008.
[OOC Note: Frequently in F/SN a Master and a Servant will share dreams depicting the other's past. These are not required to read and won't be discussed in the post, so you are free to skip them if you choose to do so. Heavy spoilers for Tsukihime ahead so read with caution.]
[She awoke with a start inside a cold and dark crypt.
The expressions of shock and claims of blasphemy around her were instantaneous. Her body belonged to a very powerful and infamous Dead Apostle who managed to cheat death by successfully creating a system in which he is capable of reincarnating himself into another, for as long as humanity will continue to walk the Earth. The Church may have arrived to that small French village too late to stop the slaughter, but they did uncover the lifeless body of Michael Roa Valdamjong's seventeenth vessel. Researching what's left could still assist them with their enemy, so the Church took the body to the Vatican in order to study it to the best of their abilities.
None expected it - for it it was - to come back to life on its own, by some twisted miracle three years later. This cannot be the work of God, but rather, the work of the Devil. It's evil. That's why it needs to die again, so she was quickly killed.
She barely had the time to utter a sound and register the pain before she should have been killed again, but just as quickly as she was beheaded, she regenerated, and any trace of blood or of a fatal wound were also completely gone.
Impossible.
So the Church tried again. And again. And again. At that point, it was already obvious that this girl's body was grossly abnormal. This profane being had already been killed several times; how did it return to life repeatedly, seemingly without any sort of external interference? A heretical existence this vile cannot be forgiven. This thing has no place under the Lord's Grace in this world. Hence when it became obvious that normal methods won't do, that girl was then strapped down onto a stone dais in an underground chamber, and the Church, bringing forth its finest surgeons, began to formally experiment on her body immediately after.
The screams that echoed through the crypt during the first few days were blood-curling. They went by completely ignored as the scientists sharpened their tools and methodically went through their list of objectives one by one.
"Now applying procedure #42: the separation of all four limbs and the head from the subject's body."
The four shadows that loomed over her brought down their saws. By then, blood and tears running down her cheeks were one and the same, and no different from the previous 41 methods, she recovered without fail. Her incoherent murmurs of fear went by unacknowledged, and moving away briefly to presumably pick up new tools, the figures then turned their full attention back onto her before moving onto the next procedure on their list.
"Next is procedure #43: removal of the brain, both eyes, and all vital organs from the subject's body."
IT HURTS
DON'T
PLEASE STOP
IT HURTS
DON'T CUT
"Procedure #68: incineration of the subject's body."
i don't want to be cut -- don't want to be burned -- don't want to be -- don't want to feel -- bleed and bleed and - snapped shattered tortured broken -- why must i - why me - WHY
...
Well, that was obvious, wasn't it? The "why" was clear.
That girl killed her father and drank his blood. She also killed her mother and drank her blood.
The tears dried during the first week.
"Procedure #88: decay of the subject's body."
She also killed her brothers, her sisters, her aunts, her uncles, her grandparents, the children, the adults, the elderly, anyone there.
It's because she killed E V E R Y O N E.
The screams faded during the second week.
"Procedure #405: acidic submersion of the subject's body."
So it's only natural that she would be tortured and experimented upon like this.
The convulsions ceased during the third week.
"Procedure #614: removal of the bone marrow and separating consciousness from the subject's body."
So she really can't complain. It's a fitting punishment.
By the end of that month, she was thoroughly emptied.
-✟-
"This is the current theory. After "dying", the Serpent of Akasha would transfer his SELF to the next SOUL, which allows him to continue reincarnating. When the SUBJECT was killed by the True Ancestor, that transfer must have happened, so the SUBJECT would be dead.
Due to inexplicable circumstances, however, the SUBJECT's body revived, and here lies the miracle: the SOUL belongs to the SUBJECT, but it also bears traits from the Serpent. The Serpent has definitely left the SUBJECT's body, but the SUBJECT is still undeniably the Serpent."
In the end, a peculiar woman came into that torture chamber and commanded the surgeons to release her. She didn't understand then - she lacked the precognition to register anything anymore at that time - but after she was freed from where she was held for roughly a month, she was given a simple tunic before being brought into an office. There, she was explained just what exactly happened to her.
"You have left the CUP of the World. You are you, but simultaneously, you are also the Serpent. The World possesses a will to uphold its balance, so if any inconsistency occurs, it will naturally attempt to resolve it. Say that you are killed. The Serpent, however, still lives. That is why the World will continue to restore you to your original state.
For as long as the Serpent shall keep on existing in this world, your time will not awaken, let alone move. Unable to age and unable to die, you will remain trapped until this error can be rectified: the duality that you and the Serpent share.
Now then.
You who have inherited the knowledge of the Dark Apostle Michael Roa Valdamjong.
What Will You Do
Nameless One?"
Eyes downcast, she barely got to make a sound with her scrapped throat, while her hearing still somehow managed to register the resounding toll of the Basilica's bells from far, far away.
From that day forward, her path has been fixed for the remaining of her existence. She had nowhere else to go, nothing to gain, and nothing more to lose. This girl only had one goal: to die a human death - precisely because there was nothing else that she could possibly strive for.
So for that cause, she will...
She will...
She will.]
[Voice; Filtered to Merem]
I'll make this short: keep taking out Rin at night for ridiculous matters and I'll kill you on sight. This isn't a warning.
[Voice; Open to All]
So, who's having fun waiting around for them to do something? It's been since the beginning of April that we had unnecessary disturbances and the middle of May is fast approaching. Who wants to place bets on the next annoyance. I just hope they're as creative as the last time. I don't know if they can top a robot as large as a skyscraper. And that highway? Hah, what a riot!
[Action A; Open to All]
[During the day, if you happen to go by the mechanic shop you'll notice Archer outside with a car that was brought in by a drone. Archer is currently in the process of reassembling the car, after disassembling it to find the faulty parts. Frankly this is a much quicker method for him and he won't get droned because he's technically doing his job. And he admittedly finds it a bit fun.]
[Action B; Open to All]
[Later that same day, when the sun has already set and the night is young, Archer will be in the bar. He doesn't actually drink and isn't there to drink. So why is he here of all places?
Because Gilgamesh is droned. He has been droned for some time and frankly Archer can't let any oppourtunity pass him by.
So if you go by the counter you'll see Archer chatting it up with the incredibly pleasant Golden King's drone and laughing every now and then, only to the confusion of the other. He's not even drunk and yet he feels quite relaxed just doing this.]
[Action C; Filtered to 311 Miller Residents.]
[If either of the two girls approach the living room during the evening, Archer will be there sharpening a sword. Every now and then he presses it against his finger to see if it's dull or not and continues. It's just a projection, but he has to make sure the projections themselves are keeping in check with the records of them stored in his mind.]