One x One A Visit From Fate

[Vrai]

"Cali...California," she repeats, and then suddenly her eyes light up and she nods. "I know where that is! When Master was showing me where we are, it was the biggest place. So if you're here," she says, raising a fist in the air before her chest, "then we're somewhere here," she indicates with a fist raised in line above the other, as high as her forehead. "Near the big river. And the year we're in is...this year." The magazine is conjured in her hands again, and she puts it on the table, facing the man. It is a supermarket-stand tabloid. The date beneath the header that she points to reads MARCH 2001.

"So," she says, looking around the room warily again, "about this room erasing itself and not being real. Does that mean I'm going to forget being here? Does that mean you will?"

 

[Parrot Parfait]

As she figures out where we were, I nod quietly in confirmation of her deductions. When she responds to the fact that she might forget, I in turn, give her an answer. "I won't forget, but you might," I tell her bluntly, "however, due to the rules outside this room, I'm not allowed to interfere with the events that happen in other worlds unless given explicit permission, hence why this room exists and why there's a chance you might forget as will all future visitors, unless, again, explicit permission is given." After a short pause, I softly announce, "I'm gonna make a bit of tea for myself as well." I stand up from my chair and make preparations for another cup of tea.

 

[Vrai]

She is drawn into herself again, thinking. She uses her bare fingers to scoop off one of the morsels on the top of the cake, and nibbles at her fingertip.

"I might forget? Figures," she says eventually. "I mean, if I don't win the Grail, I'll forget everything from this time I was summoned anyway. So I guess it doesn't make much difference." She turns to the man, who has gotten up. "It would be better if you forgot too, since I blabbed so much. But if you remember all your meetings, then...I hope you've been having fun, yeah?"

The tea is now at an acceptable temperature, and she can taste the sweetness. It's still a lot less sweet than the drink with bubbles that she got at the bus station, the same time she got the tabloid, but she likes this too. There's one more thing she wants to ask this man, but she waits for him to finish his own tea.

 

[Parrot Parfait]

As I wait for the tea, I respond to her question, "Yeah, it's pretty fun meeting people from across the multiverse. The first lady I met was from a peculiar universe that had a mix of both magic and technology built into its culture. Apparently, magic in their universe somehow revolved around hammocks." I chuckle a bit at the phrase. "and also, her daughter... erm... walking goose house turned little girl also has the ability to open doors through the multiverse, but I presume the mechanics her hopping differs from mine. As for the lady herself, she was a little rugged but turned out to be pretty nice when we began chatting. Ah." I rustle through a pocket to retrieve a small red candy. "I actually received this from her. It's a cinnamon candy. Heh, makes sense she'd carry these considering she stirs her teas with cinnamon sticks." I place the memento back into my pocket.

 

[Vrai]

The young woman listens with interest. "Hammocks...are you sure she didn't say mana and you heard wrong?" She taps her chin. "But she was able to leave something here. Huh. Do you meet a lot of other people who can travel like you do? I guess it's likely you'll all run into each other, though."

She crosses her arms. "The way us Servants work is that there could be other versions of me summoned in different times, or maybe even other universes, and I wouldn't know. I think the 'me' in the Throne of Heroes can go and learn about all those other summonings if she wants, but I don't know if she wants. My memories are still the same as when I died, so any other summonings have to just be me failing again and again." Her face twists into a scowl, and the last few words are spit with bitterness.

 

[Parrot Parfait]

"Not a lot as of now, actually. In a sense, these are my 'first voyages' so to speak," I say as I do air quotes around first voyages. After answering, I continue to listen to the lady's story. I give a slight grimace. "Making copies of a person is always unpleasant, especially towards those who are not 'the originals.' There's actually one universe I know of that has those 'multiple versions' issue, except it's a little bit weirder and broader. Rather than physical people, they manipulate memories. Copy them, delete them, change them, etcetera, etcetera. As a result of their technology, their society had taken a darker turn for the worst." I shudder a little. "It's a little bit creepy if you'd ask me."

 

[Vrai]

She's stung more by the word "copy" than she expects, since that is not how she thinks of her own possible iterations born from the Grail. She avoids thinking about them for the most part, actually. I mean, he's right, isn't he? I'm a copy of a person who was already a copy. She reaches for her tea again, drains it, and puts the mug back on the table too loudly to be polite. Well, that just means I have to do the same thing here, and become better than whatever stupid original made me. Even if the original is still 'myself'!

She flops back on the couch and looks upside-down towards the kitchen. "Hey, what does that mean? Manipulating memories? Does that mean that 'you' can be put into somebody else's body and live like that?" Her existence right now is, after all, little more than a set of memories given breath by magic. "Because I think that sounds pretty cool."

 

[Parrot Parfait]

"Uhh... it's not as cool as it seems," I answer, "while they do have the freedom of moving themselves into new bodies, only those who have the power and money to do so are able. As for those who don't have that power, or in other words the poor..." I frown a little. "I'm just glad that current technology has no means of replicating a human soul. Now that I think about it, in my world and current timeline, there's a fictional series that explores this kind of idea where human minds can be replicated, simulated, and manipulated. Though, it was made in 2011, but if you manage to stay here 10 years from your current time, look for a series called Black Mirror. It's an interesting watch, especially for the other topics it covers, different from the whole conscience copy and paste thing we're on now."

 

[Vrai]

The young woman suddenly laughs. "I'm not going to be here for ten years," she says as she clasps her hands behind her head and stretches her legs over the other arm of the couch. "It might be some people's desire to keep living in this world, but I'm pretty sure mine won't work like that." She sighs.

"Hey...sir." She sits up and looks over her shoulder, still grinning. "We've been talking for a while and I still don't know your name, huh? Anyway..." Turning back to the table, she eats another shortbread cookie, but finishes it before she starts speaking again. "Speaking of stories. I want you to tell me something."

 

[Parrot Parfait]

"Ah, it's Jin Ho, if you're wondering," I say. I watch as she eats another shortbread cookie before she begins speaking again. I nod for her to start her story.

 

[Vrai]

"It's --" Now that she's caught his focus, she seems self-conscious again. "It's just something else I wanted to ask. I don't know if the fact that you're in the future will actually tell me anything, since you're from a different dimension and all, but --" Folding her hands in her lap, she straightens her shoulders and looks directly at Jin Ho. Her face is solemn. "In your time, what do you know, what stories do you tell, about a child of King Arthur?"

 

[Parrot Parfait]

"Hmm... nothing, at least to my knowledge. The Arthurian legends of my parallel reality and timeline don't really mention much about a child. It's been quite a while since I did that high school project on King Arthur. Can't remember much. There was a movie depicting Morgana seducing King Arthur to produce a child. I believe his name was Mordred? But that was but a single interpretation, and the rest of them don't really mention them." I pause for a moment. "What of him?" I ask, curious as to why she was so serious.

 

[Vrai]

She frowns, but does not look angry. Instead, she blinks down at her hands with a sort of disbelief. "That's all?" she says. "Nothing about Camlann, or betrayal, or being the one to land the fatal blow on Arthur himself?"

Something occurs to her. She stands up from the couch and paces back towards the door, as though meaning to leave, but then she turns back towards Jin Ho and extends her hand. "Fata Morgana."

She feels the beginnings of magic, the sensation of mana running down her arm akin to that of a limb waking from sleep. This room cannot be immune to it, or else she would have been unable to summon her magazine. But she can also tell almost instantly that a spell proper will not catalyze, and indeed, no illusion appears. Instead, she is simply standing in the middle of the room, looking like an idiot with her arm out. Not even illusory magic. I really would be screwed if he was an enemy.

"I see," she says, smiling wryly. "This room is your dimension. The spell may be stolen from my mother, but I'm the one casting it. And since you don't believe in the myth, I really do have no power here." She lowers her arm and sets it on her hip. "Considering my reputation, you should consider yourself lucky, yeah?"

 

[Parrot Parfait]

I tilt my head in confusion. "Huh?" I look confused for a moment before shrugging. Even if it were effective, I needn't worry about getting hurt. After all, aren't writers the ones who imagine? Though, I don't tell that thought to the woman in front of me as that would be... rude. "I'm not quite sure what spell you were trying to cast, but okay... Wait a minute." I take a look back at the words spoken earlier: Fata Morgana. A spell by her mother? I raise an eyebrow and ask, "Huh, so... is your mother Morgana or is the spell just named that?"

 

[Vrai]

The young woman takes a long time to respond. "What?" she says, dumbfounded. "Of -- of course my mother is Morgana, if you can call a snake like her a mother! Of course it's not just named that!" She tugs furiously at the collar of her jacket. "This was supposed to be my dramatic reveal! What kind of a dolt are you?!"

 

[Parrot Parfait]

I shrug. "A perceptive one? While I'm not the most experienced traveler, folks from my place could sniff out details a mile away. It's a skill that comes from peering into many, many world. Though, I'm more of a casual onlookers than not." The tea begins to boil, prompting me to get a green tea pack and mug from the cup. From there, I set up everything and wait for the tea to steep.

 

[Vrai]

"Hah? I can't tell if you get me or not," she exclaims. "If you consider yourself so perceptive, why did you have to make me look lame by asking a dumb question?"

She is still glowering in the middle of the room as Jin Ho calmly makes his tea. "Wait," she says, her voice softer, as she realizes that's all he's doing. "You're not kicking me out?"

 

[Parrot Parfait]

"No, why would I?" I respond in a bit of confusion. "I'm here more to have conversation than anything else. Though, if you started shooting lightning bolts out of your hands, then it might have been a different story." I swirl the tea bag around a little before removing it into the sink. Mug in hand, I walk back to the stool and sit down. "Oh, if you're wondering, when it comes to social cues, there are times when my brain is dense as a brick." I chuckle a bit at the self-deprecating humor, "Smart in many things, but lacking a bit in that area. That's one of the many reasons why I'm having these little gatherings aside from having some fun talking with people across the multiverse."

 

[Vrai]

"Well...good on you, I guess," she says. "But that sounds like an annoying thing to worry about. If you're a normal, ordinary person, why do you care what other people think about you?"

She sits on the staircase leading up to the loft, holding one knee to her chest. "I know, at least in the world I came from, what people think about me, since that's part of what let me be here in the first place. I mean...you're looking at the person who basically caused the fall of Britain." Mordred laughs again despite herself, resting her head against a step higher up. "A lot of people would throw me out just for that alone!"

 

[Parrot Parfait]

As the lady stands up and walks the staircase, I present my answer, "Well, from the reality I come from, we still have companies and universities. I have to learn to be cognizant of how I act in front of others, even if they're from an alternate reality." The lady sits down and speaks further, and her comment is... bizarre at best.
"Well," I say after arching an eyebrow, "How did that happen if I may ask?"

 

[Vrai]

"How did it happen?" She stares up at the ceiling and thinks. "There were a lot of things," she says finally. "I got angry. I dunno."

While she's well aware of her role, she has always thrown responsibility for the events on somebody else. If Mordred had sown the seeds of rebellion, it was King Arthur's fault for fertilizing the fields in the first place, so to speak.

"Nothing would have ended like it did," she continues, "if the 'once and future king' wasn't such a self-righteous, stuck-up son of a...well, you know."

 

[Parrot Parfait]

"Hmm... so hubris got the best of the Arthur?" I answer, "Well, I won't pry into the details, but it sounds like everyone involved, including you, contributed to, well, whatever happened in your time and/or reality. Though, as the situation seems to appear, trampling upon old wounds might not be the best thing to do right now." I pause for a moment as a sit on my chair. "It looks like we've exhausted the range of topics to talk about. Though, if I may ask two last questions, what do you intend to do with the grail should it's promises be real? And will the you right now be the one wishing it or the one stored away in that hall of heroes?"

 

[Vrai]

She wrinkles her nose. "Hubris? It's more like...he's the sort of person who makes himself a martyr about everything. It's insufferable."

Though still scowling, she listens intently as Jin Ho brings the topic back to the Grail again. She's surprised, after he denounced the value of wishes earlier.

Mordred stands up on the staircase, turning directly towards him, trying to summon every ounce of nobility she has within her. "I wish to ask the Grail what I was denied in life: a chance to pull the sword from the stone. I don't want the Grail to change the outcome, only to give me the opportunity." Her fists tighten. "It could be that it rewrites history, and my record in the Throne, to do this. Or it could be that it gives me the chance here, somewhere outside of time. I don't care. I just want proof for my own sake."

Shaking her head, as if clearing a thought, she continues, "If it does rewrite history...I thought claiming it would be my cue to rule better than my father did. But recently I've been thinking that I should just show the sword to his face, then leave Britain and become a hero of my own making, whether by sword or sorcery or something else." Like Spears, the woman on the front of her magazine, who Mordred had to assume was from a family of warriors, but was famous for something entirely different.

"So..." She smiles. "If it ever seems to you that the name 'Mordred' suddenly rings a nicer bell than it did before, just remember that I said I'd do it, yeah?"

 

[Parrot Parfait]

I nod and smile. "If I may add one more thing, I think you're definitely onto a better path by considering something other than a throne. Though, I'd omit the "sword to the face" thing, personally. If I were to sum everything up into a phrase, it would be 'we humans are social creatures, after all.'" I slightly pause at the fact that I might have stolen that from somewhere but quickly ignore the fact and continue, "If you happen to remember these events beyond this room, ponder on that phrase. And also here." I hold out to her a white slip of paper. "If you 'forget' and run into my door again, this slip of paper will reappear to help you remember. Of course, if outside factors don't forbid it and you retain your memories, you can use this slip of paper to visit me anytime."

 

[Vrai]

Mordred hops off the staircase and takes the paper Jin Ho offers her. "You know I'm going to make my own decision anyway?" she says. "And like I said. I don't know if the Grail will let me rewrite my history in the first place."

She flips the paper over and then back again. "So this is it, huh? How long are you going to stay here talking to whoever comes along? I guess it's all relative, though." Mordred waves the paper a little bit. "Hey -- what happens if I write on it? Or if I pawn it off on somebody else? I'm not saying I came here for anything life-changing, but I know a couple of people who would probably be more bearable if they could let loose some steam like this."