SCHE;

[bloodread]

meme go here but lbr i should prob just grab one of her trial outfits

Comments

[naqqali]

I would not want to put you in a position where you could be injured on my behalf. You may be skilled, but I could not be so selfish where I ask you to be hurt. I got a small fraction of my abilities back, so hopefully...

[ another sip. she doesn't want to know if that'll be enough. ]

[bloodread]

What did you get back?

[naqqali]

The ability to make parts of my stories a reality. It's as I said- it's just a fraction, though.

[bloodread]

What the hell does that mean?

[naqqali]

I'm a storyteller. The magic that I had before I was summoned here was much more powerful, and I could bring characters to life to act on my behalf. At its peak, the ability was so powerful that I could create worlds only heard of in fiction.

You see, I am not suited for battle, but I have characters who are. However, per our deal, the ability has been tempered. It's not really supposed to be used for offense, but more of a means of defending myself or escape.

[ god frowns upon scheherazade and her fate/bullshit ]

[bloodread]

...you could make entire worlds? Like, multiple?

[ This sounds like a lot of fate bs. ]

[naqqali]

Only when I had some help. It is not something I could do on my own.

[bloodread]

I'd ask if you're a spirit, but spirits don't need partners.

[naqqali]

I am a heroic spirit. I made a contract with another entity, which amplified my abilities.

[bloodread]

...a heroic spirit?

[ What in the world is that. ]

[naqqali]

Yes. A figure well known by humanity that ascended beyond the limits of a mortal soul. We are summoned to fight in a Holy Grail War but, as I said, I'm not suited for such things. I hate it. By becoming a Servant, I'm trapped in a cycle of life and death I cannot escape from.

[bloodread]

Wait, so I'm supposed to know who you are?

[ Looks her up and down, but manages not to oogle her during this because being attracted to women is ??? ]

[naqqali]

[ akira is valid. ]

Many people are familiar with my tales from the collection of stories known as The One Thousand and One Nights. Stories like Aladdin and the Magic Laml, Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, and The Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor.

[bloodread]

Oh, I've seen Aladdin with Ami. [ Tilt of his head. ]

You said your tales, so you mean you wrote those?

[naqqali]

I told them to my husband. They were complied as a narrative sometime later. I told him stories I knew, and some I created on my own, to keep him entertained each night so he would not kill me. If I left a story on a cliffhanger, I would live to see the next day so I could continue. Then I would start another story, and this went on for one thousand and one nights.

[bloodread]

[ Boy does he not like that. Nagako hisses lowly, now splayed out on the bartop. ]

...seriously?

[naqqali]

[ she reacts as if his ire at directed towards her, even though this is not the first time she had gotten that reaction about her husband. ]

Yes, I am serious.

[bloodread]

...he's dead, right?

[naqqali]

Yes. For a very long time, now.

[bloodread]

[ That makes him settle a little, he manages to dip back into his mug rather than say "good". ]

So what do you want as a spirit?

[naqqali]

[ she preoccupies herself for a moment, slowly rotating her glass by the stem. ]

I don't want to die. I don't want to be summoned over and over to face the agony of death.

[bloodread]

So you'd rather live forever, or move on?

[naqqali]

Yes. Dying is scary, but I think I would rather move on. Anything that means I don't have to be summoned anymore.

[bloodread]

Can't you just ignore it if someone calls you?

[ He is doing his best to Understand. ]

[naqqali]

[ in all fairness, fate is bullshit. ]

I... could. Yes.

[ No one has challenged her on this before! Because to be summoned is agreeing to a contract. Both parties have to consent. ]

But I'm afraid of what will happen if I don't obey. Since I am not very powerful in terms of brute strength, it is not as if being summoned all the time is something I have to be concerned about. All it takes, though, is one wrong Master who treats me like something disposable...

I used to hate the thought of being summoned so much that I tried to destroy the Servant Summoning System. It was selfish of me, but I was so afraid of dying I felt as if that was my best choice, given the opportunity to do so. Except... I did end up making some friends, and found that people can care about me.

And yet, I am here, watching others who care about one another have to deal with the pain of loss every week. So I am not so sure what to think anymore.