instead of pursuing the two available targets Berserker jerked and twitched almost as if he were some hellish marionette.]

...that's enough. Both of you--stay dead this time.

[The armored Servant began to come apart and dissipate like black smoke, and Waver pointedly didn't look at the collapsed trees where his own enemy had landed. The fact that the knight had vanished meant enough, and it was clear from the grave look on Waver's face that neither memory was a threat any longer.]

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⚔ // to the beginning

cw: natural disaster-adjacent, offscreen death, implied immolation

cw: lovecraftian horror

cw: standard mortal peril

nothing bad happens in this one i promise

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