SABER ( arturia pendragon ) (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
knight_king) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
thehometree2015-07-22 07:53 pm
knight_king) wrote in thehometree2015-07-22 07:53 pm
—I ask of you. Are you my Master?
| characters | Illyasviel von Einzbern and Saber
| date/time | 07/21. Afternoon.
| location | First their house, later outside, near the mist barrier.
| rating | G?? PG??
| summary | After a lot of consideration, Saber has finally chosen who her new Master would be.
Saber waited until after lunch to speak with Illyasviel about this matter, during the time Shirou would be concerned about the dishes to face her alone. It was a topic she had tried to brush off, ranking low in her priorities until her realization of her potential weakness during the last quest. She did not want to rely on the King of Heroes to protect anyone or to complete her tasks. No, she had never taken kindly to depend on other people, whether allies or enemies, over anything. Nonetheless, now she was going to admit she needed to borrow someone's power because of her existence as a Servant who could not cancel her materialization, as much she had tried to deny this, demanded a contract. Her summon had not been exceptional, thus her dragon core was not optimal as it had been in her real body.
But her obstinacy had a justification. One besides thinking what could a Servant offer to a magus in circumstances they were no Grails to be obtained. In the first place, she did not know if a regular magus could tolerate the strain to maintain and replenish her prana at the speed her powerful attacks demanded. There was no Holy Grail in this land to help them in supplying that sort of energy. The other concern was more emotional. Her loyalties were with Shirou Emiya, first, and the boy had not ceased to be her Master, even if their contract no longer existed. Her pledge remained intact. She had sworn to protect him. That was why both of her concerns were dispelled when she realized she could trust Illya as her Master.
The girl was born from an Einzbern homunculus, at least, she assumed that Irisviel had not changed in her dimension. If she could fire her copy of Excalibur (she knew she had it, she saw her holy sword the day of her arrival), she could safely provide her with prana. She was Irisviel's daughter and sworn she would protect her too, and together they had decided to look after her brother, Shirou. Their priorities and goals aligned. She was not the ruthless Berserker Master who had tried to kill them, but a justice-seeking and innocent young girl. Admittedly, Rin had been her first choice, but she understood that a third familiar (because doubtlessly, she kept Shirou and Archer strong, at least Arturia assumed she did) could be too much even for a genius magus. Her goal was to not become a burden, she wanted to protect them. She could not cripple her companions because she wanted to rely on them.
That was why, she had finally decided... Her gaze calmly focused on Illyasviel at the opposite side of their rounded, kitchen table. She abruptly rose after she finished her goblet of water and addressed her with a grave voice:
"Please come with me, Illyasviel. If you permit it, I want to have a word with you privately."
| date/time | 07/21. Afternoon.
| location | First their house, later outside, near the mist barrier.
| rating | G?? PG??
| summary | After a lot of consideration, Saber has finally chosen who her new Master would be.
Saber waited until after lunch to speak with Illyasviel about this matter, during the time Shirou would be concerned about the dishes to face her alone. It was a topic she had tried to brush off, ranking low in her priorities until her realization of her potential weakness during the last quest. She did not want to rely on the King of Heroes to protect anyone or to complete her tasks. No, she had never taken kindly to depend on other people, whether allies or enemies, over anything. Nonetheless, now she was going to admit she needed to borrow someone's power because of her existence as a Servant who could not cancel her materialization, as much she had tried to deny this, demanded a contract. Her summon had not been exceptional, thus her dragon core was not optimal as it had been in her real body.
But her obstinacy had a justification. One besides thinking what could a Servant offer to a magus in circumstances they were no Grails to be obtained. In the first place, she did not know if a regular magus could tolerate the strain to maintain and replenish her prana at the speed her powerful attacks demanded. There was no Holy Grail in this land to help them in supplying that sort of energy. The other concern was more emotional. Her loyalties were with Shirou Emiya, first, and the boy had not ceased to be her Master, even if their contract no longer existed. Her pledge remained intact. She had sworn to protect him. That was why both of her concerns were dispelled when she realized she could trust Illya as her Master.
The girl was born from an Einzbern homunculus, at least, she assumed that Irisviel had not changed in her dimension. If she could fire her copy of Excalibur (she knew she had it, she saw her holy sword the day of her arrival), she could safely provide her with prana. She was Irisviel's daughter and sworn she would protect her too, and together they had decided to look after her brother, Shirou. Their priorities and goals aligned. She was not the ruthless Berserker Master who had tried to kill them, but a justice-seeking and innocent young girl. Admittedly, Rin had been her first choice, but she understood that a third familiar (because doubtlessly, she kept Shirou and Archer strong, at least Arturia assumed she did) could be too much even for a genius magus. Her goal was to not become a burden, she wanted to protect them. She could not cripple her companions because she wanted to rely on them.
That was why, she had finally decided... Her gaze calmly focused on Illyasviel at the opposite side of their rounded, kitchen table. She abruptly rose after she finished her goblet of water and addressed her with a grave voice:
"Please come with me, Illyasviel. If you permit it, I want to have a word with you privately."
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Illya's words were firm and serious as her lips were pressed together. She knew that Saber was under a lot of stress due to figuring out that the person from her world, her companion of sorts — was Gilgamesh, and that kind of caused problems, regardless of how much she tried to convince her.
But seeing as this was important, and that she didn't want to bother Shirou while he
continued to be a housewifedid the cleaning up around the house, she decided to follow suit as she rose from her chair and decided to go along with what Saber had in store for her.Well, she'd get an explanation, right?
Of course she said privately, but... Ruby had to come too, right? It might be relevant to her magical girl abilities after all, and if it was serious, Ruby was a lot better at explaining magic stuff than Illya herself was. So, when they were finally alone at their chosen location, the small girl took a breath in, then out.
"So, Saber-san, what did you want to talk about?" The Kaleidostick was with her, just hidden in her parka hood for the time being. Ruby won't say anything unless it was absolutely necessary.
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"After you," she told her, holding the door so she would walk out. Saber closed the door and followed her in silence until their spot at mist barrier by the back of the tree she had chosen. It was probably, aside of the rot tunnels, the most private location she could think of. Folding the wings she had previously spread, she glanced at the girl… she did not see Ruby near, so she was satisfied by their illusion of privacy.
"As a magus, you have probably noticed the signs of my fatigue since I returned from the quest," she started, not correcting the term magus and replacing it for 'magical girl'. She was looking better now she ate and rest plenty. "I had spent some of my prana reserves, that is why I looked weary."
She hoped she understood what she was implying. She needed someone who would provide her magical energy.
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Illya was ignoring the fact that she was referred to as a magus rather than a magical girl; they were similar in a way, but Illya couldn't really call herself a magus. That was what Rin-san was, not her. At least Ruby was being polite for once and not popping out of nowhere to ruin things for her.
Well, that was fine. Of course, if Illya herself needed to supply prana, she personally didn't mind, but she didn't want to do what she normally did with Kuro. It made her stomach twist uncomfortably, and besides, Shirou could walk in on them at any moment! But Saber was from another world.
Maybe she knew something that Illya just didn't.
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Her gaze unflinchingly caught hers and held it firmly until she obtained her answer. She knew she was demanding and expecting too much of this girl, but what other choice she had? There were no other options left at her disposal.
"I am aware-" she continued, "That I cannot offer you the Holy Grail in exchange of your aid. Nonetheless, we both share a goal unrelated to that relic." She made a deliberate pause before she renewed her speech. "That is to protect Emiya Shirou’s life."
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"It's okay, Saber-san. You don't need to offer me the Holy Grail," Illya smiled knowingly; it seemed that she knew that she was the Holy Grail at some point, regardless of the fact that she was naive about it for many years of her life before Kuro popped into reality as her own person.
However, it didn't matter to her. She was right, they had the same goal in mind, something that the two of them shared.
Although Emiya Shirou - the one who resided in this world - was not the same as her older brother back at home, he was still Emiya Shirou. The idea of taking care of someone who she barely even knew but reminded her every single second of her own brother made her heart twist in agony, but she always tried her best not to show it. Not in front of Saber. Not in front of Shirou-san, either. It wouldn't be right to cast that burden on them, nor did she want to.
"I don't know what being this Master entails, but I'll definitely do it if it means protecting Shirou-san."
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"You will provide me prana through a spiritual path once we establish our contract," she told her. She was not the best person to explain the role of a Master. That was Rin’s specialty and she would rather not bother her right now. "I apologize if my answers were vague and unsatisfying. Perhaps you could employ the Caster card briefly to understand better what we must do."
The card would surely provide her with the spell and the natural inclination to forge a contract with Saber as her new Master. At least, from what she discerned how naturally skilled she had been with Lancer’s spear despite of her lack of training.
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Even though she'd saved Miyu - however only temporarily - it was not enough. Well, she didn't mind using a Class Card for something this important. If it would get her to understand the concept, then so be it.
"Ruby!" Illya called out to the Mystic Code easily, who soon appeared with a twirl from Illya's hair, transforming into its staff state as she grabbed it with ferocity, invoking the Prism Trance and quickly transforming into a Kaleid Liner; a magical girl. Taking out the card from the pocket near her thigh, she placed it in the center before calling out the word that was now ever too familiar to her now.
"Install!" And soon enough, her appearance transformed yet again into something akin to Medea, a staff in hand. Of course, doing this transformation also gave her knowledge that she didn't have before, knowledge that she was absolutely certain that Kuro would have already known, if she was here. But she wasn't.
Shaking her head of any extraneous thoughts, she looked directly into Saber's eyes with a serious look in her eyes, nodding as she understood. "Okay, I think I get it now. I think I can establish the contract like this."
She's pretty sure she knows the words, too. Maybe it's because of Caster, or maybe it's because of old memories that didn't belong to her that slowly trickled through her mind, who knows? She readied her staff, pouring as much magical energy as she could. She needed this to work. If it backfired on them now, it wouldn't do either of them any good. After all, the Holy Grail was not the one who anchored Saber to this world, but still-- she was certain that nobody wanted to see Saber like this. Especially not Shirou-san, whom Illya was certain that the knight of knights cared about more than anything in this world.
Use all of me, she spoke to herself mentally, reminding herself that it didn't matter how much she had to use for this, as the small girl's Magic Circuits began to glow all over her body as she closed her eyes, pointing the staff at Saber as she spoke the words that easily slipped out of her lips.
"I announce." She would not allow this pact to fail under any circumstances. "Thy body shall be under my command, my fate shall be determined by thy sword. Follow the call of the Holy Grail. If thou wouldst obey this mind and this reason—"
Her eyelids opened wide as dark red eyes stared into Saber's emerald green pair, bright with determination, as she finished the incantation.
"Obey me! Then I shall entrust my fate to your sword…!"
Work. Work, work, please work, her mind begged with all of its might. They were in a parallel world, so she couldn't be certain that this would do the trick. But it had to.
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Caster…
The appearance Illya took on was not unexpected, but it was still unpleasant to watch that familiar witch’s cloak and that witchcraft staff. It was not an appearance that suited the girl, but she did not object, her face was schooled into neutrality while she obtained the knowledge she would need to form a spiritual path between them. Finally, it seemed she understood what must be done.
"I see. It gladdens me to hear that." Whether was the reason, she did not care, as long as this succeeded and she returned to normal from that unsettling costume she had to wear. Against those unpleasant reminders of the one who took her as Servant by force, she did not steer her gaze away. She could not begrudge Illasyviel when she had requested this.
No not let that child be harmed by this, Arturia breath hitched when she began the incantation and how she began to ready her Magic Circuits to receive the strenuous effort of sustaining a Servant. Suppressing all her doubts, she stared right into her determinate eyes with the same unflinching certainty.
"On my honor as a Saber, I accept your oath," she announced and her voice raised to finish her declaration, "I accept you as my new Master, Illyasviel!" As soon as those words left her lips, a violent tempest began to rage between them. Prana-infused rising swirls of wind emerged while Arturia felt her magical energy flown toward the link that had been recently forged. It was like her body glistened with a power she had not since Rin had become her Master, since her days as the King of Knights in Britain. Any weakness and ephemeral look she could have had were gone, leaving only a presence that exuded overwhelming power.
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But now that was over and done with, she knew that she was overworking herself a little, regardless of the fact that she tries to put on a brave face. She couldn't deal with using the power of the Caster card's Install for much longer, so she immediately uninstalled it, returning to her normal form, Ruby popping out the card as she took it and placed into her hands and placed it back to where it properly belonged.
"Saber-san, you're okay now, right?" She had to ask to make sure. Just in case there as any sort of hitch or problem. Although she was rather certain that there wasn't any.
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"I am," she told her, with a slight nod, "I feel closer to how I am like thanks to you." Just like happened with Rin, she had the fortune of choose a good Master. “What about you?” she asked immediately, glancing her up and down again to discern what she could have missed. "Was this experience strenuous for you, Illyasviel?"
She did not truly expect a fully sincere answer. The girl was too kind and would probably reassured her by claiming that nothing was wrong even if she felt a little exhausted. In the end, she was truly Shirou's sister and Irisviel's daughter.
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But now that she knew for certain that Saber was fine, all Illya could do was smile brightly up at her. At least she was doing fine, and that's all that she could really ask for. There were no problems here.
"I'm just glad you're doing alright, Saber-san."
She really was Emiya Shirou's sister, wasn't she?
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She assented, folding a hand to her chest, while she admitted with deep gratitude. "I am and I owe this to you, Illyasviel."
That was why she would repay this favor somehow, to Shirou as well. He had also given her so much without being able to reward him in kind. She could at least make Rin victorious, thus she felt that as a small accomplishment.
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No, seriously; she didn't need anything but Saber's safety, or everyone else's for that matter. If they could all be happy and find a way back home, that would be the best, wouldn't it? After all, Illya has a battle to go back to and finish.
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It was a debt and she had to repay it. She could not be ungrateful when a young girl was staking so much.
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It's not a lie, but it's not the entire truth, either. She wasn't a Servant, though she did embody a card within her, the Archer Class Card. That was the card that represented the Heroic Spirit EMIYA, now she knew that.
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She waits until she explains herself if she wishes to elaborate further.
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Because stating that she and Morgan did not get along is an understatement.
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She's now watching her intently, trying to grasp the implication, but without meeting this Kuro is hard to have a confirmation. "I am your Servant, Illyasviel. I will guard your secrets."
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Illya is quiet at first, swallowing hard. Does she dare tell Saber about Kuro? Well, it wouldn't hurt to try. "The truth is, Kuro is a part of me that Mama sealed when they decided to stop the Holy Grail War. One day, Kuro just... manifested."
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