[ Ryoko doesn't allow herself to have even a sliver of hope until the final lines of the summoning circle connect and the whole thing flares to life, like the muzzle flash of a gunshot in a blackened room. The sheer magical energy of the summoning and the force with which it comes exploding out of the circle sends her staggering back – she doesn't even realize she's lost her footing until she feels the hard concrete of the ground press into her back and the rain soaking through her clothes.
Slowly, carefully, Ryoko pushes herself up onto her hands but it's not until she hears his voice that she dares actually look up. Her breath snags in her throat and for a moment, even though the rain is still pounding down all around them, everything feels oddly still and quiet. She's looking at him like she can't quite believe he's there – the desperate disbelief of a drowning girl tossed an unexpected lifeline.
Then another shout in the distance fractures that odd, frozen moment and the rest of the world starts moving as well. Right, of course. Surely they must have detected the surge of magic just now and realized what she'd done which makes her worse than a traitor or an irritant – it makes her an enemy. And in a Holy Grail War, Ryoko knows what happens to enemies.
With adrenaline pumping through her veins, Ryoko rises up onto her shaking legs and though she knows how miserable and pathetic she must look, she refuses to quail in front of this Servant, with his crushing presence, and lifts her chin high. ]
Yes. I'm the one who summoned you here. [ She sounds a little breathless. Still disbelieving. ] Tell me who you are.
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Slowly, carefully, Ryoko pushes herself up onto her hands but it's not until she hears his voice that she dares actually look up. Her breath snags in her throat and for a moment, even though the rain is still pounding down all around them, everything feels oddly still and quiet. She's looking at him like she can't quite believe he's there – the desperate disbelief of a drowning girl tossed an unexpected lifeline.
Then another shout in the distance fractures that odd, frozen moment and the rest of the world starts moving as well. Right, of course. Surely they must have detected the surge of magic just now and realized what she'd done which makes her worse than a traitor or an irritant – it makes her an enemy. And in a Holy Grail War, Ryoko knows what happens to enemies.
With adrenaline pumping through her veins, Ryoko rises up onto her shaking legs and though she knows how miserable and pathetic she must look, she refuses to quail in front of this Servant, with his crushing presence, and lifts her chin high. ]
Yes. I'm the one who summoned you here. [ She sounds a little breathless. Still disbelieving. ] Tell me who you are.