The Vanishing Saver

"Our happiness as human beings is fragile, challenged by our very natures and the unforgiving tides of this world. Because I possess this power - because you cried out in desperation and received me, I will change the world for you so that you may be happy."

- The Vanishing Saver.

Vanishing Saver (消失セーバー) is the Saver-class Servant of Maria Trevor as part of the Magician's Theater in the Vodnyisad War of Seventh Overture. Saver is representative of what the original purpose of the Defense Program to protect humanity, prior to its corruption.

Identity
Saver's identity is Li Ban (李潘), Favorite of Many Gods, the daughter of Eochaid the Firbolg King and Etain the bride of Midhir of the Tuatha de Danann. When a sacred well overflowed overflowed, Li Ban was swept away by the current along with her pet dog. She found shelter in a small cave near the sea before she could be carried out into open water where she prayed to the goddess Dana, the Mother of All, to be transformed into a salmon so she could freely swim about with the fish nearby.

The goddess heard her prayers to be transformed, but answered them in accordance to her own whims - Li Ban remained a human from the waist up while her body below changed to the tail of a fish. Her pet dog became a great otter that instantly knew how to swim and leap from the water like a fish. For over three-hundred years, they lived among the waves and played with the inhabitants of the deep ocean, until Beoc, a clergyman sailing for Rome, heard her singing and called out for her. When he stopped his ship and saw her rising up from the waves, he heard her request to send a message to the Bishop of Bangor, to meet the holy men who gathered there.

Beoc constructed a large basin of seawater aboard his ship so she could accompany him, and escorted her to his church, the Teo-da-Beoc.Li Ban chose her moment of ascension (symbolic death) and Saint Corngall baptized her with the name of Murgen (Sea-Born). Recounted as one of the Holy Virgins who conducted countless symbolic miracles in the name of the church, she is considered one of the reasons that despite their pagan connotations, carvings and paintings of mermaids exist in churches in the lands surrounding Ireland to this day. Because of her freedom and being beloved both by the Tuatha and by the Christian God, she represents the capacity to delve into oneself, and came to be recognized as a goddess of wealth and pleasure brought about by fulfillment and deserved capability.

Her name alone became a ritualistic prayer meant to calm emotional storms.

Appearances
Saver typically appears as a woman in her mid-twenties dressed in the long robes of a priestess, the golden embroidery and her tiara being symbols of her rank as a saint, with chestnut-colored hair that reaches down to the small of her back. Possessing the radiance of a semi-divine princess and the holiness of a saint, her physical form is flawless and appears almost alien to the eyes of modern humans. The only footware she can comfortably wear are her sandals, and anything more makes her almost unable to walk properly without tripping over herself.

When appearing in her true form through her Noble Phantasm, her lower body becomes that of a fish with ruby scales while her robes shift to become whispery strands of waterlogged silk and seaweed wrapped around her body. Her hair turns bright red while her eyes glow like embers, and the enormous golden scepter that she carried as a saint becomes a twisted trident of moonstone and coral. When submerged in water, the image of a mermaid is one of flawless beauty, and her appearance alone is a curse that can warp the minds of humans.

Personality
Kind and charitable, Li Ban naturally wants to see the good in all people and has lived long enough to see many wicked or misguided individuals reform themselves. Though she is something of an eternal child due to having been granted immortality at a young age, and therefore never feeling the impetus of time to mature, her long life has made her knowledgeable. It often disarms those around her when she can provide jarring and detailed insight into complicated matters with the frankness and expression of a child. Rather than acting like the matronly figure typical of the archetypal holy woman, she prefers to act in a sisterly manner and try to seem easily approachable.

Her attitude towards the Holy Grail and the Servant system is largely disdainful, and she has a surprisingly pronounced dissatisfaction with her status as a Saver - an exceptional soul qualified to function as part of the Defense Program. Though she herself had a wish granted in life, she does not have faith in the authority of the Grail or the capacity for good to always triumph over evil, and this leads her to both abandon her station as the Grail's protector and to come into conflict with her friends and allies; whereas The Dreaming Stranger intends to use the Holy Grail for good, Li Ban would sooner see it destroyed along with the corruption within it. She is especially repulsed by the nature of the Command Seals and how they create easy ways for evil people to commit terrible acts through the Servant system.

Though patient and kind, her capacity for anger is tremendous, magnified by the lingering traces of childhood and dwarfing that of her comrades, even The Penitent Ruler. She has lived long enough and witnessed so much of mankind's dark side to believe in irredeemable evil, and when confronted by it and driven to arms she is absolutely relentless in her drive to annihilate it. She possesses an obsessive streak that manifests most apparently in her constant doting over the people in her life, and many times The Sleeping Jester has to help her to keep her personality and emotions in check. Her relationship with Jester comes to exemplify her occasional childish side and the delicacy of her emotions despite her age and wisdom, and in turn how being appealed to rationally can calm her fits of passion.

Like her Master, it can be assumed that Li Ban is bipolar, based on her behavior. They exhibit a calming influence on one another, however, and never seem to disagree.

Development
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Seventh Overture
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Random Acts Assassins
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Another Story
Li Ban appears in Another Story as the head of the Muonomi Academy swim team and vice chairman of the Samaritan Club. Regarded by the rest of the student body as a motherly figure and one of the idols of the school, she is extremely popular and is mentioned by Camilla to have dozens of admirers. Despite this, she is something of a recluse, and spends much of her free time in her room above the local church or speaking with her neighbor across the hall: Maria. It is revealed that the entire reason she owns a cell phone is because her close friend, Stranger, bought it for her, and they send each other messages constantly.

Abilities
Born a semidivine princess, Li Ban's body was from birth different than that of human beings, possessing the benedictions of the planet and an immunity to natural illness and impurity. Because she was swept away by the magical flood early in life, she was unable to cultivate many talents as a human being, however, and appearing as a human she lacks any considerable degree of combat ability that would make her a threat in a battle between Servants. She does, however, possess the full faculty of her powers as a saint, and holy auras that protect her are sufficient to turn aside even power from the Age of Gods. Because she believes that conflicts are born primarily from delusion or self-hatred, then by the cruel hand of fate, Saver prefers to use her holy powers as a bulwark against aggression while she tries to reason with her opponents and diffuse situations with words.

When an abhainn idir saol is active, however, Li Ban regains the appearance of a mermaid and all of the abilities therefore allotted to her as one of the Phantasmal Races. Combined with her blessings as a saint that were granted despite her inhuman appearance, her defensive abilities are second to none, and even ritualistic magic from the Age of Gods will be scattered before her. Her physical appearance adds the properties of mermaids, who were famed for their beauty, with the holy awe of a saint and the mystery that surrounds a lifeform from the Age of Gods and makes her appearance similar to a powerful curse capable of paralyzing modern humans and twisting their minds into inaction. Because of her identity as both a mermaid from the Age of Gods as a saint recognized by Christianity, she is capable of accessing powers within both the purviews of runic sorcery and the endowments of prayer.

Li Ban is vastly more capable as a fighter when in her mermaid form, and is capable of moving in water at speeds that would be expected of the Lancer or Rider classes. Her physical ability is said to rival that of one of the knight classes when she is in water, and she possesses the natural ability to manipulate the water or to shape it as if through magic. Combined with her appearance, her speed is such that even other Servants only recognize her as a streak of reddish light in the water. By speaking its name, she is able to summon her pet dog that was turned into an otter, itself a Phantasmal Beast and more powerful than a conventional familiar. Furthermore, Li Ban can infuse the water with holy properties, granting it significant destructive powers against evil or for purification purposes. Backed with Maria's ability to siphon energy from the Vodnyisad Leyline, Saver also demonstrates the ability to flood the water around herself with prana before detonating it in a massive wave that ripples outwards.

Often overlooked is the sheer amount of knowledge and wisdom possessed by Saver, however. Having lived amongst the races of the lakes and seas for three centuries, as well as existing both as a divine princess during the Age of Gods and a saint during the protomodern era, she commands immense natural and cosmological knowledge. Even in her human form, Li Ban is capable of immediately understanding both the will of the planet and the "great will" of Christianity that envelops civilization. As the partner of Maria Trevor, this allows her to gather power from the Vodnyisad Leyline as if it were part of the ambient energy of the environment and use it to empower her abilities.

When empowering herself with either faith or the energy from the leyline, Li Ban compares it to lighting an arrow on fire. The arrow itself is unchanged, but the fire it is wreathed in increases its destructive capacity. Similarly, she cannot absorb energy from the leyline or from faith in order to recover her prana reserves, but can only wreath herself in shrouds of power or instantaneously resolve it into a spell. With Maria Trevor's ability to steal power from the environment via The Song of Tarma, however, it is possible for Saver to add power from the leyline to her own reserves, given time.

Saver also possesses significant ability to heal others, either through sorcery, holy energies, or her enormous knowledge of herbalism and the ease by which she can acquire otherworldly materials.

Skills
Charisma: A

A representation of natural talent with social abilities, increasing the morale of allies or impacting the morale of one's enemies. A rare talent, this is a literal power that exists within the speaker's words, representing absolute conviction capable of affecting those who choose to listen. Li Ban possesses tremendous ability to influence others through expression - so much so that her name carries power and functions as a prayer to drive away internal conflict.

Counter Hero: D

Function of the Saver as the representation of the Defense Program of the Holy Grail that enables control over those considered "Heroes" and weakens them when faced as enemies. Even those who exist outside of the parameter of "Hero" are affected so long as they can be identified by the Defense Program, and at this level, all opponents receive a penalty to all parameters, though the effect is halved for those that fall into the "Antihero" category.

Aegis of the Faith: B

Skill possessed only by those who have sacrificed themselves for religious cause and in turn known the benediction of God. Despite being a form of divine protection, it is not a blessing from higher powers or an ability from the Age of Gods. Rather, it is the ability to wreath oneself in the collective hopes and dreams of humanity, the power of faith. So long as faith is maintained, this level of skill is sufficient to significantly reduce the effect of Noble Phantasms that target the Servant.

Miracles: B

Capacity of a being with holy endowment to enact phenomena that reflect the collective hopes and dreams of humanity, capable of overturning the laws of causality so long as the conscious will of humanity continues to gravitate towards moral good. A power not recognizable by modern magecraft as it is the purest representation of the mysteries that no longer exist in the world. Li Ban's power is sufficient to overturn the imposed will of any being except gods with a great degree of fame.

Nature's Bounty: C

The quality of being close to nature and knowledgeable about the planet typically possessed only by lifeforms created by divine beings from the Age of Gods such as mermaids or centaurs. One with this skill is always capable of finding resources of the highest calibur in their surroundings when they are in need. Li Ban's ability is diluted by her identity as a Saint overriding her nature as a mermaid, but she is still capable of finding bodies of water seemingly at will, even in the wartime city of Vodnyisad, as well as magical herbs and roots that human beings would not be able to identify.

Saint: B+

Indicator of one's standing as a "Saint" of the holy faith. Regardless of natural capabilities, the manifestation of faith allows the invocation of additional abilities such as raising the strength of holy sacraments, restoration of one's health via regeneration, access to the Charisma skill, or the production of holy auras. The rank held by Li Ban is a unique case, as she possesses exceptional holy connotations in two faiths while coming to possess a mortal Christian soul inside the immortal body of a mermaid. Bonuses derived from this skill are gathered from both Christian and Pagan faith.

Noble Phantasms
As a Servant belonging to the Saver class, whose function would be to annihilate an opponent whose actions could threaten the integrity of the Holy Grail, Li Ban does not possess natural combat ability that would allow her to function in the prolonged wartime conditions of a Grail War. The Sleeping Jester calls her a "Final Boss" character whose powers are not meant to be contextualized by concerns like logistics or tactical application. Not only must she trigger at least one of her Noble Phantasms in order to be able to fight against another Servant, but Saver will typically activate them both in order to annihilate her enemies in a single crushing display of force capable of overwhelming any seven "average" Servants simultaneously.

''“I am. And I am. And I will be as I am.”''

By uttering the incantation that was born from her name when she became recognized as a goddess of emotions and reward, Saver's form twists and warps to that of a mermaid with glittering red scales. Under the effects of her an abhainn idir saol, Li Ban's physical parameters skyrocket, and submerged in water she qualifies as a top-class Servant in all respects. Simply by moving at her maximum speed, Saver can cause the water around her to twist and boil, and explosions of light form a comet trail around her as she moves. As one of the highest-ranking Phantasmal Races, mermaids such as Li Ban possess an armor class exceeded only by dragons, and it is possible for her to shrug off direct strikes from all of the most powerful Noble Phantasms.

The legendary beauty of a mermaid is able to twist and distort the minds of human beings, and even those who lack the proper emotions or sensory inputs are driven to madness if exposed to her presence. Her Master, Maria Trevor, admits that despite his training as an Executioner of the Holy Church, he cannot even look at Li Ban's form distorted by water for more than two seconds before collapsing to the ground. Individuals with weak wills cannot bring themselves to take aggressive action against her, and it is possible for Saver to cripple even a powerful Servant by cutting off support from their Master simply by appearing before them.

In order for an abhainn idir saol to be deployed, Saver will typically reveal Thar toinn naoú beforehand. Summoning the power of the magical well that flooded her kingdom and formed a river between worlds, Saver can generate an almost limitless quantity of water from the air around her. During the Vodnyisad War she demonstrates the ability to form an enormous sphere of water that hovers over the entire city, as well as the ability to create domes of water that can blanket an entire row of warehouses. It is possible for her to hollow out channels of air in these bodies of water for allies to move through, and by expending additional prana, she can shape the water into animate or free-standing constructs, such as a river of water that twists through the air as she moves, or an eighty-headed dragon the size of a prison bloc.

When attempting to destroy a large number of targets or a single enormous entity, it is possible for Saver to bypass the normal output limitations of this Noble Phantasm by simply releasing it in a burst. By planting her trident in the ground, a city-destroying tidal wave can be summoned from where she is standing and thrown blindly before her. It is possible for her to manipulate the water that comprises the wave, but it is summoned at such a high velocity and quantity that there is not time to manipulate it before at everything directly before her is washed away.

Due to her background as holy woman as well as a divine child of druidic lore, Li Ban is capable of endowing bodies of water with holy properties capable of dealing great harm to evil beings. To the surprise of many, Saver also demonstrates the ability to strip away the holy properties of objects, turning inexplicable "miracles" brought about by God to being "myths", phenomena that can be explained through the logic of the Age of Gods. It is possible for her to coat her Master or allies with a thin layer of water and infuse it with her faith in order to grant enormous defensive capabilities on par with a "Sanctuary".