Second Singularity, Part 1: Rose Imperium
60 AD
"Servants, roll call."
"Ruler." Martha's heavy fists met each other, a distinct clang echoing in the sparse forest.
"Caster." A crackling of magical lightning coursed on the dirt, meeting Medea's purple dress.
"Assassin." A heavy thud implanted itself on the ground, as Sanson gathered himself with his sword struck beside him.
"Saber!" Arturia called out excitedly, her posture straight and perfect with Caliburn in its sheath.
"Pseudo-Caster." The Lord answered as he lit another cigarette in his lips.
"Shielder!" Mash answered, materializing her massive shield before her. The small squirrel like beast emerged from her pocket, mewling to them as if reminding them of its existence.
"Good." Ayako nodded, seeing them all gathering around her. "Mystic Codes?"
"On." Ritsuka replied, making sure the necklace was around both his and Mash's neck.
"Translators?"
"D́͡Ȩ̛͘͜͏CĮ͡P͡͏H̨͡͏Ȩ̶̵R̀͟!̢̕͏̡" Koleen's reply came in a dark gurgle, a vine-like pattern emerging around her neck.
ᚨ ᚲ ᚷ
Ansuz, of the God Odin. Kenaz, of Torch. Gebo, of Gift. The runes she traced on her throat imbedded into her skin like a tattoo, forming a shape of a Gebo rune. "Allt talað."
She breathed in the ancient air, feeling her throat tingle with the rune pulsing. "On." Both female Masters said, nodding to one another.
"Is it just me, or is the air a little bit suffocating?" Ritsuka asked the group, looking like he was having trouble breathing.
"The air is saturated with mana, compared to the present." Lord El-Melloi explained, breathing the air himself. "Yes, I wonder how I would've handled this as a normal human."
"Not well, I assume." Ayako commented, a hand on her chest as she too steadied herself. "Oh, I can see this becoming a problem down the line."
"Then let's make it not a problem, shall we?" Medea said, and with a quick incantation, a spell wrapped itself around all three Masters.
"Thanks, Medea." Ayako and Koleen replied, thankful for the spell, while Ritsuka was still adjusting himself with the help of Mash.
"Medea, send a familiar out, scour our surroundings." Ayako ordered the Caster.
"No need, Ayako." Sanson's voice cut through the order, standing between the two. "There's a battle just in our periphery." He gestured with a nod, where Martha and Arturia were, as they too kept their eyes on what Sanson had reported.
The group moved as one, stepping at the precipice of the forest, seeing the battle between hundreds of soldiers. "There's a Servant among them." Martha said observantly.
All three Masters nodded, their own eyes gazing at the brutal scene. Koleen turned to the Physician, her pink eyes conveying an unsaid order. "Assassin."
"Yes Master." With that, Sanson activated his Presence Concealment, obscured to even his allies.
"A massive battle like this, it must be tied to the anomaly." Medea commented, materializing her staff.
"It most definitely is." Koleen said, sounding assured of what she said. "Rome wasn't part of any wars during this era."
"Then, who should we help?" the male Master asked, crouching down to a knee.
"The smaller army, being cornered by the larger one." Ayako commented, her eye reinforced to gain a better view of the battle, seeing a distinct red standing out amongst its color. "If it's a mistake, then we'll live with it, but that's a massacre if I ever saw one."
"Masters. The ring is still up there." Mash's voice spoke up, causing all of them to match her gaze.
"So it definitely happened in Fuyuki." Ayako said with narrowing eyes. "What is that?"
"Let us deal with that particular anomaly, Ayako." The Doctor's voice spoke through their communicators. "Find a way to resolve that battle, and find that Servant."
"The Doctor's right." The Lord said as he extinguished his smoke. "Masters, what are your orders?"
All heads turned to Ayako, now officially recognized as their leader. She gave a short sigh, before meeting their eyes. "Mash, Ruler, Saber; meet them head on. Caster, heal the wounded. Lord El-Melloi, find us that Servant that's hiding in plain sight." Ayako's orders reached their ears, followed by the three Servants launching themselves towards the army. That left everyone else reinforcing the smaller army.
"They are still humans." Martha said to the other two. "Pull your punches." She said, her own punch landing a hit on an enemy soldier's shield. The shield caved under her attack, sending the soldier into their backline.
"Yes, Ruler!" the Arturia replied, as both she and Mash worked together, with the Saber dealing quick decisive blows to them as Mash blocked the soldiers' attacks with her shield.
"Reinforcements? I thought our path to the Capital was blocked off." Said the woman who was apparently leading the smaller army, her attire much more extravagant than the soldiers, frayed and torn as it were. Despite the visible wounds on her person, she didn't seem fazed by it.
"We're a passing group, don't mind us!" Ayako replied, silently praising herself for her working spell.
"Yes, let us help! Turn the tide to this unfair fight!" Ritsuka added, helping a downed soldier up and allowing Medea to heal them.
"And you have mages with you? How convenient!" the woman said with a smile, before turning to deflect an attack that aimed at her flank. Her massive red sword on display to them. "Seeking a quick attack I see! But such attacks will never bear fruit against me!" she proclaimed, even as a spear managed to scratch at her. Her red dress made it difficult to ascertain how wounded she truly was.
"Masters, I see the Servant. He's approaching us." The Lord of the Clock Tower said, firing a quick shot against the enemy army.
"Us? Or her?" Koleen asked, sending quick glances to the woman that stood out.
"Her, most likely." He replied evenly. "She seems to be a VVIP."
"Now that is convenient." Ayako said, sending spell after spell of her own.
Said person was still busy herself with the soldiers that converged around her, unnoticing of the Servant that steadily approached her, with the soldiers of their army parting ways for him. He kept walking, and walking, approaching her, until her eyes landed on him. An audible gasp escaped her, her footsteps faltering as she backed away from the Servant, her red gleaming sword touching the ground.
"…Uncle…"
"Shit." The Masters collectively cursed beneath their breath, sensing the complications that would arise.
"My niece. My beautiful niece! The proudest, of my youngest sister's daughter!" the Servant kept walking, his hands clenched in a tight fist.
"You're dead, Uncle! How are you here?!" the woman asked the Servant disbelievingly.
He didn't answer her, instead stopping his walk. Despite the ensuing battle around them, the chaos was all but tuned out by the Masters, Servants, and the woman, anticipating his movements. The ground cracked under his feet, as he launched himself towards her, with the woman raising her red blade to block his raised fists. His fists didn't connect onto her, instead now he faced a different woman, one who was holding him back with her own ornate gauntlets.
He pulled his fist back, taking a single retreating step, when he was launched away from them by a single powerful kick from the Saint, leaving behind a trench of earth. Martha kept her stance, the enemy soldiers around her wearily taking a few steps back with their weapons pointed at her. The hostile Servant stood himself up, and roared at her. Martha launched herself at him, the soldiers around her almost pushed back by the wave she left behind.
"Wait!" the woman tried to call out, her words falling on deaf ears as Chaldea's Ruler kept the Servant at bay.
"That man's not your uncle anymore!" Ritsuka said in an attempt to placate the woman.
For a second, she looked distraught, Ritsuka fearing he may have offended her in some way. She shook her head, a look of determination taking over. "You're right, foreigner. No, he is not my uncle!" she stood straighter, pointing her red sword at the Servant. "Caligula! You dare align yourself with the United Empire!"
"YES!" the Servant proclaimed proudly, even as he was beaten back by Martha. "NOW! GIVE! YOURSELF! UP!"
"Caligula?" Koleen whispered to herself, her pink eyes narrowing on the red dress that stood proudly. "That means she's... Doctor, what do the records say?"
"That she… should be a he. Emperor Nero was recorded as a man in history." The man replied, sounding confused and perplexed.
"By this point, we should be taking the history books with a grain of salt." The Director commented, her voice even and unamused. Koleen silently nodded, as her eyes noticed Medea approach the red clad woman.
"If you wish to head back into the fray, then sit still while we heal you." Medea said as both El-Melloi and Ritsuka held the woman, apparently Emperor Nero, back.
"Umu, I appreciate the gesture, mage!" She said, feeling the healing effects of Medea's spell.
Caligula kept on trying to approach her, but his advance was halted, again and again, by Martha's defense. Every time he got closer, a power punch or kick would send him back into the army he was leading, who had all but scattered and broken by the combined efforts of Mash and Arturia. A last ditch effort by him, a fist pulled back as her roared at them, speeding past the Saint as he rushed for Nero. The Emperor held her sword, ready to block his attack, when Mash appeared between them. Her massive shield stopped his attack with a loud bang.
The red clad woman took her opportunity, stabbing her massive sword through Caligula. Despite that, the Servant was unfazed, pulling his fist back to pummel her, when Martha's gauntlets grabbed him by his shoulders, pulling him off the blade. His fist met the Saint's torso, yet just like him she too was unfazed, taking the blow head on as she too pulled her fist back. He was launched farther by her punch than he did earlier with her kick.
The larger army, upon seeing the Servant fallen on the ground, were now routed, scrambling away from Chaldea and their Servants. Caligula, his hand held out to the red clad woman, grunting in pain. "My niece…" he uttered, before his form disappeared in a flash.
"He's… gone?" she said, turning to them.
"Ayako-san, is he dead?" Ritsuka asked, turning to the Puppeteer.
She shook her head. "That was a Command Spell." Ayako answered, mostly to her fellow Masters, who nodded in return. "He was forced to retreat, now that their army has routed."
"Command Spell… I have little idea as to what that is, but you people have saved our lives. For that, you have our gratitude!" the Emperor bowed, along with the few of her soldiers who were still standing. "Behold, you are in the presence of the splendor of Rome! For I, am the Fifth Emperor of Rome, Nero Claudius Augustus Germanicus!"
The soldiers around her cheered, raising their weapons alongside her. "And I must once again thank you for your timely interventions! Umu! Please, regale me of your stories, for you must not simply be passing foreigners with such powerful men and women by your sides."
While the Servants gathered around and helped the remaining soldiers, the Masters turned to one another, as a silent conversation was exchanged between the three of them. They all nodded together, and as one, turned to the Emperor. "Well…" Ayako began, taking a step closer to the short blonde. "it goes like this…"
"I expected a little bit of disbelief, but she seemed to be well reciprocating." Ayako commented, sitting herself down on the opulent chair.
"It helps that we have proved ourselves to her." Medea said, floating in a seating posture beside the Puppeteer. "She might not fully believe us, but we've received the benefit of the doubt."
"Evidenced by this room she gave us." Lord El-Melloi said, standing on a balcony that oversaw most of Rome, with a lit cigarette in his fingers. "Quelling any sort of doubt to her identity."
"She trusted us enough to give us a bit of a hint to what Rome's dealing with right now." Koleen said, rubbing the ruby colored bedsheets with her hands, feeling its soft texture. "This so called United Empire, attacking from the north west, west, and the western coast."
"But she didn't tell us where exactly." Ritsuka said, content with just sitting on the floor. Fou took the opportunity to lay on top of him, with Mash sitting beside the resting Master. "When did she say the meeting will be tomorrow?"
"Hours after the sun rises, Ritsuka." Arturia answered from atop the bed, with Caliburn in its sheathe. "She said she'll send people to pick us up."
"How's Henri's search going, Koleen?" Martha asked, standing beside a bookcase, having perused its contents.
"He's already eliminated a few of these so called United Empire infiltrators, sending a few of the survivors to Emperor Nero. Well, not directly to her." She said as she sat herself down onto the bed. Her eyes then set themselves on their Saber, narrowing slightly. "She looked a lot like you, Arturia."
"Oh, yes. I noticed." Arturia said, grimacing slightly. "I wonder why? Could she be my ancestor?"
"You could just look the same." Ayako commented with a shrug and a smile. "There are many cases of people who look identical, yet have no connection within their blood."
"As uncanny as it may seem, such coincidences do exist." Medea added with a supporting nod. She turned to Ayako, her hood still drawn up. "Are you planning on splitting us up again?"
"I don't know yet." She answered with another shrug, though without her smile. "We'd need to see what exactly Rome is dealing with tomorrow."
"There's nothing else much for you guys to do." The Doctor's voice spoke through their communicators. "Other than wait, that is. So, my suggestion is for you to rest."
"And have the Servants be on lookout. Barring Mash of course." The Director added.
All three Masters nodded as one, with Ayako, Ritsuka, and Mash moving to the other beds within the room. "Henri, return to us. Keep us guarded while we rest." Koleen said through their telepathic link.
"On my way back Master." He replied succinctly.
"Professor, you should rest too." Ayako said as she passed by him. "I don't know how it works for a Pseudo-Servant, but if it's a two way process, then getting a few winks of sleep wouldn't be a bad idea."
He puffed out a smoke before he replied. "I'll take you up on that offer." He said, not really making a move just yet.
The Puppeteer accepted the answer before she turned back to Medea. "Medea, I'd like your familiars scouring the surrounding landscape around Rome, get that lay of the land that we've been needing."
The Witch's nod was her reply, floating to a corner within the room as she began working.
"Arturia, Martha? Lay low, but keep a look out."
"Yes Master." They both replied as Ayako sunk herself into the red opulent bed, feeling her entire body slowly consumed by the mattress. It wasn't long until her eyes welcomed the rest with open arms, drifting off into her Roman slumber.
"Ritsu-chan. You, Mash, and the Professor will join Emperor Nero in rendezvousing with her forces in retaking Gaul." The three nodded, standing to Ayako's left within the now emptied war room within Nero's palace.
The Puppeteer turned to her right, facing the Witch beside her. "Kalls, you hold the fort here with Assassin and Ruler, root out the remaining infiltrators, and keep an eye out on the coast."
"Yes." Koleen replied with an affirmed nod.
"Saber, Caster and I will head to Massilia, better known to us as ancient Marseille, to find Rome's missing scouts and also search for where the capital of this United Empire might be."
"Yes, Master!" the Saber exclaimed excitedly, oblivious to the dark giggle that escaped the Caster behind her.
"Any objections?" Ayako asked the group, getting shaking heads as her answer. "Good, let's meet up with the Emperor."
As one, they left the round table and exited the room, seeing the guards stand at attention at their departure. The Witch separated from them, returning to their room with Martha and a concealed Assassin. The rest walked down the marble steps, approaching the awaiting Emperor, basking in the love of her people as rose petals rained down around them. Her golden gauntlet and pauldrons waving to them with a bright smile on her face, her massive red sword displayed on her back. Her green eyes eventually found themselves on the Chaldeans, her feet already moving to meet them.
"Ah, our special guests! Umu, have you devised a plan of your own? I would still like some of you to accompany me to Gaul." She said with a hand on her hip and another on her chest.
"That would be us, Emperor Nero." Ritsuka said, approaching the short woman with the two Servants beside him.
"Umu! Good, good! Excellent!" she nodded, pleased with what she saw, as she approached the tall Pseudo-Servant. "And you must be their strategist? I can sense the air around you."
"That's why I'm here." El-Melloi said with a nod, his lit cigarette already finished halfway.
"Good! And you!" she turned to Ayako, planting her hands on the Puppeteer's shoulders. "You are meeting up with my scouts, yes?"
"We are." Ayako replied, nodding to Saber and Caster behind her. "Our friend will clean the streets of Rome while she's here too."
"Umu, that is good to hear." The Emperor turned away from them, her arm spread outward, gesturing to the city. "Then, let us move!"
"Ritsu-chan." Ayako called out before the group could leave. "Remember, we don't have Riders, so this will take days, possibly a couple of weeks. Be prepared, okay?"
"Yes, Ayako-san." He sighed to himself, already dreading the commute.
"It shouldn't take too long, the Emperor is travelling light with only a single retinue accompanying her." Medea said, approaching the male Master. "Her forces are already there, so to speak."
"That's right, mage! We shall reach Gaul, in no time!" Nero said to them, confident in their efforts, before her brows furrowed in thought. "But, will you be fine, reaching Massilia all on your own?"
"We have our ways." Ayako said with a smile of her own.
"Umu, alright, I will trust them to you. Then, let us be on our way!"
"Can you see anything from here?" Koleen asked, standing beside Martha on the balcony that oversaw Rome.
"Probably not as much as an Archer, but I'm getting a good lay of the land." The Saint replied with a satisfactory nod. "Will Henri be returning to us soon?"
"I told him to come back when he gets tired." Koleen said, leaning her elbows on the marble guards. "I'm not sure if he'll do that though. He might be too focused in finding these infiltrators."
"Then we'll just have to call him in like you did last night." Martha said with an amused smile, her heavy hand placed on the Witch's shoulder. "And if he takes too long, I'll drag him back myself."
Koleen giggled at the scene that played in her mind, covering her mouth with the back of her hand. "Well then let's hope he knows what's good for him."
Their eyes then trailed back into the ancient city, gazing upward to the sky as they saw three figures fly away, hands held together as they do so. "Looks like Ayako's team is leaving. How long do you think it would take for them to reach Massilia?"
"With a magus like Medea? Faster than Ritsuka and Mash at least, who has to travel with the Emperor." Martha said, sighing understandably.
Meow
Both heads turned to their lefts, almost startled by the sudden appearance of a black cat that stood on the marble railing. A rather large cat, with its striking blue eyes piercing through them thanks to its dark coat. Their eyes were locked in its enrapturing gaze, as it sat there, calmly. Koleen blinked her pink eyes, her hand reaching for the cat, who seemed to be unthreatened by her. Her fingers brushed through its black coat, ruffling its head.
"Hey girl, how are you here?" she asked the cat, as her eyes furrowed in confusion. "No, seriously. How?"
"What's wrong, Koleen?" Martha asked, approaching the cat herself.
"Her breed is American. More modern, too." The Witch told the Servant, eyeing the cat with thinly veiled curiosity. And a slight hint of trepidation. "It's not possible for her to exist here, and now, of all places."
"That's a Maine Coon." Doctor Roman's voice spoke to them, his disbelief audible to their ears. "How is a Maine Coon here? In 60 AD Ancient Rome? That's impossible."
The cat shook off Koleen's hand off of it, casually strutting off the balcony and back to the brick road below them. It looked back up, its eyes finding them with ease, and stayed.
"That is no normal cat." Martha acquiesced, her own blue eyes narrowing on the animal.
"Yeah, she's not." The American Witch turned back to the apartment, making her way to leave with Martha following behind her.
They garnered a few curious stares the moment they reached the streets, but for the most part, the local populace went about their day. Their focus was on the cat, who now stood farther down the street, still looking at them with its blue eyes. It turned on its feet, walking further away from them, prompting the Master and Servant duo to follow the creature. From their eyes, it was walking; and yet the cat kept a constant distance between it and them. It disappeared from their views when it turned down an alleyway.
The alley was empty, only a few feet in of space, barely any room between the buildings. And the cat, standing at the end of the alley, its eyes still on them before it shifted its attention to the small sack beside it, nudging it with its nose.
Martha stood close to the streets, keeping her eye out while Koleen approached the cat, her steps unwavering as she knelt beside the cat. She saw movements coming from the sack, shifting ever so slightly. With her brows furrowing as she connected the dots, Koleen carefully unfurled the sack, hearing a soft whisper coming from it. Gradually, it became clearer, and clearer. Until finally, she heard the soft cries of a small kitten.
Its coat, still very much thin on the small creature, almost the same black of its mother, with a hint of purple from what her own eyes could make out. Its eyelids were barely open, showing a deep red unlike the older cat. But what stood out the most, were the three tails curling around the kitten.
Mew.
Mew.
Mew.
Mew.
Its mewlings were loud for a kitten, calling for its mother, as the cat laid itself on the brown sack, allowing the kitten to nurse. Its cries were silenced as it began suckling. The cat then met Koleen's eyes again, slowly blinking to her.
Koleen blinked back, matching its rhythm. "What do you want me to do?" she asked, not really expecting an answer.
The cat placed its paw on the kitten, its eyes still blinking as it slowly laid its head on the rucksack. The Witch, understanding the animal's intent, sat herself on the ground, her hand reaching to rub the kitten comfortingly. With each stroke of her hand, she saw the cat slowly drift off, as its blue eyes closed. She saw its breathing, slowly to an almost crawl. And then, finally, there was nothing. No movement, other than the nursing kitten underneath her hand.
"Bertrand, what are you doing?" the Director asked, no doubt the entire scene displayed for everyone in the control room.
"I don't know." Koleen replied, pulling the kitten with her as she stood back up, now filled the last meal its mother could give it. "I think… I think I just got a familiar."
"Figures a Witch would have a black cat." Kagiso's amused comment was complimented with his deep chuckle.
"Romani, I need a handful of people to make sense of what had just occurred." Olga ordered, the exasperation clear in her voice.
"Yes, Director. You, you, and you! Ascertain what this creature truly is!" he relayed his orders with three claps.
"We'll need to find a few things for this little thing, don't we?" Koleen said aloud as she tucked the kitten into her arms.
"That we do." Martha replied, joining the Master in the alleyway. "I'm sure the Emperor's people can accommodate us."
"They should. Cats were – or I guess, are – very prominent in Roman culture." The Witch looked down to the kitten, seeing it drift off into slumber. A temporary one, unlike the on the ground cat. She sighed to herself, shaking her head with a small smile on her face. "Now, what do we name you?"
"So what do you think we're gonna come across here, Medea?" Ayako asked, quenching her thirst with her canteen. She looked around her, taking in the view of ancient Florence.
"In Massilia?" the Caster replied, though her eyes were locked elsewhere.
"No, I mean the Singularity as a whole." She added, turning to the Greek Witch with a growing discomfort.
"Uhm, Medea? Please, I'm not a child." The Saber said confusedly as Medea continued braiding her hair.
"I know child. Now hush." Medea quickly replied, to the annoyance of the Saber Class Servant with a growing pout on her face. "Most likely more of Rome's past Emperors, and anyone even tangentially related."
"Like France, and anything that had something in common with the French, dragons, and Saints." She brushed the braid over her shoulder, letting it hang for a moment. "Shall we see if we can clear this place a bit?"
"That sounds like a great idea, Ayako!" Arturia exclaimed with a smile, with Medea's actions being temporarily forgotten. She spun around to face the Witch, inadvertently pulling her hair away from Medea's hands. "You must've found them already?"
She cursed silently, facing away from them, before answering the young Saber's question. "There seems to be a single group here. They're creating a path for more of them to enter the city."
"Tonight?" Medea's nod was her answer to the Puppeteer's question. "Alright. Let's make ourselves busy in the meantime. And them, we've got some insurgents to deal with."
AUTHOR'S NOTE
it's weird to me, that Nero could go toe to toe with Servants, when during Part 1, the only other real life people that could do that either had a reason why they had the power up (Drake got the Grail after kicking Poseidon's ass) or is King Gilgamesh himself. and not only that, but she could handily kick their asses without trouble. like, i know she ain't a modern human, but what?
i'm not gonna have her be weak here (because every Servant we summoned is but a mere copy of their original selves, and are in fact weaker from their original selves, barring a very few list of exceptions, like the elder Gorgon sisters and modern Servants like Mata Hari), but it's not going to be a walk in the park for her.
the first of the changes i spoke of last chapter will only really be noticeable next chapter, so i guess we'll have to wait next week for that.
also, i've been wanting our resident witch to get her own black cat familiar for a while now, and what better way to do so in a Singularity? (don't worry, Fou won't be outshined.)
actually, with that out of the way, have ya'll read up on what's been happening over at JP? holy SHIT! wow. in hindsight, i'm glad of how i portrayed Wodime in his brief cameo here. could be better in hindsight, but still in the same ballpark at least. it's also giving me some ideas on how the group here is going to handle the Singularities.
well, enough of that for now. i play on EN, so i have a lot to expect in the coming years, and so do all of you!
with that out of the way, on to the reviews!
trexboy164: three alive and waking (Ayako, Koleen, and Kagiso), two in stasis, and the last three dead.
amerdism: Servants will only be summoned in the Class they're summoned. another aspect will appear only if that character is different enough. for example: Caster Cu and Lancer Cu are too similar with one another, with Caster Cu being vaguely as a more mature aspect of him. Berserker Cu on the other hand can be summoned, since he's like Jalter (came into existence thanks to someone's wish.) Semi is different, since she's still in one Class.
granted, this doesn't mean i'm not open for change. if i see enough of a reason to, i can try and adapt it here.
Naruto Sakura Uzumaki: he'll definitely drop by before Okeanos.
King0fP0wers: flashbacks are the only way i can have the Aozaki sisters appear in the story, until EoR at least, so i'm taking advantage of that to show bits and pieces of Ayako's own history. and i haven't actually planned to have Septem Waver to be part of the Singularity. i've moved things around that he kinda just disappeared. if he can be squeezed back in, then cool. otherwise, things will stay changed.
and absolutely i'm going to take advantage of Medea's fixation with all cutesy things like Saber Lily.
Guest: thanks!
emiya: thanks as well, i plan on doing more of those!
Wintersmith23: this fic's continuity has the past Grail Wars happening, since not much is known of FGO's timeline, aside from apparently there being only one Grail War recorded, and it being the 2004 one that Marisbilly won. so, there'll still be some discrepancies between them, but yet, Waver has the character development he got.
and absolutely, if you frequent the subreddit, you may even have noticed me a couple of days ago just asking and asking questions to the JP players. and for that, i have something in mind on what to do about them. right now, a justification on how things can be and might occur/happen. otherwise, if need be (i don't see it reaching this point yet), my fic will end up being a full blown AU.
hope you guys stick around with my rendition of Septem, i'll see if i can make it more interesting.
thanks for R&R ing if ya'll don't mind, and i'll see you all next time!