sweetdevil | 34th ♫ | even if a thousand nights pass, i'll stay by your side

Bryn Pendragon is a traveling warrior with as many braincells as she has functioning eyes (which is to say, one). She was raised by a dragon as part of his horde until a prince whose name and face she's yet to find out went and slayed him. After taking on the powers of her Dead Dragon Dad, Bryn has set out on a Revenge Road Trip across the continent of Seidrfold, a Fantasy Kitchen Sink setting full of all sorts of neat European mythological nonsense. Despite how edgy that description makes her sound, she's actually a cheerful, high-energy sheltered weirdo who cannot be trusted with her own braincell and is having SO MUCH FUN out here on her wild adventure.
Caelina Gwynlaw, an adventurer and healer from the country of Adryae, a faux-European country in a Ye Olde Fantasy Setting. She's studious and a bit of a bookwork with little self esteem, but when properly motivated she's a force to be reckoned with. She's a scholar educating herself in magic and history but currently taking a break from her studies to travel the country in hopes of healing a plague known as the Withering. She possesses the ability to manipulate and control animating energy (quintessence) that she channels through song and manifests as her healing abilities.
Erina Estival, your typical Light Novel Superpowered Teenager. She is a type of human known as a 'Synchronic', which grants her special abilities, chief of which is the power to bond ('Sync') with a sentient weapon known as a Key. Erina's key is a zweihander called, uh, Zwei. Her special ability is to hear the thoughts and voices of Keys she herself is not Synced with. Sort of sassy and snarky and comes across like she's trying a bit too hard to be a standoffish edgelord. She's actually very energetic and passionate under the surface. Gay for two things: haunted swords and women.
Kyouko Kougami, was your typical, cheerful second year highschooler until she stumbled across the magical world slightly to the left of our own called the Imaginaerium. Upon finding her way there, Kyouko became a magical girl known as a Reflector, tasked with the duty of keeping the Imaginaerium safe from threats. She fights under the name of Reflector Heart. With her powers and her teammates, she resolves the emotional conflicts of those whose emotions resonate inside the Imaginaerium. A shouty shounen protagonist who happens to reside in the body of a bright pink magical girl lead character.
Sophie Summerhelm, ex-sickly anime waif, certified Good Girl. She's the student of one of the original six heroes, Amelie the Legendary Alchemist. In Hexapath Travellers, she journeys Adelheld on a self-imposed quest to prove herself and her mastery of alchemy. After getting mixed up with the party, they overthrow a conspiracy, summon a god, right wrongs and triumph over evil, all that good stuff. In Hexapath Future she has now replaced the disgraced Amelie as the Royal Alchemist but instead of sticking to one place, she continues to travel Adelheld as she feels continuing to spread happiness with her alchemy is her true calling.

[honoka, how did you and your band even get into scionverse? DO HIGH SCHOOL IDOLS NORMALLY FALL THROUGH INTERDIMENSIONAL PORTALS QUITE THIS OFTEN???

Regardless, once Honoka has gotten some medieval clothes, a sword(?), and traveled with scionparty to help them for a while, Zinnia has found herself staring at Honoka rather often. Something about this girl gets her attention, in a different way from Aster, and she doesn't understand it.

After some kind of battle, Zinnia is now... half-monstrous, her arm dragging on the ground, her mismatched legs making her gait rather difficult and lopsided as she drags herself over to the poor idol, staring right into her with those scary red eyes.]

Are you... unharmed.

[Power.]

[That was all it came down to. All anything ever came down to. The world was nothing but a constant power struggle, and it was the strongest who came out on top. Edelgard, damn her, had the advantage in that regard and had for...how long? Years, certainly, but it was hard to keep count when on the run and in hiding. Every bit the wild animal Felix had called him; outnumbered, overpowered, driven back.]

[That was all going to change.]

[A fallen king came to a ruined sanctuary: seeking refuge, chasing shadows of a past colored by the illusion of happiness, but above all else searching for the power he needed to turn the tides and drive that witch's empire to ash. The library had always been free of blasphemous and heretical materials under Seteth's watchful eyes, but perhaps he'd been fallible enough to miss a thing or two. Or so went the fleeting thought, at least--if anywhere would hold answers, it would be what was left of Garreg Mach Monastery. And sure enough, amidst piles of discarded tomes cast aside by a furious hand...was there an ancient ritual discovered. To bind a hero to one's own life force--he'd never held much aptitude in magic like Mercedes and Annette, but what else was there?]

[An intricate circle was drawn on the cracked stone of the Goddess Tower's balcony in blood, and the less said about whose blood it was, the better. Words memorized and spoken, a ritual not like any magic seen or performed in all of Fódlan. (Truthfully, he had no real idea what a Holy Grail even was, neither did he assume six other people would be mad enough to seek out such a lost ritual. It didn't really matter, anyway--not to him.)]

My will creates your body, and your sword creates my destiny.
If you heed the Grail's call, and obey my will and reason, then answer.
I hereby swear that I shall be all the good in the world--that I shall defeat all evil in the world.
Seven heavens clad in three words of power, arrive from the ring of deterrence, O keeper of the balance!

[ For a moment longer, the night was quiet, a beat of anticlimax before everything was split apart with light. Arcs of spidery lightning ripped out from the center of the circle, casting everything in a garish red as a sourceless wind tossed itself around in the air. It was quite a light show – but it only lasted for a second. Just as quick as it began, the light died away, leaving only dust in its wake – dust, and the figure of a slender woman, accompanied by a deadly looking spear.

Her eyes were closed, but only for an exhale – and then when she opened them, all that air came rushing back in with a sharp intake of breath. ]

Ah–

[ The light wasn't dim enough for Brynhildr to really fool herself, but still, for a moment, her eyes played a cruel trick. They picked out the outline of the man in front of her rather than the details and her hopeful, traitor heart beat out the familiar rhythm of Sigurd, Sigurd, Sigurd– but she managed to quell it. Whoever this man was, whatever reason he had summoned her, it was clear that he was not her Sigurd.

She lowered her gaze – apparently in deference, but truly to give her heart a moment to stop racing, for her Master's sake more than her own. Then she spoke, her voice soft and hesitant. ]

My True Name is... Brynhildr. My Class is Lancer. Are you... my Master?

['Master'...yes, that had been the terminology used. He hadn't really thought any of this through--just seen an opportunity and lunged for it. He needed power, needed something that could serve his purpose and get the revenge he'd desired for longer than he had chosen to admit. Could this woman be what he was after? In appearance alone, he doubted it. But it would have been foolish to write off the whole ordeal on such a base impression.]

My name is Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd.

[And now he had no one else to turn to.]

[So he held his head high--perhaps a little too high, staring down Brynhildr with one good eye that was ice cold and bone-dead tired. A burning sensation in the shape of the Crest bearing his name ached on his right hand beneath a black gauntlet, gone either unnoticed or ignored for the moment.]

It was I who summoned you; I seek the power to destroy my enemy and dismantle her empire. Have you the ability to grant me that?

[The people who'd been in this world the longest called it the Everafter. A rogue dimension, snatching up people from different worlds without rhyme or reason. It was a beautiful world, everyone had to admit, but it was also very dangerous. A wild, unsettled world, and people weren't the only things it took from other dimensions.]

[As evidenced by the large horde of Grimm that now lay around the ravaged forest, Penny and Erina the center of the devastation.]

Erina-! Are you okay?!

[Is this panic warranted? Probably not. But Penny's doing it anyway, that battle was pretty rough.]

[ A look of surprise flickers briefly across her face – even calling it a microexpression would probably be generous but it betrays her feelings in a way she's already scolding herself for. A Master seeking power isn't at all unusual, but the way he speaks makes it sound as though Brynhildr herself is the thing he has sought – not merely a tool in service of seeking out greater power.

How strange. She seems to have been summoned by a truly unusual Master. ]

Yes. I am a Servant – and you are my Master. If those are the orders you give me, then I will fulfill them.

[ She says it not with confidence but a matter-of-factness that her soft, almost toneless voice underlines firmly. She is a Servant – a Valkyrie. Following orders is her life and the death of her. ]

[ Her only response at first is a heartfelt: ] Ffffffuucckkkkk. [ so she's uh, definitely alive, at the very least.

She'd been knocked flat on her back at the last second and though it was a nasty blow, it doesn't look like it knocked her out – she's getting back up onto her feet fairly fast, at least. But she's got one hell of a black eye and there's a garish stream of blood making its way down her face as she speaks. ]

What the shit. Can you believe that asshole bowled me over like that?

[ She uh seems to be a little punchdrunk but she'll probably survive. ]

[A lance was a lance and a soldier was a soldier. The two were distinct enough to Dimitri, and he wasn’t one to call the latter a weapon. He wasn’t Edelgard, who he was quite certain cared nothing for anyone that died in her wake so long as she created a world with herself and her ideals on a bloody throne. Her servants and vassals were no doubt disposable as far as Dimitri was concerned.]

[No, he had his own ideals set in stone. He hated needless death more than anyone, but death was what his enemies deserved and what was necessary to end such tiresome conflict. The only way to end this terrible cycle and quiet the restless dead was in the blood of the tyrant behind it.]

I see. [Something about that understated certainty was familiar in a way that ached like a dozen scars—and yet felt strange to hear coming from someone so much smaller than his own lost protector.] Then it seems our forces have come to a grand total of...two.

[Not exactly an army.]

Only two...

[ And that was to be expected as well. In a war, a Master and Servant could rely on nothing else but each other as they went after the Grail. But as she's slowly coming to understand, this is anything but a regular war. In fact – she's almost certain that there are no other Servants here beside herself. In some ways that makes things more unfortunate, but in others... ]

Master, our enemies... are they solely... human? Am I the only Servant who has been summoned here?

...Right, perhaps we should discuss that. I found the method to call you through an overlooked tome in the library. It did describe a war between seven mages, but I claim no familiarity to anything called a ‘Holy Grail’. It’s not outside the realm of possibility that it could be some lost Hero’s Relic, or an artifact of the goddess’ herself.

[It didn’t concern him in the slightest. But she had asked, so Dimitri answered in a short tone but words explained to the best of his ability.]

I find it unlikely anyone else in this country knows of the ritual at all, much less would seek to perform it. Will this prove a problem, Brynhildr?

No. Not at all. If I am to face only human opposition, then I will have no trouble in seeing your orders through. But...

[ He had spoken of an empire, which means they would be guarded by armies, weapons, any number of obstacles and while that might give her pause, she's certain that even an entire army of humans would not be able to stand in the way of a Servant. ]

If you do not seek the Grail, then do you have no wish you hope to see fulfilled?

My...wish?

[Ah. Of course, the text had made some mention of a wish being the end goal. The question seemed to catch Dimitri off guard, strike at some yet unknown weakness in his armor and hit a point he hadn’t been fully aware of.]

[A miracle? If such a thing existed he could undo the bloodshed of his past, could erase Edelgard from ever having lived, could bring the professor and all the others lost to time and warfare back to life, anything.]

[What a foolish dream. He was no longer a child, and miracles didn’t exist. Even were the very goddess to descend, Dimitri would ask nothing from her save only to demand justification for her lack of action as her people died.]

...I have no such thing. When our business is done, you are free to pursue such things as you will, but it is meaningless to me.

[ Meaningless.

That seems to catch Brynhildr off guard as well. Even a woman like her had a wish that she would give most anything for the Grail to grant but here was her Master who knew nothing of the Grail but who had still summoned her as a weapon – whatever it was that drove him to this, whatever this enemy of his had done, was that not worth chasing a miracle? ]

... I see. Then, until our contract is fulfilled, I will remain by your side.

[ And after that... well, that isn't something for Brynhildr to consider. All a Servant has to concern themselves with is fighting and surviving. ]

What will your first order be, Master?

[Right to business, then? He had to admit he appreciated that. There were more important things to do than small talk, and even if it were only the pair of them...fine. He’d topple the Empire one way or another, alone or with this mystery woman.]

The imperial army has been seeking me out for some time now. No doubt scraps of their battalions are going to be nearby—we should set out to rout their numbers and be sure the monastery isn’t compromised by the likes of them. From there, we’ll use this place as a base of operations.

[ She nods and – it's not quite that she squares her shoulders, but something about her stance changes regardless. Where before, she had kept her eyes lowered and her body language had been guarded and closed off, now she lifts her chin, pulls her shoulders back and stands at her full height. Her eyes were already chilly but now they grow steely. ]

Yes. Should I scout ahead to confirm their numbers and location?

Edited 2019-08-23 17:33 (UTC)

[Logic said it was insane to send out just one scout, but then again he hadn’t performed some arcane ritual just for an ordinary soldier.]

Do as you will. You’ll be looking for soldiers bearing the red of the Adrestian Empire. Set out ahead and I will follow shortly. [Not like they had numbers to conceal.]

Understood. In that case – please forgive my forwardness, Master.

[ That's all the warning she gives before, with far more grace than is reasonable considering their relative size difference, scoops him up into her arms like she's catching a swooning maiden.

Heat flares in her throat for a second, like a dying fire given kindling, but she refuses to acknowledge it and after a moment of bearing down on it, the brief flare reduces itself once more to only a smolder. Something she can easily control, or so she hopes. ]

Please be sure to hold on with care. If you fall, I may not be able to catch you in time.

[ And without any further explanation, she backs up for one step, then two and takes a running leap off the balcony and the two of them go sailing clear into the air. ]

[What.

[What?????]

[How could she possibly—why did she even-]

What are you doing—?!

[ They're still sailing through the air, which is pretty insane when you consider that their combined weight should have dropped them like a rock the instant she jumped from the tower. The ground's definitely approaching at a speed, but Brynhildr doesn't look even remotely concerned – just puzzled by his response. ]

You said that we would be routing their numbers... and this seemed to be the quickest way away from the tower...

[ She sounds so incredibly unaffected by the fact that they're still airborne that it's almost comical. ]

[The grave look had, for a moment, left Dimitri’s face in favor of floundering and alarm.]

How, precisely, do you intend for us to survive this?!

Wow that's the loudest profanity I've ever heard That's a no, right? Oh no-

[Penny is squatting to help Erina up to her feet. Her first move is to try physically lifting the other girl, but it quickly becomes apparent that she's getting up under her own power, so Operation Support Lift is a go.]

Yes? Yes. That's actually entirely in keeping with the way Grimm tend to act.

[And. Kind of. Gingerly checking for the source of that blood? Head wounds tend to bleed disproportionately to how bad they actually are, she's pretty sure, but what's the sitch.]

So long as we land properly, then–

[ That's all she has time to get out before the ground comes up to meet them with a hearty thump. By all means and accounting for, you know, the laws of physics, the both of them should be dashed across the ground in a thin paste. But Brynhildr doesn't even stagger – she has to take a few hasty steps once her feet hit the ground to finish carrying through the momentum of the jump but other than that both she and Dimitri are pointedly unharmed. ]

Master – you're uninjured?

[ She's not putting him down until she's sure he is. ]

[...how in the absolute hell]

I--yes, of course I am.

[ Well, then down he goes. Brynhildr sets him square on his feet as easily as anything and with an air of casualness that implies this isn't her first time carrying a grown ass man through the air with ease. ]

Will you need a moment to catch your breath or shall we proceed as discussed?

BB \| Fate/ M/F, F/F	Bryn Pendragon \| OC M/F, F/F
Brynhildr \| Fate/ M/F, F/F	Caelina Gwynlaw \| OC F/F, M/F
Erina Estival \| OC F/F	Honoka Kousaka \| Love Live F/F, M/F
Kyouko Kougami \| OC F/F	Sophie Summerhelm \| OC M/F, F/F
Yuri \| DDLC M/F, F/F	μ \| The Caligula Effect F/F, M/F

34th ♫ | even if a thousand nights pass, i'll stay by your side

A WHOLESOME SFW SHIPPING CMO

OC CLIFFNOTES

honoka!!

brynhildr | fe3h blue lions spoilers

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