Parallel Hearts

Fate/Crimson Dusk

𝚆𝚑𝚒𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚃𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝

𝙼𝚞𝚛𝚊𝚜𝚊𝚔𝚒 𝙷𝚒𝚏𝚞𝚖𝚒

"I see, so that's like one of those stories about literal geniuses. Unless we word our requests in a way that can't be used against us, we are bound to be suffer the consequences for a lack of 'context', right? I'll take note of that," Hifumi said to Church Ape. The more he tried to explain their blunders by making it subjectively more complex, the worst he made his case in her opinion. But, by all means, she wouldn't forbid him from trying. Seeing how a supposed Executor of the Church was being wrapped around her finger was at least entertaining enough for the time being.

𝙰𝚛𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚛 - 𝙰𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚊

Assassin was lucky that Atalanta noticed a trace of the Clock Tower's smell on him right in the moment he chose to materialize in front of them. Otherwise, he might as well have had a very uncomfortable date with an arrow.

The fanfare of his introduction earned a frown from the Archer. Even so, she dismissed her bow and said, "Archer, Atalanta. Now that you are here, it'll save us the trouble of tracking you down later," in a voice that sounded more like that of an angry beast that had her territory invaded, or their meal interrupted, than that of a human.

Just as a flock of blackbirds cried in the distance announcing the upcoming twilight, Archer said, "We should go back. It's about time we begin this war," and leapt off the tower, turning back into her Spirit Form halfway through the fall.

𝙽𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙷𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜

𝙼𝚞𝚛𝚊𝚜𝚊𝚔𝚒 𝙷𝚒𝚏𝚞𝚖𝚒

"Very well then, Rider. I'll not hinder you by tagging along. When you and Archer think that it's safe I shall follow. In the meanwhile, I'll be waiting here," Hifumi said to her Servant as they got to the northern edge of the forest and set up a double-layered bounded field on the hillside, cutting a small section of it almost completely out of the world with a boundary line that reached into Imaginary Numbers Space, to protect herself.

"May I ask what you'll do, Miss Paula? Despite this 'illusion' being as much of an amateur trick as I thought it would be, wadding into their territory will probably hinder our Servants' abilities to fight back as they please. Nevertheless, if you wish to 'join the fray', I won't stop you by any means," Hifumi asked Archer's Master as she sat down on a rock, unfurled a scroll, and began to write what seemed to be the continuation of a story in it.

𝙰𝚛𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚛 - 𝙰𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚊

Atalanta crouched down and scooped a handful of soil as they stepped into the forest, taking a moment to analyze it. The total silence and stillness of the air inside of it was unnatural enough for her to guess, but the forest soil was what convinced Archer of the truth.

"This forest is dead. There's not a single natural beast living in it," she said to Rider (and probably Assassin) as she quickly leapt on the tree branches and disappeared between the foliage.

"If the enemy's stronghold is in the center of this forest, we should focus on penetrating as deep to the south as we can. Just beware that anything that moves here is certain to be an enemy," she said from the branches above. The extremely low visibility inside the woods was no impediment for Archer who gracefully advanced into enemy territory, unseen and unheard among the sickly-looking trees.

A predator could hunt even when there was no moon in the sky and no wind to carry their prey's scent, and so could Atalanta.

Fate/Crimson Dusk

I'll write a follow up post tomorrow.

@ItMeGritty, @floodtalon, I assume that Rider and Assassin are probably going to tag along with Archer now, right? Since they are already hanging around (quite literally) at the moment. If one of you wants to move first you can go forward.

This will 3 Servants for the other two locations. Which would most logically be Saber + Caster and Berserker acting alone since it's unsafe to team up with a madman.

That seems about right at this time, I imagine.

Fate/Crimson Dusk

I guess that I'll wait to reply after that as well, then.

Fate/Crimson Dusk

𝙼𝚞𝚛𝚊𝚜𝚊𝚔𝚒 𝙷𝚒𝚏𝚞𝚖𝚒

"Very convenient. It saves up some effort. That said, you could have made that clear from the very beginning when you were asked," Hifumi said in a nonchalant after Church Ape made his demonstration. She thought that there was supposed to be some effort to be put into this cooperation but it looked like she was the only one thinking of it properly.

"What a waste of time," she thought, sighing. Allowing herself to be affected by those below her station was too unbecoming for her to even consider, after all.

"Well, given this late revelation, I believe that we will have some free time until we are allowed to do what we came here for. If that's the case, what is it that you wished to talk about, Miss Paula?" Hifumi said completely moving away from the previous issue almost as if it didn't exist.

Fate/Crimson Dusk

𝙼𝚞𝚛𝚊𝚜𝚊𝚔𝚒 𝙷𝚒𝚏𝚞𝚖𝚒

"If I got a yen every time I was right about something regarding this 'mission'," Hifumi sighed as she heard the Priest's answer to Lancer's question.

Of course she shouldn't expect the Church to know how Magi do battle with one another. Thankfully, she was more than able to remedy it.

"Sure, I believe that we should begin by setting up a workshop, then. Setting up a bounded field to repel unwanted attention and ward off uninvited guests, would be a good beginning, but better a course of action should be considered later. A wall, no matter how thick it's is nothing for a proper Magus' when it comes to scrying methods, after all. We cannot simply assume that we are safe here," Hifumi said, answering Paula's question. Having someone competent with magic similar to hers would expedite the creation of a proper bounded field many times over.

𝙰𝚛𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚛 - 𝙰𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚊

"This is not a war that we need to keep secrecy about one another. Knowing our allies True Names and skills would greatly benefit everyone, thus you shouldn't rue over thy Master, Rider. There probably was no way she would understand your intentions," Atalanta replied in a nonchalant from her perch.

"No. But that's the unnatural part of it. I cannot see the trees, smell the leaves, or hear the cries of the forest beasts. I want to investigate further into those hills, but our Masters are taking their time with their setup," she replied after being asked if she noticed something.

Fate/Crimson Dusk

Well, I'll have a reply out soon-ish. Before that, let me ask:

@vancexentan Did Atalanta notice anything worthy of note from up there?

I'm imagining a city in the middle of the country side in the way you described would have an average height radio mast/tower (something in the ball park of 1000 ft/300 meters), but if the place is very hilly or has many high obstructions nearby, a tower like this can easily reach double this height.

Just to give you some manner of comparison, this should allow Atalanta to sense (not only by sight, but also smell, and hearing, depending on the source of the stimulus) things within a couple dozen kilometers or so (since the horizon at the lowest standard height is more than 50 kilometers away).

This should be at last enough for her to notice the forest, if not the whole territory of the enemy, I think. But ultimately, you say it.

Either way,

I'm actually not finding this too bad. Atalanta and Bellerophon should be bros for life.

@ItMeGritty

That last post makes me want to complicate Bel's life. By placing him at an unwanted love triangle with Hifumi pinning for him (maybe thinking about abusing her CSs to make he love her in return), and Atalanta unaware that this whole debacle is even happening.

That would certainly be interesting.

Fate/Crimson Dusk

I see.

Well, I suppose there's only so much that can be done. So let's see what happens.

Fate/Crimson Dusk

Well, seems like we lost most of the initial steam, huh?

I wonder if we'll even move forward enough to accomplish anything. But, in case we don't, I do have a suggestion for the next time you try to run anything like this: Not delaying the parts of the game that everyone is truly interested into.

We are at this for about two weeks and haven't seen a sliver of action so, condensing the intro section would probably make the story pick up momentum faster, flow better, and (potentially) truly snag everyone's attention enough that they will want to do their best.

I'm not saying this out of animosity, mind you. But seeing your background with this specific idea, it should be accurate to say that the best show in the world is still nothing if it can't secure an audience to indulge in it.

And, in case we do move forward enough to reach any significant conclusion, disregard what I just mentioned above.

Fate/Crimson Dusk

𝙼𝚞𝚛𝚊𝚜𝚊𝚔𝚒 𝙷𝚒𝚏𝚞𝚖𝚒

The travel up to the Holy Grail War grounds was a good opportunity to lay down some cooperation plans. Especially those based around their Servants' respective skills. On her side, Hifumi would be willing to lend any information needed, as long as Rider didn't feel about being secretive—which didn't seem to be the case given his introduction. She could only hope that the others wouldn't try to be as misanthropic as Assassin's Master. That would be truly boring.

"Thank you for your kindness, Priest-sama," Hifumi bowed after their host made his rulings known. There was a slight hint of sarcasm in her mannerism but it would probably fly right over the head of anyone not acquainted with the Japanese culture. Nevertheless, these people didn't deserve any better for being so openly moronic about their bigotry.

She was here for one reason, and one reason only. In the grand scheme of things, their opinions didn't matter. At all.

"You are free to do as you wish from now onward, Rider. Just be sure to not cause too much of a ruckus and, avoid contact with these priests. They are too boorish to appreciate beauty such as yours," Hifumi said—with the last two sentences being spoken through their spiritual link—reaching forth to her Servant's hands.

"I'll be downstairs if anyone needs me. I have to begin preparations as soon as possible. The faster we do this, the faster we can go back to our normal lives."

𝙰𝚛𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚛 - 𝙰𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚊

"Can I of thee to accompany me in scouting for the duration of this war, Rider?" Atalanta said not very long after they were in flight, after introducing herself by her True Name.

"The Slayer of the Chimera would be as good companion as I can ever ask for," she added in an overly formal way, typical of high esteem that the Heroic Spirits of the Greek Age of the Gods usually held for one another.

When they arrived at their destination, Archer didn't even bothered with getting inside the church. Instead, she stepped away from her Master as soon as the resident priest himself known. "That kind of man is only good for causing trouble," she said in a voice loaded with animosity as she disappeared, vanishing back into her Spirit Form.

"I'll be out scouting. Don't worry about it, I won't be very far away, Master," Archer added through their Master-Servant connection.

Needless to say, Atalanta's notion of "not very far away," was a little skewed, since she roamed the city in her Spirit Form until finding a lone radio tower a couple kilometers away from the church. There, she perched herself atop one of the tallest antennas, turning back into her physical body so that she could properly scout the countryside area.

Finding her location wouldn't be very complicated for any of the allied Servants since she wasn't trying to hide from them. But, for the time being, the Chaste Huntress stood lonely at the tower reading the winds as she looked for any suspicious movements in the distance.

Fate/Crimson Dusk

I imagine that now that everyone is accounted for we can move forward to the main stage, right? Any conversation about plans that needs to/may be done, can be done either on the way to the War Grounds or after we arrive there, it would be much more practical this way, I believe so.