you're either legend or lost

Zheng had seen the world change in the blink of an eye. It was not the work of magic, nor the messianic intervention of miracles. It was the work of man, driven by the will of man, whose relentless struggle against himself had transformed him into the new babe of the next era. And the cost of this new life came with life itself, with prayers and miseries unanswered, with virtuous desires sacrificed for an experiment of dreams. The countless pages of history written in blood of generations past were flipping before his eyes as he surveyed the city of Rome from its highest castle. In this permeating peace, Zheng could only imagine the copious sacrifices made to build this kind of world.

An entire jug, Zheng decided. Tonight, he was going to drink an entire jug of liquor for all the lives that had been offered to create the Rome of today. It deserved much more, but Zheng would have to make up in quality instead. There was no holding back. He summoned a ceramic jar of the finest brewed liquor left in his mausoleum and brought out a set for drinking. He filled one cup and left it by his side, its transparent surface aglow from the moon, and raised his own, mirroring the same effect.

"Accept this unworthy gift, o people of Rome! This old man who cannot even name himself is brazen and insolent, having come here to endanger the land and people you’ve fought to protect for a mighty, selfish wish! My sympathy would be words no different than a pretender’s; I am bare before your judgment. However! Be the witness to this oath alongside my shameless greed: I will not lay a hand on the innocents. None, without exception, will be allowed to defile the noble sacrifice you’ve laid for the carnage in your time. No man or spirit - not even the Grail I seek - will make me bend over and accept anything other than this!"

The man's long ears were pricked by a booming voice. Curious, he approached the source of the sound, and found a lone man and a curious bottle. There was a slightly astringent, almost medicinal scent in the air, and Link wondered if the jug contained some kind of potion. "That's quite the oath," the Hylian said, a puzzled look on his face. He had made it quite clear that he was after the Grail, and Link couldn't help but wonder what made him decide to yell it into the sky.

"Sure thing. My name is Shidou, Shidou Itsuka. It’s nice to meet you Link."

Shidou found it a bit odd that he didn’t give a last name…but at the same time he wasn’t really sure if a servant might even have one. He decided to give Link the benefit of the doubt rather than be needlessly suspicious. Unfortunately he wasn’t able to come up with a follow up to continue the conversation.

"So, uh, Link…what do you do?"

at that moment it wasn’t worth pursuing, he’d find out more about the servants through interactions.

She glanced away momentarily, decided to leave the thinking to her stomach or else it would turn into a more troublesome task.

✧ "Oh? I’m here for something important! But it’s a…secret!” ✧

Link was a little surprised; maybe he wasn't taking this person seriously enough. "It's...Link," he smiled. There was a certain charm about the woman. "I guess you could say I'm here for something important, too."

"If that’s the case, then that must mean you’re a servant. I must confess this is my first time speaking to one myself."

Link accepted the handshake, appreciative of the friendly gesture but wary of the question. "Same here. Ah, well..." Link really had no idea if he was well-known in this world or not, or even what possible advantage somebody could gain from knowing his identity, but he had been summoned with the knowledge his name was best kept close. Then again, he was curious about the boy, and his curiosity got the better of him.

"That’s right, I’m a magus. I guess in the context of the war, I’m what you would call a master."

I should really avoid telling people too much about myself, but…

"There really are a lot of magi, aren’t there? More than I’ve ever met anyway."

A master, Link thought, curious. He noticed the magus relaxing a little bit. "If you're a master, I guess that gives me a good reason to talk to you." Link felt a little awkward just standing there talking, so he motioned for the youth to follow him and started to walk. Even if he already had a Servant, it couldn't hurt to chat with him for awhile; maybe he could learn a little more about the human world.

This feeling…I’ve never felt this before but there can be no other explanation. It has to be a servant!

Having finally met one, Shidou was unsure how to approach the situation. He decided it would be best not to rush things lest there be a misunderstanding or complication.

"You…you wouldn’t happen to be a participant as well, would you?"

The Hylian man regarded him carefully before nodding in agreement, crossing his arms over his chest. He didn't seem to know what to make of the boy before him; his question implied he was involved with the upcoming war. 

"I still haven’t been able to meet a servant in all this time. It’s worrying me a bit…I don’t have too much time until the war starts."

He looked back down and saw someone who looked out of place amongst the crowd of people.

Link had always felt a bit naked without a sword. When he found himself swordless, it was usually his first order of business to acquire one, but in this war his steel was unfortunately of a magical nature. He would require prana to maintain the Master Sword in this world, and prana was so far a limited resource. Theoretically mundane weapons were an option, but he told himself it wasn't quite necessary; there wouldn't be any fighting for a time, yet, and if there was an emergency he was sure he could spare a few days' worth of prana. Given that I find a Master in a reasonable amount of time, that is.

Plus, she had found someone to hang out! Wasn’t that great?