"If only it was that simple," she muttered, under her breath and making Issei shoot her a confused look.
The knight just ignored the glance as she looked up at the red, smoke filled sky above them, "I wanted to be given the opportunity to challenge the Sword of Appointment, to prove to my 'father' that 'he' was wrong. That I was worthy to be King…to show that I wasn't just some bastard child."
"I was so sure that if given the opportunity I would be accepted by the sword, that I never even considered failure to be a possibility…how wrong I was," stated Mordred with a bitter laugh.
"I guess in the end 'father' was right, I could never be King. This illegitimate bastard of a child, no not a child, this worthless homunculus. I was merely a puppet dancing to other's strings," she laughed in a depressed tone.
The knight then stabbed Clarent into the ground as she stood up and gestured to the blood soaked battlefield, "and so here I stand, the Knight of Treachery, betrayed and cast aside by her family, her pride…and her wish. Rejected by her father and then disowned by her mother, isn't the irony amazing?"
"Come then and look at this failure of a knight, laugh in pity at her, the one who dared to dream of having some recognition, of being treated as something other than a disgrace!" shouted Mordred as she approached Issei.
The knight then eyed the ground and Issei heard a soft whisper echo from the helm, "I just wanted 'him' praise me, to smile and say 'I'm proud of you'…just once. Was that too much to ask?"
Issei blinked as he heard this unexpected whisper and his mind thought back to when he got these cards…all those years ago.
Zelretch nodded with a frown, "some are but not all. Don't forget knights aren't the only ones skilled with a sword young man, and not all knights are noble ones in fact there is one who is even called the Knight of Treachery..."
"Even if they weren't noble I'm sure they had reasons for doing what they did, knights are people too after all," argued the ten year old Issei as he looked up to the old man with a determined expression.
The knight was about to turn away when she felt a hand grab her arm and saw Issei smile comfortingly at her. "Mordred follow me," commanded the teen.
The knight just paused for a second before she followed Issei to a nearby puddle of clean water, the teen once again smiling at her, "now remove your helm."
Again, Mordred paused before the helm covering her face split apart and sank back into her armour, revealing the sad and puffy eyes of the blonde girl beneath it. Issei then pointed at the puddle and gestured for her to get closer.
"Tell me Mordred, when you look into this water. What do you see?" asked the teen, as she looked down at her own reflection.
"I see a pale shadow of my 'father'…a constant reminder of how I failed, I see a useless homunculus who was too weak to be considered anything but a failure by her family," muttered Mordred as tears began welling up behind her eyes.
"Nope, try again," replied Issei, happily.
Mordred frowned as she stared back at the puddle in silence, causing Issei to sigh as he placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Do you want to know what I see?" he asked, getting more silence in response.
"I see a person whom was dealt a bad hand in life, I see a person who struggled against it no matter how many times they were knocked down. I see a proud and strong knight standing before me," concluded Issei.
"Then you're blind," scoffed Mordred.
The teen smiled, "am I? Or perhaps I just see things that others don't?"
"No knight would be seen like this," argued the blonde girl as she clenched her fists, still not looking away from her reflection.
Issei just gave Mordred's shoulder a reassuring squeeze, "Mordred, knights aren't machines…they're just people. They have their flaws just like everyone else, and that's what makes them so special. They can relate to others in ways Kings never could, because they, like the people they serve, are flawed and yet they still try to break past this."
"And that's why, as well as a proud knight…I see a sad and lonely girl. A girl who all she wanted was a loving parent, but was cast away at every turn. I see a girl who finally snapped from the treatment. I see a girl whom has been set adrift, a girl so full of hate and sadness that she doesn't even recognize her own worth anymore," continued Issei, as small tears began trailing down the knight's face.
"Look at me, I'm even crying like some weak maiden left at the altar," she cried in shame, as more tears began rolling down her cheeks.
Seeing this the teen reached up to Mordred's face and slowly wiped the tears away as he turned her body back to him and gave another happy smile, "people cry…not because they're weak Mordred...it's because they've been strong for too long. I see many things when I look at you…but a failure is not one of them."
Mordred blinked and she stared at him in confusion as he continued, "your family abandoned you…but that doesn't matter, you have a new family now and I swear to you that we won't abandon you. Me, Sétanta, Tamamo, Ddriag, Atalanta, Charles, even Herakles. We'll take care of you, I swear it."
The knight seemed to gain a slightly happier expression as she replied in an amused tone, "your own little Knights of the Round Table? You sure you want the Knight of Treachery to join?"
Issei just shook his head, "no I meant it Mordred, we're family not simply comrades in arms anymore, and you're a part of it too."
"Issei I appreciate what you're doing, but I'm not a good person, just take a look around and see what I've done. I'm no Hero," sighed Mordred as she once again gestured towards the burning fields.
"Mordred, listen to me. I won't condemn your quest for revenge. And I won't give you the cliché line about nothing good coming from revenge, none of us will. After what happened to you, you have every right to be angry," stated Issei, causing the knight to stare at him in surprise as the teen walked over to Clarent, still stabbed into the ground.