[IC] Fate/Reborn [First Holy Grail War]

[Arkhi]

Janus

Janus nodded at Noriko. He knew some people were pissed at him for this, but they can live without it- I couldn't, he thought. After gathering some small girders and relevant supplies, he walked back, a bag carrying the supplies. Bag full of goodies, Janus grinned: "I've managed to build a nylon bag reinforced with some kind of metals. It's light, strong, and pliable." That was beside the point. He tossed another at Noriko. "One more bag full ought to be plenty. I can cut up the metal and suit it back at base. Small, steel beams will be perfect, if not very heavy."

He walked over to the break room entrance and leaned on the wall, looking conflicted. "I suppose our cause is more right. Physical resources can be replaced, anyway..."

[Chevaleresse]

Lancer

The young woman nodded. "Don't worry about doing what you must to survive. Not everyone has the privilege of money or the connections to get what they need." She took the bag and moved to gather the same sorts of materials that Janus had. As she had stated already, this wasn't her area of expertise; direct combat was her strong suit. After doing so, she walked toward where they had come in. "We need to get moving, though. Wasting time helps nobody."

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

Vixen ((Archer))

A heavy sigh broke the silence around the blue haired woman. She had lost sight of... whatever that thing was. And she only had a hunch as to what Servant it was if it was even a servant. It was not a particularly eventful night, perhaps the other Servants were lying low for now, also observing, waiting... watching. However, it would probably be morning soon. She went back to the hotel room to catch a few z's before her master awoke in the morning.

Ashnard ((Berserker))

The beast's hunger was sated for now as it's interest in the hunt died due to frustration at the loss of the ultimate target. What's worse... the weakling of the Master he had. The fool thought his emotions hidden... but Ashnard sensed them. The man was terrified of him. Rightfully so. But, right now the Beast was restless. Nights were always bad for the wolf when it had nothing to do. It's went addled and tried to do anything to occupy it's mind for the downtime. It banged around in the basement picking up things and moving stuff around. It made quite the racket probably heard through quite a bit of the rundown tenements. It growled a low growl as it messed with things moving them about or scratching at the wall sharping it's claws. It even tried to clean the blood from it's fur. It was dried now and no longer made his fur feel good.

[Arkhi]

Janus

Noriko's willingness to get things done would be exactly what any good master should expect from their servant.

"Excellent. Let's be on our way. Since I'm the one with a target painted, you'll have to take point. I'll tag behind," he said, pulling up his right-hand sleeve. If it came to using his magic, he would- wind magic leaves little trace: it was perfect for keeping silent and unheard.

[Chevaleresse]

Lancer

Noriko headed in the direction they had came from, taking the rooftops until they were a fair distance away from the plant and then dropping to ground level, using a small bit of power to slow her fall. Any magus watching could see her deft, talented control of wind magic; it was clear she was an expert in this area. Along the way, she spoke over her shoulder to her Master while the street was empty. "By the way, refer to me as Lancer at all times. The less our enemies know about me, the better."

[Arkhi]

Janus

"At all times, huh?" he mused as he climbed down a pipe. "Is there no sanctuary anywhere for servants?" Janus kept his voice low. The buildings' corners jutted out further than necessary to prevent work accidents, which made reconnaissance and eavesdropping easier here. There could always be someone anywhere. "I assume that also means we ought to keep an ear open for information on other... masters and servants, I believe the terms are?"

[Shamitako]

((Sorry, been a bit busy lately ^^; ))

Nodding at Natalie's words, the blonde woman spoke up. "I have enough money for a month's rent, though not much more. Do you think this will take that long?" As she waited for a response, Illiana began walking around the apartment complex quickly, taking note of where each accessible place for water was on the outside of the building. With some satisfaction, she noted that there were three faucets that hoses could be attached to for use. It wasn't ideal, but it would have to do.

Silently darting around the complex again, she turned all the faucets on, allowing them to form large puddles and making a mental note to turn them off before speaking to the land lord in the morning. Allowing the water to pool around them, grey eyes, searched Natalie's face once more, a realization having come to her mind. "Natalie, if this is truly the first war," Illiana spoke quietly, "how do you know about it and how are there stories and legends that I should know?" Troubled by the idea that they could potentially be pulling information out of thin air, and not knowing if the source was reliable, Illiana went back to tending to the puddles, which had grown considerably in size. It had been a long time since the water mage had performed defensive spells, and a longer time still for offensive water magic. I suppose I'd better get back into practice, she thought ruefully, crouching down to place a hand into one of the puddles that had formed in order to pulse a small amount mana through it. Closing her eyes, she began to chant in a murmur, recalling a barrier-esque enchantment she had learned a long time ago.

"Where there lies water, clear gathered liquid

Keep away visitors not so insipid."

The water glowed a light blue, and began to stretch along the perimeters of the building until it was in a thin, nearly invisible line. Walking to the other pools that had formed, Illiana performed the same enchantment. When she was finished, the water lines had connected with one another. Satisfied that the charm had worked, she walked back to Natalie and leaned against the building, slowly sinking down in an attempt to recover her energy. By way of explanation, she huffed out, "Barrier enchantment. Should anyone with questionable motives try to come here, all of the water will surge up, bowling them over before returning to the state that it's in right now. Only lasts 24 hours."

:I'm certain a month is plenty." Natalie confirmed.

She watched absentmindedly as Illiana put up the barrier, pondering her thoughts and trying to think of exactly how she knew the things she did.

"While it's the first war, I have been given a fair amount of knowledge about it from the Grail. Though most of the strategy I've mentioned I reasoned together myself. I mean, that's kinda my thing." She said finally, "As for the stories and legends. All the heroes summoned here have at least some renown as a story or legendary figure. For example my sisters and I have many iterations of our legend, one of the more recent ones, likely the one I'm most directly drawn from, seems to be a popular series of novels among teens and young adults."

She thought back to a bookstore they'd passed earlier, wondering if the changes to her story had effected her memories at all. They had to, right? there was no way she was actually from an entirely separate universe.

"I'll try to give you some more examples when we get to the library tomorrow, for now just get some rest." She finished.

With a protective spell around them and a plan set up for the morrow, Natalie felt comfortable leaving Illiana to rest. She would sense any attackers even in her spiritual form so there was no need to waste mana like this. She slowly faded away to rest and wait for morning.

[Bfroger6]

"Don't you dare scare me like that ever again!" Frog pouted in frustration as he led Sylva out of the hospital and towards his apartment. Geez, seriously, how was that little girl not creeped out in there?! There was something wrong in that kid's head or something!

In any case, the deserted, lit up streets of the Japanese city proved to be a haven to Frog after the hospital. In a way, they were more dangerous and everything, but at least they weren't creepy or possibly haunted. He was fine with the imminent danger of some robber or whatnot, but creepy places, na-ha, they were a big no no. They made their way north and into one of the residential districts, where Frog guided Sylva into a decent looking apartment building, leading her up to the third floor and in front of one of the doors in the long hallway. He fidgetted around his pockets for a while before pulling out his keys dangling on a keychain, using one to open the door and reveal the home inside.

"We're home, finally!" He exclaimed the moment they entered, surprisingly gently placing all the stuff he was carrying on the floor, as if it were made of glass, before dropping straight onto the sofa, leaving the place still completely in the dark. "Make yourself at home or something, I don't realpy care!" He muttered in between yawning fits. He was so drained he didn't care what he would be sleeping on. "You can take my bed in the bedroom over there." He pointed his finger towards the darkness lazily, not even bothering to raise his hand or caring that the whole place was in the dark so the girl wouldn't be able to see most likely. But whatever, she was this super duper magical thing, she was probably able to handle herself.

And so, slowpy, but surely, Frog fell asleep on the couch. The last words he uttered through the sleepy haze were directed at Sylva, though he spoke them into the softness of the sofa. "Just... close the door after you get inside..."

[Chevaleresse]

Lancer

"Definitely. Familiars, magic detection fields, digital monitoring devices, anything that gets us more information would greatly assist our efforts. You can believe the other masters will be setting up the same." The blue-haired girl didn't look at her Master as she spoke, however, instead scanning the area in a constant search for foes.

[Arkhi]

Janus

Janus listened intently; he couldn't have been the strongest of the masters. He had no sense of Noriko's strength, but maybe he could if they returned to their base-to-be. As it was, they ought to win this war through reconnaissance and stealth. Wind magic would make that easy: it leaves little to no evidence.

"Well, then we're unsafe here. Let's get a move on," he said, adjusting his bag and jogging back along the street.

[Chevaleresse]

Lancer

Noriko simply nodded and picked up her pace to match that of her Master. It was no surprise that the Grail had matched them; the magus seemed very similar to herself, even down to the fact that they were both wind mages. She was concerned about whether he had the strength to fight, however. Physically to provide the mana necessary for her to exert her full power and mentally to have the courage to actually face down opponents, rather than attempting to flee the fight.

She shook her head. It was too late to worry about such things. The building that they were going to set up camp in was in sight, and she would need to be on guard; the base would be easier to detect during construction, as there would be no fields to conceal it.

[Arkhi]

Janus

The door was unlocked as usual, but no one ever came in. He would need to remedy that for the Holy War, if a simple door would even make a difference. It was getting dark, so he would need to rush building if he wanted sleep that night. "Drop your materials here," he gestured as he glanced around. Doorways first, windows second, reinforcement third. The back door would be the first place to start. Janus grinned, eager to get to work. "Installing the physical defenses shouldn't take more than 40 minutes."
With that said, he grabbed his building gear, conglomerated his supplies, and got to work. He and Noriko sliced the girders accordingly, installed them, and reinforced the warehouse in due time. He'd have wagered a guess based on the position of the sun, but no light shone through. It was a good, solid defense against normal opponents. Already, he felt a slight increase in mana density. Janus turned to Noriko: "So, then... How do we turn this from stronghold to safehouse?"

[Chevaleresse]

Lancer

"Well, that's where you come in. I'd assume that you'd want to put up a field concealing any magecraft you did in here, for one. Traps for intruders never hurt, and you're probably gonna want to set up a proper place to do more advanced magecraft. If you've got some way to store mana or pull it from some other source, that would help you greatly; I'll tell you right now that I'm a bit of a soul eater as a Servant, and you're going to want something to ease your burden if possible. I'll leave that to you, though." The girl started to fade away as she had done earlier. "Try to get some rest, you'll need it." The last came from a disembodied voice as Noriko fully disappeared, leaving Janus seemingly alone in the room.

[Flux]

Vance and Lily

"I see..." Vance replied slowly. "Well, 'night then. Do whatever makes you the most comfortable. Make yourself at home."

That being said, he rolled over onto his side, falling asleep almost instantly. It had been a long day for Vance, and he'd only gotten one nap all day. Not to mention the fact that he was now wrapped up in a war between Masters and their all-powerful Servants. It was an unusual event for one such as Vance, that much was for sure.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Sylva and Frog

Sylva smiled as Frog fell asleep on the couch. She quickly turned and made her way to the room Frog had pointed to. She could just as easily rest and recuperate in spirit form, but she liked experiencing the human world. She looked down at her Master's bed, wondering how it would compare to the beds she was used to. She sat down and immediately noticed the softness. She patted her hands down beside her, enthralled with this new bed. It was the same general structure as he beds of her time, but it was so much squishier and softer than the straw bed she used to sleep on. Of course, it had never bothered her back then, but that was because she had never put thought into the matter.

Sylva flopped onto her front, planting her face in the pillow. If the rest of the human world was as good as this, she was excited to see more. And tomorrow, her Master had promised that she would get to see some of the things the world had to offer. A smile spread across her face as she lay in the bed, slowly finding her way towards sleep.

[Arkhi]

Janus

Always having been on the move, Janus had little reason to decorate his residence- it was never a home. He hadn't known precisely how to setup and perform these incantations, so he just let his mind wander as it had that morning when he summoned Noriko. The devil is in the details, yet Janus let that roam free as he deconstructed various supplies in the warehouse, using them to augment his defenses many steps further.
It was a tedious process.

[Code: PIRULUK]

Vance and Lily

Lily watched as her Master quickly succumbed to slumber. He was so peaceful in sleep, she felt like joining him - but she had other things to do.

Closing her eyes, she concentrated and opened her Barrier Space, using magic to pull out a pair of prosthetic arms - her etiquette set. They were made to look just like normal human arms, the thick fake skin muffling the telltale sounds of clockwork and machinery driving her movements. They were rather dexterous, and capable of relatively high-precision maneouvreing, but were rather fragile.

Again using magic, she attached her etiquette arms at the ends of her stumps, moving them around experimentally. She frowned a little. These arms were her favorites, but they weren't particularly suited for the purpose of a war. Sighing, she reached in to her Barrier Space again and swapped out her etiquette set for her battle set.

These arms had no false skin covering at all, being encased completely in a shell of the same mysterious metal as the rest of the arm - a metal of her own invention, combining mechanical knowledge and magical finesse. The battle set sacrificed aesthetics for utility - it was capable of finer movements, far more durable, and resistant to most invasive substances. She tested each joint of the fingers, as well as confirmed the full range of motion of her arm, before nodding in satisfaction. This would suffice. A bit stiff, but she could fix that with a few tweaks.

Next, she reached into her barrier and removed a pair of prosthetic legs, similar in appearance to her arms. These were her battle legs, and they looked similarly unnatural, their unnatural silver color standing out even in the dark room. Again, she attached these to her leg stumps, then wiggled her toes.

With a few more tests, she jumped out of the wheelchair, walking around it, performing all sort of evasive footwork, jumping around. She nodded. Satisfactory performance. She frowned as she considered how much her limbs stood out. Fishing around in her barrier space, she removed a white, black-accented one piece goth lolita dress with plenty of lace and ribbons, long sleeves and a billowing skirt, along with long white gloves and thigh-high white socks. After some thought, she retrieved a matching lace headpiece. The getup would still draw attention to her, but far less than her mechanical limbs would have, and the nature of the attire would properly hide her metal limbs.

Setting aside the coord, Lily reached once more into the barrier space and removed a bag of tools, hanging it on the handlebar of her wheelchair. Sitting down in her wheelchair, she donned a pair of thick goggles, plucked her left arm from its socket, then began fine-tuning it with a practiced precision.

[Chevaleresse]

The sun rises on a new day over Seigishi. The weather is clear but quite windy, making it quite a bit colder than the skies might suggest. Meanwhile, news is already starting to spread about the apparent vandalism in the streets along with a rash of other crimes. The police are on the lookout. It is 8 AM, and the second day of the First Grail War.

[Arkhi]

Janus

After completing incantations and finishing up for the night, Janus must have been so exhausted he fell to sleep without memory of working late. He awoke from bed, wearing the same outfit from the day before. A little wind magic would straighten it out easy enough.
Normally he wouldn't care for how he looked, but a new day at war isn't one to take lightly. His hair was left messy and he kept the hoodie from before. It would provide a meager defense against eyewitnesses. Janus grabbed his hand-fashioned brass knuckle and whistled as he sought out Noriko.
"Up and at 'em, if you already aren't, Lancer. What's the sitrep?"

[Shamitako]

Onyx

Onyx slowly opened her eyes to the bright daylight. It seemed she had overslept, but she had accounted for the possibility of jet lag interfering with her schedule, so it wasn't a huge issue. She stretched absentmindedly and took a moment to admire the view.

"Archer, are you there?" She called the air.

She figured that if her servant had returned she had taken on her immaterial form, which was fine. That way she was much more likely to sense malicious presences than if she had remained materialized.

[Chevaleresse]

Siegfried

The magus awoke groggily. The infernal beast had made an equally infernal racket during the night, and he entered his basement to discover the mess of things that Ashnard had made. Fortunately or unfortunately, he had plenty of time to think during the night, so the young man made a decision. He quickly located the beast, and before it could acknowledge his presence, held out the hand that bore his Command Seals.

Speaking in a clear, commanding voice, he invoked the ancient magic. "By my authority as a Master of the Holy Grail War, I hereby command that you shall not ever attempt to cause harm to me, directly or indirectly, regardless of your state of rage." The seal glowed for a moment, and then faded. "You've already stated your intentions, so this should be expected, werewolf."

Lancer

"Nothing to report," the girl's voice sounded as she rematerialized in her casual clothing from before, her form taking shape from head to toe. "You, however, need to ensure you keep up your strength. I am not willing to consume souls to bolster my own reserves, and I would prefer to avoid disengaging because my mana usage is about to drain the life from you." Her irritation sounded parental, which might have seen strange coming from someone who was younger and supposedly the servant of the one she was addressing.

"On another subject, the more observant might notice you traveling with someone wearing the same clothing every day. Unless you intend for me to only materialize when speaking with you or fighting, we should get some new clothes." There was a strange note in her voice, one that was rather difficult to pin down.

[Rosesong]

Yawning, grey eyes opened, squinting against the already bright sunlight that shone into them. Slowly, Illiana unfurled her cramped, tense limbs, stretching them as far as they would go before slowly climbing to her feet, wincing as the cooler air seeped into her already sore limbs. Today is going to be a busy day, the girl thought ruefully, idly pulling blonde strands of her hair off of her shirt.

Quickly running to the thin water barrier she had created the night before, Illiana ran a hand over it, smiling as she felt the mana she had placed into the water pulse back at her. It'll hold for at least another 12 hours, she thought, moving to the street and looking for a payphone. Upon spying one a block down, she dashed over to it, calling the number on the apartment complex and explaining to the manager that she and a friend were interested in renting a place. After confirming that he would meet them in a couple hours, the water mage jogged back to the apartments, softly calling out, "Natalie?" upon her arrival.

[Bfroger6]

Frog woke up on his own early next morning. The pure, morning sunlight had just started seeping into the living room through the windows obstructed by thick curtains, and it was reflecting against the particles of dust flowing idly in the stale atmosphere. The boy yawned and stretched himself, sitting on the side of the couch. Geez, was he so tired yesterday that he fell asleep on the couch? What was he even doing up so late? Playing video games? Chatting online? Watching some movie on tv? For whatever reason, the answer just wouldn't pop in his mind, so he just shrugged the odd sensation in the back of his neck and stood up, walking past the bloddied mess (not even noticing it) he had left on the floor just around 5 or 6 hours earlier.

He walked through the neatly set up living room, past the kitchen and the hall which led to the front door and into the bathroom to get himself ready for the day. As he rinsed his hands, he noticed the water flowing into the sink had a slight pinkish tinge to it. Geez, he was gonna have to tell the owner of the building to get that fixed. Or course, the water wasn't the problem, as the source of the pinkish tinge was the blood being washed off his palms, but the thing is that Frog hasn't realized that, and so he just went about his morning routine like he always did. He lazily walked back over to the kitchen and picked some toast, but he then realized he had no appetite yet. He just wanted to sleep. And in a real bed.

So, naturally, he made his way to the bedroom. As he entered the room, he noticed a bulge beneath the blankets in the middle of the bed, but he disregarded it in his sleepy haze and... well...

Frog threw himself straight onto the bed. ((and presumably onto Sylva, unless she already woke up))

[Arkhi]

Janus

If the tone Noriko took in what seemed to be chastising him didn't sting, it may have been that he needed a change in apparel. "Maaan, I only recently got this hoodie from a family friend," he complained, but then bucked up, adopting a tone of solemnity.

"What do you have in mind? And while we're at it, if we're out and about, I have a feeling we'll meet others like us. Will they be able to recognize us as master and servant?"

[Chevaleresse]

Lancer

"I was more referring to clothing for myself. I can't control the appearance of my clothes when I'm not transformed, so I need changes of clothing like any other person. As for your second question, that would be yes, though at a distance they may not be able to tell." She thought for a moment. "I'm not familiar with the area. You would likely know better than I where to find clothes. Wherever you go, however, I'll follow in spirit form until you signal me."

[Shamitako]

Natalie

Hearing her master's call, Natalie materialized.

"Good morning Illiana." She said, "I noticed you left for a while, you'll have to forgive me for not following, I was checking to make certain no one had tampered with the barrier. I had every intention of coming to find you if you were away for too long."

She doubted Illiana would actually mind, her master seemed ignorant of quite how dangerous a war could be, but nonetheless she still felt the need to apologize. Even if Illiana could take care of herself normally, a servant was no ordinary foe.

"Just to be certain of your safety in the future, if you ever encounter another servant, use a command seal to call me right away, okay?"