awashlogs | [January Catch-All]

[ Nero nods. ]

More likely than—

[ "—not", is what she wanted to say, However, her head quickly whips around, hearing the crunch of snow beneath another's footprints. She could swear she spotted a flash of wavy brown hair, and the light tan of a school uniform. Just around those trees. ]

—Hm?

[... Hm?

Minato catches the school uniform, at least; he pauses, lips flattening into a thin line.]

That's...

[... He raises his voice a little to call out.]

Is someone there?

[ No response. Not immediately, at least. ]

Come out! You cannot escape from me! If you were truly my Praetor, you who has bared your soul to me, you would not hide from me, of all Servants!

[ Of this, she is certain. More likely than not, Hakuno would seek her out first thing...unless she found another Servant? Or circumstances prevented her? But the girl-appearing-demon hid instead. She readies her blade, but the demon in the guise of a young brunette woman steps out from its hiding spot, a girl who seems for all the world, kind of..squirrelly. Like a small woodland animal. ]

Edited 2019-01-18 03:11 (UTC)

[There's a lot to process here--but what Minato is really getting out of all of this is that this girl is someone important to Nero.

Hm...

The girl steps out, looking as non-threatening as can be, but... Minato will defer, of course, to Nero here.]

Saber-san... do you think this is....?

[ Nero stares at the young woman who stands in front of them, her eyes wide and her heart pounding. The appearance is unmistakable: long wavy brown hair, an unassuming and plain appearance, and round brown eyes that convey the impression of a small woodland creature. She seems harmless, and yet Nero still has to keep in the back of her mind that it could be a demon. She doesn't want to believe that it's a demon, wants to believe it really is her, her most wonderful and beloved (former) Master, but... ]

...Why didn't you seek me out sooner? Am I not your most steadfast Servant? You should put me first, before anything else!

[ "Sorry, Saber. When I saw you, I thought you might've been a demon, and...and..." The girl trails off, and then looks at Minato, addressing him.

"Are you her Master...?" She looks like her heart could break any second, depending on his response. ]

[Oh...

Minato's pretty sure this is the demon; she's sweet and realistic and plain and he's positive that this person isn't here. This person can't be in the Town, right?

Because...

Because this is how the demons work.

Firmly, he shakes his head.]

I'm not. But... I don't think you are, either. It isn't kind to take the form of people that everyone cares about here.

[ She stands there, her appearance and mannerisms emulating the original to an uncanny extent. But there's something lurking beneath the surface, the way the young woman's eyes widen impossibly so, the way she easily tore her gaze away from who she should consider her most trusted companion. How she didn't seek Nero out first thing, contract her first thing, even contact civilization aka the town first thing.

"Kind? ...There's no room for kindness in a Holy Grail War. Only bloodshed...fighting...progress..."

And that statement combined with her suddenly tightly pressed lips, furrowed brow, settles it. This isn't her Master, the one who wept for her opponents after defeating them, who reached out to an assassin's hand in his last moments, who wanted to stop the cycle of death and rebirth by fighting with all she could. Nero holds her blade in a defensive position, and sidesteps to get right in front of Minato, more concerned for his safety than her own. ]

...You are correct, Minato. This is most certainly a demon. One that shall pay for taking on the face of the one who means the world to me!

[ The demon in question balks at the sudden defensive stance, and then narrows its eyes. In but a few moments, its skin turns completely black, its eyes completely white, iris-less, and pupil-less, and it holds out a blackened arm, its hands seeming more like claws than anything human in that short span. The crimson emperor steps forth to strike at the figure with her giant red blade, but the demon's now-featureless eyes narrow, its voice still a nigh-perfect imitation of that of the young woman it's trying to imitate as it calls forth to block Nero's sudden slash:

"Shielder!"

The clang of metal against metal sounds out, Nero's blade blocked by the metallic (robotic) hand of a blond young humanoid woman with crystal-clear blue eyes. ]

[Ah...

It's for the better that Nero seems to snap back to herself. She's really so, so incredibly strong, isn't she...? That's all Minato can think as she lifts her sword, standing in front of him and facing down someone who clearly is so important to her.

Minato lifts his Evoker, dragging in a slow breath in that brief moment, the calm before the storm--

And then Nero is flinging herself forward, and blocked; Minato grimaces, and lifts the Evoker to his temple.]

Chi You!

[The Persona comes forth alongside Minato pulling the trigger. The Tarukaja boosts Nero's attack significantly--HAVE AN ATTACK++]

[ She is not as strong as he thinks she is, really. Not by herself, at least. But with someone to fight on behalf, someone to defend, she becomes immeasurably so. Some people think that the bond between Master and Servant is one-sided, but to Nero, if it is a Master worth proudly defending, then it is hardly one-sided at all.

That is what it means to become one's blade on the battlefield. Did she not already swear to herself that she would treat him with a similar amount of respect?

The sudden pull of the trigger, the brief materialization and the surge of energy coursing through her body surprises her for a moment, but he did notify her before that he was a support type. The Evoker's usage is a touch more concerning, but those questions can come later. Right now, she has an enemy in front of her, a robotic-seeming young woman, ~~who sounds strangely similar to Jeanne D'Arc too?~~, one that Nero doesn't recognize, but who must be important to Minato, if his grimace was any indication. She swings her blade again.

The corner of her mouth curves upwards; it is to be a battle between Masters and Servants. That suits her just fine. ]

I will handle this demon! Minato, you will face that one!

[ It's easier on both their hearts this way. Minato doesn't have to fight, one-on-one, someone he considers important, and neither does Nero. Plus, things are more evenly matched this way, as the one Nero is facing seems to be physically much stronger than the demon-Hakuno who fires off a strength buff toward its own partner, and then immediately guns straight for Minato, poisonous sharp claws outstretched and ready to slice and dice at him with wild abandon. ]

[It's kindness, isn't it? Kindness from Nero, to make certain that he doesn't have to face that facsimile of Aigis. Not when Aigis disappeared into this very woods--

Minato drags in a shaky breath, and nods.]

Understood. You can count on me!

[The demon Aigis trains gun-fingers on Nero, firing rapid machine gun fire at her, eyes narrowed. But Minato doesn't have time to watch much more than that, because then demon-Hakuno is right there in his space.

He stumbles back (one step, two--), avoiding nasty claws and lifting the Evoker once more. Another fire, and this time he goes for something far more dangerous.

Thanatos appears from nothing, slicing a nasty sword demon-Hakuno's way. She catches the blade on her claws, but it flings her backwards, buying Minato space to breathe.]

[ The Hakuno she knew was a third-rate magus, a common person who couldn't attack directly. But that's what made her beautiful in Nero's eyes, the need to reach out to others, to depend on them and them on her in return. Not this shambling, demonic imitation of her. And so of course the creature must draw more from its actual self than the one it's trying to imitate, if it wants to even stand a chance. The demon-Hakuno, flung back by the reaper's blade, tries to fire off a shockwave that will stun Minato if he gets caught in it.

Meanwhile, Nero manages to block some of the bullets with her blade, tink tink tink, but not all of them, as the tell-tale sting of her cheek and leg confirm it without even requiring her visual focus. She grits her teeth, but pushes onward, certain that if she can get close enough to hit it, she could end the battle fairly quickly with a major impact. Nero leaps forward and her blade clashes directly with demon-Aigis's hands, trading blows at speeds clearly inhuman, bullets raining in her direction and dodging between tree branches until Nero pauses for but a moment, glowing momentarily as she readies Très Fontaine Tempestes to stun the demon on a successful guard, should it go for another strike. ]

[The demons, as sinister and sneaky as they are, don't really have much in the way of strategy when it comes to an outright brawl. The demon pretending to be Aigis flings itself forward again in another attack, failing to realize just how prepared Nero is for it--

While Minato, diving out of the way, is still unfortunately clipped by that shockwave. He stumbles and falls, hitting the ground hard, though he's quick to roll to his feet even so. The tell-tale feeling of his limbs, his muscles seizing up is unfortunately familiar; it's far from the first time he's been shocked, and he's endured nastier.

He endures now as well, gritting his teeth as he lifts the Evoker to his temple. He just has to fight through for a moment, just enough to pull the trigger...

And he does, this time summoning Messiah. If demons are the embodiment of what's nasty, of darkness and all that that entails... then surely, he should fling light at them?

The Hamaon spell makes the fake Hakuno shriek as it envelops her, throwing the demon to the ground with the force of its light--and, unfortunately, Minato also crumples to one knee, gritting his teeth at the shocks still running through his limbs.]

[ The fake Aigis flings itself forward right at her, its hands catching on Aestus Estus, and Nero smirks as the demon suddenly seizes up, its body twitching uncharacteristically. A fight for survival is still a test of one's skill, and she thinks she has every reason to be proud of her own. She spares no time grasping the opportunity presented by this opening, and immediately slashes at it in one wide horizontal arc, then follows up with 3 rapid slashes in succession, her movements flowing into each other, and finally leaps into the air, bringing her blade down upon her opponent with all her weight.

Though the impact of metal against metal sends mild tremors through her sword, in the end, the demon crumples under the weight of Nero's blows, and reverts to its original form before starting to dissipate.

It's too early for her to strut proudly off the battlefield and call it child's play, however; Minato is still fighting. With little but a glance over the demon's disintegrating body, returned to its original, horned form, Nero zooms off to where Minato is. She is fast, but not fast enough to save Minato from being stunned entirely, though she does catch the faintest glimpse of Messiah just before it fades away. His light magic appears to be super effective; the only demon left is struggling to get up, obviously wracked with pain and malice as it angrily growls, struggling to maintain its humanoid transformation as its true form starts to peek through the skin of a human being. Nero holds her sword right near it, and looks up at Minato to see how he's faring. She'll end things in a flash if he can't muster the strength to do the same. ]

[If there's one thing Minato's certain of, it's that he doesn't want to make Nero have to behead the demon that took on the form of someone so important to her. Sure, it's basically losing its form now--but even so, it still looks somewhat like her.

He doesn't want to make her do that.

So instead, despite the seizing in his muscles, he pushes himself up more, lifting his Evoker again.

He may not be able to behead the demon himself... but his Persona sure can. He pulls the trigger, and Thanatos bursts forth, descending upon the demon once more with sword raised--and it cuts through the shadowy form like a hot knife through butter, the demon fizzing into nothing ness with a sharp screech.

And then... he falls to his knees properly, dragging in a shaky breath.]

[ Her eyes widen at the appearance of what looks like the reaper itself, coffins floating behind it, and subconsciously takes a step back as the Persona slices right through the demon with little effort. Nero watches the demon's body disintegrate for but a few seconds before she hears the thud of Minato falling to his knees, and quickly speeds on over to where he is.

Her leg and arm are bleeding thanks to the graze of a few bullets, yet she cares not, because she knows all too well that regular humans (as "regular" as he might not be, from that display of power) are far more fragile than Servants like she. ]

Minato! Are you all right?

[ Then, Nero leans over a bit. This was not what she wanted! How could she carry herself with pride like this, letting someone else, her temporary pseudo-Master, do her dirty work? ]

[She's quick to head over to him, and Minato... just lifts his chin, flashing her a very small but sincere smile (with a fair hint of ruefulness).]

Yeah... I'm fine, honest.

[... And then he takes in the rest of her, frowning a little as he slowly pushes himself up.]

You're injured, though. Let me heal you, hang on.

[He is already reaching for his Evoker.]

[ Nero huffs. ]

...Hmph. You did not need to land the final blow on that demon. Did I not say I would make it pay dearly for daring to take on the appearance of one I cherish? For you to take care of a wrong that I should have righted with my own two hands...it does not sit well with me.

[ She grumbles out of pride, but she stays still for his healing. This is a partnership, after all, and if her charge has the ability to support her, then she would be a fool not to allow him to. As long as he can truly handle it in his condition, of course. ]

[And much like his other magic, he lifts the Evoker to his temple, dragging in a slow breath. When he summons, it's Messiah that he calls upon, and it's Messiah who raises a hand and casts the light glimmer of healing magic, all of it settling over them.

It'll ease those cuts and stings and pain, Minato's own breathing evening out as it does.

And then, peacefully:]

When I saw how you looked when you saw her...

[... He shrugs.]

I didn't want you to have to. I know that you could have... but I didn't want you to have to. I'm sorry if that upset you. [But he doesn't regret it.]

[ All right, now that's a figure a little more awkward than she'd expected to pop up, oppressor of Christianity she was in her mortal life. Well then.

The healing spell eases her pain, smooths over the wounds from the bullets like they were never there. The words? Possibly moreso. But she doesn't say that out loud. It'd be unbecoming. After another few moments of hesitation, she sighs and then speaks up once more. ]

Very well. I simply do not know what I'm going to do about you, Minato.

[ Nevertheless, she smiles. Apology accepted. ]

Come. We should not linger in these woods any longer than necessary.

[January Catch-All]

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lmk if this is ok or not or want anything changed

this is perfect c:

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