Fandom Fate/Metamorphosis

[Nellancholy]

While an interview in a lightly dented bus was not at all what Albtraum expected to be carrying out today, she had improvised in worse situations before. As Olimpia carried out her cursory examination, Albtraum proceeded to the next practical step. Reaching into her sleeve, she discreetly accessed her storage space with the usual gesture, bringing out a vial of blessed water. Gently dipping the tip of her finger, she spoke the sacraments under her breath as she touched the two back corners of the bus' cabin.

And then instead of going all the way to the front, she rested her finger on the two seats that would be immediately past Mr. Slavoj.

With the barrier complete, a faint golden glow saturated the marked area, a force that no demon could resist being repelled by for long.

Standing before him, Albtraum kept her hand ready to withdraw Exegesis if the need arose.

"M-Mr. Slavoj. We should get the questions out of the way. How did you find the...mage and their supposed victims, that night? And what happened after they...reanimated? I-if we figure out more details about the mage...we can put together a connection to this...eye."

 

[juiceboxxparty]

Mr. Slavoj's arrival did little to settle what nerves were already buzzing around the former medical student. As if crashing into the roof of the bus wasn't enough, his disheveled appearance only added to the fight or flight. At least she wasn't the only one to react to his presence, but Sayaka was surprised it was Bram who had shrieked instead of her. At least, she thought she heard him scream... Maybe it was just her racing mind.

Despite the abrupt entrance, Mr. Slavoj didn't seem unpleasant, thought that didn't ease her nerves immediately. As soon as he mentioned healing, however, her concerns shifted. He looked very pained, which would explain his current state of being and the clutching of his chest. Whatever he'd been fighting seemed to have done a good amount of damage. It was finally time to fulfill her role.

After watching in awe of Albtraum setting up a perimeter around them, Sayaka collected her thoughts and psyched herself up. While the two discussed aspects of the case, Sayaka waited to speak. "Mr. Slavoj, please tell me about any injuries you may have received on the way here. I'll do what I can to help you." Unlike her previous attempts of conversation, Sayaka spoke clearly and without hesitation. Times like these are where she tended to shine, after all.​

 

[BlightGiver]

Henry instantly took note of the barrier going up around him and the group's healer. It did nothing other than make him relieved the signs were obvious enough that people would take precautions at first glance. Many questions came his way, but he didn't know how to answer without saying too much. Not that he had sworn an oath of secrecy to anyone. No, this was for their safety.

"That damned mission...." he grit his teeth. "It was the start of it all." He wheezed audibly, even the slightest change in posture taking much of his strength. With this all important question, he HAD to answer. "Straightforward at first. Track a rogue mage who had no care for...subtlety, and eliminate him. I had discovered his ritual site when the human sacrifices turned on him. He was ripped to pieces before I could get to him."

Staring Albtraum straight in the eye, he shakily stated, "Those innocent people....they were actually just normal humans. They had no mage history, no traces of any dark magecraft, but...." Clenching his fist, Henry lessened the grip on his chest. "In the span of a brief second, they changed. They weren't normal humans anymore. Right on their forehead," he pointed at his own for emphasis. "They had a third eye, right here! It's gaze was anything but friendly. Stating into those dark pupils, like an endless tunnel, an ever expansive void. I couldn't look away until they winked at me. Almost as if a taunt, or a signal it wasn't the end for me."
Nellancholy

"Easy, easy." Waver said in a low, calm voice. "In your line of work, the constant dealings of the worst of the worst surely doesn't help."

Henry glared at him for a moment, but lowered his gaze. "I need no pity, El-Melloi." He declared with a sigh. "Every time I go out for work, it never is sunshine and rainbows. But this is worse than everything else, I feel it."

Sayaka inquired his physical condition in the meantime, hoping to garner info for the best treatment possible. "I just....just need something to relieve pain and exhaustion, even a little bit. Please."
juiceboxxparty

"But, you are right. I'm not fine. Far from it. This 'hole' in my chest that I feel; I don't know if it is real or not." He began to explain, surprisingly making Bram sit on the edge of his seat.

"I have had no battles since then, yet I deteriorate. It can only be from one thing." He started, receiving a surprise water bottle from Waver. After chugging the whole thing and thanking the mage, Henry felt marginally better. "After my mission failure, I suffered a nightmare. "

This was it. The piece of info that would be the lynchpin. "Tell us!!" Bram shouted, standing up as the buss hit a bump. "We must know the contents of your vision." He needed to know, possibly more than anyone. Yet, this request completely drew the Executor's ire.

"Sit down and shut up!" He roared, fiercely enough that Gray felt adrenaline in her body making her want to defend herself. Henry went back to calmness immediately, however.

"I can't tell you. You must understand. You can't know; even I refuse to remember, by choice. I could never forget it, but no thought should be put into that." The Executor pleaded.

Gray was confused as to why Mr. Slavoj practically talked in circles. Her Master, on the other hand, recognized what he meant. "A mimeohazard. We can't know, otherwise we are immediately in harm's way. Judging by these nightmares, the hazard may be highly infectious, seemingly parasitic." He explained, receiving a thumbs up from the Executor.

Trembling, Bram spoke again, "But, recently I had a nightmare. I can't remember it, due to a protective necklace I had, thankfully. Still, it must have been important or dangerous enough that I needed protection. This has to be connected!"

This news was not welcome to the Executor. "Then for your sake, hope to never remember. Otherwise...." Henry shook his head and waited for the healing to complete. "Nonetheless, in my state, I couldn't pursue the lead in Austria any further. Please, you all must help me. There, I fear, our answers will be found." He warned.

galvanismgal Gundam Watcher 27

 

[Gundam Watcher 27]

Kyoryuji was once again silent. He was still, as if paralyzed by the basilisk's stare. Kyoryuji felt this was a connection to his own vision when he meditates. He didn't want to ask, out of fear of being right....

"The dream you both had... even if you don't remember anything about it... do you ever feel like you were fighting yourself before you wake up?"
Kyoryuji asked. If this was the case, then he himself shouldn't be here.
He looked away when he said the last line, a look of concern and fear on his hesitant face.​

 

[BlightGiver]

Henry stared daggers at Kyoryuji, processing the prospect of another potentially contaminated mage. "For what it's worth, no, I never felt such a way." The Executor slowly spelled out. "It was not something of internal conflict for me, but of that against something else. It wants to be here." It would seem his words were not careful enough, doubling over from excruciating pain emanating from his core. "I feel it!..." He spat through grit teeth. "The relentless invasion; they never cease, never rest, taking more of that thin barrier away piece by piece!" Falling to the ground, the Executor was on his hands and knees. Waver could almost say he was completely stunned; all that he had heard of this absolute monster of an Executor. The Church favored him very much, due to his experience, dedication, and actual power. So, seeing him as a trembling mess on the ground made him question reality for just a split second.

El Melloi quickly set into leader mode, which made Gray slightly happy to see after so long. "Sayaka, keep healing him; Albtraum, aim your weapon at him, but don't attack!" Waver ordered, pointing at each of his team members in order. This was a reactionary measure in case things turned for the worse, and they just might have. Yet, on the chance this was nothing more than a fluke, they couldn't let Henry Slavoj be needlessly taken out by their own hand. "Kyoryuji, stand by for the worst! Olimpia get in front of Bram to help protect him!"

Gray got up and let Add out of his cage, letting the mystic code switch into a typical scythe. She was definitely prepared for battle but was surprised that it didn't come. Just as quickly as the Executor was writhing in pain, he let up for a moment to silence. "Heh, guess this is it for me." He whispered quietly. "A case of wrong place, wrong time; seems fitting I lose my life for it." Chuckling to himself lightly, the sound of tearing flesh could be heard as the torso of the Executor seemed to distend in unnatural ways. On his front, his chest started to extend closer to the ground, soon reaching a breaking point.

A scrap of fabric flew off his quickly shredded coat; the sound of blood dripping to the floor broke the silence, accompanied by a distinct thud that Bram wished had never occurred. Stuck on his hands and knees in rigor mortis, he provided brief cover to what had emerged. A disgusting shade of white, the creature squirming on the ground was quite a sight. Reminiscent of an egg-shape, Gray held her scythe up to swing. Tendrils wiggled their way out of the mass, radiating out from its center in asymetrical alignments. Planting their ends on the floor, three eyes opened themselves around the mass, right above the tendrils. Blinking silently for a second, the mass crawled away from Henry's body, trying to make for an open window. "Don't let it escape!" Bram exclaimed, pulling runes out of his pocket to use for the creature.

Gray hopped over seats and kicked the monster away from the window, knocking it back toward Henry. Shaking around, his body was knocked over as more similar, yet slightly different egg-shaped spider creatures exited a hole right in Henry's chest. "Everyone, take them down!" Lord El-Melloi declared, proceeding to ready his own magecraft.

Gundam Watcher 27 galvanismgal juiceboxxparty Nellancholy

 

[juiceboxxparty]

It was a simple plea; anything to soothe what plagued the poor man. Sayaka only nodded and prepared her circuits to get to work. Within a few moments, she cautiously placed her hand where Mr. Slavoj had been clutching his chest. She wouldn't usually make contact with anyone so suddenly like this, but the situation was clearly dire. Making direct contact with the wound or surrounding area was the best way to assure that whatever the wound was was properly healed. It had been awhile since she used Second Wind in a practical setting, so the odd buzzing in her hand would take some getting used to.

While she tended to the wound, Sayaka listened to the others converse. The talk of more life threatening dreams did little to ease her worries. it was already enough that Bram and his family were involved, but it seemed like it was spreading to everyone they came in contact with, one way or another. While Lord El-Melloi seemed to always have an answer, it only became apparent just how dangerous these visions were when the Executor doubled over in pain. Sayaka recoiled in surprise, pulling away from the man.

Watching in horror, the mage scrabbled away from what used to be Mr. Slavoj. Now only a mass of wriggling beasts and shredded flesh was left. If it weren't for the horrific sight right in front of her, Sayaka would have screamed, but the sound was caught firmly in her throat.

Only moments ago that man was alive... Sayaka wasn't a fool. She knew people died, patient or mage, it didn't matter. But she'd never witnessed a death like this. She stared at the writhing creatures, unblinking, even as Gray was the first to act on El-Melloi's orders. It took her several moments to finally react and Sayaka stood to her feet, preparing a shot of Gandr with the hand that had tried to heal Slavoj. Though she trembled, she took aim at one of the white creatures and fired. Her eyes shut out of reflex as the hunk of energy went flying. Who would have thought she'd actually need to fight something?

 

[Nellancholy]

"No..."

An almost imperceptible gasp escaped Albtraum's lips. Just like that, a man's faith was overcome by monstrosity. A mimeohazard...that may be what the mages called it, but the concept was well-known to the Church, and all who had to deal with such phenomena. Knowledge that humanity was incapable of knowing without coming to harm, emanations of the holy...or unholy. The more insidious was the possibility that Mr. Slavoj had been put into such a state not by god or demon, but by magecraft wielded by a mortal mind. One who could be watching them, or even among them...

Mystery gave way to terror as an abject horror emerged from what was once Mr. Slavoj, who Albtraum had hoped to save, to heal, for the benefit of the Church. In the moment, she didn't even notice that it had emerged in spite of, or perhaps because of her ward...

But here was something she knew how to handle.

In a flash, Exegesis was in her hands.

The creature had not attacked yet: in fact, its priority appeared to be escape. But if it was at all capable of fighting physically, then the others needed to be protected.

Albtraum threw herself sideways, landing on the bus seats. Her weapon leveled over the backs of the seats, she unleashed a single concentrated blast at the being's core.

 

[BlightGiver]

The last few seconds of consciousness the holy man had were ones of pain and numbing sensations. As time seemed to slow down for him, Henry was well aware of his fatal injury and the intruders coming through it.

He held them back for as long as he could. That's all he could have done. He was a dead man ever since that horrible hunt.

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The writhing creatures kept pouring out of the hole in Henry's chest, seemingly defying physical dimensions.

Bram squinted his eyes to not even get a good look at the little horrors swarming the bus.

Sayaka, having been the closest, suffered the biggest shock of such little distance between them. She used the combat useful magecraft that she knew, blasting any creatures that got too close to her.

Albtraum was actively picking them off as they tried reaching any open windows. Waver found it extremely strange these multi-eyed beasts' iota was escape over anything else. Their durability was lacking as well. Even the weakest magecraft attacks were enough to obliterate a single creature. He even had success in stomping forcefully on some crawling on the floor.

Looking over to Bram, his eyes went wide when he saw the mage surrounded by many of the intruders. Their gaze remained on him; oxymoronic considering their eyes covered their rounded bodies in random positions.

Did they recognize him? No, he couldn't consider that likely. If anything, they must know Bram suffered a similar affliction to Henry, or at least the attempt was made to make him suffer it. 'What the hell did they see in their nightmares?' He asked himself.

As more of the egg shaped intruders left Henry's body, Gray kept slicing them up with Add transformed into a scythe. "Hey, kid," he spoke to her. "These things don't feel right when I'm cutting through them. Like there's nothing there but air." Add's note did make Gray think for a second. She thought they might be illusions in that case. But, illusions that can force a man's chest open?

"Kyoryuji, help Bram out." Waver exclaimed, as he ran over to protect the bus driver from a small swarm heading his way. Sneaking past Henry's lifeless body was a little unnerving to him, especially since his lifeless eyes were stuck staring at the endless swarm attacking those who tried to help him.
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"Y-you're intruders! You don't belong here!" Bram cried, holding his head in his hands. "Don't belong don't belong don't belong. You're not human, not human, not human!" The creatures did not leave his proximity upon hearing his pitiful rambling. They were insistent on staying. They belonged here. "You don't belong here!" He shouted.

Gundam Watcher 27 Nellancholy juiceboxxparty galvanismgal

 

[galvanismgal]

A trojan horse indeed but at least some questions were answered both from what Mr. Slavoj said and everything else that followed. It was hardly surprising given that whatever mysterious affliction they were investigating brought the parasitic theme both through mental and now physical attacks. Having a theme would let them narrow down the possibilities quite a bit...if they survived that is.

Everyone was quick to spring into action to combat the creatures that had hatched from Mr. Slavoj’s chest. Sayaka was holding her own for now but if worse came to worse Olimpia would go against Waver’s orders and prioritize her over Bram. Albtraum’s attacks seemed to be working unlike her barrier had and her other church partner Kyoryuji shouldn’t any troubles either. Speaking of which it looks like he got stuck on Bram duty as well.

While Bram panicked besides Olimpia continued to observe and not show her hand dealing with any of the critters that the others couldn’t with simple blows if they got too close for her liking. Honestly if he didn’t want human things near him Olimpia idly wondered if she should just make like the bugs try to hop out a window. Bram should be more or less safe through since if he was infected by the same sort of mystery that Mr. Slavoj the creatures most likely sensed he was closer to them than the uninfected similar to other normal parasitic animals.

Olimpia kept her eyes peeled to locate what was sustaining the creatures still and if the flow of the energy could be cut off. Disposing of Mr. Slavoj’s corpse would most likely work but they may lose some valuable clues. She had half of a mind to try and use her resonating abilities on the mystery but it wasn’t the time to risk the potential side effects. Right now finding and relaying information to her more combat oriented allies was the most useful choice she could make. Given how everything was happening it could be less related to traditional magecraft and closer to ESP.

"Is there anything you know of Spiritual Evocation that will be of assistance here," Olimpia asked Bram trying to get him to think about something other than his impending doom. For all the talk he did back at the tower he must know something someone else could make use of. Bram panicing more than he was would make their job twice as hard and Olimpia wasn't gong to waste her energy to try and coddle him to his senses.

 

[juiceboxxparty]

It took every ounce of willpower Sayaka possessed to wretch her eyes open. That shot of Gandr still buzzed at the tips of her fingers, another soon being fired at another one of the little beasts that had sprung forth. Watching them made her skin crawl, especially since they watched her in return. It wouldn't be a surprise if she developed a fear of eye-covered worms after this; surely this would be one of the many sights that would stick with her. Seeing them scattered around the floor did nothing to ease her feelings on the situation. This really was a nightmare.

As much as she wanted to be out of this situation, she very well couldn't leave. At least she was trapped on the bus with others, far more capable of combat than she. Still, Sayaka was surprised she had managed to get a few of them, though all that remained was a mark on the floor. The worms themselves didn't seem to leave a trace. Probably for the best, if she was being honest. What remained of Slavoj was more than enough of a sign of these things.

Looking around, Sayaka was glad to see everyone was holding their own against them. Well, aside from Bram and the poor bus driver who had been dragged into this. Being a mage had been an inconvenience for most of her life, but in this moment, she was only slightly grateful that she could defend herself. It seems the creatures had a particular interest in Bram, the way they swarmed around him and Olimpia was terrifying. Sayaka hoped they'd be out of this soon. Much to her surprise, one nearly jumped at her and she swatted her hand at on reflex. Making contact with the thing was not apart of her plan at all and Sayaka recoiled once again, shaking her frantically as if to rid it of whatever invisible substance might be coating them.