Day Three - Fuyuki Shuffle

[Bozwevial]

Another late night passes with the peculiar speed of exhaustion. A few hours after Laoise's head hits the couch, sullen grey clouds drift in, and by morning the ground outside is coated with a layer of snow. Everything is quiet, but after the events of last night it's a deceptive calm, and there's one more person in the Hannagáin household than there was the morning before.

While yesterday was draining for everyone, Laoise and Lancer uncovered valuable information about their opposition, captured Assassin's Master, and successfully faked Lancer's death. By those standards, at least, the evening wasn't a waste. But just like the falling snow muffles what little noise there is outside, the consequences of the match at the temple prevent it from being an unqualified victory. Snoring quietly upstairs in Laoise's bed is a young boy with the ability to summon two inhuman killers to his side and a veritable fountain of energy pouring through unrefined Magic Circuits. Eventually, Lancer will have to resurface, and his identity may not remain a secret for long. And finally, Caster has dealt herself in, burning through Lancer's trump card on her first attack. Somehow, Laoise and Lancer will need to find a way to take her down when her Noble Phantasm seems to be on a completely different level than anything they've encountered.

For now, however, the War can rage a little while longer without their participation. Even if it's just a lull to restock, gather information on their opponents, and plan strategy, it's a break that they might be glad to have soon enough. It's still quite early, but there's time enough today to recover. That is, once the newest guest has been attended to...

[Agita]

Having gone to sleep late and not in her own bed, Laoise wakes up later than usual. She doesn't mind, though. She already decided she'd skip school today before she even lied down - it's only morning classes, anyway. So when she wakes up, at first she just lies still, staring at the ceiling.

When she does get up, it's still early. First, she checks on the soup and turns the heat on low to heat it up again; then, she heads upstairs to dismiss the spell on the valerian and ready some other things around the house - it should take another bit for the boy to wake up properly, depending on how just badly exhausted he was.

[Bozwevial]

The boy hasn't stirred since Laoise put him in the bed. Between his exhaustion and the valerian's calming scent, he's so deeply asleep that if it weren't for his chest rising and falling, it would be difficult to tell he was alive. Yesterday's bruises have blossomed into spectacular, dark blue markings, but that seems to be the extent of the damage. It's not an exact science, but once the spell on the plant is lifted, Laoise is reasonably sure she'll have ample time to make preparations before he wakes up.

[Agita]

Heading out into the garden, Laoise returns with one small snowed-over pot of poppies. At her coaxing, the plants flower in red and yellow and charge themselves with magic - a security measure. She places the pot next to the valerian near the bed. Then, to use the time until the boy wakes up while remaining nearby, she sits down at her desk with a map of the city and begins marking the locations of known previous engagements - the fight with Einzbern and Berserker at the park, Rider's murders in the city, the fight with Assassin and Caster's attack at the temple. She also brings in the morning newspaper and scans it thoroughly for any other news that point to Servant activity to mark down the locations.

Lore Advantage: Dazing Poppy (4d3-8+4=3)

[Bozwevial]

The biggest story in this morning's newspaper is, as expected, the destruction of the temple, which is mystifying the police, fire department, and weather bureau all put together. The official theory, the paper reports, is that a freak lightning strike (which no one saw) started a fire in the surrounding woods before a sudden torrential rainstorm (also unseen by anyone) caused a flash flood and washed the temple away. Conspiracy theorists are already putting forth the idea that this was the work of a terrorist, who was also responsible for the park fire. Buried at the bottom of the front page is a smaller article about an explosion in a drug lab that fortunately caused no injuries, as well as a follow-up article covering the murdered biker gangs that doesn't really contain any new information, both of which Laoise already knew about.

The rest of the newspaper looks fairly normal in comparison. The price of seafood is dropping due to local fishermen catching much larger hauls than usual for winter, Japanese athletes are taking first place in an international figure skating championship as well as various track and field events, and nikuman stands are becoming even more popular than usual. What does catch her eye, though, is a small obituary for one Zouken Matou, found dead in his home. Evidently he had been dead for some time, as the smell of decay was what prompted the neighbors to complain and find his body.

[Agita]

She'd almost forgotten the exploding rooftop. Or rather, she'd tried to forget it, which had been helped by her attention being occupied elsewhere. She debates it for a second, but then writes down the location anyway, tracing out a rough approximation of their path yesterday. The news about seafood makes Laoise wonder if Caster is connected to it. It's kind of a silly idea, but she circles the port area in a different color anyway, writing 'Caster active?'. At the same time, she thinks back to the suits the masked intruders were wearing and writes 'Caster minions?' over the business district.

News of Zouken's death surprises her. Does that mean Matou is not participating at all, or maybe the old man faced the same fate as Aengus? After thinking it over, she marks down the Matou residence on the map as well, and after that the Tohsaka residence.

A surprising amount of information considering that only two days have passed. It feels humbling, considering that not even one Servant has been taken out yet. To avoid her doubts rising to the fore again, Laoise gets up to fetch stacks of books to read through next to the map - tales, legends, folk stories from all over the world. Old man Feargus spared no expense outfitting the house's library. She proceeds methodically, looking for possible matches starting with the Servant that narrows down what she knows the most, Caster.

Resources advantage: Well-Stocked Library (4d3-8+3=2)
Lore research (4d3-8+4=3)

[Bozwevial]

After plowing through hundreds of years worth of myth and legend, Laoise is at a loss. Nothing she can find on any heroes who even vaguely fit the parameters matches all of the criteria, although admittedly she hasn't been searching for very long. The most likely scenario is that not all of the things attributed to Caster were actually that Servant's fault - either the skull-faced minions or the tsunami, but not both. The possibility does exist that they were all Caster's doing and she just hasn't found the right story, but it doesn't sound terribly convincing. Caster went to some lengths to watch Lancer drown, and let him know she was doing it. Someone that arrogant doesn't seem likely to pass off her minions as the work of someone else.

Laoise's studies are interrupted by a groaning noise from the bed as the boy starts to stir. His hands grope blearily around, exploring the unfamiliar bed in search of something that doesn't seem to be there.

[Agita]

Laoise closes the last book with a frown, putting it down on the desk next to the skull mask, when she hears the boy waking up and behaving strangely. It takes her a few seconds to realize what's wrong. When she does, she gets up and leaves the room, running downstairs to get the repaired bear and bring it back to her room to place it next to the boy in her bed.

[Bozwevial]

When Laoise returns with the toy, the boy is sitting upright, staring at the flowers next to the bed. He takes the bear from her, chews his lip, then puts it down beside him, one hand still clutching a stuffed paw.

"...Did you grow them?" He meets Laoise's eyes after a few hesitant seconds. "The plants?"

[Agita]

Laoise awkwardly stands in the middle of the room, looking at the boy, and nods slightly. "...I keep a lot of them."

[Bozwevial]

"They're nice. I've never seen plants like them before." The boy watches Laoise solemnly for a few moments. "...What happened to your friend? Is he here?"

[Agita]

"Um... that one is valerian, and the red and yellow flowers are poppies..." Common as dirt, really, at least in Europe. Maybe the boy is sheltered. Laoise catches herself before she tries to name every plant in the room, decorative or otherwise. She leaves her gaze on the flowers and shifts a little on her feet. "He... stayed behind at the temple." Technically true. "Um... if you're hungry, there's soup downstairs... are you hurt anywhere?"

[Bozwevial]

The boy starts to shake his head, then hesitates and nods. "I hit my head on the wall. And...this still stings." He traces the faded portion of his Command Spell, which might be mistaken for an oddly-shaped bruise if not for the remaining scarlet lines. "So...you aren't going to kill me?"

[Agita]

Laoise isn't as surprised at the question as she feels like she should be. "I wasn't planning on it. No... no reason to." After some hesitation, she adds, "...What's your name?"

[Bozwevial]

"...Ren. Ren Kurihara." While still not entirely at ease, the boy looks a lot calmer after Laoise's reassurance. "What's yours?"

[Agita]

"Laoise Hannigan. ...I'm from Ireland." Faced with no reaction to her offer of soup, Laoise doesn't reiterate the offer and instead pulls the chair from her desk to sit down on it facing Ren, slumping a little. "Um... what about your parents?"

[Bozwevial]

At the mention of his parents, Ren's fingers tighten on the bear. "...They're away." He looks away from Laoise, staring at the poppies again. "...Can I have some of that soup?" The innocent question doesn't fool Laoise. This boy might be an incredibly young Master, but he's not a very good liar at all.

[Agita]

"...Okay." Laoise stands up and leads the boy - Ren - downstairs, past more plants kept for decoration and utility. She tests the soup to find that it's warm enough and pours a bowl each for herself and the young Master. "...My parents are away too. They stayed behind to let me come and fight by myself." She sees Aengus's body in front of her mind's eye at those last two words and begins eating eagerly to avoid her voice breaking. "Then... Um... Did you really summon Assassin by yourself?"

Epathy to guilt him into telling me more? (4d3-8+1=1)

[Bozwevial]

Ren looks up from his soup at the mention of Laoise's parents. He catches Laoise's eye and looks, almost guiltily, back down into his own bowl. "'Mhm. I didn't really know what I was doing, though...I read it in a book." He slurps more of the soup down hungrily. "When they came, they told me what was happening--"

The sound of the doorbell ringing cuts the boy off. He stares in the direction of the sound, spoon forgotten halfway to his mouth.

[Agita]

Laoise's head snaps around to the door, instantly on high alert. She isn't expecting visits or deliveries. It's much too early for it to be anyone she knows nearby. Would Assassin ring the bell, rather than just gaining entry? Laoise briefly looks in the direction of the immaterial Lancer before standing up to check the peephole.