video;

[leaderkun]

Well, that was a good way to break a newcomer in to how this place runs, hm?

[Yu is sitting on the couch of his apartment, Elecmon curled up sleeping next to him]

Raidou has been telling me a bit about how power levels work here. How this Lotusmon was a 'Mega' level, and so far only a few people can reach the level below it, 'Ultimate'.

I know I haven't been here long, I can't make assumptions about how things are done. But I'm worried. This city has no defense against her or any other powerful Digimon showing up again. I'm not sure the city can take that again. It's amazing that no one died.

I think... maybe we should talk about contingency plans.

Comments

[video]

[leaderkun]

[Yu listens carefully, letting it all wash over him. It's funny: for all the extraordinary circumstances of it- magecraft, summoned heroes, ancient bloodlines... Waver's issues are oddly familiar to him. To any teenager. I want to prove myself special. I want to be worthwhile.

The rest just makes it 100% more complicated.]

I think... personally, that finding ourselves- either in the roles people want for us, or outside them, is the real bump in becoming adults. It does sounds stupid. And dangerous too. But ranking your worth by others is just asking for trouble in the long run.

It's not surprising, really, that you did something reckless.

[video]

[velveteenmage]

That's just the kind of society it is. It's either you're a skilled magus or you're trash. That's it. It's stupid, monumentally stupid, but I can't-...

['I can't change it'. Was that really the case? Even though the aristocracy and highblooded magi were in charge and had been practically since the Clock Tower's creation, did that mean it would always be so?]

[Hadn't he just spoken of his thesis, the ideas on which he had been recklessly willing to stake his life? Hard work could match and even overcome bloodline. Waver wanted to show everyone he was right, to force them to accept his theories and believe him. What if...there were other ways to do that? And if there were, who would even try to change that archaic society if not Waver Velvet?]

[But...no, this wasn't the time to consider such radical notions. He raised a hand to his head and tried to file away those thoughts for later. If nothing else he wanted to finish this train of thought first.]

It...got worse. The Grail War in itself would have been enough to contend with, but there was--how can I really phrase this--an anomaly.

[video]

[leaderkun]

[Yu makes a small noise. An encouragement to continue]

[video]

[velveteenmage]

This is going to sound crazy, but...since you probably have an idea of what kind of stuff I was involved in, you'll probably be able to believe me.

One of the other Servants--and, I assume, their Master--was a serial killer. Gilles de Rais, I'm pretty sure. Whatever warped logic Caster was working on, the war itself didn't seem all that important to him. One night we were following this trail of residual magic along the river, and we...found his workshop.

[Waver shuddered, crossing his arms to try and hide that he'd done so.]

It...wasn't pleasant. So of course that'd be what I saw in that stupid Dark Field, right?

[video]

[leaderkun]

[Yu winces- while he has dealt with killers, they were... clean killers. No mess no torture. From Waver's tone he can assume this was very much not the case.]

Makes sense that you saw that. The Dark Field seems to be like something I have back home. it tosses back at you what will hurt you most. Anyone seeing something like that would carry it in the darkest most blocked out parts of their heart.

[video]

[velveteenmage]

I think I made a mistake, going in there at all.

[video]

[leaderkun]

Does it matter if it was? You did, and for a reason. All you can do now is deal with the aftermath.