6281/FateParadox: Ruler's Decree

FateParadox: Ruler's Decree
Date of Scene:	12 January 2019
Location:	The Quilt
Synopsis:	Ruler has made some waves, and more than one person wants to sit him down to find out more.
Cast of Characters:	Eryl Fairfax, Touta Konoe, Tanya Degurechaff

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Eryl Fairfax has posed:
    Ruler has made some waves lately, both in making great boasts about his incredible power, and talking down to the First of the Concord. Word of it spread across the Multiverse like wildfire, and now everyone wants a piece of him for one reason or another.

    Recent reports put him as flying over one of the many long straight highways that cut right between the border of two unified worlds in the Quilt. There's nothing there for miles, save a run-down bikers bar that still manages to draw a lot of clientele in spite of the isolated area.

    Said clientele is currently being launched through every available window, hurled into their own vehicles, and just otherwise pummelled. The source of the commotion is Nagi himself, who sends the last assailant through the saloon-style doors with a rising knee. "Dammit guys, I just wanted some wings!" he shouts at the defeated, before stomping back over to his seat at the bar and returning to a bowl of saucy chicken.

Touta Konoe has posed:
    There are things that Touta will hear over the comms and take an interest in half hazardly. But the one thing he's been waiting quite a while for was the reappearence of Ruler. After everything that had transpired the last time and after the things he had seen, there were items of interest he wanted to talk about. Especially when it came to the things he had been shown back in Kaladesh.

     The young black-haired boy watches as several of these assailants get thrown out of the place and a disgruntled Nagi stomping back into the bar. There was at least nothing out of the ordinary in that regard.

     Doesn't take too long for Touta to follow in after the guy, sword in his hand gripped tight. This slick Englishmen who was supposedly his great-grandfather with a bit of a look for a moment. The relationship he's had with this individual was...Complex. He takes a seat next to him and places the blade to his side. That was probably a good sign at least. He can imagine Nagi must know that he's not just here for chit-chatting, so it was probably better if he just cut to the chase...

     "Hey gramps, next round of wings is on me if you feel like talking more about that that folder from before..."

     He pulls out some cash, placing it on the table to. Actually...Is he even allowed at the bar? Whelp, guess we'll find out.

Tanya Degurechaff has posed:
    Some time after the doors had closed and the Ruler had seated himself, a vehicle pulls up which immediately stands out. It is not a motercycle at all, but a military truck. The doors are marked with the twin-headed Dragon of the Empire, and it is an Imperial soldier at the wheel. The rumble of the diesel engine eventually fades when the engine is turned off, but the driver does not disembark. Rather, it's the passenger door that opens.

    Impeccably shined boots on the pavement, several sizes too small for a soldier to be wearing. They step cautiously around the heap of groaning bikers, and into the saloon proper. A small, blonde girl in an olive green military uniform. Tanya von Degurechaff, her hands folded behind her back, surveys the saloon interior with a sour expression. She resists the urge to cover her mouth with her handkerchief, and merely approaches the bar's lone occupant. Her hands are occupied by removing her hat, tucking it under one arm.

    "Ruler," she announces herself, but does not seat herself, her tone carries no pretenses; it's all business.

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
    Ruler side-eyes his distant descendant as he dips a wing into a pool of ranch. "You'd have to be the one cooking them kid, the chef ran out," he grumbles, before biting into it. Dabbing at his mouth with a discarded biker's jacket, he looks to Touta and shakes his head. "I'm old kid, I gotta keep notes these days, otherwise I'd forget everything! That's all it is."

    But then, a military truck pulls up. Ruler swivels in his stool and looks on as a little girl strides in and greats him as he gnaws on a bone. He then spits it out and says. "You're uh... that kid that Avenger is gunning after, yeah? Man you must have done him real dirty." He laughs at the thought, but then settles and asks "What do you want?" before taking another wing.

Touta Konoe has posed:
     "Eh? Seriously? How can you forget that easily? You literally showed all those notes to Saber and Pris when you accused them of cheating didn't ya....Fine, if you want chicken wings so badly I'll make them. Just throw me a bone here, I'm seriously getting worried about this whole Grail War too, ya know? Made it sound like things are starting to get out of hand."

     Touta also turns around at this point as he notices another address the Servant. The voice of someone who sounds like they had even less of a reason to be in a bar than Touta did, and when he sees that face he gives a bit of a surprised look. He's seen this girl maybe twice before, or at least twice he remembers vividly. The first being back in France with that Avenger...And back in...Lumiere? He's pretty sure it was Lumiere where she pulled that gun on that girl from the church. Yeah, he recalls this was the girl who didn't play games.

Tanya Degurechaff has posed:
    Blue eyes travel briefly to Touta, before returning to Nagi directly. Simply, she explains, "He is a former enemy soldier. His side lost the war and I killed him." She inclines her head slightly, regarding the Ruler whose behavior does not at all indicate such a title-- but the power he'd demonstrated in Paris is something she cannot ignore.

    So it's best to be frank about her intentions. As a form of... 'casual respect'? That will have to do.

    "When he came to Paris, it seemed like you had a difficult time restraining him. I have the impression he is troublesome to you. He is clearly troublesome to me." Straightening, Tanya's expression shifts to a much more approachable one. A bright, well-intentioned smile presented over the little devil within, "I feel like we can work together to solve both our problems. Mostly I'd just like to ask some questions about him and his role in your Grail War."

    Her eyes briefly return to Touta when he recognizes her, but right back to Nagi. Her behavior here doesn't seem to line up with what he might remember in prior encounters. She's acting...nice? Polite? Diplomatic? Certainly not the aggressive soldier from Lumiere nor the officer shouting orders in Paris.

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
    "No, I'm saying I use the notes to remind me, dumbass!" Ruler says with incredulity. "Man, how can you be my kid's grandkid? You couldn't slip a ting past him." He grumbles, until the offer of more wings comes up. Nagi's bowl is near empty. He taps his foot as he considers it. "Fine. One answer for one bowl of wings. But they better be damn good, or no deal."

    He then regards Tanya again, and sighs. "Yeah, sorry squirt. Thing is, he wasn't really breaking any rules until he attacked you. Yeah, he was being a real pain in the ass, but that didn't feel like 'interfering.' But he did, so he's blacklisted now. If he shows up again, hold out and I'll save the day." He puffs out his chest and smirks.

    "But sure, ask away. Can't promise a straight answer, but go ahead."

Tanya Degurechaff has posed:
    A boot finds a stool rung, and Tanya hauls herself up the not-inconsiderable distance to place herself on a bar stool as well. She has no intention of ordering anything. But this should help foster a more casual and approachable atmosphere. She places her hat on the counter, resting one arm on it while facing the Ruler straight on.

    "I will cover the expense," she offers nonchalantly.

    "As for my first question," Her free hand is raised, palm up, "Who is Avenger's master? I have my suspicions, but I would like to hear your answer."

Touta Konoe has posed:
     Touta has a nerve touched on right then as the man.

     "And I was saying I can't believe a guy who can show up a Servant like that and make such a huge scene would forget so easily! And if we're talking about how we're suppose to be like gramps, I heard that he was suppose to be calm and calculating but you popped your top off because they kept sassing you!"

     "At the least I see where Touta gets his attitude from..." Another voice says quietly to the side.

     Touta stares deadpan at the Ruler for a moment as he contemplates the deal.

     "Fine. But if they don't got chicken here then you'll come with me later to get them. Unless you got a spell that makes chicken magically appear or something. Otherwise, you'll have to just take my word I'm good for it. That's at least one thing I know I'd have in common with Gramps..."

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
    Nagi throws his head back and laughs uproariously as Touta cites his supposed level-head. "Kid, a lot of those stories are about me during a massive war. I was not exactly my light-hearted self back then." Should Touta go behind the bar and into the empty kitchen, he would find a bubbling pot of oil and plenty of pre-seasoned wings. Lucky break.

    His gaze returns to Tanya, and smirks. "Don't worry about paying, not like anyone is around to take it. But, Avenger's Master..." He leans against the bar and considers for a long moment. "Since he broke the rules, and his situation is weird, I guess I can tell you. Fact is, I don't know. Some interfering force messed with the summoning rituals that bore the Servants from the Grail, and pulled Avenger out as well. I've been keeping my ear to the ground to find out who might have been able to do that, but no luck. If you know something, I'd be dying to find out!"

Touta Konoe has posed:
    Sounds less like luck and more like a lazy chef. But that's fine for Touta. That just means he's gonna get those answers he wants quicker than he expected. So he gets to work on that fryer and preps those wings. Truthfully it might be safer back there then dealing with Tanya. There's a window in the kitchen so as he cooks he can still listen to Ruler's facts about Avenger, and the more cordial representation from the blonde-haired blue-eyed girl that he definitely doesn't recall from the last few times he's seen her. Man that was weird to see.

     At first he thinks to make a large assortment of different varieties of wings, but then remembers that this guy still kinda rubs him the wrong way somehow. So he just makes sure that they're really crispy when he brings them out Ruler's way with a plenty of different sauces. Including ranch, he saw him take that one before at least. But before he actually serves him...

     "So how are you gonna tell me the answers I want if you need those notes?" That was gonna be important?

Tanya Degurechaff has posed:
    Well that negotiation tool is gone. At least she offered, and the gesture at least had a net zero effect on the result. Tanya merely shrugs it off, outwardly, and listens intently to the answer given.

    "Mm, so you don't know at all?" She makes a show of drawing her free hand up to cradle her chin, to give the impression of thinking it over, "So all you know is that something unusual happened. Some outside force interfered, but no clues as to who..."

    Time to play her hand.

    "It is most likely a Legendonian holdout. The country that Avenger was a part of. The real mystery is how someone could influence the ritual like that without being detected." Her eyes return to Nagi's, and she nods once, "With no other lead to go on, we will have to kill Avenger directly." The casual easygoing approach she'd been using up until now, however, has a few cracks in it. Something's frustrating her, and she's not letting on just what it is.

    She lets it out inwardly: You bastard... Being X!

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
    Ruler reaches out of the wings the moment they come out, but they are denied to him. "To be honest kid, I don't really get what you want out of me. Give me a straight question and I'll answer you as best I can."

    He then stares at Tanya and raises an eyebrow. "I was never the best at magic theory, but interfering with the Grail takes some serious magecraft. You beat them, do you really think they would be capable of that?" Does he suspect something? Or is he just raising the obvious point?

Touta Konoe has posed:
     Touta looks at him for a moment "I wanted to ask you about that belt Saber was wearing and tell me about that city from your notes that the Concord had taken over..." Touta had decided at some point that he wouldn't try to interfere one way or another, he wanted to be neutral if he could. "Last time you said that the belt was breaking the rules because it was interfering with other worlds. I wanted to know what you meant by that..."

     Touta had wanted to be an impartial party after all the nonsense he went through, he didn't want to pester any of the other Servants anymore, but when he hears something like that about a belt prior with a context of it affecting other worlds, his biggest worry is that somehow that meant this Grail War was affecting people that had nothing to do with it, and if that was the case. That wouldn't be okay. With that said he tosses the wings Nagi's way finally. Basically,Touta just wants to know if what Priscilla did to make Saber stronger had inadvertently put other people in harm's way.

Tanya Degurechaff has posed:
    Tanya's eyes dart to Touta when he re-appears from the kitchen with his sampling of hot wings. She narrows her eyes briefly, before disguising it with a blink instead, relying on her gaze to acknowledge his presence. And his question. She pointedly refuses to say anything about the actions of her commander within the Concord, though.

    Instead, she returns her attention to Nagi. His own question recieves a shrug in response, "It's entirely possible that it was a matter of opportunity. I am just a soldier, I haven't seen what, if any, magical studies have been salvaged by our occupying force." Eyes closing, she presents her hands in a clear gesture of 'don't know', "Some magic just isn't immediately practical to use when your country is losing the war it started, I imagine."

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
    "Oh! OH! Man you had to go the most roundabout way to ask that didn't you?" Nagi exclaims. "The belt itself isn't messing with things. It's the fact that it was only possible due to that tall woman's faction invading that country and taking their stuff. Saber himself didn't interfere, but he benefits from interference caused by a related party. Hence, 'interference by proxy.' I doubt that woman would have invaded if not for him." he explains.

    With the question answered, Ruler takes the fresh wings, dumps half into his old bowl and offers it to the other two. Looking to Tanya, he says, "I don't really buy that. If it was this other country, what do they get out of it? Avenger's an even looser cannon than I was. And you said that you might have an idea of who did it, but you shrug when I ask if this other country did it? What do you know, squirt? Avenger is 'my problem' as of right now, I might be able to kill him before he gets to you, but not if you're keeping things from me."

Touta Konoe has posed:
     Touta takes some of his wings, he did make them and it'd be a waste otherwise. He listens intently to what situation is apparently from that.

     "Right, I remember seeing some of that in that notebook you had or whatever. Honestly, I think Saber's plenty strong, I don't get why they needed that belt. He turns to Tanya for a moment though, was she staring at him? No...Just a blink?

     "Hey, you're part of the Concord. You know anything about why Pris feels like she has to supercharge Saber?"

     Truth be told, he has some idea from his conversation with her and what she said the last time but he figures he should ask someone who speaks to her more regularly than he does. Once he receives an answer from Tanya though he looks back towards Nagi again, to which he hops around to the other side of the bar and pulls out another bowl of wings ready to go.

     "One last question for you too, gramps...I talked to one of my other Servant friends about this but I want to hear it from you. Who are you working with? The Church? Another Master? What's the deal about those notes from last time?" The question would probably come as a surprise to hear for Tanya, but Touta recalls those notes having two sets of signatures, and he's consulted another Special Class Servant regarding Ruler. The consensus being that it was possible that the handwriting came from someone who's operating under the church to help oversee the Grail War...Or it might mean that Ruler really may not be as neutral in this war after all.

Tanya Degurechaff has posed:
    "Hm?" Tanya blinks when Ruler leans into her statements like that. Crap. Did he see through it, or was she just not entirely clear? Was she not convincing? She quickly composes herself in her head before she constructs a response.

    "Humans aren't rational creatures. I suspect revenge. I am a hero of the Imperial Army, so targeting me as a scapegoat for the actions of the Imperial Army would make sense to someone that's emotionally compromised."

    "As to who, I do not actually have a name to put to it. I was hoping you did," once more she shrugs while presenting empty hands, "But if you don't know either, I'm back to square one while Imperial agents comb through Franco, Legendonia, and Dachia for clues."

    Her eyes wander back to Touta and his rather pointed question. And suddenly, the cute, polite girl is gone. What he gets is a Very Official All Business stare, "I am not going to divulge state secrets just because you asked."

    When her attention returns to Ruler, she seamlessly changes expressions as well. Right back to just being a little girl asking grandpa, "I'm not interested in having you kill him for me. But if you're willing to help me and Asterios accomplish it, that works for me."

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
    Ruler gives Tanya a long look. "Man, you really remind me of someone. She was really duplicitous and bratty too!" He laughs again, but such a statement might actually anger both people in the room. "But, that's fine. I'm not saying everything, you're not saying everything. Can't be mad about that."

    He then looks to Touta, and does so for a long, pregnant moment. It's the flat, serious face of a man who is keeping it inside, for one reason or another. Then he breaks out into a cheery grin and says, "Nope, I'm totally solo! It's just me and the Grail! Sorry kid, don't know what answer you were expecting, but no one is 'backing' this War, and I'm not looking to win it for myself."

Tanya Degurechaff has posed:
    Duplicitous? Bratty?! Tanya bristles visibly at the accusations, while keeping that pleasent look on her face. It's a real sight to see when someone's inner world conflicts with their outer display this much. She settles down before things get too terribly obvious, though.

    But Tanya does know that she'd just been called out.

    "Then this is how it shall have to be," Tanya states evenly, "If you are unwilling to assist with Avenger, than I will simply take care of it myself." She turns on the stool, collecting her hat as she does so. Hopping down, the cap is lifted and placed on, tugged down to regulation perfection, "Have yourself a good evening, Ruler."

Touta Konoe has posed:
     Tanya's response is expected. Though her goodie-two-shoes act actually makes him look at her really bizarre. But he ignores that when Ruler finally makes his remarks to the both of them. Contrary to Nagi's feelings about how Touta would respond to such a remark he does like that Nagi isn't so quick to fall for such a ploy. Though...

     When he gives Touta that serious look. A look that gets completely washed over by that cheery face of his. And with that he hands the guy the second bowl of wings, and a jab on the arm.

     "Don't talk about Yukihime like that. She's nothing like this kid."

     With that Touta picks up his sword and heads for the door of the bar, once through the doors the sword speaks up to him.

     "There's clearly something he wanted to say."

     To which Touta said nothing. Because he agreed, in fact he knew that Nagi was hiding something. Because that was the same cheery face he'd give when he was trying to play something off...

     "Well, whatever it is he won't get to say it now. I made sure to put plenty of extra spice in those second round of wings. He's lips are probably gonna get more singed than the street from the last time, pffffft."

     He thinks he can leave it at that.