23 Chapter 23

Godrick.

The days passed quickly, as the black faction prepared themselves for the coming conflict. Godrick and Jeanne had spent most of the time learning sign language, and had learned extremely quickly. They could now hold a whole conversation with each other before Godrick would get stuck and have to spell words out, not knowing the sign for them. Fiore would then teach him the sign, allowing him and Jeanne to continue talking.

Godrick was now back at full health, and was ready to act in the coming conflicts. The black faction had gotten into contact with the master of assassin of black, as well as with Mordred and her master. Godrick knew it would fall to him to convince his sister to join them, and needed to prepare.

Walking to the large library of the castle, he found a seat large enough for him. In reality it was usually used as a couch for two people.

Before sitting down, Godrick had found multiple books on Arthurian legend, and the history of the country he had died for.

Opening the first book he began to read of his mother's history.

The books had gotten several points wrong, like the genders of his mother and sister, which bothered him greatly. The book also made very little mention of the Warlord, and her armies ravaging the lands of Camelot. It did mention that the Warlord was killed by the knight of Ruin, but the knight had also been mortally wounded, "dying in the arms of his beloved master and king." The book said. He couldn't help but smile reading that, knowing at least that part was true. He then was surprised to learn that a statue had been built in honor of the knight of ruin, commemorating his sacrifice. He would have to go see this statue, and see how it compared.

His smile quickly faded however, as he read deeper into the book. The legendary King of knights had ridden into the north to free another beloved knight, Mordred. Upon freeing the knight, they rode back to Camelot and were rewarded with several years of peace, though it wouldn't last.

The knight Mordred rebelled in opposition of the king of knights, earning himself the title of knight of rebellion. Mordred would proceed to wreak havoc across the land of Camelot, due to the belief that he would be better suited for the role of king.

Godrick set the book back down on the table, letting himself calm down a touch before picking it back up and continuing to read.

"In a final desperate act for the throne, the knight Mordred marched to meet king Arthur in battle." The book read. Tears started to fill his eyes as he continued to read.

"The armies met and slaughtered each other, leaving the two combatants to fight by themselves. After engaging in single combat, Mordred was able to knock Excalibur from the hands of his once king." The pages began to become wet with drops of water, as tears rolled from Godricks cheeks. He set the book down once more as he leaned back in his chair, looking up at the ceiling. A few moments went by as he gathered himself before picking the book back up.

"The king of knights drew his holy spear for what would be their final clash. The two charged each other, then all was silent. King Arthur had driven his spear into his once beloved sons chest and stomach, killing the knight of rebellion. Though, he had not been spared either. In the clash Mordred had driven his sword through Arthur's side, mortally wounding him. He would later die of his injuries a short while after the battle." And with that, Godrick lost his composure. Standing in a fit of sadness and rage, he flipped the large table he was sitting at, then threw the book at the ground with all his might.

The book exploded as it hit the floor, scattering the remaining pages across the room.

Hearing the commotion, Jeanne burst through the door in her armor, spear at the ready. She only saw Godrick, standing in the ruined and scattered pages of a book he had been reading. He didn't seem to notice her as he then picked up the chair he had been using, and shattered that against the floor as well. He then moved to one of the bookshelves, grabbed the side of it, and violently threw it to the ground.

"Godrick!" Jeanne shouted as she ran to his side. She latched onto his side for a moment, trying to get him to stop his rampage. It worked, as he noticed her clinging to his side trying to calm him down. She noticed he had stopped and released him. He turned his back to one of the remaining bookshelves he was about to destroy, letting himself slide down it to the floor as tears began to roll down his face once more.

He had tried to stop it, tried to prevent the future he had seen when he visited Viviane at the lake. He had killed thousands of men in an effort to stop the Warlord and reunite his family as one.

But he had failed. The future he had seen had come true. It had happened, and he wasn't there. Knowing that his mother and sister had killed each other broke his heart.

Jeanne was a little frightened at seeing this pillar in her life so upset.

'What could upset him so much?' She thought to herself. Looking around the room, she read one of the papers that was near her feet. It was the same one Godrick had read. It told of two knights killing each other. But the moment she saw Mordred's name, she understood everything.

She looked back to her companion, who was sitting on the floor. Realizing what he was feeling, she just decided that she needed to help him. Dematerializing her armor and spear she pulled up one of the chairs that wasn't broken. She sat, then reached down and took one of his massive hands in her own, before setting it in her lap and holding it.

Godrick looked to her with a pained expression, tears still slowly rolling down his face.

"Hey," Jeanne said to him, reaching out to wipe one of the tears from his face.

"It's going to be alright. I'm sure there is more to this story than what the book says. Let's meet with them tonight, and you can figure out what really happened." She finished. Godrick nodded as he wiped the tears from his eyes before looking back at her. They stayed like this for a while, as Godrick mourned his broken family.

No matter what it took… he would reunite them, no matter the cost. Even if he had to fight through every servant that existed, he would find his mother, his aunt, Mordred, Lancelot… everyone.

"Thank you." He signed.

"Of course." She replied.

Now it was his turn to do something he had never done before. He took her hand in his, and brought it to his lips. Gently kissing her hand, he looked into her eyes. She blushed once more, but didn't hide it, only giving a shy smile in return. Standing, the pair walked out of the room, hand in hand, leaving a destroyed library in their wake.

Mordred.

Mordred and her master hadn't done anything in the past days. They had stayed in their makeshift residents, planning on what to do.

The night she had met her brother she had been sick. She didn't know servants could feel sick, but she had emptied her stomach multiple times that night.

She had never felt remorse for what had happened between her and Artoria. She even felt she had been justified in the war that she had waged against Camelot. She had been denied her birthright, and she was only taking it back.

Once she had been rescued from her prison in the north, she immediately returned home to Camelot expecting to find her "little" brother waiting for her with open arms. Only to be shown to his tomb. His body had been burned, leaving nothing but his armor, his halberd, and a little dust. Overcome with feelings of loss and betrayal, she threw herself into training. She thought she could do better than Artoria, and she would prove it. Over the next couple years she let her hatred fester, becoming more ferocious and violent in her actions. Soon after she would start her rebellion, slaughtering those who got in her way, sparing those who bent the knee.

After many years of killing and fighting, she had her opportunity to take the throne. Artoria met her in combat, but she greatly underestimated her foe. She was killed in that battle, but she took Artoria down with her.

Now in this second life, she often thought on those memories. She had never regretted what she had done, in fact, she felt proud and a little mournful at the fact she hadn't lived. She felt as though she would have been one of the great rulers of the land, her name said with reverence. But it would never come to be.

Deep in the back of her mind she had always had a fragment of sorrow at what she had done. A small part of her that knew it wasn't right. But every time that small frightened girl that she had been, showed her face, she would crush her. She would wrap her in the chains of her hatred, her anger, her malice, locking the little girl away, much like she had been in the north.

That small part of her always feared what her brother would think of her. Feared if he would hate, or be angry with her. But every time she thought of that, she reasoned that she would never see him again. He would never know of her treacherous actions. Never know that she had betrayed everything he had died for.

But the moment she saw his face, so happy to be reunited with her.

The facade she had woven in her head came crashing down on her. The moment he looked into her eyes, the little girl she had been broke free from the chains she had put her in, and took over. Her mind felt like it would break if he continued to smile at her like that. He didn't know what had happened, she knew that much.

But now? Now… now she would have to face the consequences of what she had done. Her master had been a bit calloused in his response, but honestly… he was right. If Godrick hated her for what she had done, it was her burden to carry.

"Hey kid, you alright?" Her master Kairi Sisigou said to her, breaking her out of her thoughts.

"Oh, um… yeah, I'm alright. Just thinking of what you said to me a couple nights ago." She replied.

"I understand." He said, sitting next to her.

"Well, I've got some news, if you want to hear it?" He asked, trying to take her mind off of what she was thinking about.

"Alright, what is it?" She answered.

"Well, the rest of the red faction reached out to me to come meet them the night we went to the Hanging Gardens. But I didn't feel like it was right. Turns out my gut was right, because all the other red masters are dead. Their servants have been given over to Shirou. He was gonna kill me and take you." He said with a slight somber tone.

She looked at him concerned, but let it pass as she noticed he had something more to say.

"Also… the black faction has reached out to me. They want to meet and see if we'd be willing to come to their side. Ruler, and that behemoth of a knight have already joined their side for now." He said, gauging her response. The moment he mentioned that Ruler and the Juggernaut had joined the black faction she looked away.

"Look kid. I know it must be hard for you, but we're on our own with no allies right now. The red faction wants to kill me, and the black faction probably won't do anything to help us either if we aren't allied with them."

He continued to look at her, but got no response from her.

"At least think about it. They want to meet tonight near their castle in a safe location." He paused as he thought of what to say next.

"Maybe it will be a good opportunity to talk to your brother about what happened." He said hesitantly, not wanting to piss her off.

She gave a slight shake of her head before responding.

"He can't talk." She whispered.

"What?" He asked, not hearing her.

"I said he can't talk!" She shouted at him. "Sorry," She said to him. "I'm just really stressed about this whole situation. I don't want to see him. But I know I need to." She said, hanging her head.

"Well, this might be a good time to bury the hatchet." He told her.

She looked at him confused before asking. "Why the hell would I bury a hatchet? Seems like a waist…"

He just rolled his eyes at her. "It's just a saying alright?"

"You have weird saying in this age. Tell them we'll meet them tonight." She said, bringing her knees to her chest and resting her head on her knees. Thinking of how tonight would go.