(no subject)

[maguskiller]

[1488 Kramden Road]

[Well... This isn't Fuyuki.]

[Kiritsugu hasn't been doing so well since the fire. Even if it was a month ago, he still finds a little of his strength leaving him with every passing day. The last thing he needed was to wake up in a place completely unfamiliar to him.]

[Trying to regain his bearings, he starts looking around the house, trying to see if Shirou has been taken along with him. Text on the few devices he finds informs him that this is an english-speaking country. He's been to America before, and is able to recognize it from features of the architecture, but... this certainly doesn't look like the modern America he's been to.]

[Even when he futilely reaches for his missing firearms, he keeps his composure. He simply decides to be more silent in his inspection of the house.]

[Public]

[Fortunately, compared to what he'll eventually become, Kiritsugu's in great shape. He's still able to walk around the town with no effort. It isn't long until he decides that his main priority is to get the layout of this place, as well as whatever info he hasn't collected yet. Kiritsugu realizes that his attempts to escape may take a while, and he doesn't like to be in the dark.]

[He may be searching for a weapons shop on the side, too. Just in case.]

Comments

[riastrad-ridire.livejournal.com]

[And in his walking about, Kiritsugu would likely eventually walk past this perfectly normal guy in perfectly normal civilian clothes.]

[...And with a perfectly normal steel lance leaning against his shoulder. Sure, it wasn't his Noble Phantasm, but he'd long since gotten into the habit of carrying it with him.]

[maguskiller.livejournal.com]

[Kiritsugu may not be great at using magic, but even he's able to sense faint hints of prana from this distance.]

[Not that he knows there are any Servants here. Have a guy looking at you inquiringly, Lancer.]

[riastrad-ridire.livejournal.com]

[Fortunately enough--or unfortunately, depending on perspective, Lancer at that moment was little more than a human with rune magecraft and a Noble Phantasm. Inconvenient, but enough to get by.]

Hm? [But he didn't need to be a Servant to know when someone was looking at him funny.] Something wrong?

[...yes, because carrying a lance is nothing that would ever get you funny looks. Idiot.]

[maguskiller.livejournal.com]

[Kiritsugu looks completely calm, despite being ready to dash at a moment's notice.]

Are weapons necessary around here?

[riastrad-ridire.livejournal.com]

...you must be new if you're asking something like that, right? [He seemed casual, with no hostility in his tone or actions.]

Usually? No. But it never really hurts to be prepared, and this place tends to go crazy now and then.

[maguskiller.livejournal.com]

I see.

[And in response to the mood, Kiritsugu allows himself to bring out a cigarette, lighting it with ease.]

Have you been here for long?

[Kiritsugu's not one for small talk. If he's asking, it's because he wants to know what to expect.]

[riastrad-ridire.livejournal.com]

It's been two, maybe three months. Probably not a long time compared to most people, though I'm not sure who's been around longest.

[maguskiller.livejournal.com]

And still, no one has figured out a way to escape.

[It's not a question. Despite being here for no more than an hour, Kiritsugu already knows better. While he talks, he tries to pin down the presence he was feeling, not letting his guard down, despite his demeanor.]

[riastrad-ridire.livejournal.com]

Not yet, unfortunately. Of course, I can only imagine an exit's going to be found sooner or later.

[maguskiller.livejournal.com]

[A nod]

We may be seeing more of each other then. May I ask for your name?

[riastrad-ridire.livejournal.com]

Just call me Lancer. And yours?

[maguskiller.livejournal.com]

[That's one of the seven answers Kiritsugu didn't wanted to hear. He tries to maintain his composure, but his disdain towards Heroic Spirits, though diminished, is still one of the few things he cannot cloak, and his demeanor slightly changes.]

Kiritsugu.

[This is not the Lancer he killed, so he sees no harm in asking...]

Are you a Servant?

[riastrad-ridire.livejournal.com]

...Yeah, I am.

I'd say 'nice to meet you', but judging by that look you aren't too thrilled.

[Strange...he'd seen most if not all of the Masters in the fifth war, and neither name nor appearance was at all familiar to him. Then again, maybe it wasn't strange--by his count there were Servants from three separate wars here. So this Kiritsugu could have been involved in the fourth, or the weird one Enkidu had mentioned to him.]

[and boy, you best watch your ass talking about his Lancerbro.]

And I suspect telling you there isn't a Holy Grail War going on here isn't going to help much.

[maguskiller.livejournal.com]

[He goes back to smoking his cigarette.]

My war is already over.

[If Lancer exists here, that means...]

Are there Masters in this town?

[riastrad-ridire.livejournal.com]

You and me both. [He shrugged his shoulders, looking like he couldn't care less.]

And there's a few wandering around, yeah. Frankly, I think the Servants might just outnumber them.

[maguskiller.livejournal.com]

I see.

[Hopefully, none from his time. Kiritsugu's not eager to fight ever again.]

Which Grail War are you from?

[riastrad-ridire.livejournal.com]

The fifth. And since I don't recognize you, I'd assume it's safe to say you're likely a Master from another?

[maguskiller.livejournal.com]

Fourth.

How did it end?

[riastrad-ridire.livejournal.com]

Sorry, but it's kind of hard to answer that when I was killed just as things were getting good.

[Granted, he had heard how it supposedly ended from Shinji, but...it's Shinji we're talking about. Lancer would at least have to check with someone else to confirm, but the problem was that the only other person who remembered things the same way was goddamn Archer.]

[maguskiller.livejournal.com]

I see...

[It pains him to hear that his attempts at finishing off the Grail were fruitless, but there's no use in dwelling on it. Not until he finds out what happened.]

Who was your Master?

[riastrad-ridire.livejournal.com]

[A shrug--if Kiritsugu had asked for his current Master's name, Lancer would have kept his mouth shut. But he had no such loyalty to the last one.]

I was stuck answering to a despicable bastard named Kirei Kotomine.

[maguskiller.livejournal.com]

[Okay, that gets another reaction.]

He was still alive?

[riastrad-ridire.livejournal.com]

...wait, are you saying he shouldn't have been?

[maguskiller.livejournal.com]

He also took part in the fourth War. When did the next one take place?

[riastrad-ridire.livejournal.com]

Winter of...2004, I think? Hell if I paid attention to what year it was.