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[heartscastaside.livejournal.com]

{In a flash of light and an outpouring of rather massive magical energy, a cloaked woman appears on the Plane. She face is mostly obscured by the hood of her cloak, but she seems surprised or even possibly upset}

---This is not possible. There is no Master. But that cannot be...

{Quietly,} How can I be here? Is this my punishment for losing the War? No...No, I have been summoned, but it's incomplete. But I...can't exist independently...

{But her muttering is interrupted as a small card falls from nowhere, which she snatches from the air. After reading it, the mysterious woman crumples it in her hand, smiling tightly.}

So that's it. The luxury of choosing one's own Master is quite an opportunity, but there is hardly any magic here at all. There are only remnants and simple humans here.

{Laughs} What a cruel joke! To summon Caster without a magus in sight! Ha, O gracious summoner, if you can hear this Caster, I must say that you have even less subtlety than the old gods! Ten days of life before returning to that miserable existence of nothingness, to oblivion! And you summon me within a Reality Marble, no less. No, I shall not die again. I refuse to relive my fate over and over again!

Comments

[collector]

Oh, I doubt they would bring you here only to discard you. They seem to enjoy storing subjects for a fairly long time. [a pause] Sorry, but the only sort of 'reality marble' I'm acquainted with is the toy of some---people I know, used to store miniature universes for rather engaging games of Stern-Halma. So what might you be referring to?

[heartscastaside.livejournal.com]

More importantly, who are you, sir?

[collector]

[he smiles] Irving Braxiatel. How do you do?

[heartscastaside.livejournal.com]

Not well. Tell me, do you know anything of the War for the Holy Grail?

[collector]

No, no, I haven't any idea about such a thing. Which is rather unusual for me.

But then, it's perfectly possible we're from different universes, isn't it?

[heartscastaside.livejournal.com]

Such a thing...I should not be here at all. It is not possible for me to be he---

{And again a card falls out of the air and Caster grabs it quickly to read it. And after she has, she laughs, slightly}

Different universes indeed. Who is it that has summoned me here without a Master?

[collector]

I couldn't say with any absolute certainty, but I would suggest that it would be the twins, Lapis and Lazuli, and that young woman, Meredith Sault. You may have seen them on your way in? They seem to be staging this performance.

[heartscastaside.livejournal.com]

There is no way in for one such as myself. I am a Servant who is to fight in the War for the Holy Grail. Without a Master, I...

The card says I have ten days to find one, but within such a place, it would be...impossible.

[collector]

[dryly] I have the misfortune of knowing two.

[but he looks at her with interest] You need magic, correct?

[heartscastaside.livejournal.com]

I...yes. I need a Master to exist in this world at all.

[collector]

Would lapsit exillis be able to extend your time here? Give you longer to look for a Master, whatever your requirements are.

[heartscastaside.livejournal.com]

You own such a thing?

[collector]

I'm a collector of sundry artefacts. About, oh... a very long time ago, I came across some of the material and thought it may be worth keeping. I haven't a lot, but it may sustain you for some time...

[heartscastaside.livejournal.com]

Yet you would offer such a valuable thing to a stranger. You're either quite the philanthropist or extremely foolish, Braxiatel.

[collector]

[his lips curl into some half-amused expression] I have been called foolish in my time. And philanthropic, too. I like to think of myself more as... circumspect. [he repeats the word in Homeric Greek] That word always reminds me of Penelope, εὖ φρεσὶ μήδεα οἶδε, waiting for πολύτροπος Odysseus. Of course, I'd have to disagree with circumspect Penelope on waiting for him, but that's how the story is written.

You haven't given me the honour of your name.

[heartscastaside.livejournal.com]

{Her lips purse tightly}

I am Caster, nothing more.

[collector]

If you insist.

Tell me, why do you fight for the Holy Grail?

[heartscastaside.livejournal.com]

It is a wish granting artifact. That is all the reason that anyone would need.

[collector]

By implication, one more reason is needed.

[heartscastaside.livejournal.com]

A wish worth fighting and dying for.

{She smiles} I assure you that I already have that.

[collector]

I'm afraid you'll find there is no War here, and very likely, no Holy Grail either, though I couldn't say that with certainty. Here, we just have people and space.

[heartscastaside.livejournal.com]

If that is the case, I should not be here at all. My existence is defined by fighting for that Grail.

[collector]

That can't be true. After all, you have a wish for it. That much implies that you seek something after it.

[heartscastaside.livejournal.com]

{Just smiles} Perhaps I do, or perhaps I do not.

Ahh, but I have been wondering about you, Braxiatel. What are you? You have magic within your veins, but you are not a magus at all, I can tell.

[collector]

Do I? How... pleasantly surprising! Aeons before I existed, my people's Founder was said to have gone on a bi of a rampage to wipe out all the magic in the universe. I imagine he wouldn't be happy to see it live on in us. Or perhaps it's the psi-gene you're picking up on. That has been used to give strength to magicians before.