FujiwaraPhoenix

Suddenly, My Favorite MMORPG has Become Real?! — A Log Horizon-inspired RP

Aight, since there's still the hope to keep this alive from those I've reached out to:

@Rabidporcupine: Ping back by the end of the month on status, or we're moving on. Aight?

Fate/Eternum

Alter Ego — Meltryllis
Ruler — Sherlock Holmes

Meltryllis simply glared daggers at Nanako the moment that she offered to help—or, at the very least, attempted to offer her help. Her Master, it seemed, realized the problem halfway through her sentence, but the Alter Ego didn't simply leave that as water under the bridge. The way that she was treating her was far too casual, and despite everything that had occurred and all the information she had given that would give more than enough of a reason to fear her, her Master was still acting as she had been.

All this, despite knowing that she was both an inhuman amalgamation and the equivalent of a mass murderer... It was incomprehensible. Either that girl was naive, an idiot, or both. Meltryllis' opinion, of course, was leaning towards 'both'.

Given that the Atlas girl and her Servant were still debating over a course of action, though, Meltryllis decided to instead focus her efforts towards eating the parfait. The neural degeneration had the most impact on her hands, yes, but at the very least her sense of taste was very much intact. Despite all the work she had to do to get even a single bite into her mouth without resorting to have to bring her head closer to the cup (or, maybe, because of it), the yogurt and fruits were all the sweeter. The Alter Ego refrained from smiling, though, as there was more to be gained from focusing on the conversation at hand rather than simply indulging herself in market-brand foodstuffs.

Holmes, on the other hand, had turned his attention towards Nanako once she began to respond, only to straighten his posture and look towards his Master once she began to speak. The Alter Ego's Master, it seemed, was still too busy attempting to decide if the offer was worthwhile, which likely meant that she would be stuck in limbo for a while. As such, it would be far more prudent to process other information instead.

"Might I add, Miss Obberhausen, that Miss Meltryllis also mentioned that the disappearance of atmospheric mana also occurred decades before our current era? The events leading up to such a thing are likely worth exploring as a minor experiment should we have the free time, but I do understand what you are implying. Regardless of the outcome, though, a trip to that facility would likely take time away from your duties and my investigations anyhow," the Ruler said, quietly processing more of the information he had been given as he attempted to piece together the motives of the rogue AI hovering over the duo in front of them. "Working under the assumption that this 'BB' has linked up 2030 and our 'present', and considering how she is attempting to coerce your help despite having near-omnipotent potential within the confines of the 'Moon Cell', I believe that something has occurred outside her 'domain' in that era that necessitates your summoning here. What that may be, however, is yet to be determined. So, Miss Mihama... Have you come to a conclusion yet?"

@KoL@VitaVitaAR

---

---

The Spider's Thread

"Oi, oi, Archer... Do you think I'm enough of a fool to bring a few measly bottles to satisfy a group of kings? More is by far the better option, and if I recall correctly, you didn't even drink any of it in the first place!" Rider said in response, almost as if chiding an old friend, before turning his attention back towards the bartender's table. Once the requisite bottles and cups had been handed over, though, the King of Conquerors finally removed his Master from his shoulder and planted him on the ground. Lord El-Melloi II seemed no worse for wear, oddly enough—doubly so given that the Rider had essentially carried him over all the way from the University to here. "One more glass for this one over here, all right?"

With that request settled, Iskandar grabbed the bottles and cups and brought them over to the table that Gilgamesh was seated at, flicking off the cork from the bottle of Italian wine off and causing it to fly back towards the old man's face.

"Aha, sorry about that!" Iskandar called out a second after he had realized what he had done before taking a seat and carefully filling both of the cups. "In any case, to my return!"

Without missing a beat, Iskandar calmly drained the entire glass in a single motion before letting out a large sigh of refreshment.

"Mmm... Not bad, not bad! Shame there's so little of it, though," he said, only barely turning his head to notice the girl that Gilgamesh was now calling towards. Given that she looked like a little girl, however... Well, the Rider could only give a bit of a side-eye towards the bartender.

"Oi, Goldy... Are kids usually allowed in places like these in this city...?" he asked, his voice still loud enough to be overheard by everyone in the room despite his halfhearted attempt at a whisper.

@Raineh Daze@DocRock

Fusang University

The help that Gilgamesh's Master was providing was quite useful in speeding up the cleaning process, and the mop and bucket meant that the bloodstains in the linoleum flooring wouldn't stick. The only worry was that someone would question the presence of chicken blood (or, well, blood in general) if they didn't dispose of everything properly, but the janitorial staff was likely used to that by now.

"Ah, my hood?" Gray asked, pausing for a moment as the question came up. "My hood, huh...? Well, it's a bit of a long story, but as that Heroic Spirit said, I look strikingly similar to my ancestor, the King of Knights. My mentor, Lord El-Melloi II, brought me away from where I grew up, but my face brought back too many bad memories for him. So ever since then, I've worn this hood while working around him. It's probably for the best."

"Ah, but with that loud redhead back in action, you're probably fine now, right? Hell, it's not like we didn't look at the record of summoned Servants on the flight over; Arthur—no, sorry, Arturia Pendragon and Mordred are both here, right?"

The voice that had chimed in came from under Gray's cloak, and after a few seconds of rattling as the woman placed the gathered paperwork back in its proper place, a small cage containing an odd block-shaped... Thing was brought out.

"Er... Right. Miss Asakura, this is Add. Er... To put it simply, he's... Probably something I should be returning to the King of Knights? Actually, that might be a bad idea..."

"No kidding it's a bad idea! Who knows what that girl will do to me to get you-know-what back!" the box shouted in response, to which Gray sighed before she tucked the cage away once more.

"Well, er... Thank you for your help in cleaning up. I'm more than ready to explore the town whenever you are."

---

With the mop and bucket (and everything else) handled, the two women left the university in short order. The afternoon rush had died down considerably, though given that the university was a campus in its own right there were still a few students milling about on the streets. Gray, outfit and all, seemed to stand out among the crowd; that didn't matter very much, though, as it seemed that most of the people were glued to their phones instead.

"Ah, so... I'm not entirely sure if Lord El-Melloi II or his Servant will be back in time for dinner, if at all, so... Would you mind if I asked where we could fine a place to dine for the night as well? I want to make sure that I learn this area while he's gone to make the most of our time right now, after all..."

Fate/Eternum

Alter Ego — Meltryllis
Ruler — Sherlock Holmes

Given that she had never seen someone who could so effectively conceal their presence and status as a Servant before, Meltryllis was rightfully shocked by the "arrival" of Sherlock Holmes. Of course, as an offshoot of BB she still knew who he was, but that didn't make the reveal any less shocking. It was kind of disturbing, thinking that a man like this had been tailing them since they had left and was present for them making contact with BB. It was unlikely that the AI would press the same conditions that she had put on her Master, though; as far as she knew, those from Atlas weren't the sort to have anything to blackmail them with.

Assuming, of course, that Rani was goon enough as an indicator for how they worked.

"Well, if you've heard everything from BB, then I guess I can't exactly help it. Tell your Servant to curb his tendencies, though; I don't want to feel like an Assassin is tailing me all day, regardless of whether or not that's the truth."

"Ahaha... Miss Meltryllis, you're certainly hiding some venom behind that tongue of yours," the Ruler replied, calmly taking a seat next to his Master before assuming a more comfortable posture for his next action. "That being said, I can more or less tell what's under that mask, but for the sake of both of our Masters, I shall refrain from speaking at length about that matter for the moment. You seem to be fairly neutral about revealing this information now, likely due to my own actions, so I shall let you speak at length."

Meltryllis' gaze sharpened as she stared Holmes straight in the eyes before staring at the spoon set next to her parfait. She had seen the usual spoons meant for parfaits, and this spoon was definitely meant for bigger quantities, handle and all. She realized, of course, that it had been deliberately chosen because he knew about her condition, which itself was something that the Alter Ego couldn't help but fume internally over. Even so, she turned her eyes towards the spoon and attempted to pick it up. Her fingers fumbled again and again, causing the spoon to clatter on the table repeatedly before she finally managed to lift it more than a few inches off the table and bring it over to her food.

"This is far more embarrassing than I had expected..."

While still attempting to keep her behavior in check, Meltryllis nodded for a moment as she began to recount her history (or, at the very least, a truncated version of it) to those present. She made sure to omit some of the more important details—of Hakuno's fight against her and of her true emotions, of Shinji's suicidal sacrifice, and everything else in between—but she did not lie. It was not a matter of necessity that she decided to simply conceal that information, but one of choice. The matters regarding the Moon Cell and the importance of the year 2030, how far the world had degraded, and even of her own death... That, too, was given.

Despite how her tale sounded like facets of some odd science fiction story, Holmes listened intently, nodding every so often once a piece of information caught his fancy. It was absurd to think that a massive supercomputer was hidden within the Moon, of course, but the Ruler could find no logical flaws in the argument, save those created by a gap in information. Given how he had no other sources to cross-examine and no way to actually get onto the Moon to check the veracity of those claims, though, the only real lead that he had left to pursue now was in regards to that AI named BB.

"But to think, the concept of a 'High Servant' would even exist... And to combine the essences of three goddesses... Miss Obberhausen, I recommend that we keep this information private. It would throw the city into chaos if this sort of information was made public," he remarked, head resting on one hand as he watched Meltryllis struggle to eat her parfait. "In any case, as my Master has suggested... Should you desire our assistance, you need only continue to supply us with information regarding this mystery. This is far more intriguing than I had first anticipated, and I would be happy to assist in matters regarding this 'BB'."

@VitaVitaAR@KoL

---

---

Fusang University

"That... Would be helpful," Gray replied, glancing over at the office that she and her mentor had been cleaning up until Gilgamesh's arrival. The summoning circle would have to be cleaned up, the furniture moved back into place, all the other papers cleaned up and re-organized...

Maybe that exploration would have to wait a bit.

"Could I ask if you could go retrieve some water to help wash this blood off? A mop or some sort of cleaning cloth would be appreciated, but paper towels will work just as well."

The Spider's Thread

Gilgamesh's warning was one that made the Rider laugh. For all that had happened during the last Holy Grail War, having the one that ultimately slew him act as if he was even slightly worried about his well-being was an absurd thing to even think about, much less hear in person.

"I appreciate your words of wisdom, King of Heroes, but we came here to toast and relax, not fret about insects scuttling about!" he shouted, turning towards the bartender with a thoughtful look in his eye. He surveyed the wares arranged carefully about before walking forward and slamming the table with one arm.

"Your finest wines for the three of us, then! I trust you won't disappoint!"

Lord El-Melloi II was, of course, still draped over Iskandar's shoulder. He knew as well as anyone else how futile it was to resist at this point, so all he could do now was wait for the Rider to put him down on his own volition.

@Raineh Daze@DocRock

Fate/Eternum

If you didn't have anything in mind for that, I was going to attempt to bring Jason back into relevance by having him meet those two. Gray's probably got enough experience from being with Waver for a decade and a half to be able to figure out how to fix his problems (or at least get started on that) if necessary.

Also introduce a second plot thread if possible? I know I have one lined up for the next time that the NR crew updates that Vita will get rolling, but we'll get there when we get there.

Fate/Eternum

Alter Ego — Meltryllis

Nanako's attempt at encouraging Meltryllis in her own capabilities fell upon deaf ears as the Servant in question simply scoffed in turn. The idea of accepting raw magical resources of that quality was distasteful enough, but processing that into low-level magecraft was far less efficient than simply handing it over to her to use. A Code Cast, at least, was uniform in its abilities, and the Alter Ego was well aware of her Master's capabilities just from their connection.

"If you're going to be wasteful with your mana, just give me the resources directly. I don't need halfhearted variable changes that don't add more than a few decimal places of a point's worth of bonuses, so don't bother if you can't cast something stable."

With that said, Meltryllis turned her attention back towards Othis. Though fully understanding what the alchemist's intent was, the purple-haired Alter Ego couldn't help but scrunch her nose in response to the way she had phrased her reassurance.

"Do you mean to say that you would pry into someone's heart like that if given the chance?" she asked, a half-smirk on her face as Othis stared at her holographic interface. "You're even more of a deviant than I had expected, hm...?"

That smirk soon disappeared, however, as the girl in front of them voiced her own thoughts and conclusions about Meltryllis' origins. She had expected a quizzical expression and more inquiry about her odd parameters, not... Well, this.

"Hmph. I guess I shouldn't have been so careless, then," she remarked, crossing her arms in dissatisfaction. "So? Does me being from the future change anything? Just so you know, I can't do anything as inane as predicting lottery numbers, so don't bother with something like that. Oh, and feel free to eat that massive stack of pancakes as you wish. If you want to move it, though, have that girl help you or something."

Ruler — Sherlock Holmes

"Your parfait, miss."

A server at the restaurant, tray balanced perfectly in hand with the fancy dessert in the center, walked over to the three young women. Without missing a beat, he slipped the glass (along with a larger spoon than was usually used for the desserts) in front of Meltryllis before easily moving the stack of pancakes from the table Othis had been seated at to the one the other two were at.

"There you are, Miss Obberhausen. Your own deductions are also quite accurate, given the single clue that you had. Well done."

With a smirk, the server changed his outfit and removed his disguise; the Servant now standing in his place, carefully-dressed hair and clean black cloak, simply stroked his chin in thought as he stared at the Alter Ego and her Master.

The costume itself, of course, was hastily caught by a nearby server, who was still in confusion as she brought it away from the dining area.

"Ruler, Sherlock Holmes. Miss Meltryllis and Miss Mihama, I hope you don't mind if my Master and I stay for a while to speak at length about your situation," the Servant said, bowing with a smile. "Though I believe that your circumstances may not be the best. That so-called AI... BB, was it? There was a great deal of information gained by simply overhearing such a conversation, and I wish to inquire further about this 'Moon Cell' and the state of the Earth in the year 2030."

"H-how long have you been listening to us?!" Meltryllis asked, slamming the table as she stood up from her seat.

"Since you left your apartment. After seeing those prosthetic weapons of yours coupled with that unusual attire, how could I not investigate further?"

@KoL@VitaVitaAR

---

---

Fusang University

The King of Conquerers smiled at Gilgamesh's words, nodding his head in assent before looking back at his Master.

"How long has it been, boy?"

"Roughly... Twenty-fi—" he began to say, only to be cut off a moment later.

"Perfect! You were too scared and too young to taste the joys of alcohol then, so let us make haste!" Iskandar said, picking up Lord El-Melloi II by the back of his suit and, with a minimal amount of effort, lifted the grown man off his feet and threw him onto his shoulder before following the golden Servant out the door. Left behind, of course, were Gray and Hinami. The former, of course, was left in a bit of shock after the storm that had come and gone in front of her.

"A-ah... I... Lord El-Melloi II and I came to Fusang as official professors from the Clock Tower, and to do some investigation on the circumstances behind this location. Er... Shall we explore the city, then...? With that smile on his face, I'm sure my mentor should be fine," she said uneasily, glancing out the door as the two Servants casually strolled through the hallway with Waver in tow. "...Right?"

---

"Oho? 'The Spider's Thread', is it? What an odd name for a restaurant," Iskandar said, stroking his beard as he stared at the hole-in-the-wall bar that the King of Heroes had directed them to. "But if you recommended it, then it certainly must be something worth trying. You're buying, correct?"

Without waiting for a response, the Rider threw open the door (nearly causing it to crash straight into the wall) and walked inside, Waver still draped over his shoulder as he glanced around.

"So? Who is the owner of this place? We wish to purchase your finest alcohol!"

@Raineh Daze@DocRock

Fate/Eternum

@Reflection: Aye, that sums it up. You can safely ignore anything involving pretty much every other scene, since they're not particularly relevant to setting the relationship between Diarmuid and our resident homunculus up. If information needs to be relevant, one of the GMs will let you know.

Suddenly, My Favorite MMORPG has Become Real?! — A Log Horizon-inspired RP

Deneb

Deneb couldn't help but pause in surprise as the healer at her side began to act far outside the realm of what she had expected. Given how she had been acting just a few moments prior, the ninja was expecting nothing more than haphazard defenses and a small array of enhancements, not... Well, this.

"Hm. With that, I think I might be having second thoughts," she said under her breath, the grip on her weapon tightening before she dove into the fray. The wolves that hadn't moved to flank from the start of the combat were already somewhat immobilized, which made slitting their throats as the ninja moved past a simple task. One after another, the shining steel flashed, and with each motion another creature lay dead. Of course, the actual threat remained in front of them, and that wouldn't end as simply as this first half of the fight had.

"Eliminate the chaff, and deal with the boss last. Adds being gone relieves pressure from allies, and this boss doesn't call for reinforcements..." she muttered under her breath, diving to and fro across the hill to follow up on as many of the wolves that had been struck by the horizontal barriers as she could. Of course, some had made it through the gaps, wounded as they were, but with the main threat slowly making its way forward there was no room to deal with them.

In essence, that would have to be left to the healer; stalling was an inevitability until she could force the boss back... Unless, of course, Viri could kill them on her own.

A few of the wolves that hadn't pressed ahead with the rest—the bodyguards, as it were—growled at the ninja as she approached. With a deep breath, Deneb pulled out a few spherical objects and threw them at her targets before diving forward.

Said orbs were, of course, a smokescreen for her to weave in and out of the fight. A poison smoke might have worked better for the occasion, debilitating her enemies as she moved to strike them down, but that would also put her at risk if the healer wasn't available for immediate aid. Instead, Deneb took the opportunity to begin to strike in the midst of the smoke covering the area, stabbing at the obviously-bulkier wolves and rolling away before they could retaliate. It wasn't as if her strategy was perfect, of course; during the first few strikes, the target of her attacks had managed to claw at her arms and legs, leaving bleeding gashes where they met her body. The smell of blood would make her easier to track, of course, but dealing with these protective wolves meant that their boss would be left unguarded.

It was far easier to strike at a target as large as that without any sort of distractions drawing her focus away, after all.

@Anza

Fate/Eternum

@KoL: As you wished.

Once you eliminate the impossible...

• Name: Sherlock Holmes
• Class: Ruler (Caster)
• Appearance: "Simple practice does well to keep the mind alert."
• Personality: A man—no, a Servant—who lives for the sake of truth and justice. Calm and collected regardless of the circumstances that unfold in front of him, Holmes is the sort of person to act precisely despite diving headfirst into danger, and is esteemed for being able to maintain rationale under pressure and press forth in haste without reckless abandon. To that end, Holmes would not hesitate in putting his life on the line for the sake of his goal, whatever that might be. This is by no means any indication of him being too kind or any sort of naivety, however; pragmatic though he may be, Holmes is absolutely not foolish.
• Stats:
  
  • Strength: D
  • Endurance: C
  • Agility: B+
  • Mana: B
  • Luck: A++
  • Noble Phantasm: B
• Class Skills:
  
  • Territory Creation: EX. Unlike most Casters, Holmes does not work from within a workshop. Instead, all of the knowledge that he has come across is stored within his brain, which in turn allows him to generate accurate hypotheses and theories with the smallest of hints and remember any necessary information at his own whims.
• Personal Skills:
  
  • Natural Insight: A++. The ability to perceive 'truth'. With this skill, Holmes is able to pick up on even the slightest of hints regarding a subject and unravel the chain of events leading up until and after that point. A parallel can be drawn to Clairvoyance at its highest ranks, but it is far from absolute.
  • Deductive Reasoning: A+. Given Holmes’ style of deduction by logic and ruthless mathematical processes of elimination, this Skill manifests as far more than a simple thought process. In short, the detective is able to quickly rule out any odd outlying possibilities and hone in on the truth, given enough information and a short amount of time to process it.
  • Baritsu: B++. An eclectic fighting style that mixes styles from the Far East with Western combat styles. With a combination of striking techniques, boxing forms, and counters and throws, Holmes is able to hold his own in combat despite being a detective generally unsuited for melee combat.
• Noble Phantasm(s):
  
  • Name: Elementary, My Dear—It's Elementary, My Friend
  • Rank: B
  • Type: Anti-Unit / Anti-World
  • Appearance: An odd, unidentifiable sphere made up of various lenses/ N/A
  • Effects: Ordinarily, this Noble Phantasm is in a permanently active state, where Holmes' origin (Elucidation) comes to the forefront. In essence, it allows him to find a solution or explanation to any given problem, be it a standard mystery, a locked chest, or any matter of oddity in between. When invoked by name, however, this Noble Phantasm summons an odd, unidentifiable sphere that unfurls into a series of lenses, which all proceed to shine a spotlight on Holmes' intended target. Doing so gives Holmes and his allies whatever information is necessary to defeat them. Of course, doing so may be well out of Holmes' own reach, but with the aid of others such a thing is always within the realm of possibility.
  
  
  • Name: Empty House: The Adventure of the Empty House
  • Rank: B
  • Type: Anti-Unit
  • Appearance: N/A
  • Effects: Empty House is a Noble Phantasm that allows Holmes to adopt the guise of another, including Heroic Spirits. While he cannot copy the Noble Phantasms of others and can only mimic their parameters up to the extent of his own, these disguises are usually enough to fool the untrained eye. Of course, Holmes himself must learn the mannerisms of his disguises to keep his guise, but with the correct tools and materials he can even fight as those who he copies.
    Obviously, not to the same extent as they might in any given scenario, but he can make it work.
• Alignment: Neutral Good
• Changes: N/A

Fate/Eternum

Alter Ego — Meltryllis

With a curt nod, the purple-haired Servant crossed her arms as her Master ordered the parfait. Seeing as how the waitress soon directed them both to a table, it seemed to Meltryllis as if she would have to remain at the restaurant to eat. While had expected such an outcome, it wasn't particularly one that she was looking forward to; after all, this was technically her first time eating anything without simply melting it down and absorbing it. Privacy would have been preferable, all things considered, but given that she was bound to a Master now, that wasn't exactly a possibility.

Leaning against one hand, elbow on the the table, Meltryllis quietly stared out the nearby window in mild annoyance as she waited. To go from the insanity of the Far Side of the Moon to some random nonexistent city on Earth was one thing, but to be tied to a Master that was both weak-willed and clueless... That was honestly more irritating than BB's blackmail and baiting. The qualms that she had with said Master's reaction after learning about how her body was... That, in all honesty, was what angered her. She was proud of how her body was, despite its shortcomings, and here she was with the gall to act as if it was something to be pitied.

Disgusting.

Meltryllis' train of thought soon paused, however, as one of the other patrons of the restaurant came over to their table and struck up a conversation. Though unsure of how her Master might parse all of the information that the girl was saying, Melt herself was more than capable of giving a coherent response.

"An Atlas alchemist, hm? So long as you don't attempt to poke at my SG, I don't particularly mind," she said, lifting her head off of her hand before giving the girl a quick once-over. "Actually, speaking of spiritron particles, does the concept of spiritron hacking even exist in this era? I would prefer having access to code casts for boosts, if at all possible, but if they don't exist then I believe I'll simply have to work around the issue instead."

The giant tower of massive pancakes that was soon plopped onto the alchemist's table did cause her to pause, however, and take a moment to assess if the person in front of them wasn't secretly some sort of black hole given human form.

@KoL@VitaVitaAR

Fate/Eternum

Alter Ego - Meltryllis

While the purple-haired Servant had expected a lack of finesse when her Master had said 'restaurants', she hadn't expected to be brought to something as simple and blase as a chain restaurant. Not like she had ever actually eaten any proper food in the Moon Cell, of course, but a place like this was not somewhere she had expected to have her first meal. Ever.

"Anything I would like?" she parroted, glancing over the menu with an indifferent gaze, silently flipping through what was present before her eyes finally stopped. "Then this. There should be no issues if it's something this simple, correct?"

It was a fruit and yogurt parfait that Melt's oversized sleeve was now pointing at, and it seemed fairly obvious that it was that or nothing given her tone. It wasn't as if she cared about whether or not it had to be eaten here, though; if anything, being unreasonable was simply her way of coping for the moment... And if her Master caved one way or another, she had no reason to complain.

@VitaVitaAR