caughtinanetwork | I // [video]

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I // [video]

[The screen flickers slightly before revealing a smiling young face, red eyes wide in wonder as she stares at the camera. The girl looks very excited, or at least eager to see what this device does. There's almost a sense of pride emanating from her - after all, being in a family of magi meant that they avoided contact with modern technology as much as possible. So getting this thing to work is quite the accomplishment, and she looks around for a few moments around the edge of the screen - checking things, probably - before looking back at the camera.

Unfortunately, she doesn't notice that it's upside down.]

Hello everyone! I'm Ilyasviel von Einzbern, but Ilya is fine. I'm new here, so I'm looking for someone to be my older brother!

[She smiles again. It's not in her intention to further explain what an older brother entails, since the best older brothers would already know what to do without her telling them. Ideally, the older brother would be someone who's actually older than her, but if they act and look older than her, that's fine too. All things considered, that really shouldn't be too hard...]

I guess a big sister would be okay too... but a big brother would be better. So, someone come play with me, okay?

[Her eyes wander off to the sides of the screen again. A few moments pass by as this continues, and the girl mutters a barely audible 'how do you turn this off?']

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[The man looks rather uncomfortable, and she wonders what's on his mind.]

The world works in mysterious ways. It's not like I would rather be here, but I might as well enjoy whatever I can, right?

[It's a strange feeling. On the one hand, her not being back means she's liberated from being the vessel of the Grail, a fate she thought she was shackled to. On the other hand, the notion of leaving all those people behind to face the shadow on their own...

But she continues to smile. She just doesn't see a point in trying to burn herself out doing what everyone else thinks is impossible right now.]

Making the best of the situation, hm? It isn't logic I can heavily disagree with.

[Waver decides to smooth over his initial discomfort rather than call attention to it. He isn't certain he wants her to realise he knows anything related to her at the moment.]

[Ilya nods in agreement. This man doesn't seem to be the happiest of men, but someone who appreciates realism. It's not in her nature to be idealistic either.]

And what about you? Are you new here too?

Unfortunately.

[He has no problem displaying his sheer lack of enthusiasm.]

[Ilya tries not to get the man's foul mood get to her, but it's very hard to stay cheerful at a face like that.]

And what's your name? It's rude to not introduce yourself to a lady, you know.

[She only says this because she's not exactly in a happy mood, either. And because he looks like a grown man who should know better.]

[He arches a brow and snorts, but it's more amusement than anything else.]

Waver Velvet El-Melloi.

[El-Melloi... she's definitely heard that name before. It wasn't that long ago, was it?

-- ah!]

You're that Lord El-Melloi that Rin was talking about... aren't you?

[This means he could know about her. The Einzberns are a very well-known name in the world of magi, after all, even if she wasn't a magus herself. The fact that he might have been hiding this from her makes her a little suspicious.]

Rin was? That can't have been anything good.

[Well, there's that, then. More than anything, he's somewhat bemused Rin spoke of him enough for his name to be memorable-- but then, she'd come to Clocktower and all but demanded him, personally, so it isn't entirely surprising. He just sighs.]

You're the Einzbern that took part in the Fifth Holy Grail War, then?

[She falls silent for a moment, considering how much or little to say about her involvement. There's certainly no point in denying a truth, and it's true that she has lost Berserker. But the fact that he knows of the Fifth War must mean that he's either from the same time period as her or after.

Eventually, she nods.]

That's right. And just what do you know about the Grail War?

[She's still on her guard against him. He doesn't seem all too pleasant as it is.]

Enough to not think highly of it. It's a disgusting practice that causes more harm than the supposed reward is worth.

[He has a lot of feelings about the Holy Grail War. None of them pleasant, really.]

[She's probably not the best person to empathize with, but the fact that Ilya is indeed the vessel of the Grail does give her a little bit of perspective.

That this man knows enough to say something like that about the reward, though... did he see the end of the Fourth War? Or he possibly knows how it ends for her - no, she isn't going to ask.]

Well, humans by nature have desires. If something so omnipotent appears, isn't it natural for them to want it?

The ends do not justify the means; in some cases, the ends themselves can't be justified to begin with. Tell me, do you have any idea how many innocent children lost their lives during the Fourth War because one of the Masters simply enjoyed torture as a hobby?

[She indeed has no idea. The Einzberns told her the bare minimum about the previous war, and Ilya didn't really care for the details except for the fact that Kiritsugu never came back. The other things are irrelevant.

Apparently not for him.]

Everyone will want to change what they don't like, and everyone's idea of good or bad is different. And the Grail in itself is not a good or a bad thing.

[Well, it was like that, once. Since the failure of the Third War, the Grail has held the manifestation of all the evils of the world... and it's up her to fix that.]

[He lets her speak with the most unimpressed expression on his face.]

You must know as well as I do that the Grail system has been corrupted.

[So he does know. His disgust is a little more justified now that she has a better perspective of the extent of his knowledge... but she doesn't like that he didn't say anything of it earlier.]

It is. But that doesn't make the entire premise a corrupt venture... once it is fixed, that won't be a concern.

[And Einzbern will win, the mission for which she was created to fulfill.]

Perhaps not, but a selfish one, certainly. I don't intend to see it fixed; I intend to see it dismantled. The cost to those uninvolved in the third through fifth Wars was far too great to consider any other course of action.

[He can't fault her for defending it, though. It is in part one of her family's greatest works, after all.]

[... dismantled?

On the one hand, her nature as an Einzbern is rejecting the notion as fervently as it can. Without the Holy Grail, not only does Einzbern lose the objective they strove to achieve for hundreds of years, but she herself loses her very reason for existing. And having a reason to exist - even if it's a rather lousy one that ends in her death regardless - is better than none at all.

And yet, she knows the innate problem of the Grail better than anyone else, herself being a vessel. It must be dealt with. In that case, she has to ask - ]

How do you think you'll dismantle it? The Greater Grail is deeply integrated with the land of Fuyuki itself.

[She avoids the other question on her mind. Knowing what happens at the end of the Fifth War wouldn't change what happens to her, anyway.]

I haven't decided on a method yet. As you've just pointed out, it's an operation which would require some delicate care. But I should have at least half a century until the next War to figure it out.

[He's got some ideas that he'd been tossing about with Rin before his untimely abduction, but nothing concrete-- and certainly nothing he cares to simply offer up to an Einzbern.]

But that's hardly fitting for an introductory conversation, don't you think?

[In the end, Ilya can't blame the man for wanting to destroy the Grail. It is abnormal in its current state. And as it is, she sees no way that she can fix it, in the situation she was in before being brought here. Makiri's Grail opened up a separate gate that she as Einzbern's vessel cannot close... and she was far more powerful than their little team could hope to defeat.

Upon hearing what Waver has to say, she gives a small shrug of her shoulders.]

It could be fitting, given who you are and who I am. What else would I talk to a magus of the Clock Tower about?

[Rather, what would she have conversations about with people in general? The last time she tried this, she just ended up talking about herself, but she's not sure she wants to do that with Waver.]

[At her words, Waver actually looks annoyed, rather than the general disagreeable look he always has about him by default.]

...It probably matters little to anyone but myself, but I'd like it understood anyway-- I have no intentions of representing Clock Tower's -- Or the Association's-- interests while I'm here.

[There's just no love to be lost between it and himself.]

[Although she hadn't meant the phrase to be one that associated him with exclusively the Clock Tower, it appears that the magus took it as such - and rather personally, at that.

It probably shouldn't matter to her, either, but hearing him say that comforts her a bit for some reason.]

But... what can we talk about anyway? I'm not very good at starting conversations...

[Maybe Lord El-Melloi has some ideas?]

I think the matter of Rin Tohsaka may be a fitting place to begin.

Oh... Rin?

[Right - even she's seen the... de-aging, if she can call it that.]

It looks like we can get pulled here through multiple time points even in the same dimension, if we really are coexisting like this.

...Well, that saves me an explanation, at least.

[He really shouldn't be surprised Rin found the Einzbern girl already; she seems to be an extremely social little creature, much to his personal annoyance.]

Are you going to do something with her, then?

[Ilya certainly won't. Rin doesn't take orders easily, and Ilya doesn't look old enough to be of authority anyway. Plus, talking to Rin can be... hard. Her being younger doesn't change any of that, unfortunately.]

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mercuriousdevelopment - 2013-01-03 17:39 (UTC) - Expand

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I // [video]

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ack, sorry about this! Hiatus took longer than I thought.

don't worry!

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