godlyreigns | One Shackle (backdated to Tuesday)

I - [action for 769 Bunker]

[Rider was instantly on edge. Feeling no connection to Sakura, and waking up next to a strange man probably did the trick. So the instant she regains full consciousness, she springs out of bed.]

[a) Jonathan - your new notwaifu has acquired a kitchen cleaver and is pointing it at you.] Answers. Now. What have you done with me? Where is my Master?

[b) Sealand - your notmom is padding around the house, wearily. When she sees you, wherever you are, she stops and looks quizzical.] Are you the one they think is my son?

II - [phone - morning]

[Rider's voice is calm, but has an edge of intense worry and anxiety.] Is someone named Sakura Matou in this town? I must find her, immediately.

III - [florists - the next afternoon]

[She'd gotten a call the previous day, asking why she hadn't come in for work at the flower shop. So, dutifully, she'd went there. However, she looks ridiculously uncertain. Her steps have a certain tentative air to them, and she looks like she's not even sure she's in the right building.]

Ah...hello? Does anyone work here...?

[If you happen to be going there for whatever reason, feel free to bump into the confused lady who knows nothing about her job :<]

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Ah, good. [ The menace goes away, replaced by... cheerfulness? ]

Rider, yes? A pleasure to hear your voice again. This is Garviel Loken.

[Rider doesn't sound any less displeased or confused.]

Again? I know you not.

Ah, I've run into this before. I'll give you the brief version. I'm not sure if Sakura is around or active within this town, but she has been in the past. I am.... the partner of her sister. I am not a servant, though I know of your war.

I know most of the actors within it. You may have noticed your abilities are... inactive. That will change with time. Endure it.

[Brrr?]

This town operates on Second Magic? And...partner?

Indeed. We have sworn binding oaths to fight with each other until the end of this place, until we can all escape.

[ The words second magic seem to make him almost growl. ]

I know nothing of sorcery.

[The first part gets a hum of acknowledgement. The second part gets a quizzical noise.]

Surely a force capable of ripping us out of our home world can only be called sorcery, sir.

Edited 2011-11-13 04:29 (UTC)

I am forced to agree. We have been cast through space and time through the Warp.

As for the nature of this town there are conflicting indications. I cannot say exactly how it works, only that it does. The guardians seem nigh-invulnerable, though I have an undertaking in mind which will soon... test that strength.

[Hrmmm.]

Guardians?

And do you mean a rebellion?

Yes, we are imprisoned by several beings, about whom we know very little, who have created guardians in the form of strange bears.

[ Garviel hesitates for a moment. He fought to suppress the greatest rebellion in galactic history, and here he is rebelling, much as Horus did. The weight of this realization crushes him, for just a moment, and he says. ] These are things best discussed in person. Where are you now, Rider?

[Rider takes her own pause. Even if this man was a partner of Rin's she still didn't know him. She still felt it would be foolish to place her trust in him.]

Pardon me, but I don't feel entirely comfortable giving out my location to someone I've just met.

Fair enough. I'll run you through phone filtering protocols, since this is otherwise an open vox [ he explains the basics of phone-filtering so the drones and higher ups in the town don't hear it. ]

[Rider listens intently, seemingly scribbling down notes in the background.]

Thank you very much.

You're welcome, of course.

You should be warned, there are quite a few warriors from a few of the wars here. Alexander, Cu Chulainn, Saber, and Gilgamesh are all present to my knowledge. There may be others as well.

[Her voice takes on a sharp edge. Yeahhhhh three of those guys? She last remembers them either being sucked up in a void of black taint, or getting offed abruptly.] How?

I cannot say. I know only they are here. Some are honorable, some are monsters. I would call Cu Chulainn a brother. He is Rin's servant.

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

W-What?

Did I say something strange?

A-Archer is her Servant! Not Lancer.

[ There's another shift in Garviel's voice. Contempt, directed at that lousy servant ]

... Archer is gone. I stood with her after he left. He is naught but a drone now.

[Rider pauses, and mutters under her breath] Damn this town.

Aye. Damn it to the depths of the Warp.

[Rider makes a grunt of displeasure.]

Regardless, thank you for providing me with information.

When you were previously here, we had something of a friendship. Consider it a... last bit of assistance for your old self. Or a way of forging a new bond with the you that is here now. [ There's something almost like weariness in his voice. Garviel hates losing people to Mayfield, as do many veterans of the town. ]

Well. If Rin trusts and values you enough to consider you her partner, then I suppose I should learn to as well...again.

I shall do what I can to earn that trust. Are there any questions about the town that I can be of specific assistance with? I have been here nigh unto a year now.