13th Grail: [Video/Action available for Keyderps]

[dressofheaven]

Cerberus, stoke the fire please.

[The sight of a Houndoom breathing flames onto a pile of sticks (in a firepit, of course) in front of the camera is the first thing the video shows, before it turns to a bundled up Ilya with a mug of hot chocolate.]

Hold it steady, Orpheus. Now then, hello everyone! With the season upon us and some of us deciding it's time to bring out some traditions, I thought I'd continue something I started last year and try to bring a favorite tradition of mine into this world.

Caroling.

Now it's a little different than usual, for those of you who know what that is. I'm not going door-to-door or anything, instead I'm just going to sing over the network. If you don't like this idea I encourage you to mute the gear right now.

[She gives a brief unimpressed flatface before smiling warmly again.]

On the other hand, if you have any requests, please feel free to give them! But please, try to keep them to good songs. I'm not going to sing "Jingle Bells".

Now then...

[She takes a deep breath before launching into song.]

Here we come a Wassailing
Upon the leaves so green
Here we come a wandering
So fair to be seen...

Comments

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[ex_cashcow493]

[ This is what she missed last year? It's too precious and for a moment there, Saber feels a pang of guilt for not being able to help her mother so that she could enjoy this. Maybe she can record something nice and show it to Irisviel if she happens to return..?

Wouldn't that be nice...

Saber doesn't even realize she's clicked the video option on in reply, as she just sits there listening. Sorry Ilyasviel! ]

[dressofheaven]

[If Ilya had even the slightest inkling of the direction Saber's thoughts are taking, she'd probably get depressed. She's mostly avoided the thought of "what if Mother could see me now", but every so often it creeps back in.]

And God send you a happy new year~

[And if it sounds odd for a Magus to be praising God, well, Ilya's not going to go changing the lyrics on a whim.

As the last note fades off into the distance, she turns her eyes to the gear, pausing a moment as she sees Saber's face, then she laughs a bit.]

Did you have a request, Saber?

[ex_cashcow493]

[ Tradition is important to respect so Saber won't utter a word a discontent on her word choice. Not that she would in the first place, but still! ]

A request?

Afraid I cannot recall many. [ Music in the court was in the background compared to her thoughts. ]

[dressofheaven]

There's something incredibly sad about me knowing more Christmas songs than you.

[Point of fact, she does feel a stab of pity for Saber, especially since she knows the songs probably have a bit more meaning to her...]

Alright, I'll just pick one I think you'll like then. Ahem.

Hark! The herald angels sing
Glory to the newborn king~

[ex_cashcow493]

[ As she confides in another later on, holidays and special occasions were celebrated for appearances. How can a king find enjoyment when pleasures are a human emotion? Having to keep that away from her so she didn't fall into temptation, she never paid much attention to the songs that were song in merriment or the praise given to the lord above. ]

One I may l--[ She shuts up quickly when she's not given much of a chance to say otherwise, listening to her voice. ]

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[loveisanopendoor]

Ah, goodness! You have a really lovely voice, miss! I'm afraid I've never heard that one, but in Arendelle they have a couple of Christmas songs that came over from some other kingdoms! There's Hark, the Herald Angels Sing, and The First Nowell, and O, Tannenbaum! And Corona had a really good one called Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring!

[dressofheaven]

[She chuckles at Anna's enthusiasm, giving a little bow since she can't curtsy properly over the gear.]

Thank you. And those are all great songs! O Tannenbaum was actually from my country, it's even originally in my language. Would you like to hear it in its original form?

[loveisanopendoor]

Of course I would! You could probably sing it far better than I could, anyway. Sing away!

[dressofheaven]

Alright! You probably won't understand any of the words, but that's fine, for a lot of these songs the words aren't really that important.

[She takes a breath in.]

O Tannenbaum, O Tannenbaum
Wie grun sind deine blatter~

[Despite the general harshness of the German language, on Ilya's tongue it flows really well... of course, it's her first language, so that's to be expected.]

[loveisanopendoor]

[She's right in that she doesn't understand all of it, but she can pick up on bits and pieces of it as Ilya sings; after all, Norwegian is a Germanic language, so she can hear some of the roots here and there, even if she doesn't entirely get it..and even though it's not a language one typically thinks of as smooth, Anna thinks it sounds just fine. Ilya's voice is impressive indeed!]

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[paopuprincess]

[Don't mind Kairi. She's just going to sit across the fire, all bundled up, and listen.]

[dressofheaven]

[She sings her way through the whole of "Here we come a Wassailing" before stopping for a sip of hot chocolate and glancing over at Kairi out of the corner of her eye, trying to keep her grin from looking like anything but a cheerful smile. It's not easy, especially when what she really wants to do is call Kairi over to sit next to her. But she can't do that yet, since Kairi's still nervous about the whole singing thing. Baby steps.

Fortunately, she has a way to keep herself from being too obvious, and as she turns her eyes from Kairi she begins to croon out another melody.]

I saw three ships come sailing in
On Christmas Day, on Christmas Day
I saw three ships come sailing in
On Christmas Day in the morning~

[paopuprincess]

[And Kairi would wait, listening to Ilya with her hands on her cheeks.]

Ilya, you're incredible.

[dressofheaven]

[It almost seems like Kairi didn't even notice she was saying that, and Ilya has to restrain a giggle, but the smile she turns on her friend is nothing if not sincere.]

Of course I am. But it's all because of hard work and a lot of time with nothing else to do. I didn't just stumble onto this voice of mine.

[That's not entirely true, she does have a naturally pleasant voice, but it's mostly true.]

I can teach you, you know. But it'll take a while.

[paopuprincess]

[Alright, fine. Kairi gets up and takes a seat next to Ilya.]

Yeah, but it sucks while you're still bad at things. Hard to practice when you don't want anyone to hear you.

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[ajustcaws]

...I don't really get this Christmas thing yet, but singing sounds like fun! Are there any rollicking adventure carols? I mean, I'm sure there must have been some kind of holiday adventure at some point.

[dressofheaven]

You really don't understand the holiday if that's what you're looking for. Christmas is the celebration of a birth. Do you honestly expect a baby to get into adventures-

[Pause. She takes a moment to think about who she's talking to.]

... You know what, nevermind.

[ajustcaws]

...yeah, actually, now that I'm thinking about it, I don't think I know what I'm talking about here, either! What's this about babies?

[...she pauses.]

...and you know, I have heard about some pretty adventurous babies in my time.

[dressofheaven]

You know, it never fails to amaze me how many people don't even seem to know what this holiday is about, yet they celebrate it anyway. Honestly, it boggles the mind.

[And to think, she isn't even religious. At all.]

I suppose it falls to me to educate you. Christmas is about the birth of a boy named Jesus, who was the son of God. According to the story, anyway. He was supposed to save the world from sin and suffering and bring everyone who followed him into everlasting joy.

[She pauses a bit, then adds:]

At least that's how it was on my world. To the best of my knowledge there is no such person in this one so I have no idea why they celebrate it. Maybe that Arceus Pokemon did something special around this time of year.

[ajustcaws]

Do you need to know what it's about to have fun with it, though?

...that does sound like a guy worth celebrating, though. I guess he must've been some kind of cool destined hero dragon guy, then... but wait, he totally has to have had some excellent adventures while saving the world, right? There have to be songs about those!

...and huh, yeah, maybe. Or maybe it was some other Legendary Pokemon. I mean, they all seem pretty fancy to me.

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[in_praetego]

[ For a while, he seems silent, listening quietly as she sings before speaking up. ]

This is kind of nostalgic, huh?

[ Looks like you've got a fan. But there's a pause as he turns red at the realization of what he said. ]

I mean... the first time we talked, you were singing over the network too.

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[dressofheaven]

You're not the only person I met that way, either.

[It's one of the reasons she's doing this again, actually. After charming her way into the Circus last year she wants to see just what else her voice can win her.]

Actually, it seems like every time I run into you I'm singing.

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[in_praetego]

[ Don't mind his ears turning even redder from that. ]

It's an easy way to pick you out over the Pokegear, to be quite honest. And... I'm not sure if I told you last Christmas that hearing carols. Kind of reminds me of home.

[dressofheaven]

[It's cute how easily embarrassed he is. She'll have to remember that for future trolling.]

I imagine that's true for a lot of people, given how many of us come from some version of Earth.

[in_praetego]

[ For all his intelligence, the poor boy still doesn't know how to girls. ]

I'd guess so... but it's sometimes a little hard to believe that we come from different worlds sometimes and how similar they are in some respects.