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ask_whydunitConfusion and alarm crossed his face as he gazed up at the all-too-similar chariot barreling through the air towards him and his apprentice as they watched from on top of what appeared to be a moving train. The woman guiding it as she shouted at him, admonishing his claim to be one of the king’s subjects. No qualifications, as though it were an insult to the man himself.
She wasn’t wrong, perhaps. Waver wasn’t much to speak of, and he knew it. But the king had asked him to be his retainer during their final showdown against the golden clad archer on that bridge in Fuyuki... and he’d said yes. It wasn't something he'd ever taken lightly or brushed off when everything was said and done.
But that wasn’t important right now, or at least not as important as the question spinning around in his head as his thoughts raced as fast as the train moving along the rails. Who was she? He had witnessed every one of the warriors in service to the king when he’d called upon his army. He could picture them all as though it were yesterday. She hadn’t been among them, and who would reject the call of their king? Certainly not Hephaestion (as she'd claimed to be)… Not if the stories of them held even a glimmer of truth.
And why was she in possession of the Wheel? Or… Was it? Drawn by wyverns instead of bulls, red lighting crashed down to the ground around the train and Waver stared on in horror has he righted himself… Only to notice Gray raising the scythe in her hands, ready to unlock the restrictions on Add to call upon the lance. The chant already leaving her lips.
“You can’t, Gray!” He shouted out the warning, moving forward with quick careful steps. “Using that with an unsecure foothold like this won’t leave us unharmed!” Rhongomyniad was too powerful a force, and what was worse was the fact that the train itself wasn’t a normal train. They had to be careful.
She looked up in shock, lowering the weapon in her hands as he moved by her and into the path of their enemy as though he knew what he was doing (he sure hoped he did). A small thin grin crossed his face despite his nerves as he stared down something familiar, something that had once been associated with safety in his own mind, now seemingly turned against him… This was his to deal with. “Leave this to me.” He uttered quietly as the chariot approached at full speed, red flashes of lightning lancing down around it as the man started walking towards it, a simple unfolded pocket knife in his hand.
He drew the knife up in a fluid motion and cut a handful of hair away and acted on his plan. It was a cheap trick, one that wouldn’t be expected… But if he was lucky, it would work. There was a blinding flash of light (a searing pain in his back to match) that obscured both his and his apprentice’s vision as the force knocked them back, anyway.
“Sir! Miss Gray!” He faintly heard at the edge of his senses as his mind struggled to focus. It was a familiar voice, and a hand wrapped tightly around his wrist as his other student accompanying them on the train caught them just in time, probably using reinforcement magecraft to keep his arms and grip firm. “Caules…?” Gray uttered in surprise and relief as the other teen proceeded to drag them over the bars and against the back entrance.
“Are both of you okay?” The spectacled teen asked as they all collapsed in a heap. Waver letting himself lay there for a moment on the platform, sweat trickling down his brow as his breaths came out shallow and rapid through the pain in his back. Gray’s eyes were turned skyward, looking for a sign of their attacker. “She’s not coming after us?”
He needed to get up, needed to… deal with this. His voice comes out rougher than he’d like, strained and tight as he tried to right himself. “Unleashing something like that means she’d be fighting the Mystic Eyes Collection Train itself.” It was why he hadn’t wanted Gray to rely on the lance either, really.
Finally sitting hunched slightly, he absently heard Caules speak up. “I was a bit flustered. I felt some magical energy in that lightning and came out to look and saw that commotion.” It was lucky that the kid had shown up when he did, honestly. There was a damn good chance they would have kept falling. He sure as hell didn’t think he could have dealt with the impact. Trying to blink away a wave of dizziness, he voiced that out loud. “But I’m happy to see you, Caules.” He hadn’t been a student of the El-Melloi class long, but he had volunteered to come and done his best thus far to help.
“Did you cut your hair?” The boy asked, and Waver felt Gray’s eyes on him and then on the uneven strands that no longer matched the length of the rest. Even if he felt like hell, offered the explanation as though they were in the middle of class. “I amplified a control spell with the mana stored in my hair to direct the thunder to flow down into the earth.” Instead of them and the train… It had worked. Mostly... But maybe not fully, as he tried to ignore the alarm bells ringing in his head. “After all, hair symbolizes snakes, an incantation of lightning.” He continued in an unsteady voice.
Gray moved to crouch in front of him, expression searching as she asked a question that both of them sorely wanted the answer to. “Sir, who in the world was that servant?”
“She had toned things down… If she really wanted to kill us, such cheap tricks wouldn’t have worked in the first place.” Waver responded absently, an attempt at reassuring the kids. Gray was fine. She hadn’t been hit, hadn’t had to resort to the lance. He’d stopped it... right? He just needed to catch his breath. Once he did, he’d get up and figure out the rest of this mess.
But then his focus started to fade, an alarming darkness creeping in around the edges of his vision and an odd feeling of numbness overtaking him. The mage didn’t know when she’d moved, but Gray’s hands were bracing him as he tipped forward slightly as another wave of dizziness sent the world before his eyes tilting uncomfortably. “No… In the first place, how did she summon that thing?” It had looked like the chariot. His king’s. Feebly, his racing thoughts escaped audibly. “Why is there… a confidante to the king… whom I’ve never seen before?”
That was the last thing he said, not even feeling his body hit the floor as he slipped out of Gray’s grasp. Everything went black even as his apprentice shouted in alarm. “SIR!”
… And Waver opened his eyes, feeling dishevelled and confused that he could be standing up at all, staring at the now familiar looking city of Aterat.
She wasn’t wrong, perhaps. Waver wasn’t much to speak of, and he knew it. But the king had asked him to be his retainer during their final showdown against the golden clad archer on that bridge in Fuyuki... and he’d said yes. It wasn't something he'd ever taken lightly or brushed off when everything was said and done.
But that wasn’t important right now, or at least not as important as the question spinning around in his head as his thoughts raced as fast as the train moving along the rails. Who was she? He had witnessed every one of the warriors in service to the king when he’d called upon his army. He could picture them all as though it were yesterday. She hadn’t been among them, and who would reject the call of their king? Certainly not Hephaestion (as she'd claimed to be)… Not if the stories of them held even a glimmer of truth.
And why was she in possession of the Wheel? Or… Was it? Drawn by wyverns instead of bulls, red lighting crashed down to the ground around the train and Waver stared on in horror has he righted himself… Only to notice Gray raising the scythe in her hands, ready to unlock the restrictions on Add to call upon the lance. The chant already leaving her lips.
“You can’t, Gray!” He shouted out the warning, moving forward with quick careful steps. “Using that with an unsecure foothold like this won’t leave us unharmed!” Rhongomyniad was too powerful a force, and what was worse was the fact that the train itself wasn’t a normal train. They had to be careful.
She looked up in shock, lowering the weapon in her hands as he moved by her and into the path of their enemy as though he knew what he was doing (he sure hoped he did). A small thin grin crossed his face despite his nerves as he stared down something familiar, something that had once been associated with safety in his own mind, now seemingly turned against him… This was his to deal with. “Leave this to me.” He uttered quietly as the chariot approached at full speed, red flashes of lightning lancing down around it as the man started walking towards it, a simple unfolded pocket knife in his hand.
He drew the knife up in a fluid motion and cut a handful of hair away and acted on his plan. It was a cheap trick, one that wouldn’t be expected… But if he was lucky, it would work. There was a blinding flash of light (a searing pain in his back to match) that obscured both his and his apprentice’s vision as the force knocked them back, anyway.
“Sir! Miss Gray!” He faintly heard at the edge of his senses as his mind struggled to focus. It was a familiar voice, and a hand wrapped tightly around his wrist as his other student accompanying them on the train caught them just in time, probably using reinforcement magecraft to keep his arms and grip firm. “Caules…?” Gray uttered in surprise and relief as the other teen proceeded to drag them over the bars and against the back entrance.
“Are both of you okay?” The spectacled teen asked as they all collapsed in a heap. Waver letting himself lay there for a moment on the platform, sweat trickling down his brow as his breaths came out shallow and rapid through the pain in his back. Gray’s eyes were turned skyward, looking for a sign of their attacker. “She’s not coming after us?”
He needed to get up, needed to… deal with this. His voice comes out rougher than he’d like, strained and tight as he tried to right himself. “Unleashing something like that means she’d be fighting the Mystic Eyes Collection Train itself.” It was why he hadn’t wanted Gray to rely on the lance either, really.
Finally sitting hunched slightly, he absently heard Caules speak up. “I was a bit flustered. I felt some magical energy in that lightning and came out to look and saw that commotion.” It was lucky that the kid had shown up when he did, honestly. There was a damn good chance they would have kept falling. He sure as hell didn’t think he could have dealt with the impact. Trying to blink away a wave of dizziness, he voiced that out loud. “But I’m happy to see you, Caules.” He hadn’t been a student of the El-Melloi class long, but he had volunteered to come and done his best thus far to help.
“Did you cut your hair?” The boy asked, and Waver felt Gray’s eyes on him and then on the uneven strands that no longer matched the length of the rest. Even if he felt like hell, offered the explanation as though they were in the middle of class. “I amplified a control spell with the mana stored in my hair to direct the thunder to flow down into the earth.” Instead of them and the train… It had worked. Mostly... But maybe not fully, as he tried to ignore the alarm bells ringing in his head. “After all, hair symbolizes snakes, an incantation of lightning.” He continued in an unsteady voice.
Gray moved to crouch in front of him, expression searching as she asked a question that both of them sorely wanted the answer to. “Sir, who in the world was that servant?”
“She had toned things down… If she really wanted to kill us, such cheap tricks wouldn’t have worked in the first place.” Waver responded absently, an attempt at reassuring the kids. Gray was fine. She hadn’t been hit, hadn’t had to resort to the lance. He’d stopped it... right? He just needed to catch his breath. Once he did, he’d get up and figure out the rest of this mess.
But then his focus started to fade, an alarming darkness creeping in around the edges of his vision and an odd feeling of numbness overtaking him. The mage didn’t know when she’d moved, but Gray’s hands were bracing him as he tipped forward slightly as another wave of dizziness sent the world before his eyes tilting uncomfortably. “No… In the first place, how did she summon that thing?” It had looked like the chariot. His king’s. Feebly, his racing thoughts escaped audibly. “Why is there… a confidante to the king… whom I’ve never seen before?”
That was the last thing he said, not even feeling his body hit the floor as he slipped out of Gray’s grasp. Everything went black even as his apprentice shouted in alarm. “SIR!”
… And Waver opened his eyes, feeling dishevelled and confused that he could be standing up at all, staring at the now familiar looking city of Aterat.
