awashlogs | [ Closed ] I put a spell on you

[ Ah, Archer is ever so subservient. It's sort of charming, if a bit unnecessary for someone like Magilou. She'll take the early entry, though, grabbing the talisman and twirling past Archer with all the grace of an elephant ballerina. (Completely oxymoronic, but that's her life.)

Once she's in the house, she takes her seat. Her back is straight from the adrenaline of her walk, and she pats her knees with vigor. ]

Better get some ice for that clobbering, Archer. My Menagerie must always be perpetually prepared! And speaking of preparedness, I've heard you've had quite the success with breaking enchantments lately. [ She heard about the tree thing. 50/50 is a decent enough success rate, okay. ] Have you been reading fairy tales? Anything relating to our mysterious locale, perhaps?

[ And then she looks to Saber, almost as an aside. ]

You got any of that porridge left? I called the meeting, but the catering could be yours.

[ A bunny of Artoria’s that doesn’t want to kill him? Tristan stares at it in amazement, before Magilou snaps him back to attention. He’s pretty sure he’s going to get clobbered on the way out too. And he’s not some coward who’d escape Mordred’s wrath by going invisible, either!! So he merely bends down to pick up that dear little rabbit and follows the girls inside and takes a seat, absently petting the creature as they all get settled in. ]

I thank you for your kind regard, but…I will be fine, I think.

[ He hopes. He feels a light flush to his cheeks upon remembering how Artoria had dropped the little bombshell of her new contract on him back in the forest. So there’s a chance that Magilou might have known about the kiss…though King Arthur had never struck him as the type of person to kiss and tell.

Anyway, now’s not the time to worry about that! So he turns to Saber with a worried look. He’d meant to tell her about it alone, but now that she’s contracted with a master, well, there’s no reason why he should hide it from Magilou as well. ]

I have some tragic news to report. It has to do with the book that Mythra and I discovered.

[ Saber ate all of the porridge. All of it.

She freezes like a deer in the headlights, and then gently flusters as she tries to think of what else there is to eat. She should've thought of snacks!! She's a failure of a host...

But all is not lost! She always has snacks on reserve for just such an occasion. She hustles (in a dignified manner, of course) to the kitchen and returns with a small jar of dried fruit. Thus she offers the last of her precious treats to her comrades of the Menagerie... ]

[ Feeling comfortably abreast of the situation again, Saber seats herself with a satisfied look. She hasn't explained herself at all, but please be happy with this.

Tristan's words sound dire, though, so she turns to him with settling seriousness. ]

Of course. Go ahead, Archer.

[ Sorry, Archer - for the moment, Saber's brought some snacks, so her eyes are fully on that jar, nearly salivating in anticipation. It's not that she's even hungry, she just loves it when someone lavishes attention on her. She picks up a dried piece of some sort of red berry between her fingers (though whether it was meant to be red in the first place is anyone's guess, with this place) and tosses it in her mouth.

Good. Now the meeting can truly begin! Magilou crosses her legs, throwing an arm across the back of the couch like she's made it her own home. ]

What kind of book? Anything to do with the ones we were given a few weeks ago?

[ "Tragic news," he says. From the tone of her voice, she isn't taking it as seriously as she should be, but for anyone with decent perception, it's clear that the twinkle in her eye is from curiosity and intrigue both. ]

[ It’s such a rare sight to see his own king subservient to another, even for such a small thing as this. Does Magilou not understand the gravity of their contract? ]

…Somewhat.

[ He’ll worry about Magilou later. Right now, he ceases petting that rabbit to produce a perfectly unassuming quill and lay it upon the center of the table. ]

I had acquired it through…unsavory means.

[ He winces even at that, before continuing: ]

I discovered that it writes on nothing, save for the book found within that underground door.

[ Saber only looks at the quill, not bothering to pick it up. She can only imagine that it feels as it appears: absolutely normal. ]

I see.

[ "Unsavory means," he says. She won't force him to elaborate by asking. If it were important, she trusts he would have volunteered more information to begin with. ]

So the door of ill portent leads to a book which can only be written in with a quill gained through unsavory means. It is all rather foreboding, yet we cannot ignore the clues these pieces might hold. What did you discover by writing in the book?

[ Saber might be too polite to point it out. Unfortunately - ]

Unsavory means? Hiding something scandalous, are you, Archer?

[ Poor Saber, being stuck to this menace with a contract. Run, Archer.

But she's had her fun; even Magilou knows when conversations have turned serious, and when she needs to straighten up. She doesn't really expect an answer to her stupidity. Instead, she leans forward, staring at the quill and humming to herself. There's nothing odd about the quill, but if it only works on one specific book in one specific area, that's a huge red flag. And it's a book that, judging from Archer's explanation and Saber's addendum, means nothing good. ]

To put it another way: an unsavory, unassuming pen that inks only the most nefarious purposes. Something that looks innocent on the outside, but in the wrong hands, it's a dangerous weapon. Maybe it's best you were the one that ended up with it.

[ Saber said what she was thinking: the first line of investigation starts with experimentation. Maybe they can get a bit more to go on. ]

Nothing seems to have happened, though I have only written a few lines of no consequence.

[ He flushes anyway, less from being unable to produce more tangible results than for Magilou’s cheeky reply. He even clutches at the bunny for moral support. ]

But I…am not certain that I am suitable for such a responsibility. I suspect that this book is meant to rewrite the story which that F fellow finished, but I cannot be certain.

[ The bunny, being made of metal, is cold and unfeeling as an emotional support animal. But its nose continues to wiggle cutely and it doesn't try to run away, so there's that. ]

We must know more about the book's powers. If you are both in agreement, I believe we should pay the tome a visit and explore the effects of writing in it. We cannot afford to make an ill-informed decision if it indeed possesses such a weighty destiny.

Well, we won't learn anything from sitting and gabbing about it when we have nothing to go on!

[ She's only had one more piece of fruit - which she grabs and then tosses into her mouth with the same aplomb - but at Saber's suggestion, she stands up, pushing back the jar with her hand. Her words are light, but she's seriously considering their words, and most importantly, whether confronting this line of discoveries might be bad. ]

What do you say, my magnificent menagerie? I'm thinking it's high time we turn this meeting into a chance to scope out what we're working with.

[ ~~Excuse, that bunny’s still cuddlier than Saber~~ ]

Why…certainly.

[ He shouldn’t be surprised, after all. They are both women of action. ]

I intended to deliver this to that underground room, anyway. If nothing else, I believe that the denizens of this town deserve to have some hand in this world’s fate, if that is indeed what this book represents.

[ He does cast at Saber as he rises up, seeking her approval in this regard. She is the closest thing he has to an authority figure around here… ]

[ Saber nods, finding nothing disagreeable with his statement. If this were Britain, she would want to safeguard the quill as she did Rhongomyniad, but she holds no greater claim to Chroma than anyone else. ]

Then let us pay the tome a visit.

[ She rises as well. The tea will still be good when it's cool. She'll drink it all herself later...

So now it's a field trip! Seeing as how it's still officially a Menagerie meeting, Saber waits for Magilou to take the lead. The church is in Flavo, so it may be a bit of a walk, but at least it doesn't have to be awkward as it might have been without Magilou to temper Saber and Tristan's often off-kilter relationship. ]

[ Time for a field trip! Normally she'd be totally fine with Saber leading, but since it's a Menagerie meeting and all, Magilou quickly takes her spot at the front of their tiny pack, leading them out of Saber's house and into the path beyond. Long gone are the days when Magilou would simply wander without destination in this town, since now she knows where she's going. And this time she actually has a place to be... So she directs them to the church, where that mysterious book is supposed to be. Some creepy underground labyrinth, or something.

After they've started their expedition, though, Magilou spins to face them and starts walking backwards, her hands behind her head in disaffected glee. They're literally going to see a haunted or cursed book, and she's going along like it's no big deal. Maybe it's just that it's normal for her at this point. ]

You've seen the book, right, Archer? Anything we should be on the lookout for? I've just heard tell of it, so seeing it myself feels a bit like meeting some celebrity.

[ A Menagerie field trip! He also has no problems following Magilou—she is Saber’s master now, after all, though he has yet to address even that…

She really does seem utterly nonchalant about this entire affair…it’s maybe a bit worrying.

He frowns. ]

There is certainly an air of malevolence about the room where the book is being kept. I have never dared linger for very long myself. But as to the book itself, I only have this sense that it is of profound significance.

[ He stares down at the quill, now in his possession once more. ]

And now I am beginning to understand why.

[ If Magilou is treating this all as too much of a fun little excursion, Saber doesn't seem to mind. It's fine. This is fine. Magilou is serious when she needs to be and no sooner. ]

Yes, you do seem to have a talent for acquiring essential artifacts.

[ The Holy Grail he gave her is still sitting in her room and all... A glorious(ly useless) ornament. ]

Given the questionable aura of the room, we must assume that anything written in the book has the potential to harm as much as help. And if the notebooks we were given two months ago served as any lesson, it should be that our words are extremely liable to misinterpretation. We should consider our experiments carefully.

[ Almost in answer to Archer's silent pleas for her to be more serious, Magilou keeps her gait as they begin to near the church, but her expression morphs into something much more serious, even contemplative. The trees lining the forest have encroached so far lately; it's difficult to not catch on a root as she walks, but somehow she manages. It feels... somber, almost. Like there's some grave consequence to what they might be uncovering.

She puts a finger to her chin. The red Command Spells she'd gained are a stark contrast against her skin, and almost as if she'd remembered their purpose, her entire demeanor shifts when they're visible. ]

An artifact kept in a sealed underground room that we hadn't heard hide nor hair of until recently? I'd say there's a pretty good chance of it being misused. It could have been kept hidden to keep us safe... or perhaps to keep the town safe from what we can do with it.

[ Archer certainly isn't the worst person the other half of the puzzle could have ended up with. She doubts he'd use it for anything more nefarious than tragic poetry... ]

Something seemingly innocent with malevolence that strong is never good news. For all we know, it could create daemons, or some evil force from an old fairy tale. We might be walking right into the lion's den.

[ The fact that Saber seems to have no qualms about Magilou’s carefree attitude has certainly played a part in keeping Tristan quiet. If she thinks it’s okay, then he’s got nothing to worry about.

…Probably.

He blushes at Saber’s allusion to the Grail—that hadn’t been won through nefarious means!—before steeling himself to the task at hand. After all, among the three of them Magilou’s the closest thing they have to an expert on all things magical… ]

Then would you recommend disposing of these artifacts outright?

[ The safety of everyone is important, of course, although that is perhaps too extreme a solution for him—and he’s pretty much done with resorting to extremes. ]

[ Saber responds to the question, though she looks to Magilou as she does, appealing to her Master rather than attempting to speak for the group. ]

We cannot do so without understanding their full nature. We are rarely given tools of true influence by town. We should destroy them when we are certain of their irredeemability and no sooner. Between you, Archer, and myself, we will be more than capable of dealing with any trifles that may arise in the meantime.

[ The basis of her confidence? Nothing but faith in the competence of her comrades, really. ]

[ Magilou feels a bit weird that she's become the de facto leader of this group, but she supposes that's just sort of natural now, since the pecking order seems to be Master above Servant... and then Saber above Archer, since he's so deferential. ]

Nah, Saber's right. For all we know, that thing could be a harbinger of destruction just as easily as it could be our ticket out of our little monochrome prison. We just need to make sure it doesn't fall into the wrong hands, and hopefully the former possibility won't turn out to be reality.

[ Near the church, there's a path that leads to an empty patch, devoid of even grass. The ground juts out in odd places, the dirt uncovered and reburied over and over. ]

In the end, we'll just have to check it out first. If anything happens... well, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it, right? Let's go see.

[ She kneels down and brushes her hands over the raised patch of dirt, right where a very foreboding trap door beckons them forward. She hasn't been to see it yet, but there must be something here. ]

Edited 2019-08-07 04:31 (UTC)

[ Why does Saber have so much faith in him. Tristan’s pretty sure that he’s going to inadvertently get both women cursed. ]

The wrong hands…

[ Ah, of course. That possibly had been in the back of his mind. Even if Mordred had returned his book during the expedition, he can’t ignore any potential danger to the town with her left unchecked. This goes beyond merely trying to cooperate with her. ]

There is a strong possibility that it could be used irresponsibly if left within this shrine.

[ He tries not to make eye contact with Saber as he says that, opting instead to move forward and open up the door for them, feeling the oppressive sense of malice from within settle about them like a dense fog. Hopefully Magilou will have some sort of magic to light their way through, since the closest thing he has to a light source is a strand of Mythra’s hair strung into his harp. ]

[ Saber takes the initiative to hop straight down the hole first, summoning Excalibur so that its glow can mark the end of the ladder for Magilou. A proper light would be better, but Saber is a Saber, not a Caster...

She can imagine whom Tristan is referring to, eye contact or not. The majority of the town is thoughtful and orderly; there are only two people she can think of who might wield power for mischief, and she's pretty sure Tristan has a much higher opinion of Wei Wuxian than the other. Only one person tried to take the throne, raise an army of rebellion, and then steal Tristan's notebook and read embarrassing poetry out of it, after all. ]

You are thinking of Mordred.

[ It isn't even a question. Might as well be out and open about it... ]

[ The glow of the sword is bright enough to get her down the ladder safely. Saber can lead the way with her impromptu torch. It's probably better than Magilou inadvertently setting something huge on fire before they even get into it.

But the path itself is unbearably oppressive. There's so much malevolent energy that she half-expects to find a town infested with daemonblight at the end of the hallway. For such a painful amount of malevolence, it's incredible that it could be stored in such a small object like a book. And it's not even in sight yet. ]

Ah, the infamous Mordred.

[ She seemed to like that nickname, so Magilou is rolling with it. Her footsteps echo as she walks, each sound a punctuation on her thoughts. ]

Yyyyeah, about that. Is she the type to come in and steal something like this like she's... trying to prove herself, or something? Because if that's the case, we might need to get a little creative. You know her better than me - [ She's speaking specifically to Saber here, but Archer clearly knows a lot about her too, from the way he speaks, so her glance drifts to him. ] - so if we need a plan, I can come up with something.

[ As expected of the king, to always be prepared in any eventuality…

He flinches at hearing Mordred’s name, feeling quite guilty all of a sudden. But it’s true, of course. Wei Wuxian wouldn’t do all of those things, even if he’d laugh uproariously at Tristan’s poetry. ~~But that’s something everybody with any ounce of taste and class does~~ ]

I…do not object to her using this quill for the greater good.

[ He’ll just quietly bring up the rear like a proper archer should, then. In any case, that makes it easier for him to avoid eye contact, and the oppressive atmosphere masks his embarrassment well enough.

Or so he hopes. ]

But I have never been able to predict her actions, and so I cannot be certain that such things would be safe in her hands.

[ Saber has never had a mind for deception or manipulation. Look at her, she lived as a man but wore a straight dress into battle. She prefers to grant people opportunities first and retaliate later, and despite all their history, Mordred is no exception. It should perhaps be no surprise that Mordred's punishments have grown so outrageously cartoonish as to reach one million push-ups at a time.

But in this matter which potentially concerns all of Chroma and not just herself, she can't rightly overlook the risk that Mordred poses, nor can she make a decision for all of them. Tristan obtained the quill. If he's concerned about Mordred's behavior, then she has an obligation to help him address the problem. ]

I have rarely seen her cause trouble where you or I were not concerned, Archer, yet her compulsion for rebellion can indeed make her unpredictable in ways both small and large.

[ For Magilou's benefit, Saber elaborates. ]

Mordred takes pride in her title of the Knight of Rebellion. If you place a restraint on her, she will resent it. If she feels she is expected to rebel, she may instead rebel against expectations by conforming to the law. She has willfully made the act of being contrary her defining trait.

[ Excalibur's light runs up against a warped wooden door teeming with malevolence as if it's soaked up the ominous energy permeating the passageway. Undaunted, Saber simply opens it before continuing on. ]

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