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Atalanta      Warpgates are always noticeable. Always, always - it is the way of the Multiverse, and no world linked to it can avoid it. As such, a new Warpgate appearing can attract attention. Curiosity compels, after all - to have someone seek out what was there. Investigate the darkness. Even just stepping through the gate into the dark area that it leads into, one can feel the hum of the latent magic that beckons through the ... trees?

     Another visit, or light magic, somehow, walking into this new world reveals a barely existant dirt path that winds down through a sprawling forest. It is neither too warm neither too cool for late night in October - the weather is nearly perfect, barring a slight wind making the leaves rustle. The path continues winding, until, after some time, it drops in front of a much more noticable dirt road that follows the outskirts of the forest into a suburban neighborhood.

     Anyone that can possibly claim to have explored a Fuyuki City can notice the similarities - you've washed up south of Homurahara Academy, which can be seen through some trees.

     A nearby house, boarded up, shows fresh signs of footsteps. Words can distantly be heard. A male voice, rough, angry, smug.

     "Fill - fill- fill."
August Kohler The Watch's informants tend to keep eyes on really anything strange, and this is no exception. A newly unified world has some absolutely strange magical patterns, so a magically-inclined informant who works nearby noticed it and informed the Watch. It's lucky(?) that the Cloak, August Kohler, wasn't doing anything but playing gacha games today.

Arriving at the warpgate, August waits briefly for Will, tapping his foot. He's wearing a jacket, a t-shirt, and jeans, with a mirrored bracelet over his right wrist, which has a wrapped up but still functional hand. "Where should we get burgers? The place with the giant cows, the one that literally shoots them out of a cannon while you wait, or somewhere normal?" The redhead asks his companion, as he turns on a flashlight and starts poking around, following the intel the informant gave on what it felt like.

As they enter the neighborhood, it's the boarded-up house that catches August's eye, as he flashes over the footsteps. "Think this is it? I don't see what else it could be. You go around the back, I'll investigate up here." And so, August approaches the front door, whether or not Will agrees. His hand twitches into a fist, as if he'll knock, but he doesn't, yet. He's going to continue to listen, as he hears those weird words. Fill? Fill /what/?
William Pauwel "Both of those things kind of sound like they're kind've missin' the point of burgers," there's another guy here, too. He looks... Not much older than August. Just blonde and also significantly manlier. This is, admittedly, not too hard to do, but the point still stands. It also helps that it looks vaguely like this guy wandered out of some kind of old west flick. If he was in a movie, he might be played by a really young John Wayne or something.

But he's not. He's just a scraggly guy with a bright, shiny gun.

"I mean, shootin' a cannon would probably make the meat taste like gunpowder, and huge cows might just be... Kind of fatty? I dunno. Too much fat ain't great. A little is great. Too much and you've got a patty made of gristle--" He stops at the front door of that weird, shoddy building and frowns. "You sure? Well. Alright. I'll see meet you in the middle."

And so Will goes around the back and probably gets caught in a cult ritual or something, knowing his luck. Hopefully they don't have any weird ritual clothes. This kind of place seems like the dark artists'd buckle you right into some kind of weird getup before sacrificing you to the evils of the world.
Atalanta      "Fill. Fill. Fill."
     "Fill, Fill, Fill."

     As Will leads the way around the back, the windows are all still mostly boarded, but candlelight glimmers through them. The backdoor, however, is wide open, and a moonbeam shines down into the house. A man, with curly orange hair, and red goggles, kneels in front of a circle that either one of the two investigators can only describe as 'a summoning circle.' He's also much more clearly able to be understood.

     "Open, close. Open, close. Open, close."
     "Repeat three times. Shatter, one filled."

     The shadows shift, revealing two goons standing in the dark. The circle itself seems to be made of blood. Fresh blood. Very fresh blood. There's a burlap sack barely visible in the darkest of shadows. In the center of the circle, a piece of wood. Seemingly ancient - thousands upon thousands of years old.

     "Your self is under me. My fate is your arrow. In accorance with the approach of the Holy Grail, I summon you, answer me. Here is my demand. You, seven heavens clad in three words of power, arrive from the ring of deterrence."

     The moonlight seems to shudder, where it rests on the circle, before a figure stands up in the circle. A young woman, with lion ears, and a tail - and a bow, larger than she.
August Kohler August can still only hear muttering, so once Will's around, he radios in for intel. Blood and a summoned girl? August hasn't seen much black magic, but he knows how it's /described/. Some sort of occult ritual is going on and someone was probably murdered for this. He signals to Will that they're moving in, reaches his mirrored bracelet up to his eyes, and calls out. "Persona!"

In a flash of blue, the Tin Soldier appears, and then immediately moves to shoulderrush the boarded up door. August remains behind the Persona, waiting for Will to get inside as well, as he follows his Persona inside. "Alright, assholes. I don't know who you are or what the hell you're doing, but you probably killed someone to do it. Drop to your knees or we'll fuck you up." Intimidation first, as the Tin Soldier's gun leg is pointed on the man with goggles. He's not addressing the girl much yet, though he does glance at her. Are those...lion ears and a tail? And a bow? The hell.
William Pauwel Will does not actually know black magic when he sees it. He's an engineer, not a wizard! But he does know what blood smells like, and he certainly knows what it looks like. He ALSO knows that girls with lion ears and tails are CUTE, OKAY. GOD AUGUST, you do not need to think about this kind of thing. It's just... It's just a fact of the universe.

Also a fact of the universe: a guy with a gun is scary as hell. A guy with a SHOTGUN is even scarier, especially in such close quarters.

"Yeah, y'all! Hands in the air and I won't shoot!" Will shouts as he barrels right into the open back door... With not one, but TWO barrels. His gun seems to have transformed into a double-barreled shotgun, each one fuming with azure plasma. "Put the blood down, folks! Ain't nobody needs to get hurt."
Atalanta      Her tail swishes behind her, as the newly, ah, summoned creature (?) slowly pivots in a circle, taking in everything. The tips of her leonine ears twitch, before she is called out by the man outside the circle, a circuit-board red mark on his hand faces her. "I have called you, from the Throne. YOu are an Archer, are you not?" His arrogance is so great that he ignores both August and Will for a moment, even as his two thugs both pull out shotguns and turn on them. Don't bring a gun to a gun fight, Will.

     Then, the moment of absurdity - a rich accent, Grecian, as the woman's voice cuts in. "Yes. I am Archer, summoned by you from the Throne of Heroes." She shifts her weight. It is a very deliberate movement, although her ears flicker for a moment, and she, distracted by something in the shadows, misses the ginger-haired magus ordering her to kill the newcomers. At his order, however, the other two start shooting.

     Bang bang, pow.
August Kohler August only knows it's an occult ritual because he's seen enough movies. As the man ignores them and talks, August takes in some words. Archer, Throne of Heroes? Oh god. This is that Grail War thing people sometime talk about, isn't it? Ancient heroes who kill each other. The two men distract him, though, drawing their own shotguns. Aiming on one, the Tin Soldier rushes forward to bodycheck him, willing to tank a shotgun blast center-mass with its metallic body. It's clearly intelligent, but it doesn't seem to be anything like a Servant to the magus or the lion-woman. It doesn't even feel really 'magical', even if it is absolutely supernatural.

Moving to knock out the thug, the Tin Soldier turns afterwards on the goggle-man, pointing its leg-gun to the back of his head. "I said on your knees," August remarks as he steps forward, his voice darkly calm. "Explain yourself. Where'd you get the blood? The hell are you even doing here? I'm really doubting this is some sort of extreme misunderstanding."
William Pauwel What's a Grail War? Why would people fight to the death over some kind of cup? It must be a hell of a cup! Or maybe a heaven of a cup? The semantics aren't important. What IS important is that Will's staring down two guys with shotguns. Now, under normal circumstances, that'd be a pretty big problem. But Will lives on Tellus.

When you live on Tellus, you learn to be fast on the draw.

Before one of the thugs can even aim down-sights, Will fires a blast of screaming, hot plasma right into his weapon. In a split second, he's aiming at the second man, just in time for the Tin Soldier to run him down.

The gun goes off. Will leaps out of the way as a spray of buckshot eviscerates the space he had just been occupying. He leans around the corner of a conveniently placed couch and fires again, looking to blow another shotgun straight into oblivion. "I said hands up! Damnit, y'all fools just don't know how to listen, do y'all!? Get your hands in the air now, else my friend back there ain't going to be very happy with y'all."
Atalanta      The ears on top of her head keep twitching. The woman clad in green and black, bearing a bow that is so large that she should not be able to wield it, continues to step into the shadows, towards the burlap shadow that was noted earlier. Her ignoral of her 'Master' continues, for she seems to be rather independent of him, and of the action going on in the room. CLinically calculating, if you will.

     Both of the goons go down in the brief foray into combat. They didnt expect actual competentce out of August, who is kind of pretty looking, and Will, who was wielding something extremely dumb. The ginger-haired magus curses, before rolling up his sleeves. The glitter of silver, lizard-like scales on his arm can be seen as he raises his hands, per Wills' orders. This is precisely the wrong idea, as he immediately twists back down, darting back into the darkness nearby the girl. He's visible, just barely, but he's aiming to move into the dark.

     The sack is opening. The tail, so curiously waving, stills.
William Pauwel WILL'S GUN IS TOTALLY AWESOME. THE SOLANO IS BADASS. GOSH YOU JUST HAVE BAD TASTE.

Not important. The goons go down. The bossman looks like he's actually got some kind of sense to him. He puts his hands up and amakes a show of surrendering...

Only to be a /total dumbass/ and decide to just straight up bolt when there's a gunman with his weapon trained on your face.

Will's cheek twitches as his weapon suddenly shifts. It goes from shotgun to handcannon. Its blue-hot core has given way to a rippling, nigh-invisible swirl of electromagnetic chaos. Will keeps his weapon trained on the magus as he escapes into the shadows and pulls the trigger just as he finds his way there. The Solano flashes, unleashing a bolt of invisible energy tuned in precisely the right way to briefly overload an unshielded nervous system.

It won't kill, but damn if it won't hurt. Like a king-sized taser.
August Kohler August keeps the gun trained on the man as he raises his arms...and then the man's some sort of lizardguy and is skulking into the shadows before August can pull the trigger. "Shit!" With Will confirming he'll chase, August moves over to the bag - and spots it already being opened. As he steps forward, he spots exactly what is inside the bag, and covers his mouth briefly before shouting. "Will, don't let the asshole get away! We need some explanations!" Turning to the figure ripping open the bag, he then glances at the bag itself. "Hey, can you hear me? It'll be alright, we're getting you out of here."
Atalanta      Next to August, the strange lion woman freezes momentarily. She dislikes his approach, or something else, but as they both peer into the bag and see a frantic headshake meaning 'yes', does she stand. Her hands reach behind her, and she deftly draws her bow. A single arrow seams to ... appear, and her gaze narrows as she lays it to the string. She shifts her weight. It is once again, a deliberate movemvent.

     She can see far better than the other two.

     There's a muffled scream in the shadows as the magus gets blasted, before there's a slow scuffling noise. A scraping, of scales and things across the floor. It's kind of eerie. The lion-girl inhales and draws the bow, pulling the string back to her cheek. She exhales, and the green bolt flies across the room, followed so swiftly by a second and third that it seems gun-like. There's no more scraping noises. Her green gaze is, to put it simply-

     Pissed.
August Kohler Well, the lion-woman doesn't seem to like August. Probably because he threatened her summoner? That's what he thought, atleast, until Atalanta goes and snipes him herself - her movements deft and absolutely superhuman. He stares her down, shaking his head in disbelief momentarily, as he draws a switchblade from his pocket and starts cutting through the bag and the bonds. "Will, can you confirm the death?" He shouts out, before crouching to help the girl up, checking her for additional wounds. "We need to get her to a hospital. You two, help me tie up the thugs. We'll put in an anonymous call."

And then a glance to Atalanta, from the redhead who is way too calm in such a situation, even if clearly a bit shaken. "August Kohler. ...Nice shot?"
William Pauwel "I would really rather not!" Will calls back over to August as he (with enormous reluctance) moves over to start checking out that dead guy's body. He got a dead-on shot, but this guy... What was with the scales? Why was he moving all wiggly like that? This place is /weird./
Atalanta      "I was Archer." The woman says calmly. "He summoned me here, to participate in the fight for the war. He made his own bad decision, however, in his methods for summoning me." Her gaze falls squarely on the young woman, who looks absolutely stunned at her trio of saviours, although still somewhat terrified. Atalanta puts her bow back over her shoulder, sighing deeply.

     "So instead, I took his life."

     Indeed, lizard-mage is very dead. The two goons are just unconcious, so, you know. The lioness kneels down next to the young girl, murmuring softly as she gently puts the child back together, with a aura of warmth to her that was previously unnoticeable.

     "... what is a hospital?" She asks. At this point, she catches the child, who seems to finally have passed out from shock. Ah well, these things happen. The lion picks her up. "Show me." She demands, her accent firm. "Then... we must go to the church."
August Kohler August sort of blinks at the Archer, who pretty much confirms this is one of those Grail War things. Sighing, he nods to her, shrugging. "I don't blame you. Asshole got what he deserved. She should be alright, though." There's a pause when she doesn't know what a hospital is, as he pulls out his phone and begins dialing emergency services. "You...right, ancient hero, right? It's a medical center. They patch and heal injured people." He's moving for the door, nodding at her firmness. "Alright, I pulled up a map, there should be one this way." He dials the cops once outside and getting the street address, reporting the 'sound of gunshots' before pocketing his phone. He pauses midway to turn back at Archer, utter confusion in his eyes.

"What? What church? Why?"
William Pauwel Will mutters as he quietly leaves the body behind and goes about the slightly less grim business of straight-up hogtieing a pair of mooks up. Like, actually hogties. He can do those. He's a cowboy.

"I'm right behind y'all. We can probably get this place cleaned up once we get the girl somewhere safe."
Atalanta      "Asclepeion." The lioness says after a moment. "Is dedicated to god of hospitals, then? Like an asclepeion was, temple sacred to Asclepius - god of medicine." Leaving this brief Greek history lesson to the way her world was, as well as a hint as to her identity, she hoists the small child up, and treks all the way down to the 'hospital.' This part of Fuyuki City discomforts her in some ways, as she is clearly not used to the bustle.

     Much of the following time is spent delivering the child, and then whisking her two followers away. Their eventual location is something very similar to a Roman Catholic church, which she frowns at. "Church. Grail supervisors." She says to them simply. Wait, the Grail war has *supervisors?*.

     She leads the way through the church unerringly, until they get to the chapel. A young woman stands there, and she looks surprised to see the trio, until the lion-woman kneels. "I was summoned, and have slain my Master. I seek the wisdom to be granted another Master." She announces simply. The ... priestess sighs, grimacing.

     "There is a lack of masters in this war. The Mages Association has ... splintered." She remarks. "You would need to find an outsider mage, for we have none on hand that do not already have their hands on a Seal, or do not wish to participate."

     The lionesses' face contorts. She turns back on the two that had helped her, and both women summarily dismiss Will in a matter of moments. The lioness frowns again when their gazes both land on August. There's a 'mmm' noise from the priestess.
William Pauwel Masters? Servants? "Uh," Will raises a hand, having been whisked away to the Church by the ineffable power of Time Skip. "I mean, I don't really like the idea of slavery, and I'm not exactly fond of the idea of war, but if you really need a guy... I mean, I ain't the type to let a cute girl--"

...

W-why are they looking at him like a pile of old, dried fish.

WHY ARE THEY LOOKING AWAY!?

"N-nn," Will makes an uncomfortable sound and rubs at his cheek like he was somehow suddenly slapped. "... So uh. What's this about an association?"
August Kohler "Yeah, just like that. I take it you're Greek?" August deduces...pretty easily, since she has plenty of clues. He's quiet otherwise as they head to the hospital, dropping off the child, but is absolutely confused when she talks about Grail supervisors. Why does she need to take them with her? And then, she asks about the Master. August stands back to the side, next to Will, throwing glances at him the whole time. This is a bit surreal. And then, they need a new Master. He speaks up. "What will happen if she doesn't get a Master?"

Oh. They're, uh, looking at them. As they entirely disregard Will, he can't help but laugh out loud. But then they actually think he might be...viable? What? "...Uh, I take it you're thinking I'm the only candidate by the way you're staring at me. What...would this entail, really?"
Atalanta      "Yes." The lioness confirms. Well, that only narrows the field down to a hell of a lot of Greek heroes.

     She looks at August calmly for a few moments. Will is temporarily ignored. Sorry, Will. "I fade away back into the Throne of Heroes, until the next Grail War, which I may not necessarily be summoned for, and my wish that all children to be protected waits in obscurity, until I prove my strength and win the Grail War."

     The priestess nods at everything the other says. "... you are a acceptable source of prana - mana, you might call it, as well. Some will be sapped to allow Archer to Survive. You will fight with her, for the Grail, for a Wish of your own. You will bear three Command Seals - the mark of the Contract between you, Archer, and the Grail. These allow you to give Archer three absolute commands at any point during the War, but once they are gone, the contract is done. Aside from that... it is war. It is bloody ... but for the ultimate wish..."

     "There are those who have given their lives for the chance. Is it a risk you are willing to take?"
August Kohler Three words ring out. "I fade away". She says she may return, but that enough is...death, isn't it? By inaction. She's certainly a person, by the way she talks and looks, and she's certainly here. While he seems to be paying attention to the priestess, and he certainly picks up her words, his mind was decided immediately, to the point that they're practically hollow.

"I accept." August says, with the confidence of a man who either doesn't fear death, or doesn't regard it in his decisions. "Tell me what I need to do. Archer, I'll stand with you and make sure your wish is granted and that you survive." You survive. Not we. Hm.
William Pauwel Will punches August's shoulder.

"A-hem," Will says, touching at his nose.

"August y'moron. It's 'we.' Not 'you.' I want to make it through this war too, you lucky bastard."
August Kohler "Who said you get to come?" August replies to Will. It's probably joking.
William Pauwel "I said I get to come!" Will thumbs at his chest. "Someone's gotta make sure you make it out alive! 'Sides, Janine would kill us both if I didn't."
Atalanta      There's a moment, then August probably feels - something, sapping away at his energy. That which allows him to call his Persona, allows him to use that essence. It's a very light sapping - it seems Archer is not very hard to maintain. She looks at him curiously, looking for his Command Seals as there's a brief glimmer of light around both of them.

     "Oh. You asked me who I was earlier." She says, suddenly. "... if you wish, I will reveal myself to you, and him, Master."
William Pauwel Will freezes.

"W-woah! No, that's fine!" He holds up his hands, like he's trying to get this strange green lion girl to STOP WHAT SHE'S DOING PLEASE FOR THE CHILDREN. "I mean! We've only just met! That'd be weird! Also, me AND August? That's..."

probably in someone's fanfiction, somewhere

probably sanary's or milly's

"That's a little bit forward, miss..."
Atalanta      Exasperated- "I meant my name. Most Servants go by their 'classes' so other Servants don't get a edge up on them." The lioness snaps sharply.
August Kohler On August's left hand, a new pattern has emerged. Bright red, it starts as what appears to be a large hollow gear, cut in half - two distinct red lines. In the center is a smaller gear, forming a third, complete line. He lifts them up to glance at them, before showing them to Atalanta as she searches, and then using them to dap Will in the head. "Pretty sure she means her identity as a hero, you dumbass. Is it safe here? I mean, if you'd like, go ahead. Again, name's Kohler. I'll get you a radio set up, uh, hm. Anything else I need to know? Where will you live, how much food do you need, the works."
William Pauwel Beat.

"Oh."

Will goes bright red.

"O-Oh! Ahahahaha, whoops!" AND IN A HOUSE OF THE LORD.

WILL DO YOU HAVE NO SHAME
Atalanta      "Church is the safest spot, in this world." Atalanta does not cognizant multiverse yet.

     "I am the daughter of the bears."
     "I am the daughter of the hunters."
     "I am Artemis' chosen huntress."
     "I am the Princess of Arcadia."
     "I traveled with Jason on the Argonaut, fought the Calydonian Boar."
     "I am Atalanta."
William Pauwel Beat.

"Um," Will ums. "But... Those are cat ears, right? Not bear?"
August Kohler Ah, someone August has heard of, even if it takes a second for recollection as she states each part of her legend. It triggers around 'Artemis' chosen huntress'. "Took part in a footrace, right. I've heard of you. It'll be nicer to work with you, Atalanta, or should I say, Archer." August starts to walk away, mostly just so they're not in direct earshot of the priestess. "Well, then I have an invitation for you, after a brief check that you're not a spy." He pauses for five seconds. "Alright, you're not a spy. I'm not from this earth. I'm from another one, in a thing called the Multiverse, and I'll get you a pamphlet soon because it is really a mouthful. Needless to say, I'm also a member of an organization called the Watch, and by the way you sniped that asshole back there, I think you'll fit well. We're freedom fighters. We fight against injustice and people who abuse others, and we do it our way. I can give you a communication radio, if you're interested. It's long-distance communications." He automatically assumes she'll be unaware. "Are you interested?" August asks, that same stoic calm on his face. He reaches a hand into his pocket, where he keeps a spare radio, just incase.
Atalanta      "Lion." Atalanta tells Will. She's getting really blunt with both of them and really agitated. "Aphrodite has bad sense of humor. Tricked me into marriage then turned both of us into lions. Died as one."

     August calms her down by talking about the Watch, although she tilts her head. "I... okay?" She says. "Freedom is something I can get behind. Is ... radio? Talk thing?"
August Kohler As Atalanta gets agitated, August lifts a hand (pointedly not the one with the Command Seals, which indicates he's been considering them silently the whole time). "Hey, it's fine. Didn't mean to bring up baggage, relax a bit." He has yet to realize she doesn't like men, so he's not even considering it. Instead, he pulls out a small portable radio, with a button. "Press this down, talk into it, and you'll be able to talk to others. Use it whenever you're comfortable, let me know if you lose it so I can wipe the permissions. I'll take you...hmm, to the Shack you think, Will? Janine's moving out, so Archer should be able to stay in it." Another glance to Atalanta...that same expression, the whole time. Never smiling, never really frowning, he seems to be talking to Atalanta as if she's just there. "If I'm moving too fast with any of this, let me know."
William Pauwel "Uhhh well I'm not sure we can really keep her anywhere else, so I guess we can keep her in the shack," Will scratches at his cheek. Does she really hate being a lion? That's so cool, though! Hmm. "I mean, unless y'all want to keep her in Gale. We'd be glad to take her too."
August Kohler "I'm pretty sure I'm literally connected to her by the soul or something. I felt it. She should be somewhere I go frequently enough so that nothing weird happens." August replies.
Atalanta      Atalanta's nose wrinkles. She presses the button a few times out of fascination. "Don't want to live in a shack. Sounds bad. Will take tree. Forest. Grass. It's all I ever really had."
William Pauwel "Uhhh, didn't you basically live on Tellus for like a year, though?" Will scratches at the back of his neck. "I mean, the shack is in the middle of a forest. Gale's got a lot of farmland. So... Whichever?"
August Kohler "It's a very nice shack. Pretty fancy. But yeah, there's a forest out there, if you're stealthy. With who you are, I assume you are." August shrugs to Will. "Yeah, and now I don't. I don't head out there as often except to get bread from that really nice bakery."
William Pauwel "That bakery's pretty nice," Will agrees. "And they have really good pie this time of year. Not as good as grams', but still."
Atalanta      "... apple pie?" Atalanta suddenly asks, looking up from the radio. Clicky clicky clicky.
William Pauwel "Yeah!" Will says with an eager, and hungry, grin. "This is autumn, so we're harvestin' some fresh apples. And pumpkin! Lots of pumpkin pie, too."
August Kohler August just slowly stares. "Apple pie, huh. Of course. Alright, Will, we'll make a detour on the way back. Instead of burgers, let's get pie." He then proceeds to head for the warpgate, leading the way. "I look forward to working with you, Archer."
Atalanta      "... okay." Atalanta says, agreeably. This lasts pretty much all the way to the warp gate. Which she views as something strange and unusual.