Cross Effects: Rebirth (2.0) The RP

[Knick]

Shiro

The air immediately warmed up as soon as the demon left. Good, at least he won’t have to deal with it for the moment.

“So, you must be Fate.” Shiro said looking at the man in the suit. “I’m Shiro, but you already knew that, didn’t you?”

So this was the man that wanted to recruit him. He was powerful he could tell that much.

[MissingMandible]

Azmortchal'um, as a False Face:

Cursing, the used-to-be-Stephen-now-Azmortchal'um turned around to face his captor. "You should not have come, child of Noah!" the pure form exclaimed with a voice of a million people speaking in harmony.

Witnesses must be silenced; it is too soon for Azmortchal'um's plans to be revealed. Flames encircled around the False Face, but a vertical escape path was open. False Faces are built to rapidly mutate to any form that is desired, an ability that comes in handy for a situation like this. The legs were resculpted to maximize the creature's jumping ability, while two extra tentacles sprouted from each arm. As soon as the False Face makes the jump, it will rip this witch apart.

And so the creature leaped over the fire.

[YOLF]

Mary's ears could perceive footsteps drawing closer to the group. She reared her head back where the sound was coming from, only to see her employer arriving to the scene with a serious look on his face. The soldier saluted him as he continued to walk towards them.

"Lieutenant. Is there some sort of problem here?" the mage asked.

"Affirmative, sir," she nodded grimly. Oh they had a problem alright. A priest who's being a bit feisty and the other inviting it.

Mary glanced back at the duo before continuing, "It seems these two are at odds with each other. I suggested that they come back at a different time separately to avoid conflict."

Fate nodded in acknowledgement at Mary's salute and turned to face Shiro and the other.

Asileron"There is no need to come at separate times, Lieutenant. Your leader is already here, so the Priest can have his appointment first. I can wait."

Asileron smiled again, left the building, and sat on a bench outside the it. Hundreds of years in a cell had taught him patience, and there was no point in starting a fight over an appointment.

Fate made no move to stop the assumed demon folk from leaving the lobby and simply gave the receptionist a look of confirmation. He would speak with this one later.

Shiro

The air immediately warmed up as soon as the demon left. Good, at least he won’t have to deal with it for the moment.

“So, you must be Fate.” Shiro said looking at the man in the suit. “I’m Shiro, but you already knew that, didn’t you?”

So this was the man that wanted to recruit him. He was powerful he could tell that much.

"Indeed, I am Fate Averruncus." the mage said.

Fate assessed the man before him with a critical gaze. He had read the reports and looked at pictures, but seeing him in person was a different matter. There were certain things you could only verify by meeting someone face to face. As the priest eyed him up in return, Fate was made certain that his hopes were not misguided, recognizing the strength and conviction within the former's frame.

Smiling, he offered him a hand.

"Pleased to meet you, Father Shiro. Shall we reconvene in my office and move on to business? I feel we have much to discuss."

[Puck-Chan]

Mary

Mary would be lying if she didn't admit she was glad that conflict could be avoided. With the chained demon leaving, greetings were being exchanged between her employer and the armed priest. It looked like Fate could handle Shiro for now. Taking out a hand-sized radio, she pressed the button to commence speaking into it.

"Squad Four, keep an eye on the ugly mofo coming outside. The one with chains and horns. Refrain from action until he does something retarded. Over."

A collective noise of "roger" complied to her order over the communications. Satisfied, the lieutenant holstered the device back into its holster by her hips. She nodded towards Fate and saluted before heading off to get that morning coffee she so sorely needed.

[Umbra of Chaos]

Grigori

Grigori laughed as the creature leaped over the fire. It had enhanced its legs and grown two more tentacles, but that wouldn't help the creature. She clapped her hands and a barrier formed around the creature. It slammed into the orb at full speed but the barrier didn't move an inch. Grigori out a hand against the orb and changed the spell so it could block magic just in case the creature was capable of it. She withdrew her hand and asked the monster,

"Do you have a name, creature?"

Asileron

Asileron didn't even acknowledge the humans that had started to observe him. They were decent, but they were far from undetectable. He simply stood up and created a dome of fire around him. The flames were incapable of harming him and they were too bright to see through. Now it was time to wait.

[Knick]

Shiro

Shiro gave Fate a toothy grin and shook his hand.  “Let’s do that.” Shiro said as he began to follow Fate to his office.

“Rather nice place you got here.” It was an elevator ride latter and they entered a large office. Shiro simply took a seat in the chair and leaned back a bit, “So, what did I do to get you to send a cat to get me? Oh, and mind if I have a cigarette?”

[Alice]

Rin and Mille

Lancer tilted his head and said, "Well, if Fiore doesn't mind me tagging along for a bit.  I'd like to catch up."

Rin nearly grinned. "Excellent. We'll talk more at the hotel then." She was about to say more, but Tokiomi caught her attention.

Tokiomi smiled, "That is fine. Do not worry about me." He reached into his pocket and handed Rin what looked like a finely cut quartz. "Here, you should know what this is right? If you need anything, anything at all, just contact me."

Rin nodded. "I do." She smiled back. "I won't forget. Thank you."

He chuckled a bit before talking in a more subdued tone, making it so the others would not hear, "Not often you get to meet your daughter after all. I would like to get you know you better." He looked away scratching the back of his head a bit, obviously a little embarrassed "If ya would let me I mean."

Rin was silent for a moment, her eyes widened slightly, before she gave her father a small smile and faint blush. "No, no, I'm fine with it. I'll make sure to keep in contact, whether by phone or quartz."

She gave him a friendly wave goodbye before returning her attention to the others. After some more talking, they set off for the hotel.

WHO CARES MINUTES LATER

Rin stared up wide eyed at the Hotel Monarch. Certainly it lived up to the name, even the building itself was lavish. How a place like this and Tokiomi's condominium managed to survive being built in the Nexus was a mystery. Likely the bills for maintaining the place had to be astronomical, and so must be the room fees. For someone as finances obsessed as Rin, it made her shudder. And it made her shudder for how much money would soon be vanishing from Fiore's pocketbook. What she had said about having access to a good amount of credit had to be true.

On the sidelines, Mille didn't really have a reaction. For her it was just a really fancy building. It wasn't important to the mission or magecraft in general, so therefore it wasn't worth caring about.

Inside, Fiore went ahead and bought the rooms, and placed three keys on a nearby table.

"Unfortunately, I couldn't acquire a key for each of us, though I suspect that would've been wasteful to begin with. Now, who wants to share room with who?"

Amy immediately pulled Fiore into a tight hug. Proxy seemed to come back out at some point and was sitting on her head.

"I am sleeping with Fiore. Got that?" She was glaring at the others in the group, almost daring them to challenge her.

Lancer raised his eyebrow at Amy's proclamation and chuckled.  "So that's where your tastes lie then?"

He looked at Rin and asked, "Mind if I take you to your room?"

Rin blinked before nodding. "Sure. We do need to catch up after all."
And if he tries anything I don't like, I can probably hold him off long enough to get reinforcements. Shouldn't be a problem though, hopefully.

Mille stood there with her arms folded over her chest. "What about me then?"

[Brahmastra]

Amy immediately pulled Fiore into a tight hug. Proxy seemed to come back out at some point and was sitting on her head.

"I am sleeping with Fiore. Got that?" She was glaring at the others in the group, almost daring them to challenge her.

Fiore let out a short yelp in surprise as Amy glomped onto her, but the act made her smile a bit more.

Rin and Mille

Mille stood there with her arms folded over her chest. "What about me then?"

"Aww shucks, I didn't think this through. Mille, if it's like this, why don't you share a room with me and Amy? I can just return the last key. Is that okay with you too, Amy?"

[Alice]

Hakuno and Archer: Night 1

The pair awkwardly watched Karna and Forest go at each other until the Daeva addressed Archer.

"How I wonder that oblivious wimps like yourself could ever be considered heroes. This is entirely pathetic. You have my sympathies, child."

Archer frowned- not out of anger, but out of complete confusion. "You called me that earlier. I still don't get why. An insult doesn't work if it completely misses the mark. You're implying that I'm being a coward about something. I don't exactly see what I'm being a coward about."

Hakuno spoke up. "I don't think you're being cowardly about anything, but I think he's right about you being oblivious."

Archer turned to his Master and raised an eyebrow. "And what exactly is it I'm being oblivious about?"

Hakuno blushed, but as hard as she tried, she couldn't get the words out.

"I think it's more an issue of Hakuno being a scaredy cat than me."

Hakuno looked up at him with a frown.

Thankfully, Forest spoke up.

"Unfortunately, all I can do is give you a room with a bigger bed, Hakuno.  Is that okay?  The one across from yours has a queen sized bed versus your full.  You two can share and have plenty of room," then she gave the girl a wink.

Hakuno's eyes lit up, and she felt oddly... excited. She gave Forest a generous smile and winked back.
Archer sighed. "We can improvise then I suppose. Shouldn't be a huge deal."
Hakuno let out a sigh of her own and shook her head. Archer responded by looking down at her quizzically.

Karna was a jerk some more in response, Forest got exasperated and left for her own bedroom. After getting some of Karna's cooking in Hakuno, the two retired to their new room. It had been an unusually long day for them both, even if it had turned out to be relatively uneventful in the end.

[Knick]

Amy

Amy blinked and looked at Mille, “hmmm”.

She gave a small smirk, “Sure, why not. I suppose a Mille is fine too.”

God only knows what just went through her head.

[Alice]

Mille just nodded, completely ignoring the implications that Amy was making.

Rin however did notice, but didn't bother to comment. She just hoped Mille wouldn't do something drastic if Amy tried anything.

Then it hit her. If Mille was staying with the other two, that meant.... She turned to look at Lancer, who she was certain was as happy as a dancing clam.

I-I'm a Tohsaka. Elegance is our family mantra! I-I won't let a situation like this defeat me! I can handle this. Besides, the room probably has two separate beds, so it'll be fine!

[Arch-Magos Winter]

Assassin raised an eyebrow. This was just a tad bit too convenient, wasn't it?

"Master, do we really have time to watch this... drivel?", scoffed the dressed figure, eyeing the poster for one Romeo & Juliet while looking worryingly in  her masters direction. He wasn't actually going to agree with this, right?

"Why not? Think about it this way, Assassin. If you agree to it, Caster might just stop bothering you with his works for a while. And besides, we aren't exactly in a rush yet. I have a general idea about the location of the Grail and our main instrument for acquiring it is still a couple of days from being complete. I say we can spare a bit of time watching this performance. Besides, even I cannot claim to be entirely incurious. I hear it's one of the most famous love stories of all time."

"Once again, you aren't helping, Master. Very well, I will indulge in this on one condition, Caster. If I watch this show, you will stop being a pest at the very least for a bit. I won't ask of you to make it permanent, I know you're not that competent, but at least get off my case for a while, would you kindly?"

"Drivel? You wound me my lady! I will consider your request, though I shall wait until after you have seen one of my most popular works performed live!" I was positively giddy with excitement as I pulled out a small bag of coins and tossed a few coppers at the bored looking man with a face full of the red dots of awkward youth. "Three to see Romeo and Juliet."

[Cherry Lover]

Rider nodded at Haruna's words.

“Yeah, that makes sense”, she said.

Rider and Kiyoshi followed Minato back to the dorm, talking to Haruna and listening to Minato all the way. By the time they arrived, though, Kiyoshi was extremely tired. It was late, and he had been walking for a long time.

Minato showed them in, before addressing them.

"I have a few things I would like to speak to the three of you about, but that can wait till tomorrow”, he said.

"Girls rooms are on the third floor, Boys on the second; Pick any you like other than the ones at the end of the hall."

Kiyoshi frowned at the idea of being left alone, on a different floor to his Aunt Rider. The Nexus sounded scary, and he felt sad and alone due to the fact that he couldn't contact his mother.

Rider similarly was uncomfortable with the idea. However, she saw no reason why she shouldn't just stay on the same floor as Kiyoshi, in the boys' rooms.

“Excu...”, she started to say, but before she could finish, he spoke again.

"That door leads to an underground labyrinth, stay out of it if you enjoy living in this time period."

"Good night”, he said, before turning and walking off.

Kiyoshi frowned once more. Whilst this place was supposedly safe, he still felt uncertain here, and wanted his Aunty Rider nearby.

“Kiyo, don't worry, I'll come up with you and stay close”, she said.

Then, she turned to Haruna.

“Good night Haruna”, she said, smiling.

“Goodnight”, Kiyoshi said cheerfully but sleepily.

With that, they headed up towards the second floor, to find a room to stay in.

[YOLF]

Fate

Returning the man's handshake firmly, Fate proceed to lead him to his office. After a smooth elevator ride, he told his secretary the two were not to be bothered and welcomed Shiro to his workspace.

With a snap of his fingers, the blinds on the windows opened to reveal the glory of Nexus City. Outside, the profile of Golden Rule stood brightly and obnoxiously high into the skies. He eyed it for a second before turning back to his guest.

"The location is adequate, but I am looking to expand." Fate offered, walking over to the coffee machine on top of a cabinet on the other side of his office. Retrieving a mug from within, he placed it underneath the machine and pressed the dispenser button after dropping in a capsule. Its soft mechanical whirring sounded as the mug was slowly filled.

He looked over to Shiro with a relaxed expression as the scent of coffee reached his nostrils.

"To be more accurate, it is not what you did, but what you are able to do, Father Shiro." Fate explained, taking his filled drink once the sound of the device had stopped. Raising it to his lips, he took a slow sip of it before continuing. "Feel free to smoke. Can I offer you coffee while we discuss this matter?"

[Brahmastra]

"Drivel? You wound me my lady! I will consider your request, though I shall wait until after you have seen one of my most popular works performed live!" I was positively giddy with excitement as I pulled out a small bag of coins and tossed a few coppers at the bored looking man with a face full of the red dots of awkward youth. "Three to see Romeo and Juliet."

Shirou gave the shabby-looking youth a few small bills from out of one of his pockets even as the attendant took a brief moment to draw his eyes from Assassin and back to his work.

The duo of Shirou and Assassin proceeded to the theater posthaste, Caster having insisted on getting himself some of the "modern delicacies", as he had called them, so Shirou had left him with a handful of cash to do what he must with.

Taking their seats at the back of the theatre, Assassin looked around as if confused by the place they were in.

"Is something the matter, Assassin?", Shirou asked inquiringly.

"Not in particular. I am merely a bit intrigued by the entire idea of this place. Amphitheaters of my time did not quite have the same level of luxury", eyeing the red carpets and dim lights.

"I assure you that this is a relatively inexpensive luxury of the modern day, if it can even be called such."

"How very curious. It seems that the level of what can be described as luxury has risen since my time then."

"Speaking of curious, where is Caster? He's taking his sweet time, at any rate", said Shirou, taking a look at the clock on his phone. It was only a few minutes until the movie began.