yogen | In League with Dragons (OPEN)

Entry tags:

In League with Dragons (OPEN)

Who: Gudako and you!
When: 3/28
Warnings: Spooky magic.

One morning, a few days before Spring "break" ends, a note is taped to the front of the class 2-A classroom.

Magic ritual in progress. Please be careful!
-Ritsuka

While on the face of it this may seem ridiculous, peering in through the windows sees all of the desks inside the classroom shoved into the corners while Ritsuka kneels on the floor, having laid the chalkboard on the floor to sketch some kind of elaborate magic circle on it.

Ritsuka frequently pauses, looks at her work, narrows her eyes, erases, resketches, repeats this process, and-

Flops back on her back and lets out a loud groan, just... laying there. Staring up at the ceiling blankly.

It doesn't look like she's going to move for a while.

Maybe someone should go and check up on her.

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[for a long while, there's just the barest hint of pink at the bottom of the window. but, when there aren't any sparkly explosions, which is what she assumes magic must include, Stephanie fully peers into the window, notes her laying there, and decides it's safe enough to enter the classroom.]

... Did it work? [maybe it's a laziness spell and thus did work.]

[ For all of Nene's experience with the supernatural, actual spells and rituals have been surprisingly few and far between. But with how quiet everything is, maybe it's over? After a moment, Nene goes to grab a water bottle and quietly opens the door. Nothing exploded upon entry, so... it's probably fine. She closes it behind her to be polite and walks over to Ritsuka, placing the water bottle beside her head. ]

Are you okay?

Mmrgh. Haven't tried it yet.

Turns out trying to remember how an incredibly complex and intricate magic circle is drawn from memory is hard no matter how many hundreds of times you've seen it.

[She usually had Mash's shield to work off of whenever she summoned anyways. This... is a whole new territory for her.]

I know I need to take the plunge and just do it eventually, but I have no idea what'll happen if I mess it up. Kind of a scary prospect.

Yeah. Just regretting that I don't have an eidetic memory.

[Where is your smug prick coke addict when you need him?]

This would be so much easier if I 100% knew what the summoning circle was like from memory.

A... summoning circle? Then, what are you trying to summon?

[ Admittedly, Nene herself has thought of trying to see if she could call Hanako-kun out, but she wasn't sure if it would work. "Couldn't hurt to try" didn't count in this case, since all failure would bring her is fear and heartache. Shh though. ]

Well, what will happen if you don't mess it up? [focusing on the bright side should help!]

A Heroic Spirit! [That seems to animate Ritsuka a little bit, at least. Hauling herself to her feet, she begins explaining... to the best of her ability. It's really weird high-level stuff that even she doesn't fully understand but she'll do her best.]

You know how a bunch of historical figures and legends and even concepts that embody that sort of thing all take up the same area in your brain? Imagine that place as an actual space, somewhere out there in a weird metaphysical plane.

That's the Throne of Heroes.

Whenever something makes enough of an impression on history to be remembered like that, they get put onto the Throne of Heroes, and certain kinds of magic can summon them. Normally, it's... pretty much impossible to summon a full Heroic Spirit Servant, but if there's some weird, extraordinary circumstance like this one, it's more likely.

Does that make sense so far?

Well, if I somehow manage to pull this off without Mash's shield or the FATE system... we should be able to get a pretty powerful ally, maybe someone who can figure out how to bust through the Bounded Field around the school.

[Hopefully. Maybe.

...she should probably disclose the actual chances of that happening, huh.]

There's around a one-in-seven chance of us actually getting a Servant who can do that, but hey, it's worth a shot.

[her eyes just glaze over at the third word she just straight-up does not recognize. just nodding along like she absolutely knows all of these words.]

... So, you're trying to get a butler to get us out of here?

[Ritsuka can't help but giggle at Stephanie's question. She remembers when she asked exactly that sort of thing way back when, back before she even knew what a Demon God Pillar was.]

Not really, though a few Servants I know can be pretty competent maids when they put their minds to it. [Looking at you, Artoria Alter.] It's like... a way to summon historical figures and myths. People like Heracles and Thomas Edison. It's hard to summon their entire being, so instead you put them in containers called Servants that are one specific part of their legend. Like, if you wanted to summon Heracles but specifically the part of his legend where he's good at using swords, you'd summon him as a Saber. Sorta like classes in a RPG. Does that make at least a little more sense?

Edited 2021-03-29 20:19 (UTC)

A little! [which isn't a total lie, she tells herself.] They're like... superheroes? But based on famous people and famous stories.

Who are you trying to summon?

Yeah, that's exactly it! You're picking it up faster than I did when I first started at Chaldea.

[Gudako may or may not be a total dunce sometimes.]

The thing is, without a catalyst—some object related to the hero—it's basically impossible to summon anyone specific. It's kind of like rolling the gachapon at an arcade.

And who knows if this place even has the right conditions to summon one, really. [Ritsuka grimaces.] Normally, places this weird have a Holy Grail at the center of them that's making the weirdness, and the magic from the grail makes it a lot easier to summon Servants... but I have no idea whether there's one here or not.

...man, it's kinda weird being at the other end of a long-winded explanation like this. [Ritsuka laughs, rubbing the back of her neck.] Normally Da Vinci or Sion is the one who spoon-feeds me this information.

[Or Roman, back at the old Chaldea, but she doesn't like to think about that.]

[ Oh thank god she's already used to supernatural stuff. ]

That- that's incredible! [ Maybe someday it'll see the Kamome Seven Mysteries! ...Well. Maybe it's better if they don't, actually, because they're all kind of rude, proud people. ] So you were trying to summon one to save us...?

Any hero would be good, right? Or are some not as good as the other ones? [grins sheepishly] I'm sorry about all the questions. Magic like this doesn't exist where I'm from.

Am trying. [Ritsuka raises a single index finger, then slumps, sighing dejectedly. It was really times like these where she wished she paid more attention to Emiya's magecraft lessons... or had a memory that wasn't shot full of holes due to constant erasing and dream shenaniganry... but really, it came down to the fact that she wasn't anywhere near a Caster or even a caster.]

The problem is that while I'm sure I've gotten the general structure right, [she gestures towards the shape of the magic circle,] remembering all of the characters on the writing around the shape is really, really hard, and I don't actually know what'll happen if I activate the ritual and one of them is out of place. So I need it to be as close to the original as possible... but my memory isn't that insanely good. It's a bunch of guesswork, really. At least I can kinda read the runes at this point so I know what they're supposed to say, but writing them is a lot harder.

Some of them are a bit harder to communicate with than others—Spartacus can at least talk but it's hard to tell what he's actually saying, and the ones like Lu Bu, Darius, and Heracles can't even make words—but once you get to know them, they all have their strengths and weaknesses.

[Even the Avengers, beings powered by fake stories and raw, unbridled hate, have a tendency to be tsundere sweeties at heart.]

And it's fine! Really, I should've gotten in the habit of asking as many follow-up questions as you have way back during my first Rayshift.

[wait WHAT]

[... wait, no, that name isn't quite right. even if "can at least talk but it's hard to tell what he's actually saying" is also weirdly applicable.

sorry, she just went on an extended face journey for a second there. it's fine. she's back.]

If there's any way I can help, I'd really like to!

Honestly, just talking it out with someone else already helped a lot. [Ritsuka takes another look at the circle, scratches out a few more symbols, adds some in, and-]

I think this is as close as I'm gonna get it.

...you might want to stand back some. I have no clue what's going to happen if this fails, but if it succeeds, there's at least going to be some sparks.

Ooh! [YES, FINALLY, COOL MAGIC!] I'll go watch from the hallway!

[which she does, heading back to her previous snooping spot, giving a thumbs up.]

Alright. Deep breaths. [Ritsuka indeed takes some deep breaths, then holds her right arm out over the circle, her command seal tattoo (and the scarring around it) prominently visible from Stephanie's perspective. Bracing her right arm with her left, she begins chanting.]

Let silver and steel be the origin.
Let stone and the archduke of contracts be the foundation.
Let my will be dedicated to the Grand Order.

Let rise a wall against the wind that shall fall.
Let the four cardinal gates close.
Let the three-forked road from the crown reaching unto the Kingdom spin.

Shut.
Shut.
Shut.
Shut.
Shut.

Let it repeat it five times.
Let it shatter once filled.

Let it be declared now; your flesh shall serve under me, and my fate shall be with your sword.
Submit to the form of human order.
Answer, if you would submit to this will and this truth.

An oath shall be sworn here.
I shall learn all virtues of all of Heaven;
I shall shelter all evils of all of Hell.

From the Seventh Heaven, attended to by three great words of power,
Come forth from the ring of restraint, protector of the holy balance!

Edited 2021-03-29 21:39 (UTC)

[expectant look]

Maybe you can try practicing them in a notebook separately? Maybe then you'll get it right, but.... without. [ And she gestures to the circle. ] That going off.

[ (she'd really like to avoid magical accidents.) ]

I don't have a lot of experience with magic, but I know the details are really important.

It's very apparent that this is something absurd. Granted, everything about being in this school was absurd, but really? A 'magic ritual'? What chuunibyou put this here? Shirogane's surprised to actually see someone moving around in there and prepares to go about his day.

But, well. It's probably worth making sure that whatever happens, it's not anything dangerous.

But then, she's just flat on her back. Doing nothing.

Very casually, Shirogane slides the door open and tentatively steps in.

"Did... that work?" He really can't be too sure.

[...and nothing happens.

But if Stephanie pokes her head inside, something is different about the air. Like it's harder to breathe, somehow.

Ritsuka also notices the difference, and while she's not always the most perceptive of people, it's still enough to unnerve her. And enough for her to glance at Stephanie and say, sternly,] Stay out of the room. I don't know what just happened, but I'm pretty sure it's not good.

[Grimacing, she walks up to the chalkboard and begins frantically washing the magic circle off. Note to self: do not try this again.]

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In League with Dragons (OPEN)

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EXACTLY the reaction i wanted thank you

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