Scene #3428: A Luncheon between Magi

Owner	Pose
Archer	Deep breaths. Rin forced herself to remember that this wasn't going to exactly be easy regardless of how or when she went about it. Still, she'd at least tried to make it... peaceable. A situation they both could have an easier time relaxing in, not that Dun Realtai wasn't this already for the most part. But that didn't mean she couldn't try to build on that. ... granted, the fact that several items she had set up on the table had been cooked and prepared by Archer was probably not going to be a big selling point with Shirou - he already didn't like her Servant on principle alone. Feeling like he owed Archer for a meal was probably just rubbing salt in that wound. At the same time though, part of her dismissed it as childish how they couldn't get along... even as part of her felt she understood all too well Shirou's frustration. She knew them both too well to truly pick one over the other. And it was because she knew Shirou that she felt she owed him this. Especially after that promise she made in Paragon City to tell him what she knew about the Fifth Grail War. The castle hall was probably among one of the more peaceful locals to have a luncheon in to discuss things - and it was arguably the safest after Lezard Valeth's brazen attack on Shirou in the fields. She was sitting at the table's end with a cup of tea already served for both of them, taking another breath to ensure she was in fact ready to touch upon these old topics she would rather not have revisited... and that Shirou may not wish he'd heard by the end. Nevertheless, she looks at him when he enters, seeming a mix of anxious and calmly expectant... as well as a bit happy if the small smile is anything to go by. Archer isn't here - his presence would just aggravate things. And this was something she felt Shirou needed to adapt to without a cynical running commentary in the background - it was too sensitive for that... to both of them, probably. "Sorry this took so long" Rin muses, gesturing to a seat for Shirou to sit at. "With all that's happened with that Dark Mage's attack, and the situations in Woodvale and Anor Londo clearing up... I figured I'd let you try to enjoy the peace a little bit." For her though, it made Rin feel a touch more guilty - in that what she may tell him might end up shattering that with thoughts of what may be the Grail War to come.
Emiya Shirou	It's been a CRAAAAAZY few weeks. Months. ... Well, crazy year honestly but Shirou's trying not to think about how much time has passed when he comes down the stairs from the second floor, stretching his arms. He's dressed rather humbly in local clothing rather than his usual attire... largely because his usual attire has seen better days. Days without being diced to shreds. Or bloodstained. Yeah. It's currently in what the Union euphamistically terms 'the laundromat.' But upon seeing Tohsaka and that there was food already on the table he blinked. Well, it's a good thing he didn't prepare anything for her. "Tohsaka! You really went all out." The boy remarks appreciatively. "There's nothing to apologize for..." The boy nods once, grunting his approval. "Peace is in short supply out there, we should enjoy it when we have it." He heads right for the table to seat himself. It's different indeed from the Japanese style, but he's adapted just fine to the customs over here.
Archer	Rin pauses seeing him in new clothes - or rather, different ones from what he usually wears. Typically, his attire was so unchanging that she wondered if he had any other type of clothing. ... then again, Sakura had said Rin wasn't exactly one to judge, much to her annoyance. She gives something of an apperceive smile when Shirou notes the spread she laid out and takes his seat, though part of her feels a bit reluctant to take full credit... besides, it wasn't like her Servant wouldn't rub it in his face first chance he got, so better off he heard it from Rin first. "Thanks, though I didn't make /all/ of it myself. Archer's actually the one that made half the cooked food" she gestures to a rather-impressive-looking beaf-stake layout alongside a pair of Japanese-style dishes; Nasu Nibitashi - a Braised Eggplant cooked in Dash with Soy Sauce and ginger - and finally a Kitsune Udon - Udon noddles in hot Dashi soup with Aburaage and a sweet-sause with hints of salt. "Speaking of which, I asked him not to be here - I figured he wouldn't exactly have much of a... helpful input on things." Or rather, she didn't trust them not to stab each-other... either barbed words or actual swords. Well... at the very least a calm atmosphere was established. But... where to begin? ... Well... the elephant in the room from the promise she made before was probably the best place to start. Clearing her throat, she looks at Shirou somewhat contemplatively, keeping anxiety hidden for the time being. "Well... to start, I'm guessing you've got a lot of questions for me... though I'm betting that the first will be what I meant last time, right? About Sakura-chan and me being siblings?"
Emiya Shirou	ARCHER made this?! Shirou looks over the food again, immediately twitchy. .... can't really just ignore the meeting or the food, doesn't want to deal with Archer either... inwardly he grimaces a little. Oh well. But the moment of stumped indecision is pretty obvious on his face nonetheless. Swallowing it down, Shirou adjusts his seat and - freezes up again. That name. His answer comes out in a heave of breath and exasperation. "Sakura getting caught up in this mess is one of the last things I want happening!" Well he's vehement about that. But he pause a bit to go over the food. "..." Staaaaare. "....itadakimasu..." Really... why eat Archer's food here? "Tohsaka, Matou, and Einzbern. These three names have come up through two or three worlds' worth of Holy Grails. I wanted to believe the first two were just coincidence." And that both Rin and Sakura weren't part of any such ridiculously dangerous shenanigans...
Archer	In spite of herself, Rin couldn't help but keep a small smile from slipping at seeing Shirou's reaction to learning Archer cooked some of the food... even though it wasn't quite the best mood for Shirou to be in, all things considered. "Itadakimasu" Rin agrees, though she only nibbles at one of the items she herself brought - a sandwich, as an appetizer. Waiting for a moment to hear Shirou's reply, Rin takes a small breath before continuing - "Well... it's more then just being 'involved.' To be honest... the Tohsaka, Matou and Einzberns were the ones who /built/ the Holy Grail - and by extension, we're the ones who created the Holy Grail Wars." However... the thing that she paused at answering was when Shirou stated he didn't want Sakura involved. A wish she could deeply sympathize with... yet knew she had to be honest about. Letting out a melancholic sigh, Rin looks at Shirou with a hint of sadness in her eyes. "I know... and with any luck you might be able to stop that when you get home. But... in all honesty, she's probably already very much a part of it. And has been for the past ten years." She takes another breath before continuing - momentary pauses to brace both herself for revisiting the old memories and for Shirou to steady himself. "Like I said back then... 'Matou' isn't her birth-name. She was born Tohsaka Sakura - my little sister - and given to the Matou as part of a compact between my father, Tohsaka Tokiomi... and the Matou head of house, Matou Zouken." The very mention of the name seems to bring a hint of disgust into Rin's voice, her gaze hardening slightly. "The Matou bloodline had become diluted and diffused over time to the point where the family's only remaining heir, Shinji, lacked even basic Magic Circuits... so an... agreement was made" Rin's voice becomes a touch more bitter it seems at this - and for good reason. "Father believed that becoming the heiress of the Matou would... be a good test for Sakura and me. That we would compete against each-other and grow as magi if we worked against one-another like rivals to evolve against. It's a bit more complicated then that, granted... but as far as you'd be concerned, that's the gist of what was done." It is here that she takes another deep breath... though this time, twinges of remorse are audible, and her expression falls slightly, looking like she is barely containing deep remorse. "But... but it wasn't like that at all, really. It was nothing like whatever choreographed, impersonal dance my Father had in mind. Or at least it didn't play out the way he'd probably expected it to." A long moment passes before she shakes it off somewhat, looking Shirou in the eye again. "Anyway... alongside me and you, Sakura became one of the Masters of the Fifth Grail War, with her Servant being the Rider... but she refused to fight at first when she learned you were a Master. Instead, she used her Command Spells to bind Rider to Shinji so that he could take over in her place, acting as a supplementary Master for the Matou. But she herself still serves as Rider's anchor. And... she'd possibly be attacked for other reasons anyway." Letting out a sigh, Rin pauses in her recounting as she lets this sink in for Shirou, awaiting any questions - she's learned from her past experiences it's best to let him sort through one thing at a time, lest he end up getting too many questions to ask at once.
Emiya Shirou	That's quite a story. Shirou flinches. A family broken up because magic? "Breaking up sisters to make them compete instead?" The boy finally blurts, his thoughts completely out of touch with the Magic world in this regard. Yeah, Kiritsugu'd told him that magi don't take a very human lifestyle approach to things but... His thoughts wander invisibly. The Matou family are mages? But Shinji's a horrible one... yet he ends up a Master because Sakura didn't want to-- "Oh!" Shirou's face pales upon making a connection. "Sakura's a Master... and Saber mentioned meeting another me who summoned her for the Fifth Grail War." His blood is running cold. He'd have fought Shinji? Or Sakura? Tohsaka probably was not expecting this reaction from Shirou. Had he been completely ignorant and snatched right out of his peaceful life, maybe he'd be outraged, disbelieving. Instead his blood's gone cold and he's clenching his fists around his utensils, heart rate skyrocketing. He's FOUGHT in a few Holy Grail Wars. He's SEEN what they entail. The very thought of what Tohsaka's saying has him in a panic already. "All these things that I had no idea about." He barks, anger slipping through. Anger and despair. But he inhales slowly, trying to keep his cool. But dammit, this is nuts.
Archer	Rin nods solemnly at Shirou's words, having long since come to resent how their lives were torn apart by the Grail War. "Yes. That's how the Magi world works; you either define yourself or you fall by the wayside. It's merciless to say the least, but the system always ensured only the best, strongest and most adaptive were in charge, as well as the ones with vision and the ability to support it." She closes her eyes and shakes her head. "That doesn't make it perfect, though." Rin is unable to keep pity and sympathy from working across her expression seeing Shirou's reaction when he understands what Sakura's tie to the war represents. "Yes. And Illya as well. Additionally, Souichirou Kuzuki was Master of Caster and a former trained assassin before becoming our schoolteacher" Rin then lets out something of a solemn sigh, knowing Shiroy probably won't take that very well... or what she says next, her words a bit more tentative.. "In case you're wondering... no, he didn't survive the War like we did. Issei didn't take his death very well, either". Shirou, from what he remembers of his school life, will probably recall little love was lost between Rin and Issei... but that wasn't stopping Rin from sympathizing with the boy for the loss. Additionally, she says this in the belief that Shirou might be able to help Issei through the grief if he expects it now... as well as the fact that Kuzuki was possibly an adversary. However... that wasn't quite as pressing to her as her own family. But she felt she could give Shirou some form of hope. ... And yet... at the same time... she knew it might also break him. Because what her world's Shirou did... required the sacrifice of the one thing Emiya Shirou had dedicated his life towards. "During the Grail War... yeah, you came into conflict with Shinji and Sakura-chan. But... you did save Sakura in the end." She tries to give a reassuring smile. "You saved Sakura even though you had to break off your alliance with me to do it." Rin lets that sentence hang for a moment... wanting him to have that reassurance as a cushion for when he likely asks why he'd had to break his alliance with Rin off to protect Sakura.
Emiya Shirou	"Kuzuki-sensei?!" Shirou's voice comes out choked. A former assassin, AND a Master?! ... Strangely enough this is just bizarre enough that it leaves him almost equally stunned as the revelation about Sakura. Really.. really? His head is now POUNDING. He made an alliance with Rin, but broke it off to... save Sakura? .. Sakura, who'd always been so demure and gentle... and Tohsaka here.. weren't getting along? "Hold on a moment. Save Sakura... all it takes to get someone out of the Holy Grail War is defeating their Servant. Then they're not a Master anymore. Alright... on the premise that Sakura's actually a magus and a Master, why would she even fight to begin with?! ... And if she lost her Servant she could just quit... Tohsaka, I don't get it."
Archer	Rin winces when she sees Shirou's reaction to what she says, almost cursing herself as she knows it's likely about to get far, far worse. "For some Masters, yes. But... not Sakura." This was not something she wanted to revisit. This wasn't something she wanted to relive. This Emiya Shirou hadn't been forced through that War - a war that pulled him apart at a personal level. She didn't want this. She didn't want to see him /break/ again. ... And yet... at the same tome... she owed it to him. He deserved to know... and he deserved to have a real chance to try and save her in his world. Both Shirou and Sakura deserved that chance. "Sakura... she was a Grail Vessel" Rin finally forces the words out, along with an attempt to keep herself from shuddering at what she may inflict on Shirou with this revelation. "Matou Zouken... he... /modified/ her into a Grail Vessel through artificial means. He implanted the fragments of the prior Holy Grail - Irisviel von Einzbern's Magic Circuit remnants - into Sakura to make her a second Grail Vessel. Meaning that even if she lost Rider... Sakura would still be tied into the Grail War. And... not only that." With reluctant movements, she pulls out a small folder, sliding it across the table to Shirou. "These are the notes taken by Kotomine Kirei - the Grail War moderator, my Magic teacher and... the man who caused the Great Fuyuki Fire and, technically... the man who can be said to have caused death of Emiya Kiritsugu." She tried - God help her, Rin /tried/ to keep her mask intact when she saw Shirou's reaction to these things. To be a stable presence to keep him grounded and reassured that no matter what he was about to read that everything turned out alright in the end. But... it was too much, and at last she couldn't keep from looking outright apologetic - for everything she was saying... and for the fact she was telling him all this. An expression that will like intensify when Shirou reads Kirei's notes. His notes which contained a detailed examination and analysis of every single trauma Matou Sakura had endured, recorded with all the sadistically-loving detail that was typical of the fake-priest. Everything from the Grail Fragments... to the Crest-Worms... to how they were implanted into Sakura... and every single trauma, cruelty and abuse the always-smiling girl had been inflicted with in the ten years she lived under the Matou house and name. It wasn't right. She shouldn't let Shirou read this from notes - shouldn't let that bastard priest have the satisfaction of tormenting /two/ Shirou's with his sadistic way of tearing people apart with the harsh truth. Rin felt herself a coward for not being able to say any of it herself - that it was too painful to verbally recount what had been done to her sister. ... And yet... if he were to have any chance of saving his world's Sakura... he would have to know the extent of what had happened to her. It wasn't like his world's Kirei - and knowing her luck there /was/ a Kirei in his world - Shirou would have learned anyway. . Rin doesn't really answer Shirou's question about why he had to break his alliance with her, though. That... that would come later. He had to have the context first... and she she felt that if she'd gone straight to that, he might very well have shattered. She knew that was probably going to be the result anyway... but dammed if she didn't want to try and forestall it.
Emiya Shirou	Grail Vessel. Shirou blinks a few times. Grail Vessel? What does that mean? He takes the folder reluctantly, already not liking the sound of what he's probably going to find in there. It tkes all his willpower to not CRUSH it, his angry grip's just that tight! And he does it without breaking eye contact until... Until 'the great Fuyuki Fire' enters the conversation. THAT gets his eyes glassing over for a moment. Tension, nausea, horror all mixing together into a feverish few seconds of awful flashbacks. It gives him the willies immediately. God. Who is this Matou Zouken, and Kotomine Kirei.. and why would either of them DO such things?! Nausea, revulsion, and RAGE - an expression Tohsaka has probably never seen him show - all flicker across his face as he shuffles through the notes. He's not a mage, an executioner, or even a scholar. But what he can make of it is way, way more than enough. Though as the rage passes, what's left is agony, and a helpless urge to cry. "If this is true for my world..." How... just HOW is he going to help her?!
Archer	Rin sees Shirou's expression of what is apparently incomprehension at the term 'Grail Vessel', realizing that Saber must not have told him about that. Understandable, actually, given that Illya was one as well. She probably had wanted to protect him. ... That only made this harder. "I guess Saber didn't want you to know yet" Rin admits, steeling herself for the umpteenth time as she goes on. " Pausing, she looks at Shirou a long moment - in her time, he already hated the wars just because of the fighting and the goal being to kill the enemy. "Basically... the goal of the Grail War is to allow a Mage to reach 'Root of Akasha - the source of all knowledge. The Akashic Record from which all things can be learned and derived. That in turn could grant a magi practically anything they wanted, in theory - like an almighty 'wish'." She lets this - the knowledge of what the 'Grail's wish' truly is - sink in before going on. "You see... the 'Grail War' is a sham for the Servants. The Grail is little more then a massive collection of prana meant to backtrack the path of the souls summoned in the Grail War. Backtrack it back to Akasha. The Servants... are little more then lambs to the Slaughter - they fight each-other just so that their summoned prana, the purest in human history, can be used to fill the empty Grail to make it capable of reaching Akasha." She lets out a long sigh, knowing that the boy will likely hate the Grail War even more now - as well as the cruel truth behind what the Servants fight and die and pin all their renewed hopes on. "By extension, only a magi can use the Grail. Only a living /Master/ can use it - the Servants can't truly make their wishes unless the Master gives theirs up and makes it for them. And..." Rin bites her lip again, pushing forward through the remorse. "The 'Grail Vessel' is the conduit for the Holy Grail's power. When a Servant is killed... their prana is collected in the Grail Vessel's body... gradually losing functionality as the circuits convert into a representation of the Holy Grail. Their bodies shut down... and eventually, after more then six Servants are absorbed... the flesh and blood and bone melt away, the human being... dies... and the remaining Magic Circuits become the 'chalice' that serves as the container for the Grail's power, drawing from the Greater Grail beneath Fuyuki. Irisviel von Einzbern - Kirtsugu's wife - was the one in the Fourth War. For the Fifth War... Sakura was the artificial one... and Illyasviel von Einzbern was the other." And so the truth - the irrevocable truth of just how deeply tied the two people that mattered most in Shirou's life were into the Grail War... and what their reason for it was as dictated by those who ruled over them. "You did save them... in my world at least" she states, though Rin's expression betrays the truth of the words she utters next. "But... it cost so much to do. And... some of it didn't end well all."
Emiya Shirou	"Saber told me the wish was a sham, a scheme for the Masters to do something like that, but..." But... not, apparently, that there was such danger to this 'Grail Vessel.' Which put even more consideration... Shirou had met Kiritsugu, Irisviel, and Illyasviel... versions of them, anyways. Did he know? There's tears in Shirou's eyes to go along with that helpless rage. This is too much. Far, FAR too much for the boy to take in all at once. Both his elbows slam onto the table, leaving himh olding his head in his arms. Just... BREATHING. Ragged, panicked, forced breaths. Not that this does anything to soothe him though. God. How could things like this be happening without him knowing ANYTHING AT ALL? "Then... the only good answer is to not have this stupid war to begin with!!" The redhead shouts!
Archer	It hurts. No matter how much she may have adjusted to harsh situations... it still simply /hurts/ to see Shirou like this again. To see this Emiya Shirou start to splinter and fracture the same way her own did - it felt like a knife was twisting in her heart. ... ... it was at that same point that she realized... she couldn't go on. The rest of it - why Shirou broke his alliance with her, how he saved Sakura at the cost of his ideals, how Saber had been... He couldn't take it all at once. That was what had happened in her Grail War - he'd been overloaded as one thing after the other hit him without much chance to adapt. To have any time at all to think on what he learned - he was forced to choose... and it fractured him to the core. In a way, it forced him to break who he was in order to save Sakura from the hell she'd lived under all those years unawares. "... you weren't alone, you know" Rin admits, almost too quietly to hear. "I... I never knew either. I was her sister... and I never knew. I thought..." she clenches her teeth, fingers frightening into fists. "I thought she was a treasured heiress to the Matou. That she would have some form of proper upbringing with an actual family whereas I had to live under Kieri. I thought..." The next admission is forced. Dare one say, it sounds pained... but she admits it anyway. "I thought she had you. All those times I saw her smile when talking to you - times I glimpsed you speaking at the Archery club from a distance - I'd thought she had a happy life with you and her family. Even with a jerk like Shinji for a brother, I figured she was being treated well enough by them and by you... and that she wouldn't have to endure the kind of misery that one felt from living the life of an orphan with a merciless bastard as a caretaker." She blinks back shallow tears of her own, brought about by both the horrid memory and Shirou's own state. "But... deep down, part of me knew she'd never really have a normal life because of the Matou being magi. That when the Grail War came, she was most likely to become a Master. And... and I never tried to save her. Never even tried to confirm if what I told myself was true. Never tried to ensure she wouldn't have to fight in the war. I... I was scared I'd find out if I'd been wrong... and when I found out, death seemed like a mercy for her. Not that you felt the same... thank God." She leaves it at that. Even though it's wrong to do - even though it's wrong to let Shirou think something so selfish was the reason Rin would want to hurt Sakura - to let him think her wanting to deal a mercy-killing was the sole factor in what caused him to break their alliance. But she can't bring herself to simply dump everything on him regarding the corruption from the Grail or the risk to humanity Sakura had posed back then - she couldn't bring herself to shatter him, like he had been in her own world. But that didn't mean she couldn't hint to some of the accomplishment he'd done. "If it weren't for you... I'd have killed my own sister. Out of sorrow and pity for what she became... and out of grief for what I let her suffer through" Rin responds, trying to compose herself as best she can and putting on a soft, if not weak smile. "So... even if you're not the Shirou from my world, I can thank you for that." When Shirou makes his proclamation to end the war before it begins, Rin is slightly taken aback by his determination - even though he was on the verge of breakdown, struggling against grief for what happened to Sakura and guilt that he'd never known what was happening to her the whole time. Even with all that... he still had the strength to believe it could be stopped before it started. It lifted her spirits somewhat - reminded her that in this Shirou's world, the future wasn't yet set in stone - and her weak smile gains a bit more strength. "My thoughts exactly. The entire Grail War has become one big mistake in many timelines, ours included."
Emiya Shirou	TOHSAKA IS CRYING. This fact alone is enough to bring Shirou out of his angry funk and focus with refreshed thoughts. Well... somewhat. "What kind of... you mean... for ten years you never even talked about anything?" Shirou finds this hard to believe. It's yet another nail in the coffin for his opinion of the magic world. From now on, he's not going to even bother using the term 'magus' for his magical talents. It's just not so. But she's given her reasons... and he's just left to flinch. How awful. ... and the Tohsaka he's known so long is dealing with this situation? The boy exhales. Long, slow. Talking about these things without verbally and emotionally flailing is one of the hardest things his boiling blood can DO right now. But still... thought she had HIM? "Oh. So that's what her coming over looks like..." It's said so flippantly that it's almost comical in the situation. Also the kind of comment that might get him clobbered, but he seems to realize this a moment later and rapidly shakes his head. "Tohsaka, can you slow down?! My head's spinning and none of these things have even happened yet! ... but I meant what I said. Wholeheartedly. Sakura, Illyasviel... it sounds like the only way to keep them both from suffering is stopping the Grail War itself."
Archer	Rin pauses, looking at Shirou apologetically... yet smiling, taking short breaths of her own. Wiping away the budding tears in her eyes, she takes in a long, shuttering breath. "I know... and I'm sorry. I... I know I went a bit too far. But..." she lets out a sigh and steadies her breaths. "I guess it's proof how much I buried this. I wanted to help Sakura-chan... and Illya-san, too." She swallows anxiously, before closing her eyes and shaking her head, a sad, regretful smile on her face. "And now I've botched it by trying to push it on you too fast. Even now... I still end up getting the most important things wrong, right when I can't afford to." Rin lets out one last breath to try and refocus her attention on the situation. "Sorry for all that. I... you don't need to have the whole story at once. Even Saber doesn't know that much yet and we talked a long time. I guess I let this get a bit personal is all. Or... maybe I forgot for a moment you're a bit different from my Shirou in a way" She gives a mock-embaressed smile, but it's somewhat obvious - even to Shirou - that it's hollow and apologetic. Inwardly... she couldn't stop chastising herself. Cursing herself out for having come close to pouring everything out - she'd staggered the rate she spoke... but she'd failed to consider that one sitting could /never/ have adequately explained everything. Not without driving Shirou insane. With Saber, she'd held back. With Shirou, she'd been too forward. After a long silence, she looks back at the spread on the table, not sure if they should even bother taking anything else considering the situation. "You're right, though - we should take this one step at a time. One topic at a time." She gives another, more sincere smile to Shirou at the end though, thankful for the fact he's given her this promise. "And... I want you to know that, whenever you manage to find your way home, you can call me to help you put the Grail War to an end." Even though Rin gestures to the assorted foodstuffs, neither of them might be very hungry at this point. Either way, regardless of the lunch's conclusion, they'd probably bid each-other fail at that point upon it's ending. And perhaps the next time they spoke, it wouldn't fall into such a depressive state so quickly.