"…Maybe I had gone a bit overboard there…"

Having finally gotten around to taking my shower and having some time to… cool off… I couldn't help but think over the small meeting we'd had not even an hour ago. Had I been in Nathan's place, I probably would have been freaking out too. First time being affected by magic and all, he wouldn't have any way to defend himself, or know if the effects were permanent…

…Still though, the way he walked around, acting like he owned the place… And the way he acted like he was above us all, knew everything there was to know about the war better than anyone else, even those who were literally raised to fight in this thing, even if not as masters, but as support, like Johnathan and I… He needed to be put into his place!

But then Johnathan's over there, looking at me and clearly thinking I'm the problem! It was Nathan who had wormed his way into our alliance, and that had been Johnathan's fault to begin with! Sure, maybe I shouldn't have used Lancer as a threat; surely, Nathan knows himself he couldn't kill me in a fair fight. But… but…

"Urgh! He pisses me off to no end" I shouted, punching the bit of wall beside the standing mirror.

"It's good to let go of your anger, master, rather than bottling it up. Just don't go putting holes through the walls, yeah? Doubt your friend would be pleased about needing to repair the place over something like that."

"Kyah! Lancer, what the hell! Haven't you heard of knocking" I shrieked, keenly aware that was not a telepathic comment from him while in spirit form.

"I'm not looking, if that's what you're worried about" he was laughing slightly. "I have my honor as a knight, for one. I would never do something so shameless to my master. Now, had you summoned one of my fellow knights, this might be an entirely different scenario; some of them were never good at keeping their eyes off women."

"I don't care" I continued to shout at him, quickly changing into the clothes I'd previously laid out. "Also, how could you not have seen anything? Even if you'd entered in spirit form, you would have still-"

I looked over to lancer, but he had his back turned to me. Wait… did he-

"Did you walk in here backwards while in spirit form?!"

"I, um… yes."

"What the hell is wrong with you" I was still pissed, but even I couldn't help but laugh at the thought. "Just knock next time; it's far simpler than that!"

"Sure, but would you have let me in?"

"No! Well… not right away!"

"See? If I'd knocked, who knows the state the room would have been in by the time you let me in?"

"You make it sound like I would have torn the place up! I'm not some uncontrollable, destructive force!"

"Normally, I would agree. But after what happened earlier…"

I couldn't help but sigh as Lancer's voice trailed off. I knew exactly what he was alluding to, of course; had just been thinking about it myself.

"It's fine to turn around now."

"Oh, don't look so glum, master. I'm not here to lecture you or anything. I'm sure my fellow knights could tell you of acts I've done that were far more reckless."

"Then why are you here, Lancer?"

Lancer actually seemed a bit wounded by that remark. God, what was wrong with me right now? Why was I taking it out on him? He's done nothing but follow my commands since the beginning; a perfect servant, by all accounts.

"I get I'm not as young as I used to be, but surely my company isn't that horrible, even in these later years" he recovered quickly, but even I could tell the smile was a bit forced.

"It's not that" I winced. "It's just-"

"You're beating yourself up over nothing, master. What's done is done; just relax a bit."

"It's not so simple, Lancer!"

"Hmh? Isn't it?"

"Of course not" I sighed, falling backwards onto the bed, eyes glued on the ceiling.

"Then enlighten me. Been a while since I've been on the receiving end of a lecture, but I'm sure I could use it."

"Where to start…"

"I find the beginning is usually a good place."

"…You're not funny" I turned my head to glair at him.

"Heh, heh, sorry" he scratched at the back of his head. "But I am serious, master. If something is bothering you so much that you're punching walls, I want to know."

"…Fine then" I turned my gaze back to the ceiling. "Lancer… if I had ordered you to kill Nathan down there, would you have done it?"

"…Depends…" he answered after a few moments of silence. "Don't take this the wrong way, master. It's not like I want to defy your orders or anything. But… killing him over that is a bit extreme, don't you think? Especially since you did agree to an alliance with him and everything. Not like he hasn't been helpful either; knowing the true name of both Berserker and Rider is a huge advantage to have over them. Sure, he's a bit abrasive and acts like he can't possibly be wrong-"

"And is constantly withholding information" I groaned.

"Also true" I could hear Lancer's smirk. "I'm not saying that you should trust him or let your guard down around him, but… I would think that the benefits of having him around outweigh the downsides."

"You're dancing around the question though" I pointed out.

"I suppose you have me there… Let me put it this way then: if you had ordered it, and could give me a good reason as to why you wanted him dead, then yes, I would have killed him then and there."

"Even if Saber had tried to stop you?"

"Of course. My loyalty is to you, master, not Saber or Saber's master."

"But you don't actually want to kill him, do you? Nathan, I mean."

"…Not like that, no. I would prefer not to kill any master and just stick to defeating the servants, truthfully, unless a master turns out to be really twisted."

Lancer went quiet for a moment before continuing.

"Honestly speaking, master, I don't like the fact you used me as a threat against him in such a fashion either."

Ah, I knew it…

"Yet you obeyed anyways… Why?"

"Because it wasn't going to kill him, or even really harm him. That, and I've also done things in the heat of the moment, due to emotions, that I've come to regret. Boy, have I ever" Lancer laughed slightly. "I may not have liked it, master, or agree with you on it, but I understood where you were coming from. I wasn't just going to leave you to fend for yourself down there, so to speak. But please try not to give me such an order again, if you can help it."

"I see… Then, Lancer… if I couldn't have convinced you to kill him by reason, and had instead used a command spell…"

"What would I have done?"

"…Yes."

"…Well, I suppose Nathan would be dead. Possibly alongside Saber and his master."

"You know that's not what I meant!"

"…I wouldn't have backed out of the contract, if that's what you're worried about. My wish is a bit too important for me to risk such a drastic action over what you're suggesting. But if you think I would still follow your orders willingly afterwards-"

"I get the picture."

"Of course, this is all just hypothetical" Lancer smiled as he sat on the edge of the bed. "There's just simply no way I would answer the call of a master who's like that. If nothing else, I like to believe I'm a good judge of character."

"Oh? And what do you make of me then" I couldn't help but smile slightly in return.

"I think you would have made an excellent court mage."

"A court mage? Not a queen" I smirked.

"With a bit of training, and a few more years to learn some about royalty, maybe" Lancer laughed. "Ah, but perhaps that's why I was summoned. Every ruler, king or queen, needs knights. While I wouldn't claim to be the greatest among my peers by any means, and while my loyalty will always be to my liege first and foremost, for the time I am your servant, I do hope you find my service beneficial to the path you choose to walk."

"I'm sure I will, Lancer. I'm sure I will. And… thank you."


A/N (Important Question Answering Pt. 2) (Also MAYBE spoilers on references below; you have been warned) (No TL;DR, sorry xD)

AAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Thank you, thank you, thank you! But also FUCK YOU LOL to the person who reminded me about Origins in FATE (you know who you are)! Can't believe I went into this looking for the exact nuances on leylines and Clock Tower politics and shit, yet forgot completely all about the concept of Origins in FATE!

So, now that's it's been jogged into my memory, I can answer your question proper (god, I felt like such a derp after I read your second posting on the question xD). However, this did take me quite a bit of time, so... yeah, only the one Fragment this posting (sorry; least it's a bigger Fragment of the bunch)!

Does Nathan have an Origin? Yes; he kind of... has to, according to the rules of the FATE universe. As do all the other characters.

Is it 'clear'? Still don't know what you mean by 'clear', honestly speaking, but if you mean 'did I even have an Origin in mind for him to have', then, very clearly, the answer is a resounding no!

Is an Origin something I could retcon into the characters? Yes, in most cases; quite easily, to the point I wouldn't need to alter them at all and I don't think anyone would have even noticed had I not decided to do this A/N on it. In fact, I have given all six other masters a defined Origin (not that I'm going to share that here xD)

That is to say, I'm sorta, kinda... fucked... on Nathan though... And now I'll explain why (this will be quite lengthy, sorry in advanced)!

For those who don't know what I, or the review poster, mean by Origin... well, it's basically the soul, so to speak. It defines the existence of the person (character) and directs their actions.

To those who have read the review, you'll notice the poster mentioned Kiritsugu's Origin of 'Severing and Binding'. If you recall the meeting between Nathan, Rider and the priest, you might recall Nathan called (I'm assuming people reading this work know who I was referencing to there and got it) Kiritsugu a 'Utilitarian'. I've viewed these as one and the same ever since I've watched FATE Zero years ago, because really, look at how Kiritsugu acts and consider how he thinks; no matter what fancy name you want to give it, he's a utilitarian through and through. Also lines up with the fact that FATE Zero was a show about ideological conflict and battle.

In one way, that's what Origins are in FATE: fancy names given to a character's commonly taken thought processes and actions, or ideology and way of life.

But that isn't always the case, and it's why I really HATE Origins in Fate as a concept (and honestly, that hatred of it as a concept is probably why I forgot all about it, so... whoops xD)

Take Sakura Matou for example. Her Origin is something called Imaginary Numbers. Taken literally, you'd be looking at math, and, let's be real here, no way in hell is that supposed to mean the mathematical imaginary numbers! It's also not really a fancy title of a philosophical belief system, like it is for Kiritsugu.

Imaginary Numbers is one of the two types of Imaginary Elements in FATE's magecraft system. It is also referred to as 'Hollow', but I find that to not be the common case. Most commonly, it's referred to as Imaginary Numbers. Now, having this as an Origin is powerful, because it gives the person access to something called Imaginary Number Space.

If you don't know what Imaginary Number Space is, I don't blame you. Localized, it's not called Imaginary Number Space (at least not in English). Rather, it's called Void Space. To anyone who plays FGO, yes, Void Space as in THAT Void Space. To refrain from spoilers, I'll leave it at that. The Far Side of the Moon (i.e. the Moon Cell) is also an instance of Imaginary Number Space, or Void Space.

Now... someone please tell me how the fuck you draw behavioral tendencies from something like that?! Because I sure as fuck can't see how this Origin directs ANY of Sakura's actions or thought processes!

The same could be said for Shirou and his Origin of Sword. Keep in mind, having a specific Origin allows some people to use powerful magecraft that they otherwise could never have the ability to use as well. If you can connect the dots... yeah, Shirou can use UBW ONLY because his Origin AND ELEMENT (another, separate thing altogether) are BOTH Sword, thanks to *SPOILER* (you know what if you've read the VN; again, trying to avoid spoilers where I can). How does having that Origin tell us ANYTHING about his actions or thoughts?! Again, fuck me if I know!

But then you have cases like Sherlock Holmes, with his Origin of Elucidation, in which it's so obvious how that ties into his actions and character that I want to pull my damn hair out because WHY ISN'T EVERYONE ELSE LIKE THIS?!

Basically, the Origin system is yet another system that, like the Parameters, don't ever really amount to anything and are just sort of... there to look and sound nice. Like, ok, Kiritsugu's Origin Bullets are derived from his Origin, but if you weren't told that, and instead were just given another magical explanation, would that matter or really change anything important about them? I say not really (but that is personal opinion, obviously).

Now, why is all of this a problem for Nathan? Because how do I put a description of his characterization (actions and though processes/beliefs) into some fancy title of three words or less (roughly), when the Origin system doesn't even necessarily mean that to begin with? I designed him to be something a bit more complex to be packaged into three words (at least, three words that I can make sound cool, and fancy, and still fit; I'm NOT creative, damnit)!

So, does Nathan have an Origin? Yes

Is it one I can announce as set in stone all dressed up as a fancy title or something? No

Are Origins something I'm going to address in this work, outside of A/N's (or PM'd questions on the subject)? No

If I were to give my current working idea of Nathan's Origin, what would I say it is?


Delusional Contradictions


Make of that what you will, y'all. I'm sure it's meaning will be made clear, come the end, but I enjoy reading guesses on things in the reviews nonetheless!