-Jeannes PoV-
Jeanne stared at the kettle as the flames from the stove licked the bottom of it. She glanced at the clock and saw that it was just after 4am which meant that Micheal gotten at most two hours of sleep. She reached up and gripped her upper arm tight enough to bruise as she ground her teeth together.
Its your fault he's suffering you know. All you bring is suffering to anyone and everyone around you.
We don't even know what he's seen-
Based entirely on his reaction, not even mentioning that he knows the bastards name, he's clearly seen more than enough to know of you and your various sins.
He's not like that. He won't judge-
Like how you judged millions across Europe as Judge, Jury, and Executioner? How much ashen blood is on your hands? How millions suffered entirely at your direct orders?
He deserves better than you.
Jeanne bit her lip as she gripped her arm harder until the laughter of the Other finally faded and she let out a shaky breath.
It was getting worse.
The more she….felt... for Micheal, the worse the Other got. Shaking her head she reached into the cabinet and got down the coffee grounds. She poured some into the french press and barely a minute later the kettle whistled. She swiftly turned off the stove and poured the boiling water into the french press making sure to thoroughly soak the grounds. She then set a timer for seven minutes and walked quietly back to the living room. She leaned around the corner and saw Micheal still sitting in the same spot on the sofa she had left him in earlier. He had wrapped a blanket around himself and was hugging his knees to his chest.
Jeannes heart hurt watching him suffer. She knew deep down what she felt for her Master. She'd known for a while now. She knew what it was but she was afraid. Afraid that if she acknowledged it any more than she already did. If she thought about what she felt for him, even to herself. That Micheal would leave or be taken from her.
That she'd be alone again.
She stared for a while and began to take a small step into the living room right as she heard the timer ding from the kitchen. She pursed her lips and sighed, turning around to go back into the kitchen. She quickly finished both their mugs of coffee, making sure to add milk and two sugar cubes to his just like Amelia said he liked, and then picked up both mugs to walk back into the living room,
"Alright. So as much as I want to be gentle about this I'm just going to cut to the chase." Jeanne said flatly as she set down Micheals coffee in front of him with a thunk which made him jump a bit while she sat beside him and tucked a leg under herself. She sipped her coffee and savored the bitterness as she watched Micheal reach out, take his, and drink a bit. She tried not to feel butterflies as she saw him smile at the taste and instead refocused on being blunt, "What have you seen."
"I- You-" Micheal stammered out turning to her.
Jeanne sighed and leaned her head back onto the sofa, "I've been seeing dreams of your past as well or at least the stuff from after you came out of your coma anytime I'm not having one of my own dreams. As the master of a servant you are going to have dreams about their past whether you want to or not so I'm going to ask again: What have you seen."
Jeanne felt bad at how she was doing this but she needed to make sure that he hadn't seen too much and figured that by shocking him a bit with her directness he'd slip up and actually tell her everything he'd seen instead of what he thought he should tell her he had. She watched him wince and look at her. She stared back into his grey eyes until finally he looked away,
"I started seeing your memories about a week after I summoned you…" Jeanne listened intently as he described what had been effectively the big moments in the first three years of her existence in the Orleans Singularity. She firmed her lips when he tried to describe what had been to her at Gilles direction and her conquests of Spain and eventually the Holy Roman Empire to the east. She knew he had been seeing some of her past but she had had no idea he'd seen as much of it as he had. Eventually he fell silent and stared at his now room temperature coffee as Jeanne leaned her head back again into the sofa as she thought how best to go about this.
"Oh for fucks sake…" She finally muttered and set her mug down on the table next to his. He looked up at her as she said this and she quickly reached out and placed her hands on either side of his face so he was forced to look at her, "Yes. That all happened. Yes. What Gilles put me through was the single most horrid continuous torture of my mind, body, and soul. Yes I slaughtered millions of people just to have some outlet to let all that shit out. Get over it."
Micheal blinked at her and was about to respond when she firmed her grip on his cheeks and glared at him, "I am probably the single most sin ridden servant in the entire god damn Throne. My entire existence is based on the twisted and fucked desires of a man who was dragging kids into his basement centuries before the Catholic church even thought to start doing the same. However-" Jeanne let a bit of mana flow into her eyes so they glowed, "Now I have the chance to kill him with my own two hands. I can finally kill him in anyway my heart desires. So instead of feeling sorry for me, help me come up with ways to make him fucking suffer. Okay?"
She stared into Micheals grey eyes as they filled with understanding and determination. He nodded and she let go. She watched as he picked up his mug and held it in both hands as she felt mana pulse off of him. A few seconds later his coffee was steaming again and he took a sip making an appreciative noise as he did so. Jeanne nodded and reached for her own mug about to take a sip when,
"You aren't sin ridden by the way."
Jeanne paused, her mug halfway to her mouth as she looked over at Micheal who was looking at her with what she could only describe as absolute certainty,
"You aren't sin ridden. I refuse to think you are. Everything you did, Everything you suffered through was at the direction of that bastard," Jeanne stared, coffee forgotten, as her Master got angry on her behalf, "You couldn't say no to anything he did because he never gave you the option in the first place so-"
"I could have said no." Jeanne said quietly as she stared into her coffee not wanting to look at Micheal as he stopped midsentence, "I could have said no at any point in time and he wouldn't have done any of that to me. I let him do it because I knew I deserved it. That I was born and created from sin so the only way to repent was to suffer as much as I could."
Silence lingered between them as she finished her coffee and began to stand up. She suddenly felt Micheals hand on her wrist and she looked back at him. She saw his face and wondered what she had said to make him look that angry. He pulled on her wrist and she let him pull her back onto the sofa. They stayed silent but Jeanne noticed that he never let go of her. Eventually Micheal spoke,
"You're wrong. Completely. Utterly. Dead wrong."
Jeanne looked at him as she felt mana and...something else, begin to flow off of him in response to his anger. She looked down as his grip tightened on her wrist. Not enough to hurt but enough to let her know he meant what he was saying.
"I know what I'm going to do. I know my wish for the grail."
Jeanne looked up at Micheal and stared as she saw prismatic purple in his eyes instead of the normal grey. She stared into the facets of his eyes as he continued speaking,
"I'm going to wish for you to have your own life. That way you can live the life you want to live. On your own terms. At your own pace. By your own morals. With no one to control it or you."
Jeanne felt her mouth fall open and she tried to argue against what he was saying but he spoke over her, "Repenting by suffering? Repenting by letting every inch of yourself be violated over and over and over again by whatever the fuck that madman could whip up? Utter fucking bullshit."
Jeanne felt that other something wash over her in a way that felt...like a warm hug. That felt like everything was going to be okay. That tomorrow would always be better. She stared at Micheal and recognized the energy alongside what he was doing right as he began to glow with a soft white light. She quickly tackled him backwards onto the sofa so she was on top of him,
"STOP STIMULATING YOUR ORIGIN. STOP TRYING TO CREATE A FUCKING MIRACLE."
She shrieked as she dumped mana out of herself to try and stop or at least suppress the holy energy flowing out of him,
"FINE. I'LL STOP THINKING OF MYSELF IN THAT WAY. I'LL TRY TO LIVE MY OWN LIFE ON MY OWN TERMS. JUST STOP TRYING TO- TO FUCKING KILL YOURSELF FOR ME-…..please…...please stop…. "
Jeanne screamed as she shut her eyes feeling herself start to sob. She felt the holy energy coming out of Micheal slowly putter out and vanish and eventually opened her eyes to see Micheals grey ones looking into hers,
"The- The last thing I want is for you or anyone to sacrifice themselves for me. I don't want to be left alone again….."
"But-"
Jeanne glared at Micheal not caring that she was crying,
"Promise me. Swear to me that you won't ever try that shit again and leave me alone."
Micheal reached up with his hand and gently brushed the tears off her face with a finger.
"...I promise."
Jeanne took a shaky breath and glared at him again,
"You better fucking keep it."
Micheal nodded as they stayed like that for a bit only to then cough awkwardly a bit as he averted his gaze,
"Do you think you could get off of me? Its a bit cramped."
Jeannes eyes widened and she practically shot backwards off of her Master who levered himself up onto his elbows as she hugged herself and shakily breathed in and out
See? He doesn't want you that close.
Can you not. Shut the fuck up. For five minutes.
Only you could fall in love with a man who'd kill himself to try and "save you".
Jeanne glared as the Other faded away and she closed her eyes as her breathing slowly evened out. Several minutes later Micheal had gone back to bed to try and get some amount of sleep as Jeanne continued to keep watch alone with her thoughts.
#####
-Sabers PoV-
It had been an...interesting day to say the least. Between riding a modern plane and experiencing turbulence, making the mistake of letting Irisveil drive, and now looking out over an ocean on the other side of the planet Artoria for a brief moment felt a sense of amazement.
"Do you like the ocean Saber?"
Artoria refocused on the white haired woman standing in ankle deep sea water and tilted her head thinking about how to answer,
"The ocean was...a constant source of invaders during my time. I often viewed it solely as the avenue which enemies would enter from."
Artoria watched as Irisveil winced and averted her eyes. She smiled and looked out over the ocean as the moon and stars were reflected in the water,
"I will admit that there is a certain beauty in spots such as this however."
Artoria smiled as she saw the woman she was guarding visibly brighten as she agreed with her. They continued talking only for Saber to stiffen,
"Irisveil come back."
The homunculus detected the urgency in her words and quickly ran to back to stand by her side. Artoria noticed that she was clutching her right hand and then looked in the direction she had sensed the flare of mana.
"Someones flaring their mana roughly 100 meters to our east."
"A servant?" Irisveil asked worriedly, "Why don't they just attack…"
Artoria watched as the mana dimmed and slowly moved away. She smiled to herself,
"I expect its something of a challenge to a duel."
She began to follow the mana and eventually found herself walking down the middle of a seaside loading dock. Irisveil followed close behind and both women eventually reached the middle of the dock where they saw a man standing with two cloth covered spears.
"You're the only one who accepted my challenge." The man called out as he relaxed his stance letting both spears hover just above the ground, "I thought no one would arrive. Glad to see I was wrong."
"Stay back Irisveil." Saber said striding forward.
"I can only perform minor healing spells so please be careful." The woman said as Saber nodded and eventually stopped several meters in front of the man. "It irks me that we can't exchange our names and titles in this war." He groused as he stared down Saber, "There's no honor in striking down a nameless foe." He shook his head and Saber watched as he tightened his grip on the spears. She noticed that one was shorter than the other and then looked the man in the eye
"Am I to assume you are Lancer then?" Saber said. The man sneered at her and merely dropped into a fighting stance with the shorter pole in front.
"Yes. By your pure energy I am to assume myself that you are Saber then." the man said.
Saber narrowed her eyes and changed from her suit to her armor causing a small windstorm in the process. She quickly flicked her invisible blade into a ready position, grasping it with both hands. Silence lingered between them as they each waited for the other to make the first move.
Saber moved first, cracking the ground under her as she dashed forward only for Lancer to swing a spear deflecting her blade as he swung at her with the other shorter one. She leaned back, using the force of her blade being deflected to spin and swing into an overhead strike. Lancer dodged to the side, pulling the short spear back, and then thrusted forward with the red spear causing Saber to tilt her head to the side as it to missed by mere centimeters. She pushed off towards the left using her momentum to swing her blade back only for it to skid along the cloth covering the longer spear. She stepped forward using the momentum of her blade to get inside Lancers guard as she swung diagonally at Lancers torso only for him to dodge backwards several steps.
Several blows later they wound up roughly where they had started only there was far more damage around them. A Shipping container collapsed but neither warrior bothered to even look at it. Suddenly a voice echoed all around them,
"This has gone on long enough. Lancer, use your noble phantasm to end this."
Saber narrowed her eyes as Lancer dropped the short spear and dispelled the cloth covering the longer one. It glowed an eerie red and seemed to pulse as the cloth disintegrated off of it. Lancer spun it a few times and then settled into a stance waiting for Saber to follow suit. The red spear was obviously his noble phantasm but the question of what it did eluded her. Lancer dashed forward and she swung her blade to parry only for the wind magic covering her blade to be dispelled around the tip of the spear as it ground along the length of her blade. She pushed back to get distance but Lancer moved with her proving his mastery as he slowly whittled away at Invisible Air. Saber felt her back collide with a shipping container, turned around, and ran up it jumping off to land behind Lancer as he swung into the metal carving into it like butter.
The debris of their battle continued to pile up as they fought until once again they were some meters apart,
"Give up or perish by my blade Lancer." Saber stated only for the other servant to scoff and slowly begin to move backwards. Saber advanced in time with him as he laughed before making a 'come gesture' with one hand. Saber pointed her sword backwards and briefly expanded Invisible Air propelling herself forward to strike down lancer as he smirked and kicked the ground in front of him…
Lifting the short spear out of the rubble and shredding the cloth around it.
Saber knew she was moving too fast to properly dodge and twisted in midair as Lancer swung his spears one after another. The red one passed cleanly through her gauntlet as though it wasn't there cutting the tendon in her left hand while the short spear clipped her between her chestguard and hip armor. She felt pain explode where it had cut as she continued to twist in the air managing to cut the underside of the arm holding the short spear making the servant drop it. She flew past Lancer and skidded to a stop as she felt Irisveil heal the wound on her arm while the one on her hip continued to burn. Saber frowned as she felt another healing spell affect her only for the open wound to not close.
She looked at lancer calculatingly and then noticed the mole under his eye. For the briefest of moments she felt her heart waver before her Magic Resistance kicked in.
"A spear that passes through armor, another spear that inflicts cursed wounds, and a mole that entrances women…." Saber levelled her sword at Lancer who just smirked at her, "I know who you are Diarmud of the Love Spot."
"And only the blind would mistake that golden sword as well." He responded, "To think I would land two blows on the King of Knights. This must be the appeal of the Holy Grail War…"
Before Saber could respond the air crackled with electricity giving both servants pause as everyone involved heard loud boisterous laughter as a chariot crashed out of the sky to land between them. Standing on it was a muscle bound man with red hair who spread his arms,
"Lay down your weapons warriors! For you are in the presence of royalty! I am Iskandar, of the Rider class, and I come with an offer!"
#####
"I will not be a retainer for another king. Even a king such as you." Saber bit out as Iskandar looked at her disappointed before he turned to look at Lancer.
"I serve one master, Rider. No other." Lancer responded. Saber was flabbergasted. First this muscle bound oaf interrupts her duel and then he has the nerve to offer her a position under him?
She leveled her sword about to offer to take Rider down by a meter or two when something in the air changed. It wasn't just her that noticed as she saw a scrawny boy peek out from inside the chariot and mutter something she couldn't hear only for Rider to nod and look around warily.
"...Lancer. Retreat at once." came the voice from earlier causing Lancer to frown he opened his mouth to respond only for the ambient temperature in the air to spike. Saber felt her sixth sense scream at her and she quickly ran back to Irisveil.
"Saber you would abandon our duel!?" Lancer cried out causing Sabers pride to sting a bit but she held firm to her choice to move back to Irisveil as the temperature increased further. She glanced to the side trying to find the source of this heat only for laughter to echo from within the pitch darkness at the other end of the street she and Lancer had been fighting on. She narrowed her eyes as the laughter got louder and then stared open mouthed as a woman with a face eerily similar to her own but with golden eyes and ash white hair slowly walked out of the shadows in abyssal black armor.
"Greetings fellow servants. I have a demand for all of you~" She called out in accented english,
"Die."
Saber was distracted as the boy stood upright fully from the chariot,
"Jeanne? What are you doing here? Where is Micheal?" He yelled as Rider turned to evaluate this new potential enemy. The woman's face morphed into something Saber could only call evil as she let out another laugh,
"Oh Waver~. Poor, Poor Waver~ You never noticed did you~ Not then and not know. Let me...illuminate you."
Saber readied herself as the mana coming off the woman surged causing wind to blow past her only for Irisveil to grab her arm from behind to try and pull her away.
"Irisveil not now-"
"We need to run. We need to run right now."
"What-"
"RIGHT NOW SABER. WE NEED TO RUN RIGHT NOW." Irisveil yelled in abject terror as she turned on her heel and sprinted away causing Saber to look between her Master and this new enemy. Swearing under her breath Saber turned to follow Irisveil.
"And who said you could leave?!" The woman yelled as she suddenly dashed forward summoning an inky black sword into her left hand only to be blown sideways through several cargo containers. Saber stopped just long enough to see Lancer assume a combat stance, putting down the foot he had used to kick the new servant. He gave her a look and then jerked his head towards Irisveil. Saber nodded and ran after her Master.
She eventually caught up with Irisveil who had fallen to one knee as her body physically gave out but she still yelled in fear when Saber scooped her up and carried her away. As Saber ran Irisveil clutched at Sabers armor as the sounds of battle echoed from behind them. Saber wanted to use mana to make herself go faster but didn't want to make Irisveil worse. As they ran Irisveil eventually dug her fingers into Sabers shoulder causing her to look down at the woman who was trying to speak. Saber slowed down a bit,
"Irisveil...What did you see? Do you know that servant?"
"No….I didn't see a servant...or even a human," She said shaking as she swallowed nervously while more massive explosions ripped through the air behind them with enough for force to blow wind past the two of them even at the distance they were at, "I saw fire….fire in the shape of a woman…..Fire fueled by rage and hatred….. I'm sorry for interrupting your duel saber but-"
Irisveil, who had been looking back from where they had come from finally looked at Saber who was stunned to see such primal fear on her face, "If we didn't run, we were going to die."
Saber felt a chill run down her spine at the certainty in Irisveils voice. Suddenly with a screech of tires on pavement a black car swerved to a stop in front of them and Kiritsugu stepped out to take Irisveil. As he did so they felt the barrier that had been obscuring the second battle of the grail war shudder a bit. Saber partially turned to look back and then glanced at Kiritsugu who nodded. He placed Irisveil into the backseat of the car and moved to get back into the drivers seat, pausing as he looked at Saber,
"...Go. Deal with it."
Saber nodded at Kiritsugus orders and moved away a bit before she flooded her legs with mana and dashing back towards the fight, cracking the pavement under her only as she saw a massive plume of fire shoot up into the sky. She swore and pushed herself to go faster eventually getting back right as she saw Rider attempt to fly off into the night sky only to be surrounded by dark lances in mid air forcing him to move at a sharp angle to avoid being turned into a pin cushion. At the same time she saw Lancer get blown backwards out of the street, flip in the air, and barely stick the landing. She jogged up to him and saw he was covered in scorch marks as well as bleeding heavily. He glanced up at her and was about to say something when,
"HOW NICE OF YOU TO COME BACK SABER! ITS NOT NICE TO LEAVE YOUR OPPONENT WAITING!!!"
Saber dodged on reflex as several of the same lances that had surrounded Rider flew past her. As they did so she felt them sap at her strength through her magic resistance as they flew into the harbor. Suddenly Lancer glowed red and vanished into thin air as his master used a command seal to force him to retreat. Swearing under her breath Saber looked to her left and into Hell. The street and surrounding cargo containers were destroyed entirely. There were wide craters in the pavement and she looked out at what was now a scorched barren battlefield. What was left of most of the other cargo containers at the outer edges of the dock yard had been melted into slag that mixed with blackened fire that seemed to be melting the air itself.
Standing leisurely in the middle of all of this was the woman who was looking right at her with a look of anticipation. Her golden eyes flashed as mana shot off of her causing Saber to suddenly clutch her head as she felt a spike of pain shoot through her mind. For the briefest of moments she saw her sword go from blue and gold to red and black as she felt something inside her, something that she knew had to stay untouched and pure, twist and contort. Saber shook her head clear and looked at her sword only to see it was still blue and gold. She held it up to look at it closely as she felt the twisting sensation vanish. Looking past her sword she glared at the enemy servant who had been watching all this with a smirk. Saber got into a stance to fight and was about to talk when the woman snapped her fingers and all the fire vanished like someone had thrown a switch.
"...What class are you." Saber asked into the lingering silence, the scorched pavement crunching under her armored boots as she slowly advanced towards the unknown servant. The woman arched an ash white eyebrow and chuckled with mirth,
"What class indeed…" She said casually as she conjured her sword, "Maybe I'm a Saber like you. Wouldn't be the first war with two sabers-" She dispelled her sword from her left hand and conjured a flagspear that she twirled in her right, "Or maybe I'm lancer~"
"Enough of your riddles." Saber spat as she readied her sword while the woman looked back at her entirely unphased as she continued, "Or maybe-" She conjured blackened fire in her palm. It spread out, extending behind her to take the form of a black dragon. Saber felt her stomach clench as both the woman and the dragon seemed to grin at her with their teeth. The only black dragon she knew about was her uncle but-
"I'm every class and none of them." The woman finished as she dispelled the fire with a flick of her armored gauntlet. She put a hand on her hip and looked at Saber meaningfully as Saber slowly lowered her sword.
"I believe thats enough theatrics for now. Waver. Rider. Come out. I won't try and kill you unless you piss me off."
Saber heard a yelp from behind her and turned around to see Waver being lifted up by the back of his shirt as his servant stepped out from behind one of the few semi-intact containers. Rider wore a neutral expression as he walked forward into the smoldering ruins of the dockyard. The ashen haired woman looked at them all and then sighed running a hand through her hair,
"I swear I am going to beat his ass for making me play messenger. Alright, listen up because I'm only going to say this once: This entire Grail war is beyond fucked."
Saber blinked, momentarily stunned at the womans sudden crude language as Rider arched an eyebrow,
"And how, as you so bluntly put it, is it 'fucked' Fire woman." he questioned neutrally as the woman folded her arms and blew out her cheeks.
"Do you honestly think a single standard servant could have a spear, sword, and be able to wield hellfire? -Dammit hang on." The woman closed her eyes and leaned her head back as she listened to her master. Saber glanced at Rider who looked at her out of the corner of his eye and subtly shook his head to which Saber clicked her tongue as they waited for the womans master to finish talking to her. Eventually she swore more and then glared at Saber who stiffened under her gaze
"My master wants to meet with you and your master alongside you two," The woman said looking meaningfully at Saber before turning to look at Waver who flinched, "at a neutral location so he can explain. Whether or not you believe him is up to you and your masters. As for the location…" The woman closed her eyes and tilted her head back listening again her face briefly turning into a frown before she looked at them again, "There's a french-style cafe on Fukuyama street. Dark oak outside. Rustic inside. Meet us there….Day after tommorow at 3pm or so. Although some of us might have to be in spirit form." The woman glanced at Rider who seemed put out for a moment.
"As for right now…" The woman grinned again and Saber felt her hackles rise seeing a face so similar to her own look that evil, "I've had my fun for tonight so I'll bow out for now."
"And what if I won't let you leave." Saber said pointing the tip of her sword at the woman who looked at her like she was dumb. The woman grinned again and conjured her sword. Saber glanced at it. It was inky black and just looking at it sent a chill down her spine. She looked back up and into the womans golden eyes as they glowed with power,
"If you want to dance some more than I'll be happy to do so… but I think checking on that woman you escaped with takes precedence over having a sparring match with me. Don't you agree~?"
Saber narrowed her eyes and found she didn't have a response that didn't put her master in danger. She sighed and dispelled her sword before crossing her arms,
"Very well. I will do my best to convince my master to come. If the war itself is at stake then a plan is needed."
Rider rubbed his chin and looked at the woman who arched an eyebrow at him
"Let me extend my offer to you as well-"
"No." the woman said flatly.
"Well, Can't say I didn't try." He shrugged and made to move away only to notice his master wasn't following him. He looked back to see Waver standing in front of the woman, his fists clenched at his side.
"...So Micheals fighting in this war then."
Saber looked sharply at Waver and then at the woman who looked at Riders master with a hint of sadness.
"Yes….he is. Not that everyone in his life hasn't tried to stop him."
"Then why. Why fight in this war? What wish could he possibly have to warrant….this!?" Waver asked, incredulous, as he gestured at all the smoldering chaos around them.
"Thats not for me to tell. Now then-" Jeanne conjured her sword and turned away from them as they felt the air temperature rise again, "Either get out of here or help me fight this guy off."
"..Fight who off-" Saber asked cautiously as a bestial roar emanated from nearby
"ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRTHUUUUUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"