☘ 051; [video; dated the morning of 10/8]

[solas_ion]

[Cu Chulainn wasn't sure when he'd become aware that something was wrong. Wait...no, that wasn't entirely true. On some level, he'd become aware on October eighth, when 'yesterday' was October eleventh. He'd spent the entire day of the eighth fishing--but he'd also spent the eighth talking to Mitsuzuri at the flower shop. And he'd also spent it talking to Emiya--]

['Lancer, what do you think about the situation right now? Or, why are you still in this world?']

[Well, obviously. Servant Lancer had a Master, therefore he existed. It wasn't 'why' or even 'how' that bothered him. Even if the situation wasn't normal, the Hound of Ulster would do as he pleased. The restarting of the Holy Grail War was of no concern to him.]

['There's no need to hate the enemy.']

[A town full of Servants was a town full of natural opponents, even if they were all living peacefully. The way that Cu Chulainn lived dictated that there was no need to hate someone on the opposite side of things. Long ago, hadn't he fought and killed someone he couldn't have hated if he tried?]

[Yes...and that brought him back to the issue. Someone he couldn't hate was responsible for the endlessly repeating four halcyon days, and Emiya had asked for his help. Only the spear which inverted causality could counter the 'Answerer', Fragarach. A lance which killed its target before it was swung and a sword which canceled its target's attack for a deadly counter.]

[In short, mutually assured destruction.]

[And that, he determined upon waking up, was why there was a deep pain running from his shoulder through his chest as though something had tried to cut him in half.]

[Right. This was Johto--scattered memories were coming back in a rush that gave Lancer a terrible headache. But headache or no, he was alive. Again. Beside him was a Lucario, growling in what sounded like a litany of complaints.]

...I hear you, I hear you, I'm sorry. Thanks for taking care of things--I'll make it up to you, okay?

[That pain from a legendary blade turned a lot sharper as he cautiously sat up. It looked like his left arm would be pretty useless for a while, but luckily it didn't seem to be actively bleeding. Lancer noted he'd be in a hell of a lot of trouble with a wound like that on a human body.]

[But for now, there were other things to see to. Listening carefully to his Lucario recounting events of the past week, the former Servant reached for his Pokegear.]

[video]



Hey. [Lancer looked exhausted, pushing disheveled and untied hair back out of his eyes--wait, was that blood on his face?]

I'm getting the idea of what's been going on from Tyrfing; ground's still shaking, all that stuff. Anybody figure out what's behind it yet? [The Lucario in question handed Lancer a cup of coffee, which he accepted with a grateful but hesitant smile and a muttered 'thanks'.]

[Sighing, he looked back to the Pokegear. It was probably some measure of paranoia speaking, but he had to know for certain:]

And...look, I know this is gonna sound like I've gone crazy, but can somebody tell me what the date is?

Comments

video;

[occultigen]

[And would you look at that, here's a cute girl smiling pleasantly into the video at the...incredibly harried-looking man on the other end, if for no other reason than that he's asked a question she's actually capable of answering and, well, it only seems polite.]

But of course. It's the morning of October 8th, sir.

video;

[solas_ion]

Aw, fuck.

[Whatever color was still in Lancer's face immediately left it. There was no way the while thing could have extended this far...was there? No, even if it did this should have ended it. He'd left Emiya to deal with whatever that shadow Servant was--there was no way the kid screwed that up, was there?]

Okay, dumb question two. What was yesterday's date?

video;

[occultigen]

[...Well, she looks appropriately scandalized at the language, um.

As for the date, though, it's not...such an odd question, considering she arrived here from the late 1800s and barely believed anyone who told her it was over a century later.]

Why...October the seventh, of course.

video;

[solas_ion]

[i'm so sorry for your innocent ears.]

And you're...completely sure about that. No doubt about it, definitely, absolutely the seventh?

video;

[occultigen]

Well, it still seems to be the wrong year, a bit, but I'm quite sure it was October the seventh, yes.

[...At least she's honest. And sort of refreshingly earnest?]

And, um, it was the sixth before that, I'm quite sure of that as well.

[...if...that...helps...?]

Video

[dreamsofahero]

I haven't heard anything as to the source of the tremors, no.

And it's the eighth of October; has something happened...?

Video

[solas_ion]

You gotta be kidding me.

[Lancer looked over to his Lucario, who just nodded in agreement.]

It's, uh...kinda hard to explain, kid. But if that really is the date, humor me for a second: what was yesterday's date?

[There was a weird emphasis on 'yesterday'.]

Re: Video

[dreamsofahero]

*raising an eyebrow at the "kid" bit, but not commenting*

The seventh of the same month, naturally.

Video

[solas_ion]

[Old habits, you know.]

...How sure are you about that?

[video]

[paladinlost]

We still have no idea what causes the earthquakes, today is October 8th, you look like you've not touched a hairbrush in days, and is that blood? Are you injured?

[As Cecil feels merciful, he does not vocalize the 'again'.]

[video]

[solas_ion]

I've been asleep for a while, so that'd at least explain my hair. [He ran his right hand through it again, making an attempt to straighten it out before starting to wipe the blood off his face.]

As for the rest, I've been better. And are you really sure it's the eighth? Nothing, uh...weird's been going on aside from the earthquakes?

[video]

[paladinlost]

That would explain the hair, but not the blood.

[Unless it implies terrible things about Lancer's sleeping routine.]

...I think my frog can either turn itself invisible or teleport, but beyond that and the earthquakes this world is as normal as it can be. Why do you ask?

[video]

[solas_ion]

It's a long story. Ain't bleeding anymore, so I'm probably fine for now.

[Probably.]

'Why', uh...I ain't entirely sure how to explain it, really.

video

[cawsforalarm]

Whoa, what happened to your head?! Your blood is dripping really nicely...

[Henry is the master of tact, as usual. He also looks really excited; this guy looks like he just came back from a big battle -- a familiar sight to Henry, but almost unheard of in Johto.]

Did you get bonked too hard or something? Is that why you don't know the date?

video

[solas_ion]

[...aren't you just charming.]

I've been asleep for a while. [He'd just start wiping that blood off his face, yep.] So I kind of lost track.

video

[cawsforalarm]

[Henry's grin grows even wider as Lancer smears it around.]

What time was it when you fell asleep? I've done that before, where you fall asleep by accident and it's dark out and you're not sure if it's really early morning or eight o'clock at night...

[Yeah, no one's explained this to him yet.]

video

[solas_ion]

. . .

You're new here, ain't you?

Video

[killer_sweets]

It's October the 8th. [While he hasn't known Lancer for that long the way he looks and that question gives him a fair clue of what is wrong.]

It looks like you had a pretty rough trip down memory lane.

Video

[solas_ion]

Of course it is.

[HAPPY GROUNDHOG DAY.]

Yeah, it's been a long... however the fuck long I was home.

Video

[killer_sweets]

That certainly sounds fun experience. [His sarcasm is thick today.]

From the way you're acting, it sounds like you've been gone for years.

Video

[solas_ion]

...Now that I think about it, I don't know if I can put a real amount of time to how long it was at all.

video; walks in late with starbucks

[ossifragant]

Are you okay?

[He knows Lancer has been asleep for a while, but... you know. Just checking.]

That's a pretty specific question to be asking right after waking up.

wow share

[solas_ion]

I'm alive, so that beats what I was expecting.

[...Dark.]

As for why I'm askin', don't worry too much about it.

[ossifragant]

I'd just like to make sure you're doing okay.

You were asleep for a week. What happened?

video;

[freecssgonwild]

Are you okay, Mister? Where are you?