god, where have you gone?

you never answer; are you still there? (au ginoza nobuchika, affiliated with guerra sacra.)

[heartsforeigner]

; { lost in the city of rome

So, this is it. The time for Alice’s wish to become reality has come. Yes, it was the moment she has been waiting for. It took her all her time to get here, part time jobs, getting her father’s permission (though he could honestly not care whether or not she leaves to her own death or not) and being able to  understand the language. Yes, it was perfect and running smoothly so far. 

Until she got out of the cab from the airport and was completely deserted in the middle of nowhere. 

"Wh-WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!"

Never in her whole life had she heard of a taxi driver getting lost and then ditching her because he believes that this was the correct destination. The driver reminded her of somebody she knew but she didn’t dwell long on the thought. There was no point in it anyway, she was going to forget the taxi driver so Alice better focus her remaining energy to figure out where she is.

This was bad. Very bad. The whole city was going to be a war zone soon and getting lost on the very first day was not the first thing she wanted to do. “Geez…well…I guess I’ll have to deal with it..”

Hotel…Hotel…gotta find a hotel…

Picking up  her suitcase, Alice wandered into the streets and glanced around, trying to find a person that would be able to understand English and what little Italian she knows of. “Um…excuse me, can you help me?”

[coefficiently]

He had been almost certain that he was alone, until a taxi suddenly pulled up to the foot of the giant staircase. Ginoza was forced to quickly step out of the way as the car screeched to a stop like a living creature, then proceeding to dump a blond girl on its cobblestone streets.

If that's not the reaction of a person who thought she was lost, he didn't know what it was.

Ginoza had turned his face away from the scene, remaining focused on the fountain that bubbled at the bottom of the Spanish Steps, and before he could withdraw from the area, the girl had already approached him. He sensed a sudden wave of prana from her, but fought to keep his facial expressions neutral. It was only natural for the streets of Rome to be teeming with Masters.

It's convenient, really, that while he was alive, his training had required him to be multilingual. His green eyes glance at the suitcase at her side. She's probably searching for a hotel or a place to stay. From his earlier excursions around the city, he knows that there is, in fact, a hotel tucked away to the side of the tourist attraction. But there are hotels all over Rome, so who knew which building she'd booked a room for.

"If I can, yes," Ginoza says, glancing up and down at the girl.

"... you seem lost."

[oohmucus]

The Servant stood at the side of the street, not moving as others crossed the road. As someone walked passed her, she simply begun to as them a question.

"You know, just a few hours ago there were two smashed cars here, and a few ambulances. But if I didn’t tell you that, would you have noticed?"

"It sort of amazes me still, that things like that can just disappear."

[coefficiently]

He's used to things disappearing into thin air. Half of his world had been projected holograms anyways. This woman in particular though appears incredibly distraught about something.

"Skid marks on the road," Ginoza responds, nodding at the black tracks that the vehicles had left in their wake. They spun off erratically, far from the normal tire tracks that a controlled car would have made.

In short, his tracking abilities remained intact.

[aequality]

"No. No, it doesn’t." Her mouth quirks in something like amusement, although the smile doesn’t quite reach her eyes.

Then she waves her hand for another drink leans over to nudge the other man in the ribs.

"Have you found a place to stay yet?" While Servants didn’t technically need too many luxuries, having them was better than not.

[coefficiently]

If possible, he doesn't want to leave any traces of his presence anywhere.

"No, I'd rather not stay in one place for too long," he replies. He's not particularly restless, but being in one area makes him uneasy.

Old habits die hard; go figure.

[xxxserpent-deactivated20140607]

eyes that cannot see / open!

[xxxserpent-deactivated20140607]

     Azami was… well, generally a quiet individual unless frustrated. As a writer she had little need to speak unless she was speaking to to a publisher or someone aiding her with a reference, and her voice seldom reached the volume of a full-out yell. Screams of terror? There had been one that she could recall, and it was the tip of the iceberg regarding why she’d accepted the role of Master in this war in the first place. 

Still, without her glasses, the woman’s vision was exceedingly poor. She was unfit for navigating a city she was unfamiliar with now, and she could barely make out the silhouette of the man who had spoken to her. But… what was this she sensed? It wasn’t like she had any sensation to compare it to, but this mana signature, regardless of how weak…

“…Yes." It was almost a hiss, but not at the man himself, rather the situation in general. To think she’d found one so soon, and yet she couldn’t even see him. For all she knew, he could have already found a Master, as well, and this meeting would surely give away her identity for future reference. Troublesome.

Turning on her heel, she begun to walk with the expectation he’d follow. “We need to talk. I’m sure you understand why, but we can’t do it h- OW!" 

And she walked into telephone pole.

This sucked.

[coefficiently]

He wore glasses for a good five plus years, but Ginoza had never actually needed them to correct his vision. He can't actually imagine what it must feel like to be dependent on a plastic and metal frame with two lenses in order to function. If Azami's his sample sample group though, it looks like it's rather troublesome, especially when they go missing (or in her case scenario, when they're on the floor in pieces).

"Hold on, you're going to -- "

Except, she's already hit a telephone pole, face-first.

Ginoza frowns as he picks up the remaining pieces of the red glasses, slipping them into his pocket. He doesn't know who she is, but he knows that he can sense a tremendous amount of mana coming from her small body. And in truth, it probably wouldn't hurt too much to follow her. The war for the Grail hasn't begun just yet, and even if she already has a Servant, he can use this as an opportunity to collect more information.

On the other hand, he's certain that if she did have a Servant, they shouldn't be too far off, and he should have been able to sense them nearby. But he didn't feel a single thing, and considering how Azami was walking into obstacles, she'd probably benefit from having her servant nearby.

Two plus two made four, really.

He makes his way over to the Master with red eyes, easily lifting her off the ground and into his arms. "Just tell me where to go," he says.

He doesn't really have anything to lose by being somewhat honest with her.

"I'm alone, it's okay."

[immortalgeass-archive-deactivat]

"If blood hasn’t been shed on these streets before the month is out, I will be very much surprised. Humans are impatient things, and anyone willing to become a Master has already committed themselves to killing, even if it’s only Servants."

[coefficiently]

"Committed themselves to killing, yes. As have you, no?"

[starwishings-deactivated2014111]

“O—oh, yes, I wish you—…”

She thought that he was going to leave, and she was beginning to find a certain sense of familiarity within him. Which made her temporarily forget just what exactly was she talking about when she uttered those words of distinction.

She blinked once, twice, maybe.

“Nothing, I think it was about how you feel like… a different being. You look perfectly human, though. … Are you a… Servant?”

The last word, she couldn’t help but stress upon, even if she whispered the vocable, rather than speak it.

[coefficiently]

Ah, there it is.

"I am, yes, if you consider a Servant without a Master to serve as a Servant," Ginoza says to her. "I figured as much that you were the opposite when I first saw you."

But it isn't safe to discuss matters like this out in the open, even if the fight for the Holy Grail hasn't actually begun just yet.

"... It isn't safe out here discuss such though."

[immortalgeass-archive-deactivat]

"In a situation like this, it’s best to save the most subtle maneuvers until the actual battles have begun. A Master without a Servant is even more vulnerable than a Servant without a Master, after all."

[coefficiently]

"Fair enough. Are you implying there may yet be blood on Rome's roads even before the war begins?"

[starwishings-deactivated2014111]

“That sounds wonderful. I’m sure she has worked hard for it.

—which leaves me at a place where I should start working hard, … I guess this war is just a little scary. Thank you for the thought. It helped me feel a little better.”

[coefficiently]

"She did, yes. ... If we never cross paths again, I wish you well."

And he could leave then and there, but --

"What... did you mean that something about me was different?"

Because, honestly, any bit of information will help.

[immortalgeass-archive-deactivat]

"Ha…a fair point. I suppose I’ll need to get out of the habit of thinking out loud as soon as possible then." In truth, he’d been hoping to draw out either a Master seeking a Servant, or another Servant, preferably without their own Master as well, so he could begin the arduous task of gathering information about his opponents.

[coefficiently]

"I will commend you on deciding the fastest way of drawing out a Master is announcing that you don't have one though.

[quite frankly, GInoza's in the process of doing the same.]

[starwishings-deactivated2014111]

“I… Was just wondering, actually, but nn, I guess it is. … Something about you feels different.”

[coefficiently]

"Someone I used to work with questioned her abilities frequently, but she was one of the most able people I knew."

[starwishings-deactivated2014111]

“Servant, Servant… … Am I even fit for this thing…?”

[coefficiently]

"The first step is to believe in yourself, isn't it?"

[immortalgeass-archive-deactivat]

"Right…the business of having to find a Master…I’d almost forgotten. Without a Master, I can’t even use my lowest level abilities…I shouldn’t have let such an important thing slip my mind."

[coefficiently]

"Wouldn't it be wiser to downplay the fact that you're lacking a Master as much as possible for the time being?"

[briefly, he wonders if fighting will break out even before the war due to the number of Servants running about trying to find potential Masters.]

[aequality]

Yuko rolls her eyes. “You heard me the first time, my dear.” Regardless of which side they would each end up on for the War, good company is good company.

And while she might draw some sort of perverse pleasure from smacking his buttons, she appreciates the conversation all the same.

"And it’s quite all right, really. I’ve already received it." She doesn’t elaborate further, instead blowing smoke rings into the air. "Mm, I wonder how long this rain will last?"

[coefficiently]

If that isn't suspicious, Ginoza doesn't know what is. He can't find it in himself to ask anymore questions though. "Have you now?" he asks, watching her blow rings into the air.

His green eyes wander over to the windows of the bar. It's black outside, save for the beads of rain that cling to the glass's surface.

"It doesn't look like it will be letting up anytime soon."

[coefficiently]

stepping stone [open]

All he can think of is how he's probably seen buildings with more stairs than this, but the fact that the Spanish Steps are completely empty makes it grand. It makes Ginoza wonder if Rome is empty, save for the quiet gurgling of the fountain at the foot of the staircase. One benefit of landing in Rome was probably the nooks and crannies that the city offered.

He knows why he's here, which is why Ginoza's cycling through potential vantage points in his head. It's important to make himself as useful to his potential Master as possible, and it isn't like Ginoza to wait around and be a sitting duck. The best he can do is explore the city and map it out in his head.

"Slightly north from the heart of the city, then," he muses to himself. Which, in hindsight, makes sense if he'd been heading north from the Trevi Fountain.

[aequality]

She chuckles. “Oh, I don’t doubt it.” Yuko turns her head to avoid breathing the smoke straight in his face, taking the moment to glance at all the people around them.

"Mm." The woman turns her scarlet gaze back on the man. "Only for those who would benefit a bit from it." She grins at him. "But your company for tonight is payment enough, don’t worry."

[coefficiently]

"Benefit?" Ginoza says, raising a brow before mentally noting the language she had used. He doesn't know who Yuko is, but he certainly knows what she is.

He suspects that she knows the same as he takes another long drag on his cigarette.

"I don't recall agreeing to payment."

[aequality]

She chuckles. “Is it that obvious, darling?”

"Have fun! Live a little." Yuko traces shapes in the air before her with the end of her kiseru. "No one else will do that for you, you know." She places the pipe in her mouth, inhaling the aromatic smoke and winking at her companion.

"You’re exceptionally easy to tease."

[coefficiently]

 It's a rather familiar piece of advice, but Ginoza chooses not to make any further comments about it. Instead, he watches Yuko lean over the counter puffing contentedly on her kiseru.

"That's... not the first time I've heard that," he admits. Alternatively, this woman is exceptionally good at teasing others. Perhaps it is a combination of both.

"You're exceptionally good at teasing others."

[aequality]

"Oh, boo." Yuko pouts. "We only live twice, right?" She prods him with an ivory finger. "Why not enjoy it while you can, child?"

Yuko smirks at him. “Although I must admit, you look quite fetching while you blush.”

[coefficiently]

This has to count for harassment, right? But chivalry is a thing, so he only bats a lash when she pokes him in the cheek with a finger.

"Child?" Ginoza mutters, trying his hardest to sound like he isn't being strangled.

Now, he's almost certain she's pressing him just to get a reaction. It doesn't make him any less embarrassed, but he manages to steel his nerves to add, "Now you're just enjoying yourself at my expense."

On the other hand, it's kind of nice to meet someone seemingly light-hearted once in awhile.