Part 8: Flame Poem Arc - Rebound

Rebound


Catching breath

Imagine, the great Nero Claudius and her glorious Praetor, forced to retreat, with scarcely even a proper name to call our foe! ...Despite all our past victories, it seems we still have much to learn. Perhaps we are not yet the equals of the Great Caesar...



i find it prudent to praise Nero for her abilities. After all, Hakuno would probably have been absolutely incinerated if Nero wasn't there. Then again, she does seem to have quite the lucky streak. Still, down in the dumps Nero just isn't right.

When the light of destruction us both, I thought that was the end for sure. But Saber saved us both. And here we are, healing up in My Room. Soon enough, we'll both be good as new...

Do not shower such praise on me this time. It was you who saved us both. Alone, I fear I would have failed, been consumed in the light. ...Oof. Such a terrible state of affairs. Please forgive my lack of power on this one occasion. ...After all, her destruction was no great spectacle. I could easily compose one far grander! ...Or so I wish to say, but my heart has yet to rise from its sunken depths. Against such raw, rampaging aggression, even one such as I... I must be well and truly exhausted to worry so. Praetor, may I rest alongside you?



Again, I'll just incorporate this and the previous scene into a single video. The game does this surprisingly commonly, at least in Flame Poem.

*giggle* There was a time when I would simply charge into battle, heedless of all. You have certainly kept me fit for such things. Please, rest here upon my lap. What would you ask of me, Praetor? Would have you me sing a lullaby? Or perhaps a bedtime story? I have so many tales from the Moon's Holy Grail War...



Number three is just boring, so that's right out. Much as I'd like to hear Sakura Tenge's singing voice (I don't think she actually sings, though I will check on that. You can replay these visual novel scenes in the Extras menu), I'd rather hear old war stories.

Ah, now mind you, these tales tell of more than my own exploits. They chronicle our journeys together. Easy as our victories were in the Holy Grail War, they climaxed in spectacular fashion. Whenever a powerful foe appeared before us, we stood our ground, and gave not an inch. We even made allies along the way, a rarity in such trying times. Indeed, we did. So stand up and take pride, Praetor. Even in the midst of a fearsome contest, where annihilation was always one false step away, you won the hearts of many.

Recall the time you met the proud warrior who fights for the world. Or the time you met the fragile Homunculus. Remember that certain student you met. A bit cocky, that one was, but resilient as well. Do you remember meeting the King, who maintained a world without mana? Or the hidden Assassin with a bloody tenacity? ...Many called us allies at the time, though times do change.

I had to consult an associate about these references, as I have not played EXTRA. After consultation, we were still unsure about the first (though Nameless does fit the description. His deal is complicated). The "fragile Homunculus" is Rani VIII, Master of Lu Bu. The "certain student" is Rin Tohsaka (has the same name as the FSN character, but is not the same person), Master of none other than Cu Chulainn.

"The King" is a bit complicated, as there are no kings in EXTRA. The closest we surmised was that it referred to Twice H. Pieceman, the main antagonist of EXTRA, who was a pretty head honcho guy within the Moon Cell. The final line is very likely a reference to Li Shuwen. For another EXTRA reference, in his opening speech before Stage 1, Gawain mentioned Hakuno being very instructive to Leo. He was referring to his former Master, Leonardo B Harway, who was quite friendly with Hakuno, but nonetheless, one must rise, and one must fall. In this case, it was the latter who rose.

From Hakuno's perspective, she likely does not remember any of these folks, but these would be pretty fresh memories to Nero. All of Nero's generals are Servants who interacted with her in the past, and between summonings, Servants do retain their memories of events.

Allies. Friends. Their faces touch my mind as Saber mentions each one. They're definitely part of my memories, and their faces are helping me recall other bits and pieces.



...

Oh, fallen asleep, have we? *giggle* Your face is in such bliss when you're in slumber. It's as if you were always meant to be here, with me, in SE.RA.PH... I hope you dream a wonderful dream, where all your friends return to you. Rest well, Praetor...

The next "morning"...


The expanding world

But all in all, its lands are as diverse as they would be on Earth, complete with various resources. For example, in one territory, you can harvest tea leaves. With an especially pleasant aroma, I might add.

Tea leaves... Is that what they are? Since I don't have many memories, all I can do is nod along with her. I tilt my head in a way I hope looks natural.

Now, to be honest, I'm not entirely clear on what it means for SE.RA.PH to be expanding on its own. Were I to speculate, from my own vivid imagination, I might suppose... SE.RA.PH may be trying to imitate the Earth. Not in Earth's current state, bleak and blasted as it is, but old Earth, back when it was lush and green. Stars in the sky, flowers on the ground. If that's the era it wishes to recreate, then of course new growth would be a part of that.

"Bleak and blasted", indeed. In EXTRA's timeline (and by extension, CCC and this game), the depletion of mana on Earth, which started at the end of the Age of the Gods, finally finished in the 1970s. As a result, Earth's environment has generally begun declining.

This lack of mana is what sets it apart from the other timelines in Nasu's works, where it's at least a fairly common thing magi can take advantage of. Also, because there is no mana left on Earth, there is no Holy Grail for magi to fight over, which happened in Fate/zero and Fate/stay night. In this timeline, those two Wars never happened.

She might be right. If I see the new SE.RA.PH from a broader angle, will I get the same impression she does?

*giggle* Then we must conclude this campaign at once. Let us stride across every great land this moon can offer us. First, we should visit that fox's city, blooming as it is with such beautiful flowers. Oh, and speaking of the fox, what were your impressions of that other "you" standing beside her? The Great Scholar spoke of your Soul, but I saw no such thing there. I saw a being devoid of spirit, without purpose or identity

The other Hakuno Kishinami. I've been thinking about it ever since we first "met". I didn't get much of an impression from the other me at that time.

Of course, Master, you were never particularly assertive to begin with, quiet and reserved as you've always tended to be. Even so, you always had a certain strength, an undying optimism in your very core. I could scarcely bear it at times. But enough of that. It seemed that Caster had deceived your Soul somehow. But there was something else there, something...fragile. As if Caster had some kind of maternal instinct toward her version of you. Perhaps that's what's been troubling me...



Once again, if you're playing a Boring Hakuno, you'd pick number two, but if you're playing a Boring Hakuno, you're not really playing Hakuno Kishinami.

*gasp* P-Praetor! Are... Are you jealous?! Is...that...what this is? B-But both of your are Praetors... I would have never expected this. How should I even feel? What am I supposed to do?

I'm jealous of her...? Jealous of my other half...my soul? Is that what this is?

...What if the other were here with us now? Would I have to choose? Allow me to think... Praetor, you embody passion when you're near me. You are more than the Mind of Hakuno Kishinami - you are the fire! I never needed to think through it this way before... To think of you in this way before, to realize how much I want you to myself... I feel so open about this now. It's exhilirating, like unleashing my Noble Phantasm. But also... The heat i feel now has a way of laying bare the truth. The truth is this: Whether this heat burns on or fades, you are my companion. And so, Praetor, I hereby make you a promise.

A promise...?

No matter what happens, I, Saber, will save my heart for you alone, even if the other "you" stands before me. Even if you and the other never become one, you shall be MY "one", and it is your hand I shall forever hold. ...So worry not. I belong to you, and you belong to me. Believe in that, and believe in us, forevermore.

Well...always good to know, certainly. Now, just based on a few of those lines, I'm going to guess this scene was supposed to be available before going to Tamamo's stage, but because Nero's bond level wasn't high enough, it didn't happen until now. There are several scenes in this game you can only see when your Servant's bond level is high enough. To unlock all of them, I think you need to be somewhere 20+ level.

But for now, it's time to get back to work. Remember that apocalypse in pointed shoes? We should probably get around to finding out what her deal is.




The conqueror

...It is good to see you safe and sound, Your Majesty. The enemy force nearly swallowed me up, but I somehow managed to escape.

"Somehow", indeed... He got completely covered by those things, and yet stands before us. Seems like this guy has more than a few tricks up his sleeve.

I had thought you lost for certain, Great Scholar. It does me good to see you well. The Praetor is also well, as you can see. With the three of us together, our troubles are as breezes against our mighty bulwarks.

...Impressive. Your enemies mount, but your spirit endures. I should have expected as much from the start. Even after witnessing such destruction with your own eyes, you still hold strong. SE.RA.PH could not ask for a more dependable King. I suggest we shore up our forces first. While half the Regalia may be gone, the automated system is still producing our military units. Additionally, our base of operations is both hidden and well defended.

Hm. I knew this place had its advantages, but I dared not dream they would extend quite so far. Regardless, we won't win hiding here. The White Servant's forces are powerful, and her sword is on par with Vesuvio's fury. More than that...her Master is...

Right. There's no doubt that her Master is the third Hakuno Kishinami. There must be a story behind that, but I can't imagine what it is.

Do you have any guesses, Great Scholar?

It's fair to surmise that the third Hakuno Kishinami is the Master's Body. And Caster, of course, still retains the Soul.

Body and Soul... So I'm the Mind of Hakuno Kishinami, Caster's version is the Soul, and the one with the White Servant represents my Body? Okay. I can get on board with that. To be honest, when I first met the second me, I had a feeling that might be the case. Because...well, think about it. If there's more than one of you, why assume they'd stop at two?

Sure...checks out. Incidentally, typing "Hakuno Kishinami" so much is starting to bother. From this point on, I'm just going to write "Hakunon", her fan nickname, from now on. You may substitute Hakunon as you see fit in the dialogue I type.

Your thoughts are both confusing and magnificent. Truly a Praetor in name and deed, gentle and grand.

These three beings are a kind of trinity. Now, generally, a digital life form requires all three to be connected. But oddly enough, this one time, the three of them have become independent, each with its own digital shell, or Cyber Frame. Unfortunately for yourself, Praetor, the Mind is the least stable of the three...and, if there is no dedicated vessel to record its data, such as a Body or Soul, that data is in constant risk of fading away entirely.

But there is a solution. Isn't there, Great Scholar?

Indeed. I have confirmed the object the White Servant wore was, in fact, another Regalia, much like Caster had before. So to amend my earlier statement, the Regalia must have been split into three pieces, not two.

Three Praetors, three Regalia. And now the Royal Authority rests with... Hmm... Very well. Hmm, I should not have assumed this would be simple. More to the point, if we restore the Regalia, then Praetor will return to normal?

Of course. Caster's Regalia has been broken, but Altera's Regalia still remains. If we establish one fused Regalia as the core, we can recreate the Master's Cyber Frame and place the Mind at the center.

I understand just enough of that to approve. In any case, our goal remains unchanged! Does it not, Praetor? We need only fight to keep SE.RA.PH united and reprel the invading army. Powerful as Altera may be, she caught us exhausted after our fight with Caster. Against our full strength, she will surely yield.



Oh, I don't know about that. A good general needs to be confident, sure, but be careful not to take that too far. That Heroic Spirit... I don't know if Altera is her real name or not, but it's certain she's exceptional. She has to be some kind of special case. Her Noble Phantasm can't be explained by the normal rules. There must be a secret to it.

Lancer. Am I to assume you clashed with Altera? And? Were you able to grasp her identity?

No. We did technically fight, briefly, but when I saw how strong she was, I backed off immediately. But besides that, Miss Emperor... It's hard for me to say this, but...

Sir Cu Chulainn. Our Majesty has already recovered. Please, speak freely.

Hm?

*sigh* Fine. I might as well get it out now...

Hm?

We were seconds away from our final victory over that fox lady, Tamamo. She had that one sliver of territory left, ripe for the taking.

Yes, of course! And now she's defeated. She escaped, but she will never return. So now, instead of taking that one sliver from Tamamo, we need only take it from Altera, yes?

*laugh* Not so much.

Yeah, nope.

Wh-What do you mean? You two seem to be getting along quite well. Praetor and I spend a day and a half at rest, and...

Bingo. While you two were out, Altera's forces stomped over everything in sight. In half a day - no, not even that - they took over 80% of SE.RA.PH.



Yeah.

As another voice actor aside, Canna Nobutoshi is really good in this scene. Well, he's always great as Cu Chulainn, but this scene in particular, he's especially good. Nobutoshi is one of those Fate voice actors who were cast for the original Fate/stay night anime back in 2006 and have been hanging around the franchise ever since. As far as I'm aware, there's only one role that's been recast, and that was because the original voice actress got sick and couldn't do the role anymore.

Whatever you think about the quality of that particular show, I will brook no opposition to its casting choices for all the characters. From what I understand, Nasu was particularly involved in the process, which may help explain why everyone fits so well into their roles. But for me, it's the voice actors' willingness to spend 10+ years, with no end in sight, with the same character that's really impressive to me.

I mean, they VAs have to love the guaranteed paycheck and huge exposure that goes along with sticking with the franchise in their roles, but there's too much love involved in creating these characters through voice for it to be just mercenary work.

Did you say 80%...?!

Yes I did. Gawain, Assassin, that Archer, and I all manned our posts and fought like hell...but they swarmed every one of us. If we hadn't cut our losses and sealed off the last 20% from the rest, they'd be here already too. That girl's got guts, whoever she is. You can tell she's used to crushing her enemies. On top of that, her subordinates are no joke either... The Great Hero of Macedonia, was it? I never thought I'd see him working for her.

Fantastic... Alexander the Great is one of our new enemies.

Eigh...ty... E-Eight... Eighty... *laugh* Praetor... Did you hear that? Eighty in but half a day...

"Okay", I tell her. "Snap out of it, Saber!" "If it's taken, then all we have to do is take it back. You're good at that, and you love doing it, right?! We'll fix this!"

...Y-Yes. You're right, Praetor. You speak the truth. B-But... 80% in half a day... That makes Caster's 50% in half a month seem postively adorable. Hmm... Very well! We have no choice! I must restore the Regalia and protect the Praetor from fading away! What was taken will be ours again!

Should be simple enough. 'course, that's we said last time. Hopefully Archimedes isn't wrong...again. Off to My Room to prepare.


In the bath

...What? She's a Roman Emperor. Of course she'd have private baths. And we need to be fully relaxed before we head into the big fight, duh.

Thermae is so incredible... I do like tepidariums, but a swim in a caldarium is simply incomparable.

Isn't it funny how you can discern what all those Latin words mean, just from their English equivalents? I mean, even if we are going from Latin -> Japanese -> English here, it's still easy to know exactly what she's saying here.

The day's fatigue is leaving my body even now, as it should here in the healing ambiance of My Room. And yet I feel something else as well. I feel... How do you feel, Praetor?

Fantastic, of course. I can almost feel myself melting into the heated pool. And... I feel hotter than the water itself. Not just from the water on my skin, but form inside, all across my face and chest. I'm bathing with Saber. Nothing could cool me off right now.

I...I see. So you do remember the beating of your physical heart. No need to conceal such feelings - not when I share them! Granted, neither of us COULD conceal much as this very moment, but... Ah, and now I feel hot for an entirely different reason. Ah, glorious Praetor, only in your presence could I feel so embarrassed. Nothing could heat my body as you do. Except perhaps for this water... *giggle* In case you were curious, by the way, you are the first and only person ever to share this bath of roses with me.

There she is, a golden ruler, welcoming me to her emerald bath filled with roses. Despite all the beauty around us, I find myself unable to take my eyes from her. AAt even the slightest glance in her direction, I fall in love all over again.

Ooh, ooh... J-Just as one would expect form such a passionate Mind, Praetor... So brazen, yet so humble. It gives me great pleasure to feel so quaintly embarrassed by you... Though I am growing accustomed to you now, Maiden that I am, always blushing over flowers, even I cannot stay surprised at you forever. In truth, I'd first invited you here for a serious discussion, but now that you're here, I find it difficult to focus on such things... Well, as they say, one must lose a fly to catch a fish. Might I have the pleasure of your embrace?



I mean, I sure *hope* there aren't people who went for the first choice.

...!! T-Truly, you would bestow that pleasure upon me? Then there is not a moment to waste. Hold me, and give me the bliss I have yearned for...



...Ah, your shoulders are so soft, even more than I imagined. *sigh* Much as it pains me, the rest of this will have to wait... Indeed, we can indulge no further. If I must endure, then so must you, even if it takes all our strength.

...Hm? What is she talking about?

Mmm. Since you seem so curious, I suppose I can tell you... I wish to teach myself the ways of self-restraint. Our time together now would be as a fine meal, but if I yield to that temptation, I will ruin my appetite for the great feast at the end of it all. As the Sovereign of SE.RA.PH, I must maintain an iron will.

Oh, so that's the kind of strength she's talking about. I believe Saber does have the will to put her nation above herself. She considers SE.RA.PH's land important enough to be on her level, and that's incredibly high praise.

...Hm, you seem unduly amused. Speaking of which, do you happen to recall the three things I hate the most?

Of course. The three things: Failure, treason, and moderation.

Yes, but "moderation" is not self-restraint. Moderation is fear of one's own desire. Self-restraint is the will to overcome it. ...Of course, there was a time when I had no care for either. In "Emperor Beast Mode", I would gorge myself, even if I came to regret it. But here and now, we have no such luxury. I must use this bath for its healing purposes only. ...I must!

Saber repeats those orders to herself. We both know we're in a predicament. We can't afford to slack off or lower our guard. ...Sadly, we need to discuss serious matters. Such as the third Hakunon. She's...

...Yes. About the third Praetor, or should I say the Body... Unlike Caster, Altera is keeping her "you" as a prisoner, or so it appears. It seems she somehow forced a contract between Master and Servant. If it is indeed so, I can understand why she keeps "you" close. Perhaps there is more to their relationship, but regardless, whatever they have together must be based around the Regalia... Or is based around Altera's power? We must learn more. We do know Altera is a Servant. So the other "you" is safe, at least from her, as long as that "you" retains the title of Master.

...I see. As long as the Body doesn't break the contract with Altera and lose the "Master" title, Altera won't let the Body die.

...Yes. If it were otherwise, we would need to move without delay. But one way or another, we do need to resuce the Praetor's Body, before Altera changes her mind.

Well, we're charging straight into trouble here, but hey, that's when things are most exciting, right? Next time, we'll see what Altera's army has in store for us.