nsamusements | Call Out Meme: Version 4.0

[That sure is a tiny girl clad in a smaller (smaller than it already is) version of Saber's armor. It seems that her experiment to prove Caster's identity as the Pied Piper had worked. The sad side effect is that she now suffers the effects of his Noble Phantasm. She has more or less been reduced to childhood, an age of about 6-8 years.]

Is there anything wrong, Lancer?

[For some reason, her voice lacks the aggressive, arrogant edge it usually has. Instead, it sounds very calm. Gentle, even.]

[Diarmuid is just going to blink at her. And then blink again. And again.]

Saber?

[His voice is full of confusion. After a moment, he mutters under his breath.]

Have I gone mad?

Have you, Lancer?

[Saber stares at him, confused. For the time being, she doesn't notice her shrinkage.]

...You do not seem to be under the thrall of any madness, but...

[She cranes her neck to look him in the eyes.]

You seem to have gotten bigger, all of a sudden. Is this an effect of Caster's Noble Phantasm? Why did you receive the blow if it was meant for me?

I received no blow, Saber.

[He knows better than to take blows for her by now. Her wrath is more dangerous than any weapon strike.]

It is you who have changed, not I.

[As if to illustrate the point, he motions toward a nearby car.]

I still match the car's size. It is not me who has grown, but you who has shrunk. Don't you feel any different?

Good.

[She smiles at him. She is relieved that he has not been hurt for her sake.]

Do I feel...

[She flexes her hands. Her armor weighs a little heavier on her. As does her sword. Her hands are also smaller than she remembers.]

...Am I...smaller?

[She looks up at Lancer, and then looks at the car, and finally back to her sword, which is longer than she is tall now.]

Did Caster do this to me?

[Funny, this size feels natural to her. She certainly doesn't feel cursed.]

I believe so, though I did not see the attack directly. His master had me distracted. I am...

[For a moment, his voice trails off. She...should not be this cute, and he should definitely not be feeling the urge to pick her up and give her a hug.

She would kill him, newly compact size or no.]

I apologize for that. Do you know anything about how Caster's abilities work?

I...

[She frowns, straining to remember. The attack had been so...strange.]

I remembered hearing the song he played on his flute, and...falling into a dream, perhaps? I saw much of Camelot. And much of my mother and father.

[She lacks bitterness even when referring to her past. Instead, she sounds a little excited.]

Did you?

[Diarmuid knows he should be focusing on what she's telling him so that they can find a way to reverse whatever this spell is, but he is having a very hard time focusing with how cute and excited she is. It's such a chance from her usual personality, but it's in a way a happy change, a reflection of how she should have been if she had not grown up as she had.

He takes a few steps forward and crouches down so that his head is on level with hers.]

Would you like to tell me about it?

...If you wish to hear it, Lancer. I would not deny my friend and a fellow knight such a simple request.

[And she recites her story. How, as far back as she could remember, she was trained in knighthood. She practiced martial and liberal arts under the best of tutors that her mother could find. She memorized all the rules of chivalry by heart. And she hid her face behind an iron mask as per mother's orders...]

[In the middle of the story, she stops.]

I was never a child then. I was never small or helpless. Because...

[Her expression falls.]

I was...born really different from other people.

Does it make you sad you didn't get a normal childhood?

[Diarmuid listens closely as she tells her tale, his mind matching her words to the story he knows. However, in the background his mind is also doing some processing. While turning Saber into a child obviously affects her physically, Diarmuid can't help but think there is more to it than that.

Especially with the childhood Saber had. Otherwise, why not target him as well?]

Are there things you wished you could have done?

I...

[She hesitates, trying to think of an answer.]

I am a knight. I should not begrudge others for things I cannot change.

[Nevertheless, there's a hint of sadness to her tone.]

And besides, if I were to spend so long small and helpless, I would have to depend on others to care for me. And it would be a longer time before I could become a knight and join the Round Table.

[The more she talks, the bitter she sounds. For a second, it's almost like she's back to her jaded adult self. This mantra was one she had recited to herself all too much, so she can cover up the shame behind her strange birth.]

You aren't begrudging anyone anything and I think both you and I know that you are not small and helpless even in this form, so I'll ask the question again.

[A grin crosses his face, though it fades slightly when he notices the bitterness in her voice.]

Is there anything you want to do that you didn't get to do during your childhood?

[They obviously need to figure out a way to return her to normal, but that doesn't mean that maybe they can't have a little fun while they try to do that.]

...Riding on Father's shoulders. Hearing mother's bedtime stories and lullabies. Playing with other children. Playing with actual toys...

[She pouts as she remembers everything she missed. But a second later, she regains her composure.]

...Is any of this relevant to our task at hand?

Yes.

[Though, to be honest, there is part of him that would just like this to be about giving her a chance to be a child for once.]

Don't you find it odd he used his ability only on you even though I was also nearby? Not only nearby, but distracted? I suspect it has something to do with your childhood. Perhaps if we explore it a bit, we may find an answer and a way to get you back to normal.

[If nothing else, perhaps the spell will wear off with time and distance from Caster? It's an extreme long shot, but...]

[She frowns for a second, and then nods.]

Perhaps. It would explain why I was affected despite having stronger Magic Resistance.

[She sighs.]

I suppose I should tell you about the rest of my "childhood," in that case. After I was given my mask, I did go to Camelot. And I did fight alongside the king and his knights. I joined in many of their quests, and I did my best to be a good knight. Mother told me that if I proved myself good enough, I would succeed then the king too, one day. And then she...

[She winces and clutches her head. There's a pang of pain as she tries to recall what happened after that. It's like someone put a wall in her head and she had slammed into it.]

I can't...remember anymore...

[Automatically, Diarmuid reaches out and puts a hand on her shoulder to steady her should she need it, filing away what she has told him for review later.]

It hurts you when you think about it?

[That is startling and worrisome.]

I wonder why things are cut off to you at that point. It cannot be a random thing...

I don't know. If you were to say I only had memories of my childhood, I would have next to nothing. I have told you that I was not a child for long.

[She whimpers and rubs at her head.]

But that is enough about me. What of you, Lancer? Perhaps the secret lies less in my childhood than in yours.

I'm not sure how anything from my childhood could help. It was happy for the most part. And I would say a lot more...normal than yours? I had a loving and supportive family who took good care of me.

[Well, for the most part...]

And I got to do the things most children did. I learned. I played. I trained.

[Had a geis placed on my head when I was almost too young to remember. Had the memory of the event erased because 'almost' isn't actually too young...]

Do you really think this will help?

[Her face darkens as she hears him talk about his past. It sounded so beautiful. And it was a beauty that she could never have.]

I don't know.

[She struggles so she will not sound bitter.]

It sounds like we did many of the same things on our way to become knights.

The setting was very different, though.

[Diarmuid doesn't fault her for being bitter. He knows, even with the bad things that happened to him during his childhood, that he was extremely lucky. His father and his mother were always there for him. Always. So many can't say that. She can't say that.]

Perhaps we are going about this wrong. Maybe it's not actually the memories of the past we need to work through, but the actions? Is there something you would like to do now that you couldn't do then? I cannot be your father so you can ride on his shoulders or your mother so she may tell you tales, but perhaps I can help you play as you should have when young?

You really think such simple things would fix Caster's spell? And...even if you were to play with me, shouldn't we only do it after we consult our Masters? My Lord is waiting for me, and certainly Lady Irisviel would be distressed if I did not return.

Your Master too is waiting, is he not?

I honestly have no idea, Saber. I am merely trying to cover all bases.

[He sighs and stands, crossing his arms over his chest.]

If I return to my master, he will not let me come back and aid you. In fact, he might order me to 'take advantage' of your weakened state. If he backs the order with command spells, I will not be able to refuse, dishonorable or not.

[The disgust this idea brings Diarmuid drips from his words.]

Do you truly wish to risk it?

[She frowns. It's indeed a hard decision.]

Would it go against your honor to tell you to keep quiet about me? Or for you to accompany to my Master's place first?

If my master asks for details on what happened during the fight, I will have no choice but to tell him of your condition. I would request you not to ask me to make such a promise because I will have to refuse it. However, my last orders were to aid you in defeating Caster and his master in whatever way I could. As long as I do not return to my master and give him the chance to change those orders, then there is no dishonor in seeing you back to your master, especially if your master may be able to find a way to break this spell upon you. I suspect that will be key in finding a way to defeat Caster, just as I was ordered to do.

[Diarmuid might not like a lot about his current master's fighting style, but at least his vague orders, for the most part, work to the Servant's advantage in cases like this.]

Shall we be on our way?

[She nods.]

Yes. Let me walk in front of you. So that I can warn my Master and Lady Irisviel, before they mistake you for breaking the truce.

big! Dia

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