[OPEN] what can I say?

[sealeted]

Who: Hakuno and you
When: From the day after they leave the forest up until November 19
Where: All over the map
What: In the wake of the infection, Hakuno returns to her true calling: fetchquests.
Rating: G until one of you heathens spoils it


i. partners in crime

[The pair of bandits who at one point operated under the pseudonyms of Augustine and Chacon, according to the locals, are reportedly masters of disguise. Hakuno isn't entirely certain how well they can disguise their matagot, but she's determined to do her best, all the same. Chróma algae isn't exactly something they can afford to just overlook at this point.

As a King, it stings bitterly that she can't help the other Heroes in need.

So what she can do, she will.]

Where to start...


ii. the good egg

[Gisela is beautiful.

Hakuno keenly feels that, every time she comes here. Vietnam's inn is definitely where she'll make a pit stop after fulfilling her task, but right now she has stopped and settled at the edge of a copse of trees, a homemade lunch spread out over her lap. Before she has to deal with literally petrifying bird crap, she's going to enjoy the scenery.

And her food. She might even share, if you feel like asking.]


iii. heart of stone

...

[Hakuno isn't exactly thrilled to be back in the thick of a forest, all things considered. But, all things considered, she's not one to put her own comfort above the necessities of others. Really, she's dealt with worse, so there isn't even a hitch in her stride as she wanders around.

After a while, she has to stop, if only because blindly looking is obviously not the best method.]

...I'm not really in a laughing mood, honestly. I don't suppose you know any jokes?


iv. the number one fan

“There once was a beautiful mermaid princess who had just reached her fifteenth year. She rescued a prince from the stormy sea and fell in love with him at first sight. But he was a person of the land."

[If you thought Hakuno Kishinami would pass up a chance to talk about the tales of Hans Christen Andersen, you're a fool and a charlatan. She recites the story slowly, easily, as if the words are before her as clear as day. There's a melancholy air about her, which may or may not have to do with the story itself.]

"The princess hurriedly made a deal with a sea witch, and received legs in exchange for her beautiful voice. Even still, her beloved prince went on to marry another girl. How pitifully the little mermaid princess cried. Her fate, to transform into sea foam and disappear if her love went unrealized —”

[She had picked this story out first, when she first heard Andersen's name. She wonders now if some part of her knew the same ending would be waiting for her, in the end.

She sighs faintly, inspecting the fruit she earned.]

..."the immortal masterpiece," I called it once, I think. It's a story of unrewarded love. Would you believe its author nearly called it a comedy when I talked to him about it?


wildcard

[If there's another scenario you want, just let me know! I'm always up for basically anything.]

Comments

[sealeted]

"A princess, obsessed with a seething delusion, finally going into a one-track rampage, ruining her only good point, her beauty," as he put it.

[She closes her eyes and shakes her head. Her smile is halfway between fond and exasperated.]

He enjoyed writing it to the point that it was honestly a bit disconcerting.

[babbylon]

He sounds similarly imbecilic.

[Gilgamesh, ladies and gents. Always delving out those harsh truths.]

[sealeted]

That's incredibly tame compared to his verdict of you.

[...Hakuno, no, don't go down this path. Not again.]

[babbylon]

Oh? By my measure, he must be some short... bumbling... glassy-eyed... snot-nosed... sharp-tongued... pale, pitiful, pathetic... slovenly, simpering, sluggish... hair-brained mongrel who thinks himself a true and noble scholar when in reality he's simply a lame excuse for a half-baked, half-hearted human being.

[So there.]

But do enlighten me of the judgment he's made of his undeniable better. It is sure to amuse.

[sealeted]

Actually, due to his readers beliefs impacting how he was summoned, he was actually a really cute young boy, with a very sharp tongue and a very manly voice. And he certainly didn't think of himself as a 'noble scholar,' I assure you.

[Andersen's appearance...

It's an experience, to be sure.

Also, she's beginning to feel uncertain about this.]

Um... I'm not sure I should. Would you want me to paraphrase, or give it to you word-for-word?

[Because she has not forgotten a single syllable of that blistering dressing down, that much is certain. Her heart felt like it was in her throat, back then.]

[babbylon]

I've said nothing inaccurate.

[In the court of his own opinion, of course, which is the only one he ever consulted. Strangely enough, however, Gilgamesh does not appear upset or even slightly annoyed; he didn't particularly care for this mysterious man's opinion, but he's curious anyway.

And if Hakuno met him, he must've been a Servant of some kind, which has him all the more intrigued.]

Well, we've a long journey back, so we may as well fill the time somehow. By all means.

[He's... ready? Probably.]

[sealeted]

Well... you asked for it. Remember that.

[You're never ready for an Andersen Analysis, Gilgamesh.]

Uh, let's see...

"Though my tongue may be cut out where I stand, as I have been asked, I will speak my estimation of you without reservation! To start at the conclusion, you don’t qualify as a Servant! I can’t give you a single point! And as a heroic spirit? That doesn’t bear discussion! No matter what records you consult, Gilgamesh was a ruffian that brought suffering to his country and his people. Calling you a king of men would make me laugh. A fool who united heaven and earth, ruling over men without governing his country. "

[...oh god.]

"A King of Heroes is just that, and not to be called a king of men even by accident. That principle of kingship is simply to reign. You establish yourself as a king, but that state is nothing but a storm with will. First you destroy. And after that you cannot even promise a good harvest. And in that sad state you gather the riches your subjects produce. Greed. Cruelty. And conceit. Those three things raised to their ultimate form and then made into one — that’s what you are."

[She immediately regrets this, so much.]

...um. Should... should I go on?

[babbylon]

[There's a long pause after that, and then Gilgamesh...]

Heh.

[...grins?]

Is that all? How trite. To my initial judgment, I add only this: he is not wrong. I am a Servant above and beyond all other Servants, and indeed, there is nothing more to discuss of my status. A greedy King! A cruel King! A conceited King! What part of that was untrue? Although "ruffian" may be going a bit too far.

[Gilgamesh just shakes his head, throws up his hand, and confesses:]

I ruled raucously, selfishly, without concern for the people, for that "storm of will" was me; who can say they were like Gilgamesh? That is how the story goes.

[sealeted]

A-Ah..

[Why is that same refreshed expression back?

...what a fickle, unpredictable man. Hakuno shouldn't have wasted the energy to worry.]

Well, if that's how you feel I guess I can say the rest.

[She coughs slightly, and lowers her voice once more.]

"Serfs raise their crops, kings raise their countries. But you didn’t even raise a country. You did nothing at all but kill and pursue your self-satisfaction. Your nation, your followers, your legend, none of it continues after you. The only thing remaining to you is yourself. Is this contract, too, nothing but an amusement to distract you from your boredom? An adjudicator who enjoys human emotions without understanding them. That is your true nature, Gilgamesh. Hakuno Kishinami, don’t think you’ll come to..."

[She blinks, and gives herself a small shake.]

Oh, whoops, the next part was a comment to me. That's as much as he said that involved you specifically, as I can recall.

[babbylon]

[The only thing remaining to you is yourself.

That does get him pondering more deeply on the subject. At first, he wants to protest, but Sumeria truly had been lost to the sands long ago. Its people, its wisdom, its legacy... all were carried on in Gilgamesh himself. Just as Hakuno represents all that the Moon Cell once was and would ever be, Gilgamesh was the living incarnation of a world that now lived on only in his heart. And even then, one might argue it had been largely forgotten, in the wake of his own selfishness and his own twisted goals.

Rather than comment, Gilgamesh turns the question back around on Hakuno, calmly.]

What do you think of that?

[Maybe she should worry, as of this very moment. Her words mattered far more to him than those of a childish specter, even if he wouldn't admit it aloud.]

[sealeted]

Of what?

[Hakuno shakes her head, before he can give her a deadpan stare.]

I mean, which part? Andersen covered a lot of ground.

[babbylon]

Is that my true nature?

[Gilgamesh's eyes are vivid and bright upon her... whatever she says here, he's most certainly paying attention.]

[sealeted]

Hm.

[Hakuno doesn't balk, for once. It's a heavy question, but he's shoveled a lot of those her way since... well, since they first met here, honestly speaking. She moves the fruit to the crook of her arm and shifts, cradling her chin as she mulls it over.]

"An adjudicator who enjoys human emotions without understanding them," you mean? Well... Like you said before, piece by piece it isn't untrue. But it isn't the full story, either. You savor those emotions, the more passionate the better. Despair, desire, ambition, budding hope... for you, I think they're something you truly do enjoy watching. You hold yourself apart from humanity, by definition, so actual and meaningful connections are a tricky business without contradicting yourself. But, you do that all the time, so it might not be all that large of an issue, I suppose.

[She nods to herself.]

"An unspeakably selfish hedonist" fits a bit better, if I had to nitpick. Fine wine, beauty, tragedy... they're all about the same level of indulgence for you, right?

[babbylon]

[Surprisingly insightful, he thinks, and that may be an observation made about a million years too late but there was the insurmountable hill of his pride she needed to traverse all over again first to win his admiration. He's not going to reward her with praise, but he does appear outwardly pleased by her answer.]

With how he worded his paltry attempt at criticism, he seemed almost concerned for you.

[Again, in that same neutral tone:]

Did you befriend him, as well?

[sealeted]

It's hard to say. He was a bit prickly, but every so often it did seem like he worried for me.

[Her expression softens again, going warm and a bit sad.]

I found time to read his stories, and he's a man who treasures his readers. He once called me a "typical, generic savior-type protagonist. Loved by the readers, loved by the characters, loved even by the plot. Boring." But, afterwards, he turned around and said that he couldn't tell a story that wasn't there; that he was a contrarian who can only tell a story of loss, and that I shouldn't stop and settle for a story like that myself, when I was just getting started. Before Meltlilith struck him down, he verbally tore into her, then cast a spell to make Gilgamesh and I invisible so we could withdraw safely.

...If I said I didn't look back on him fondly, it would be a lie.

[babbylon]

Your heart beats far too warmly for the sake of others, little Master.

[The tip of his finger slides, over the crease of her mouth to just under her chin.]

It will bring you to ruin, someday, turn you to foam beating along with the waves; of that ending you can rest assured.

[sealeted]

It already did, technically. The Grail was literally dissolving me back into the sea of imaginary numbers before he decided to yank me out.

[The price of her wish. The price of keeping the temptation and devastating power of the Grail out of human hands, and ending the War for good.]

But, it's something that I didn't waver from choosing, even without knowing I'd be saved at the last second.

[babbylon]

Don't go too far with your subtle self-aggrandizing. You're a far cry from a Heroic Spirit, and barely capable of commanding one.

[The warmth in the gesture disappears at once as he turns away, seemingly callous.]

But I suppose there must have been some reason I went back for you. Even if it was only for trifling amusement.

[sealeted]

I never claimed I was anything like a Heroic Spirit.

[She rolls her eyes and sighs.]

I just meant, it wasn't some grand delusion of shallow love that drove me to that point. I'm not really the type for that.

[babbylon]

I am returning to my quarters.

[...hopefully she wasn't expecting any meaningful discussion there. Gilgamesh comes and goes as he pleases, same as always.]

[sealeted]

Okay?

[Abrupt as ever, this willful, stormy king of hers...]

[babbylon]

...

[...]

...

[...]

You are coming with me, dullard.

[Geez.]

[sealeted]

Then say so.

[Geez.]

I'm not going to just assume that out of hand, you know?

[But, she does move to follow him all the same.]

[babbylon]

As if you've any other place to be.

[Some things change, and others stay exactly the same. Like that everlasting presumptuousness.]

I hope the reward for this was well worth the expense. These "fetch quests" are far beneath my standing.

[sealeted]

[She's not going to even touch that one.]

Well, it's for curing the virus. Other than that, more rewards are just a bonus.