crowspace | call me out v. 15.0

[It's probably unavoidable. We're just going to have to resign ourselves now.]

You'll probably get the chance, if you're coming with me tomorrow! ...Well, you'll get to see her, at least. You probably shouldn't manifest physically in the middle of the school.

[Although, she has to admit, it would be pretty educational.]

As fun as it would be to see the looks on your classmates' faces, I think I'll stay invisible.

[Unless he has to defend her or something, in which case he's not responsible for whatever happens.]

[Mercy giggles.] That would be pretty great!

[Listen, sometimes you just have to beat up people for threatening your tiny goth buddy in the middle of a public school. Things happen. It's fine.]

I think our class president would still try to make you get a visitor's pass, even though you're magic. Miss Zuri is really determined! ...She is the principal's daughter, though, so she probably already knows about mage stuff.

[So, a Master currently hanging out after hours in a school that just so happens to be run by a mage. A mage who cares at least enough about her position to have officially claimed this land and produced an heir, and now has a Holy Grail War happening on said land.]

[...Who is noted for being very dedicated to her job, and might plausibly be working in her office on campus, even late at night on a Sunday. Hm.]

[That's probably fine.]

[That's probably fine, but...]

Mercy. I should ask you this now before we get ahead of ourselves: what do you want to do with enemy Masters when we find them?

[He can't picture her cheerfully saying 'let's kill them!', but just leaving them alone is... potentially a problem.]

Hm. [To her credit, she does appear to be giving due consideration to the question instead of just brushing it off with an airy 'oh it'll be fine'.] I think it would depend on what they're trying to do to us at the time?

I'd be happy to find allies, so I don't want to be the first one to start a fight- but you should definitely fight back if you get attacked... You don't need to worry about protecting me, though! I can heal myself really well, so as long as I don't die instantly, even a potentially fatal injury won't take me down for good!

Strategically... you've probably been in a lot more fights than I have. Do you think your powers would be better suited to getting around another Servant to attack their Master, or fighting that Servant directly?

I'm more of a support mage than an offensive one, so it'd be easier to go for the Master, but I'll defer to your call.

[If he needs to fight other Servants, he will.]

There's also... maybe another option. I don't like to make definitive statements about things until I've tested them, but it's potentially a very exciting possibility!

So, in the records I've managed to find, it's definitely been possible for people to transfer command seals from one Master to another, right? And there's also been mentions of people losing access to command seals by having the body part they're on chopped off, right?

[She's looking more and more, uh. Yeah, that's definitely her mad science face. It's adorably enthusiastic, but also slightly alarming considering the context.]

We don't actually need a Master to die to take them out of the War, do we? We just need them to not be a Master anymore. And I'm very good with surgery.

Plus, then I'd have a whole extra hand's worth of command seals to run tests on!

Ohhh, that's a great idea.

[it really is not, merlin, why are you like this]

[Mercy sees nothing alarming with having a fun little collection of severed limbs in her apartment. It's always nice to have some spare parts around in case you need them for anything.]

[Besides, if she wants to make it up to them after the War, then all she has to do is grow them a replacement hand, right? Cloning one little body part shouldn't be too much trouble, especially if she already has a nice hefty tissue sample...]

[As increasingly worrying as this partnership is, maybe we should still be glad she didn't summon Nightingale.]

It is pretty hard to operate on a moving body, though- do you have anything that could stop someone moving? Putting them to sleep somehow would be ideal! Most people have a surprisingly low pain tolerance, so it would be a lot better if they weren't awake to experience the operation.

Edited 2022-01-15 23:36 (UTC)

Oh, that's my best subject! I could put this whole city to sleep if I had enough mana, but that wouldn't be any fun.

[Because those are important priorities.]

Plus, it'd be really hard to time it right! You'd have to avoid knocking too many people out while they're driving or operating heavy machinery, otherwise the collateral damage could get pretty severe.

[Listen, she's not going to judge. If he wants to reenact Sleeping Beauty as a hobby, that's his personal business. ...She could possibly stand to be a little more judgemental, actually. This girl has no frame of reference for what is and isn't a threat.]

[...Maybe it's fair to cut him some slack on the car thing, though. Grail knowledge or not, he did come from an era where horses were the main mode of transportation. Heck, you could pass out drunk on a horse and it'd just keep walking home without you.]

I do have another project I'm working on that could give us a big advantage, if it turns out right... but I think it's too early to say anything about that one for sure! It's still in the preliminary testing phases. [She winks.] If it passes the safety checks, it can be a fun surprise!

[Everybody likes surprises, right?]

...Ooh, there's that Indian takeout place with the really good curry! Do you want me to get extra for you? [Look, she needs to eat, okay. She's a growing girl. Priorities.]

Ooh, I'm looking forward to it.

[Merlin loves surprises! They're pretty rare for people with Clairvoyance, after all.]

Absolutely! No one in Britain can cook decently, I swear.

So British food was like that back then, too... I promise, we have real flavors now!

[No offense, it's just she's seen what the English think counts as "spicy" and it's frankly sad.]

One good meal alone would make being summoned plenty worth it.

[Not that he doesn't think it'll be worth it otherwise! Just... yeah. Bland.]

[She ends up getting enough for several good meals, on the grounds that he's inhuman and she is a teenager. They can always put the leftovers in the fridge for later.]

[The lady behind the counter seems to recognize Mercy as a regular, although she doesn't seem particularly emotionally invested in the fact. Then again, it's a service industry job and this is the evening shift. At this point, counter lady is probably too tired to give a shit about anything less than something bursting into actual, literal flames.]

[Mercy is polite, and tips well.]

[Opening the takeout containers back at the apartment reveals that she wasn't kidding about an appreciation for actual flavor. Also apparently an appreciation for chicken. She needs the protein for brain fuel.]

[She grabs Logos by the collar with one hand to block his attempt at shoving all three of his heads directly into her styrofoam container of curry rice and picks up a plastic fork with the other. In between bites, she asks:]

So, what do you think of the city?

It's beautiful. If we have another day off, I'd like to spend more time in the parks.

[He may be called the Mage of Flowers less often recently, but he does still like seeing them.]

I sensed three magi on our trip, although I was only able to narrow down the locations of two. One at your school and one at the police station.

That does sound fun! They're really nice, I've been trying to see if I can train the local pigeons by feeding them when I visit.

[Train them to do what, exactly? ...Listen. Don't worry about it. It's fine.]

Hmm... the one in the school would probably be the principal, I guess? Ms. Eskender does work pretty late sometimes! As for the police station... hm. [She frowns thoughtfully.] I don't know of any mages working in law enforcement here... [She trails off, suddenly growing solemn as a thought occurs to her.]

But I guess it would make sense for someone there to know about magic, since they didn't do much of an investigation after the- [She breaks off.]

After. [Just "after".]

[Not something to poke at. If he has to know, he'll find out whether he wants to or not. That is how Clairvoyance works, after all.]

Magi usually like to have their hands in any organization with real power, in my experience.

[She appreciates it. ...Besides, if the dreams go both ways, the question might answer itself.]

I guess they could also be there because they've been arrested! ...But I think a mage could probably figure out how to get out of jail, if they wanted.

[Through magic or, for most of the Clock Tower peerage, the power of having a lot of money.]

If you still want to try talking to the principal tomorrow, we could try to hang around after classes let out, so we can meet her without too many people around.

[The day passes without further event, and tomorrow rolls around without dreams for either of them. Small mercies.

Merlin hangs around invisibly during class, resisting the urge to make commentary. It'd be bad if Mercy started giggling for no reason... although, knowing Mercy, it probably wouldn't be the weirdest thing she's done in school.

After classes let out and the students file out of the building, that leaves them still there.]

Ready?

[By now, Mercy's classmates are pretty much unanimously of the opinion that whenever she starts laughing about something, they're happier not knowing why.]

[Overall, Estrella Academy seems fairly normal- a nice, well-funded school, perhaps, but still nothing out of the ordinary as modern schools go. Despite all their funding, the cafeteria food is still deeply terrible.]

[Through the mental link:] Ready! [She sounds just as cheery through telepathy as she does in person.]

Her office is right over here... [Mercy knocks politely on the door, lets herself into the waiting room, and politely explains to the secretary that she's here to see the principal.]

[She does not offer a specific explanation as to why, and the secretary pointedly doesn't ask. It's after hours, she just wants to go home, she doesn't want to know what this horrible gremlin child has done in the biology lab today. Please don't tell her. Just talk to the principal and fucking leave, they're not paying her enough to know about this.]

[Mercy agreeably takes a seat on one of the plastic waiting room chairs while the secretary checks with Mrs. Eskender to see if she's in. But by now, Merlin can probably already guess that she is.]

[Because there's absolutely a Servant on the other side of that office door.]

[It's a nice, normal school. Would be a shame if it became a battleground.]

There's another Servant here. They probably won't pick a fight while there are still people around but... best to be careful, Mercy.

[The secretary absolutely does not get paid enough to be collateral damage.]

Well, I guess we probably won't need to tell her the Grail War's happening in Verdette this time!

[As the Second Owner, it was pretty unlikely that she didn't already know- but politeness would still dictate that she mention it.]

[As it is, after a couple moments the secretary directs them into the principal's office and pointedly returns to her game of solitare.]

[The door shuts behind them with an audible click, and a detectable engaging of wards- soundproofing and concealment, mostly. It seems someone doesn't want this talk being overheard by anyone outside this room. ...Or perceived, at all.]

"I don't believe you had an appointment, Miss Moritz."

[Welp. If there was any possible doubt about this woman being a Master, it's gone now. That sense of a Servant in here is definitely linked to her.]

"Oh, was I supposed to call? Sorry! I just thought you'd want to know." [Her single coolly-raised eyebrow and artfully dry tone, calculated for just the right level of refined authority and mild threat, are tragically wasted on Mercy, who registers absolutely none of the intended menace whatsoever.] "You know, about the War!"

[What? It's not like either of them needs to bother pretending at this point.]

[It is a prime example of subtly threatening aura, definitely not achieved on accident. If Mercy not picking up on it is annoying to her opponents, all the better.

Merlin hangs close to Mercy's side. Just in case.]

Really, she should be thanking you for being considerate.

[Principal Eskender's demeanor makes it very clear that she considers herself to be in control here: this is her territory, her wards around them sealing off the outside world.]

[The curtains are drawn back from the window, and outside the sun is beginning to set- but even as they look out, no one can see in. Nothing will enter this room without its owner's permission.]

[And she might not be inclined to let them leave without it, either.]

I guess she probably has a pretty busy schedule! It makes sense she'd want to plan things in advance.

[Generally, if someone is getting the social situation wrong, Mercy's going to assume it's probably her.]

"I do, in fact, know about the War, young lady." [It's slightly too dignified to be sarcasm, but there's still an edge to it.] "And your Servant would be...?"

[Even Mercy can tell she's probably asking for a Class, here. But she's not going to call Merlin by a name he's uncomfortable with. ...She's also not very comfortable with lying to people, though.]

[Faced with the minor dilemma, she opts to sidestep the issue entirely.]

"Da-ge, would you mind coming out now? I think she wants to meet you..."

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cw: discussion of involuntary surgery

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