thehometree | QUEST III

[She had been down lately. Mostly the usual reasons, home sickness, missing her friend and pokemon. But instead of hiding out at that cluster of crystals that she found a few weeks ago, she decided to check out the mirror. Cynthia never did bother with those quests. But today felt like one of those days.]

"A treat will be given for each secret shared"? Well gee, mirror. I wasn't planning on spending my day talking to you.

[Oh but she was so curious. So very curious.

Being a champion, of course she had a lot of secrets to hide. What with the media following nearly everything that you do. Keeping secrets was basically part of the job. Cynthia scans the room. No one's here. Maybe no one would hear her? She takes a seat on the ground next to the mirror, staring at her reflection.

Well, here goes nothing.]

There was a man. He was a good man, trying to do good things. My grandmother loved him, my town respected him. Hell, I respected him. He was trying to change the world, what was there to hate?

Apparently this man had a hidden agenda. Basically he was crazy. He wanted to change the world by destroying it and creating a new one. Quite literally, in fact. A world where he was one top, and what he believed in would have been law.

He did a lot of things. Really stupid things. He ended up angering a deity and was dragged into his distorted other world. I went after him, and with a little help, managed to calm down the deity. But because of this, the distorted world began to come down. I managed to escape but...

[She sighs. No one's ever heard this side of the story. She was never able to talk about it with anyone because it would seem like she was siding with the enemy.]

The man was always stubborn. He refused to come with me and was left, trapped in that other world. As a champion, I vowed to protect the pokemon and the people of Sinnoh. So why couldn't I protect him? A man who was once a family friend. He may be crazy. But no one deserved a fate like that.

I visit that mountain every week to place flowers on an empty grave. I like to believe that the man isn't dead. But that doesn't really change the fact that I couldn't save him.

[She pauses. Staring at herself in that mirror as she wipes away a few stray tears.]

Heh...is that a good enough secret for you, mirror?

...

[ She reads the words written on the mirror and hesitates about the course of action. But after the failure and her candid words to Orcelito the other day, she understands the gravity of the circumstances. She will test if the riddle results by sharing a number of secrets in front of the mirror.

One during the morning. Another in the afternoon. Finally, a third one at night of the following day. ]

( a ): { Name

[ She visits the mirror after breakfast, staring at the riddle and boldly confessing. ]

Saber is not my true name, though it is how I was called during my last summon.

( b ): { Age

[ As vowed, her next visit is after lunch. She lands on the quest mirror branch, folding her wings and glancing around cautiously, taking a moment to corroborate nobody is nearby. Her body keeps secrets to those who has never met her in life.

Unlike those in the Tree, people of Britain always knew their King was ageless. ]

I look as I did a decade ago. I never aged since the day I took an important choice.

( c ): { Royalty

[ At night, she waits until everything is dark and the only lights she sees is the sad and discomforting blue glow from the Life Stream. No wandering fireflies or glow worms guiding dwellers to a midnight stroll. That's when she slips out her house and goes to the branch again. Once there, she folds her translucent wings and speaks of something she has never thought would be a secret.

But that has become here, at least. ]

I said I am a knight, and I did not lie. Though, I am also a king.

Edited 2015-06-18 11:58 (UTC)

The mirror is still and quiet, Cynthia's words not creating any form of reaction from it through the whole speech.

As she finishes, however, the mirror glows brightly for a moment, and two small vials appears in front of it. They are filled with golden glitter dust, just about enough to sprinkle on something each.

In addition to that, a tally mark suddenly appears next to the written line of 'secrets'

The mirror is still and quiet each time Saber visits, the secret words not creating any form of reaction from it through the whole speech.

Each time she finishes, however, the mirror glows brightly for a moment, and a small vial appears in front of it. They are filled with golden glitter dust, each just about enough to sprinkle on something.

In addition to that, a tally mark suddenly appears next to the written line of 'secrets'

...huh.

[Well look at that. The mirror was giving out glitter for a secret. That's awfully strange. But that didn't really stop her from checking if there was a cap on the amount of secrets she could tell. ]

Back home, I met this man who basically stole my heart without even knowing it. Sweet, charming, fairly adorable and just as driven as I was. We loved the same things, had the same kind of life. But I could never really admit to myself that I liked him, because I feared it would completely change the way I would act around him.

So mirror, I'm going to tell you instead. My heart was stolen by a man named Flint.

[ She almost feels foolish at first to expect a reaction from the mirror. Shouldn't she be cautious and wait for an attack? It's pitiful that she has failed twice in this quest. Kay was right, she is a sore loser. She'd would have probably

She would have felt incredibly irritated if she hadn't caught the glimpse of the glow on the mirror surface. She has just finished her third secret admission when the vial appears. She reaches out for it, studying the contents and noticing the tally mark added next to 'secrets'. Interesting. She gazes calmly at the glitter dust. Maybe Rin would have a clearer idea of what is this for. ]

[He is absolutely waiting until very early or very late to give this a shot. No one else needs to hear this. He's only ever mentioned it once ever. (though he did kind of talk about it to Morgiana, it was a vague my family was murdered deal.) If this gets him any closer to home...He'll give it a try. He's hesitant because he never talks about this but he's also stubborn and they failed the last one spectacularly.]

A secret....

[There's really only one thing that counts as a secret if it has to be a secret at home as well.]

I haven't said it out loud before, well once to my sister and even she doesn't know all the details and took it very badly....

...when I was six I lost my brothers and my father in a coup that was designed by my own mother.

[He has to tighten his grip on his spear to avoid loses his head at the mention. Maybe the blue life-stream won't be as easy to deal with as he thought.]

My own mother planned a riot, and assassinated my father, and left me and my elder brothers to die in a fire. I survived, with these scars, but spent two months sleeping as a result and that's how my idiot uncle stole the throne from my family. She did not deny this when I asked her.

[His survival only took his eldest brother ending his own life, but he lived. Albeit he was six, and she really only goaded him on instead of saying anything.]

I've only ever told my sister this secret my brothers trusted me with, and she has refused to believe me. Though it doesn't matter.

[Except it kind of did at the time.]

Edited 2015-06-18 13:22 (UTC)

[ riona isn't fond of the riddles, which only seem to cause more bad than good around the tree, but tonight she stands in front of one of them with a scowl on her face. skeptical she may be, but how often can children turn away from the word 'treat'? perhaps it'll be something to help her return home. she's hoping.

making certain she's alone, she crouches in front of the mirror. just one little secret for a goodie. except it isn't so little, because her life had only truly begun a few months ago and that's the only thing she's kept a secret from everyone here, but so much happened in that short period. she speaks quietly so no one, surely not even their captor, can hear her. ]

... I haven't even told Orcelito or Kit this yet. But...I'm a princess. Or a king, I suppose. They wanted me to rule Dragua one day. [ as she remembers all that transpired after meeting liam, her brow slowly furrows in growing irritation. ] But I don't want to. So I left Dragua.

[ she breathes out through her nose and then falls quiet. there's plenty more to the story, but this is secret enough. ]

Edited 2015-06-18 14:14 (UTC)

There's another little glow, and a third vial appears.

Saber got three vials, one for each secret!

(Each time she finishes, however, the mirror glows brightly for a moment, and a small vial appears in front of it.)

Quiet and still, it doesn't seem like the mirror is reacting to Hakuryuu's words - good or bad.

As he finishes, however, the mirror glows brightly for a moment, and two small vials appears in front of it. They are filled with golden glitter dust, just about enough to sprinkle on something each.

In addition to that, a tally mark suddenly appears next to the written line of 'secrets'

The mirror is still and quiet as Riona speaks, no reaction coming from it until she finishes. Then a small glow appears at the bottom of the mirror, revealing two vials of a glittery dust, each just enough to sprinkle on something.

In addition to that, a tally mark suddenly appears next to the written line of 'secrets'

[It does feel a bit silly, talking to a mirror of all things. Strange to tell something like this to his own face, even if they're are words on it too.

But the glow has him curious and reaching down and picking up the vials makes him more curious. It seems like a strange thing but it must do something. So he'll tuck those away before giving the mirror a long look.

The tree itself is strange. He doesn't really have anymore secrets he wants to share-or that he's not sure count- given his actions back at home are hardly 'secret', so he'll head back to the room he shares with Judar.]

[ she sits there waiting before sighing again and pulling herself up. maybe it was silly after all, but in a way it felt good to actually say something out loud that she'd been keeping to herself for weeks. with liam she could speak freely, but here she's still wary even though there's no threat against her.

the glimmer and the appearance of two vials has her crouching back down in an instant. she inspects them with bright, wide eyes. what on earth are these? is this the gift? she doesn't recognize what the dust is, but that doesn't dull her curiosity. ] It really worked...

[ after some time, she stands back up and leaves the mirror with the vials in hand. she doesn't notice the tally marks, but she'll see that in the morning. she would have liked to share something else, but she isn't greedy. her curiosity has been satisfied. ]

[ Got it! ]

[Arno couldn't believe he was here. After all of the talk about riddle solving.

Maybe he was here to prove a point of get some answers of his own. Play the game and actually actively see what happens. He was beyond skeptical of it but if he were to take this riddle at face value, it liked secrets and it wanted them from the tree residents.

Right, he'll do this and get back to figuring out more things about the Tree Servant.

He honestly was expecting this to be as much of a threat as something that could be rewarded for. But anyway, fine. Here went nothing.]

I honestly don't know why you want our secrets, or what this poses to you. Whoever, or whatever, you are. Yet I oblige.

[Maybe he can actually get some answers. He was such a hypocrite. He really hoped none of this would bite their asses later.]

No one else here knows of Élise. Honestly, it's something I hope to keep to myself for a while. I don't know who to tell it to or what purpose it would have. Making friends and allies here proved to be difficult, yet I want to think there are those who I trust in that way. I'm honestly not sure.

I admit to my own mistakes I've made that cost me most of what I held dear. What they are, and what transpired afterwords...I'm also not sure if I can speak of it.

Maybe I don't want to show my weaknesses anymore, especially not to people I care about. So I tend to feel like I have to put up a veil of dismissal, because it probably protects me as much as it spares them of grief I've been trying to place for the passed few weeks.

[He sighed, he let out quite a bit. He might as well finish, right?]

I miss her. I miss Monsieur de la Serre. I miss my father. At times, I miss my mother.

I think of them all each day, and keeping myself busy keeps me sane I think. At least, I try to keep myself sane.

[Well, isn't that interesting? A treat in return for a secret. Yoshitsugu is visiting the mirror shard merely because he's been feeling curious about it, but had not expected anything quite as simple as this.]

[Well, 'simple' in his opinion. There are certain souls he knows would struggle speaking in such a way even out of earshot of those they know. But to him? Smiling beneath his facecloth, Yoshitsugu taps his facecloth and closes his eyes.]

A secret, is it? Or two, or three?

[This is a soul with a thousand or more secrets, though the sillier and more ridiculous of them are going to remain fully locked away. It would be spoiling things if Yoshitsugu shared them with even an enchanted object such as this. Instead...]

Let's start with one. I have only a single regret, dear mirror, which until now has never been shared with another. The regret? Is that it was impossible to split myself in two, so that I might stay with each of men I care for most.

[There's some kind of catharsis in saying it aloud, oddly.]

[He came here to check the bulletin. That was all. But as he turns to leave, the new markings on the mirror draw his eye. Odd, it looks like someone is counting something? He draws closer to examine it and reads the riddle attached.

He heard some of the others had tried revealing secrets to each other to test the riddle. He didn’t realize they had succeeded; no one has said anything. And Orcelito did not try it himself. He is not the type to reveal his mysteries to anyone.

It’s very quiet, and he can only hear crickets outside. Maybe, if it’s just him and the mirror, that would suffice? If he ends up looking like a fool, no one is here to see.

He kneels down and considers his reflection.]

I never apologized for the time I failed the last riddle. I’m sorry. [He hangs his head.]

The truth is, I was really frightened and I didn’t want to talk about it. People got hurt, and I felt terrible. I’ve… done things in the past year that got innocent people killed. I didn’t realize those would be the consequences at the time... But since then, I’ve promised to save as many lives as I can.

I can’t save everyone. I understand that. But in the future, I will do my best to protect those who follow me.

[He bows gently to the mirror’s surface.]

Cool!

[Excuse her, mirror. She's just going to spend the rest of the day listing down a good chuck of her secrets. She wants to be drowning in vials by the end of this! But after mentioning about how she hated the people here for killing animals, thought was Judar was as dumb as a brick, wasn't too happy that her job involved having to deal with children 24/7, that she had a genuine shopping problem, that she once helped Diantha steal Lance's cape because they both just hated it with a passion, she was honestly scared that her little sister hated her for never having the time to come home, coffee is literal poison to her because she became too dependent of it and she got sick, she missed her parents dearly, she doesn't want anyone near those bunnies because she feels that no one could be trusted in this whole tree, and she thinks dieting is stupid, like really stupid.]

Honestly mirror, I think Arno's really cute.

[Fuu is hesitant to approach the mirror and deliver any secrets to it. She has the standard set of secrets that a normal fourteen-year-old girl would have... but there are also deeper, stronger secrets. And she's calculating. How secret does it have to be? Would it count if it's something known to others from her world, but none in the tree? Or does it have to be something she is holding close to her heart, even from Umi and Hikaru?

She kneels in front of the mirror, pondering her reflection and thinking of the test they underwent in the ~~Weirdo~~ Spring of Eterna, where she was faced with the person she cherished most and found herself. At least this mirror image isn't shooting arrows at her.

Is this even safe? What if the mirror steals away the secret and uses it against her, somehow? Fuu still doesn't trust the riddles. She's not keen about someone overhearing either.]

Sir Owain and I have named the firefly in our house "Lightwing Evilsbane". [That's not a secret, it's just the other riddle.] Lightwing-san is so helpful and generous, I thought he would fit what you're asking for.

[..........]

I'm sorry, Riddler-san, but I don't feel comfortable telling you any secrets when you're hidden from me. Is that deliberate, or are you imprisoned? But even in Cephiro, the one who summoned us used direct statements the one time she was able to speak to us.

Nevertheless, there are evident consequences for not fulfilling your requests, even ones that sound as sinister as pouring blood over each other. [..........argh argh argh] I... would like to kiss Ferio.

[admittedly she's not sure how "secret" that secret is, but she's not fond of it becoming public knowledge. of the secrets she has, however, it's probably the one that would have the least harmful consequences--since she's pretty sure Ferio would be happy to oblige if he came here and the tree told him.]

Edited 2015-06-19 02:48 (UTC)

1 ♠ names

[ He considers the matter of the quest mirror for a while. They don't need treats, do they? Whatever those "treats" are--

But it might make Rin happy. It might create a more peaceful and pleasant existence here in the tree. And all he has to do is sacrifice a little of himself. He's really used to that.

Archer approaches the mirror for the first time in the middle of the night, when he presumes no one will be around to hear him. ]

I wonder, what use do you have for our secrets? Will we find out in the worst way possible?

[ He looks at it in dead-eyed silence for a long moment before continuing. ]

I introduce myself as Archer, but it's not a name. My true name is Emiya, and I was called Shirou once.

[ He makes a small noise of disgust, at that. ]

2 ♠ purposes

[ He returns to the mirror just before dawn, looking impatient with the whole thing. ]

We were talking about names last I came here, weren't we? Incidentally, I named the glow-worm that serves as an oven in our house "Typhon." It's a solid mythological name for a creature that gives off heat.

As for secrets--there's only one more to give.

In the world I came from, I had a goal that I thought would fix everything. I was going to kill my younger self where my hero could see and thus rid the world of a serious nuisance.

It might have been a little foolish, I suppose, but I really wanted it.

[ Who needs sleep? Clearly not Illyasviel, who tends to sneak out of the house late at night when she has insomnia. Of course she's just aimlessly wandering around before she manages to happen upon Archer and overhear his words, gasping somewhat before hiding.

(She's not doing a very good job at hiding, truthfully.)

That figures. Well, it made sense in her head. His outfit was similar to Kuro's-- she was the one who embodied the Archer Class Card-- and the magic that she used was exactly the same as Emiya Shirou's. But would that mean that there's two Shirous in this world?

Now she's thinking of the possibility of more showing up, but... why is Archer hiding the fact that he's Emiya Shirou? That doesn't make any sense. ]

Oho~ This is a very interesting development! [ Thanks for ruining the fact that she was trying to hide, Ruby. Archer probably heard that. Even though the small petite girl attempts to shush Ruby regardless, still... kind of hiding.

She tried. ]

The what? [ How does she do this sneaking up on a Heroic Spirit thing?

Maybe, just maybe, he enjoyed the thought of her catching him discussing silly things such as pet names given to insects that shouldn't be in her home. ]

Archer, you might have misspoke so I'm going to ask you to repeat yourself.

[ For just an instant, his shoulders stiffen slightly.

His plans always go awry, don't they? And now he has to deal with a small girl who knows his real name. ]

Illyasviel.

[ He half-turns, and he speaks in a cool voice, as if utterly unaffected by all this. ]

You shouldn't associate with people with names like mine, you know.

Edited 2015-06-20 00:32 (UTC)

[ Ah.

This was really the last thing he wanted to happen. But he's just so used to Rin's presence lately that he didn't register it. It's simply a natural part of his world--he serves, and Rin Tohsaka is there as his Master. ]

I'm afraid I'm going to have to deny that request, Rin.

QUEST III

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SABER ♔ Sidequest. Choose your Option ♔ Open

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Side-quest-- Magi Spoilers.

sidequest #1

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Sidequest #1

Sidequest #1

Side Quest 1

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Sidequest 2 & 1

sidequest 1 & 2 ♠ SPOILERS FOR UBW ♠ otherwise open to eavesdroppers

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QUEST III

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SABER ♔ Sidequest. Choose your Option ♔ Open

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**Side-quest**-- Magi Spoilers.

sidequest #1

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Sidequest #1

Sidequest #1

Side Quest 1

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Sidequest 2 & 1

sidequest 1 & 2 ♠ SPOILERS FOR UBW ♠ otherwise open to eavesdroppers

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Side-quest-- Magi Spoilers.