crowspace | call me out v. 15.0

[Lancelot inclines his head a little to Mercy.] "Hello, Miss Moritz. I'm sorry to hear you've summoned such an unreliable Servant."

Ah, Lancelot is so mean. You and I remember things a little differently, I think.

"Really? He's been a big help so far!"

[At his complaining, Mercy reaches over and companionably pats Merlin's arm. It's okay, buddy. She appreciates you.]

"So! Since both our Servants are from Camelot... we should probably make an alliance, right?" [...Welp. She may not have a career as a diplomat ahead of her, but at least you can't fault her for honesty.]

[Unfortunately, it seems that Principal Eskender can.]

"Hm... I'm afraid not, Miss Moritz." [She closes her hand and the wards grow brighter. As long as she's focusing her power on them, no one is leaving this room.] "I've always the original designers of the Heaven's Feel erred, when they included the Caster class. In a battle where mages are meant to be the ultimate authority, bringing in a mage who is by definition more powerful than any of the Masters... was simply a foolish risk from the start."

[She's as polite and dignified as though they're discussing the weather. She's still a teacher, and this is merely a regrettably final lesson she intends to impart.]

"Perhaps if you had made this offer having summoned any other class... but then again, perhaps not. After all... meeting another Master alone in her own domain was a foolish risk, too."

[Her gaze hardens.]

"Saber? Don't waste this opportunity."

[So, that sure could have gone better.]

[In the split second of silent stillness before all hell breaks loose:] "Okay, if Miss Zuri gets mad at me for this, you have to tell her I tried."

"Yes, Master." [Lancelot's gaze is as hard and cold as his Master's as he draws his sword. There might have been a time he would have hesitated to bring his blade to bear on Merlin, but not now.]

It's a shame. I think we could have gotten to be good friends. [Merlin doesn't seem particularly fussed. There's no reason to worry, after all.

If he were a different Merlin, this might be a fight worth watching. Lancelot with Arondight, Merlin weaving spell after spell against him. It would be a long and difficult battle.

As things are, it's over as soon as it starts.

Lancelot swings his sword, and Merlin makes no attempt to dodge - Mercy can easily heal any flesh wound he takes. That puts him close enough for Merlin to press a finger against Lancelot's forehead.]

Go to sleep.

[...The sword slips from Lancelot's slack hands, followed by his knees hitting the floor.]

"How... so easily...?"

[And he's out like a light. Merlin smiles and steps over his fallen form.]

Now then. What should we do with you, I wonder?

[True to her word, Mercy is healing Merlin's injury almost the instant he takes it. Within a heartbeat, it's like he was never struck at all. Other sorts of spells, she's okay with- but healing is her specialty, and it shows.]

[Much like spells of sleep are his.]

"How-?!" [For the first time, there's a crack in Kelile Eskender's smooth facade, her expression shocked and coldly furious. Yes, she had expected a dangerous opponent- the dangers of a Caster were the entire reason she'd chosen to have this fight now, instead of giving him time to prepare.]

[If she'd actually been facing a Caster, maybe that would have been enough.]

"If you dare think I'll fall so easily..."

[A Master fighting an enemy Master and their Servant two-on-one is a terrible position, but surrendering without a fight is simply unacceptable. She raises a shield of light in front of her with one hand, using the other to cast a sudden sharp bolt of something that Mercy hastily ducks. There's a nasty crunching noise as it hits the wall behind her.]

"I think it's time to test a theory!" [Mercy grins wildly, still dodging for her life as the principal throws another spell her way.] "Anesthesia, please!"

[Merlin, that may be your cue. Congratulations, you've been promoted from court mage to surgical assistant.]

[He's honored!

Breaking the shield is first priority - he doesn't have the 100% Mythological Certainty advantage on her. Thorny vines spring up from the floor, trying to pierce through her shield, while a shimmering aura that should slow projectiles surrounds Mercy.]

Just a moment, please~

[Fortunately for them, like many modern mages, the principal is more of an academic than a combatant. She's throwing out some rather nasty spells, but she's a glass cannon at best.]

[(As anyone familiar with the school's fencing team could attest, the real challenge in a fight would have been her daughter.)]

[Still, it's for Zuri's sake that she calls for Merlin to put her to sleep, rather than go for a killing blow. She already wanted to avoid unnecessary deaths, and even if she does end up having to resort to more lethal methods eventually, she certainly doesn't want to start with her friend's mother.]

[...Even if the woman in question did just try to curse her to literally explode. Principal Eskender's not here to fuck around.]

[She's still dodging, it's fine.]

[In the end, while the principal doesn't fall easily, she can't stand up to Merlin's own spells for long.]

[The shield gives out, and Merlin manages a quick chant - something a little more involved than what he'd needed for Lancelot, but the result is the same.

As soon as the principal is out, Merlin breathes a sigh of relief.]

She should stay under long enough to take her Command Spells off.

Perfect!

[Mercy works with alarmingly well-practiced efficiency, laying the woman out carefully on the floor and reaching into her schoolbag to pull out a small black case. It's full of surgical tools.]

[She just. Carries scalpels around with her, apparently. Never know when you might need to operate on someone.]

What do you want to do with Sir Lancelot? Since he's your friend, you should get to decide.

Can we keep him, please? I can handle the mana if it's a problem!

[Like asking to keep a stray dog that followed him home, only this one is even more likely to bark and growl at you.]

[She smiles, pulling off her sweater and spread it out under the principal's arm to shield the woman's own clothes from what's about to happen.]

Sure! [As long as you promise to feed him and take him for walks. Remember, a knight is a big responsibility.] Maybe we should try keeping him on a minimal amount of mana to start with? Just enough to make sure he doesn't dissipate! That way he probably won't have the energy to stab anyone...

[Mercy pulls on a sterile pair of gloves and sets to her swift, careful work.]

[Surgery is rarely clean and pretty, but in this field Mercy is an artist. There is not even one single unnecessary cut made, no drop of blood wasted where it need not be spent. The incision is made, the hand bearing the command seals is removed neatly at the wrist and stored in a glass jar full of unidentified fluid, the wound is sealed over.]

[For all the power and authority she yet holds, Kelile Eskender is no longer Saber's Master.]

[Due to the relative speed of the procedure, the sweater seems to have been sufficient to soak up most of the blood, and she bundles the used tools in it for later cleaning, along with the thoroughly bloodied gloves. Best not to leave even more evidence behind.]

[Even with her skills, Mercy would never have attempted surgery in such an unsterile environment without magic as a stopgap. The work itself done, she presses a hand to the principal's elbow, prepared to send healing into her, burning out any infection that might take root... and stops.]

[She's considering something, a chance to try something new. She thinks it will work, but it will be costly... still. It's something she can do for her patient, so she has to try.]

Speaking of mana... You might need to get us home, if this takes more out of me than I think.

[And without further delay, she sends her power down into the principal's arm and pushes it to regrow the missing hand.]

[Tendon, bone- she knows every part of human flesh. So did you, didn't you, this body? She speaks to you, living marrow, living blood. She knows your ways, she knows your memory. Surely you grew this once, built this once. Can't you do it again, if she gives you the power, shows you the way?]

[Like a flower unfurling in time lapse photography, a new hand sprouts to replace the old.]

[The back of the new hand is bare. The command seals remain on the severed original, still sealed in the jar.]

[Mercy grins triumphantly.]

I think we just proved our theory- oop! [Okay, tried to stand up a little too fast after doing big magic, there. She's just. Gonna sit down until the dizziness passes, it's fine.]

[It's beautiful, in a way. Mercy cuts the hand off neatly, precisely, and then grows a new hand to replace the old. If he hadn't watched it happen, he wouldn't say that hand was anything but natural.

Lancelot will appreciate that, he thinks. Cutting off someone's hand is a bad start to any relationship.

Merlin sits down beside Mercy, one hand on her shoulder.]

A teleportation spell home, I think. No one will notice if you don't leave the school the usual way, and it's easier than carrying Lancelot with us.

[As funny as he personally would find it to bridal carry a sleeping Lancelot, that would probably tire him out.

He weaves the spell carefully, includes a few safety measures to make sure they don't get stuck in a wall somehow - and then they're back in Mercy's home. Mercy, Merlin, and one snoozing knight.]

Let me take care of dinner tonight. You worked hard.

[It probably wouldn't have helped her relationship with the principal much, either. ...Admittedly it probably still won't really be great after this, but.]

[It was just bad luck, is the thing. She did everything right, practical and by the book. Mercy can't fault her, can't point to any bad strategic choices their enemy made, she just got really unlucky without knowing why. Somehow, being unkind to her in victory just wouldn't feel fair.]

[She's still young enough that being fair feels very important somehow, even though she's already old enough to know that the world usually isn't.]

Oof- [She gives a deep sigh as she flops down on the couch, dropping her bag and its alarmingly bloody contents to the floor. The bell jar she keeps ahold of, out of a long-instilled instinct not to be careless with any glass specimen containers- you only need to crack a terrarium and unleash a bunch of crickets in your own lab once for that lesson to stick.] ...thank you.

[She smiles warmly at Merlin. Part of her thinks she should argue as a good host, but between the mana drain and the adrenaline crash she's already kind of tired, and letting someone else handle cooking sounds really nice right now.]

I think he's wrong, you know. You help a lot.

[Leaning back into the warm, comfy cushions of her beat-up old couch, instinctively hugging the bell jar to herself like a teddy bear, Mercy Moritz falls asleep and begins to dream.]

[She'll deal with the fully-grown man they just kidnapped in the morning.]

Edited 2022-01-27 01:07 (UTC)

[Merlin isn't much of a cook himself, but he throws a few sandwiches together - something that will keep nicely in the fridge until Mercy wakes up - then settles down for a nap himself.

His king is always stressed. She never shows it to anyone else, because she can't, but you can see it in the shadows under her eyes.

"You haven't been sleeping well." A statement, not a question. When you ask questions it's mostly to point out that the answers should be obvious already.

Artoria sighs. "Not for some time."

"It isn't much, but I know a charm to let you rest easy. May I?"

Without a moment of hesitation, she nods. You press your hand over her forehead and murmur the spell, too low for her to make out any of the actual words.

It won't take until that night, and by then, you won't be anywhere close to her to be blamed.

In the morning, the castle is in a tizzy: the king will not wake. You take a look at her and make the appropriate comments about curses, while noting to yourself that she's never looked this peaceful in her waking hours.]

[In the early morning, Mercy wakes up to find that she's not only still clutching the jar to herself like a plush toy, she's also somehow managed to sleep-cocoon herself in the blanket draped on the back of the couch, curled up in a small ball, and acquired a cat sleeping on her head.]

[A quiet mumble to herself, still half-asleep:] Did it... really happen that way...?

[Extracting herself from the tangled mess of cushions, fuzzy blankets, and Pathos takes a bit of delicate work, but in the end she manages to emerge without significant disruption.]

[With the pre-dawn quiet still lingering in the air, she slips off to go take a shower and change into something she didn't almost get murdered in. Feeling slightly more awake with that done, she scoops up the jar again and wanders into the kitchen, smiling happily as she discovers the sandwiches in the fridge.]

[Merlin wakes before Lancelot (who was sleeping on the floor), although only by about a minute or so. It means that when Lancelot starts to stir, and takes in that he is not with his Master and that Merlin is smiling at him, Merlin can immediately cut off his protests.]

"What-"

Your former Master is alive and well, and Mercy healed her after taking her Command Spells, so really you have nothing to complain about. Also, don't yell in here, you'll scare the cats.

[...Lancelot still doesn't look particularly happy about this setup. Can't imagine what he's mad about, really.]

[Logos appears to have taken Lancelot sleeping on the floor as permission to curl up on his chest, forming a tidy and faintly judgemental-looking little three-headed kittyloaf.]

[He is very suspicious of this new thing, who is even larger than Merlin and does not smell right at all.]

[His efforts at being a guard cat probably aren't going to keep Lancelot pinned if he actually wants to move, but at least he's making an effort.]

Good morning~!

[Also, the noise has attracted Mercy.] I found the leftovers in the fridge, does anyone want breakfast?

[...Yeah, she's still holding that specimen jar. She also appears to have attached a series of thin silver wires to the hand inside.]

[There is a cat on his chest. Even Lancelot knows not to take his confusion and frustration out on an innocent(? it has three heads?) animal, so he carefully picks it up and puts it on the floor before standing.]

"If you want me to obey you, you'll need to use one of those Command Spells."

Lancelot's difficult to manage at first, but he warms up to people over time.

[And all three of those heads have never done anything wrong, ever, in their life.]

[Logos goes mrrt in a tone of extreme disapproval at being picked up, then stalks off to go twine lovingly around Mercy's ankles.]

Oh, I'm pretty sure I can! I have things all set up to channel magic, see? [Not being able to see the jar clearly was definitely not the problem he had here, but good luck getting her to realize that.] But "obey", hmm... mostly I just want you to not try to kill us again?

[Like, she's not judging, it is a Grail War, but he very much did try to kill them. So, you know. Fair's fair.]

Killing one or both of you would have stopped that pretty well, I guess- but I didn't want to kill Zuri's mom, and I don't think Merlin wanted to kill one of his friends, so this seemed better!

[Depending on how long he spent hanging around his former Master in spirit form, Lancelot may have met Zuri already- or at least seen her. A dutiful daughter, stern and hardworking, clearly the pride of her family... and, despite all logic, something very much like a friend to Mercy.]

[She doesn't have so many of those that she'd be willing to throw one away.]

[Lancelot has, in fact, met Zuri. He has some idea of what she means to his Master - former Master. And Mercy does not seem like a person capable of any guile.]

"...I wouldn't call Merlin a friend." [Slow, reluctant.] "But I won't fruitlessly attack you again. Being put to sleep that easily was embarrassing."

Well, it is one of my specialties. Though you wouldn't know that, I suppose.

[She really isn't. Endlessly clever, but about as cunning as a rock.]

[She blinks, tilting her head in confusion.]

He wouldn't? I thought you two knew each other when you were alive, didn't you...?

[Merlin smiles. Even for someone savvier than Mercy, the expression would be impossible to read.]

You said that I abandoned Camelot. That might have been what 'your' Merlin did, but not me. I did everything I could to keep all of you alive.

[Lancelot should be reassured by that. That was what he was bitter at Merlin for. ...So why does he find himself at a loss for words?]

"Your"... [Mercy frowns.] Exactly... how many Merlins are there? As a rough numerical estimate?

...This isn't getting into alternate universes, is it? Because we had to promise not to allow any kaleido-stuff into the city after the thing with Mr. Zeltretch that one time. Zuri's mom was really serious about that one.

[...it's probably better not to ask.]

It's a little bit alternate universes. Sorry.

"...What?" [Lancelot's not following this any better either.]

Well... "a little bit" is probably okay...

[A phrase that has caused incredible amounts of trouble throughout pretty much the entire span of human history.]

So... how did things change, then? And how did you get summoned here? [At least she's pondering it from a scientific perspective, and not an emotional one.]

The Throne records from all timelines, not just Proper Human History. There's no reason a distinct version of a Heroic Spirit shouldn't be summoned once recorded.

As for changes... As Lancelot says, the 'proper' Merlin abandoned Camelot, and I didn't. That's all there is to it, really.

[Surely the details aren't important.]

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cw: vague narration of surgery

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