62. Purpose

===Godrick===

Opening his eyes, Godrick found himself hand in hand with Jeanne inside of the massive library that was the Throne of Heroes.

Jeanne tightly squeezed his hand as they looked at the figure before them, floating in the air with her halos rotating around her.

"It seems you both have passed another trial." The blue orb said, flickering a blood red for a moment.

"What are you talking about?" Jeanne asked sharply.

"It doesn't matter." Alaya answered, beginning to turn around before Jeanne's voice stopped her once more.

"You tampered with the Heroic Spirit Ivar, didn't you?"

Another flicker to blood red.

"It was… necessary." Alaya said with a long pause.

Jeanne just looked dumbfounded as she gazed at the orb, but Alaya made no response as she turned and started floating away other then to snap at them.

"Follow!" She snapped at the two while moving.

Jeanne and Godrick complied, following the orb-like being as she floated deeper into the vast library.

"What problem do you have with us?" Jeanne asked, gesturing to Godrick then herself.

"You wouldn't understand." Alaya said coldly.

"Understand?" Jeanne said sharply. "This isn't about us understanding anything. You clearly have it out for the both of us. You overcharged Ivars Noble Phantasm, so that he would take us both out, but it failed. Again, I ask. What problem do you have with us?"

Alaya flickered to blood red once more but stayed silent, continuing to move towards the center of the Throne of Heroes, where the massive blue swirl of energy continued to pulse.

Godrick had seen it the last time he had been here, and couldn't help but want to touch it.

"If you won't answer why you despise us so much, maybe you will answer this. What's that massive source of energy in the center of everything?" Godrick asked, finally speaking up.

To his and Jeanne's surprise, Alaya actually answered him, albeit with a hint of scorn.

"That is the being that gives power to our universe. It is known as the Root." She answered.

"So that's the Root?" Jeanne said in wonderment. Alaya made no reply, but Jeanne had her answer.

They had finally come to the edge of the walkway, and were greeted by a set of massive round stairs that surrounded the Swirl of the Root. Each step was a dozen or so feet long before descending to the next, which was a bit longer than the step before it.

Jeanne turned to Godrick and explained what she had learned.

"Do you remember what I told you about what happened after my altercation with her? She answers directly to the Root." She said, pointing at Alaya before redirecting her finger towards the mass of swirling energy that seemed to pulse more vibrantly as they got closer.

Before she could get another word out, she stopped and looked at the orb floating before her. It was almost like she could hear the grinding of teeth, but she couldn't be sure.

"Be. Silent. I do not want to hear another word out of your mouth. Do you understand me?" Alaya seethed at Jeanne, who took an involuntary step back.

Godrick stepped in front of her, fists clenched in anger.

"I would kindly ask you to not talk to her like that. But since you've been nothing but cruel to us, let me put it in terms you might understand." He said through gritted teeth.

"Fuck. Off."

Alaya flickered to red once more as her voice changed to a dangerous tone.

"I would choose the next words that come out of your mouth very carefully, child."

A dangerous glint came to the Juggernauts eyes as he pushed the boundaries.

"You can piss down your own throat for all I care. You can't touch us." He said.

Alaya went permanently red before her orb-like body started to shake uncontrollably.

"I don't think you know the position you are in right now," She said venomously before being cut off by Godrick.

"No, because you won't tell us the position we are in. But I can tell you this much. I'm pretty confident that you won't do anything to us. If that weren't the case, we wouldn't be having this stupid conversation right now, would we?" Godrick retorted just as venomously.

Jeanne hadn't said anything, but she noticed the Root behind Alaya showing more activity as their conversation got more heated.

Godrick however, was focused on Alaya, and the second she moved, so did he.

Blue ethereal chains shot from the ground and wrapped his body in their embrace before squeezing and trying to drag him to the ground.

Simultaneously, Godrick whipped out with his hand as fast as Ivars lightning, and gripped Alaya in his left hand.

"Think you can get me with the same trick again?" He asked through gritted teeth, clenching down on Alaya.

"Well, now I'm ready, and if I go, so do you!" He said, using all his strength to crush the orb like being in his grip.

"Increase strength to maximize output!" Alaya let out a pained moan before a loud 'CRACK' filled the entirety of the Throne Of Heroes.

"GAHHHH!" Alaya let out a blood curdling scream as a large crack lined her orb-like body, and a massive amount of energy burst forth from her, bathing Godrick in its radiance.

The Juggernaut let out a gasp of pain as the chains tightened to an unimaginable level, and tried to drag him to the ground. His right knee met the ground, but that was all as he used his indomitable strength to stay upright. The skin of his face and top layer of armor were scorched by the amount of energy Alaya was releasing before healing immediately.

"Let… Go… Of ME!" Alaya cursed.

"You… First." Godrick retorted through gritted teeth.

Godrick was hit by another massive wave of energy as the Root reacted to his actions, sending out a massive magical pulse that sent waves through the Throne of Heroes. But other than it feeling like a strong gust of air, it didn't affect him much.

Until…

"Enough." Jeanne said, her voice distorted, as if overlayed with another feminine voice.

The chains restricted Godricks movements, but he was able to look back over his shoulder to see his lady's face.

Her eyes were pure ethereal blue, and looked as if blue smoke was coming from them, whiffs disappearing above her head.

"I have tolerated you all long enough, and it has woken me from my slumber." Jeanne said, thrusting out her right hand.

The chains holding Godrick were obliterated, and both he and Alaya were thrown towards the center where the massive swirl of the Root was.

Godrick landed on his back, but was able to roll backwards back onto his feet again before sliding to a stop.

Alaya had hit the ground and rolled for a few feet before she was pulled back to Jeanne, who caught her.

"What have you been doing in my absence?" Jeanne asked, continuing to walk down the massive set of stairs.

Godrick looked up to his lady, but then looked behind him to the Swirl of the Root to see it had dimmed considerably.

Standing up straight, he cautiously walked towards Jeanne, who held Alaya in her grip.

"I have been doing what you asked, to the best of my abilities!" Alaya said, now a mass of cracks. She was a mixture of blues and reds, but they were dimming quickly.

"Best of your abilities? I might have been dormant, but that doesn't mean I wasn't aware of what has been going on." Jeanne said.

Alaya was silent for a few moments before she had a burst out.

"He is unpredictable, and a liability!" She shouted before adding in a whisper.

"Just like his Alter counterpart. We should have wiped them from existence the moment they received the power of Ruin."

Jeanne just shook her head before replying.

"You are a fool."

Jeanne let go of Alaya, who then floated in the air next to her.

"What would this all be for then? They are the only ones in any timeline that possess the power of Ruin. And you would wipe them out of existence because you can't control them? I think that is exactly what makes them worthy of our chosen few." Jeanne said.

Godrick finally arrived next to the two, and stood there silently.

"I assume you're the Root, possessing my Lady's body?" He inquired.

"My, it seems you're not all muscle after all. I must say, I've enjoyed watching you up until this point." Jeanne, who was now revealed to be possessed by the Root said.

"Though I must say, letting Caster go when you had her by the throat was quite an unusual mistake on your part." She said.

"What is happening right now? Why are we here with the both of you?" Godrick asked shortly, wanting to get away from the subject of his past mistake.

"You and your lady have served your purpose adequately the last two Holy Grail Wars you have fought. It is my desire that you receive some sort of compensation for the troubles Alaya has put you through." Root said, glaring towards the orb before looking back to Godrick.

"I have another task for the two of you to complete, but I would like to reward you before we take on that task. Tell me, if you had won the Holy Grail, what would you have wished for?" She asked, steepling her fingers and beginning to walked around the Juggernaut in circles.

Godrick was silent for a moment before he answered.

"I want to bring my family back together."

Root just smiled, and gently nodded her head.

"Yes. I knew that would be your answer. Unfortunately, it's a wish that, while I could give you power to grant it, I will not. Well… not how you want" She replied.

"Then why ask?" Godrick asked irritably.

Root just shrugged her shoulders before answering.

"Mere curiosity, or perhaps… something else."

"I grow tired of these games. Speak plainly." Godrick said authoritatively, drawing Alaya and Roots gazes to him.

"My, my. Someone's impatient. Very well, I will speak plainly. I will not grant your wish how you want it, though I will grant it in a way. Which brings us to your next task. I granted that very wish to you once. And now, we have to kill that timeline. There is only one problem." She said.

"Which is?" Godrick asked, prompting her to continue.

"You." She answered bluntly.

"Me?" He asked.

Root continued to walk around him as she spoke.

"Have you ever wondered how you came into possession of this left arm of yours?" She asked, running a finger down the length of his left arm as she passed.

Godrick stayed silent as she did, and she continued.

"Have you ever wondered if there was maybe a Right Arm of Ruin, to match your Left?" She asked.

"It's interesting," She continued.

"Because while Artoria, Jeanne, Heracles, and the others exist in many timeliness, you only exist in two. And both of you possess half of the power of Ruin. You the Left, and your Alter the Right. But unlike your adoptive mother who wields Excalibur, which exists in almost every timeline, Ruin only exists in two. Your task is to retrieve the other half, make its power your own, and destroy the cursed timeline."

"Why me, and not this… Alter?" Godrick asked.

"It's simple. I granted him his wish of reuniting his family, and it's turned him into a monster." She answered.

Godrick shook his head in confusion before asking another question.

"Why would that turn him into a monster?"

Root gave a sad smile before answering.

"That will be for you to find out." She answered before Jeanne's body fell to the floor limply.

Godrick was fast enough to catch her before she hit the ground, and looked down at her face.

Her eyes fluttered open before focusing on his face. "What happened, it was like i was watching things from a passengers point of view?" She asked, a bit dazed.

"I'll explain when we get a moment." Godrick answered her before looking back to the mass of magical energy before them, which had regained all its vibrance.

"This task. How am I to complete it?" Godrick asked.

Alaya scoffed behind them, making Godrick look back at her with scorn.

"You overestimate yourself. You alone will be unable to complete this task." She said.

"You will make a team of seven servants that you will take with you to this timeline. You will pick four of them, as you and your lady fill two spots." Root said.

"But that's only six Servants." Godrick questioned.

"Oh my, I didn't know he could do simple math." Alaya said mockingly.

"Alaya, enough." The Root commanded, making Alaya go docile.

"We have already picked the seventh servant. They will be waiting for you once you arrive in the timeline. We will also give you six masters to help tether you to the timeline better. I would discuss between the two of you, who you would work well with to help you accomplish this task, as you only have one chance." The Root said.

Godrick looked down at Jeanne, who still looked a bit dazed and confused.

"I know who we want. My mother Artoria, my sister Mordred, Heracles, and Cu-Chulainn."

His mother and sister were obvious choices, and he knew Heracles was one of the best options. The choice for the last servant came down to two beings. Cu Chulainn, and Siegfried. Both had struck a chord in his heart, as both wanted redemption for their actions they had taken against him in both Holy Grail Wars, though they weren't at fault.

Godrick already had two Saber class servants, and he wanted at least some diversity, so his choice was Cu-Chulainn.

"Very well. Alaya, see to it at once." The Root said.

Alaya made no reply before she disappeared in a mass of blue energy that swirled around her.

The Root let out a long sigh before her voice drew Jeanne's and Godrick's attention back to her.

"You two are what we call champions. Champions are two individuals, usually a master and a servant, who build strong bonds together. These Champions are our closest assets who take care of certain… problems." She said before continuing.

"We have multiple sets of Champions, who are, at this moment, fixing problems throughout history, and different timelines." She said as an ethereal screen appeared in front of the pair.

On it, multiple pairs of people fought through different Holy Grail Wars to some end. This included a young man with black hair in white uniform looking attire, accompanied by a girl with light pink hair holding a massive shield. Another pair was his mother and Shirou. Though Godrick knew from the Root that this was probably a different timeline.

"These Champions have been chosen because of the bond they share with each other. The thread that connects their souls are strong enough to support certain…" She stopped as if to think of the right word.

"Connections." She finished. "But only one pair can stand at the pinnacle of the Champions. And that pair will be given a special task to complete. You two are near the head of the pack."

Jeanne pushed herself up with the help of Godrick, and stood before the Root.

"So we're basically your clean up crew. And whoever cleans up your messes the best gets some fancy title? Why would we agree to this?" She asked as she looked up towards the mass of energy.

"You seem to be mistaken, thinking you have a choice in the matter. Let me make something absolutely clear. You don't. If you refuse, we will wipe you from existence. The power of Ruin is something that we seek to enlist in our ranks, but we would rather wipe it away then risk it being inactive, and potentially being turned against us. If you refuse, we have no more use for you. But if you accept, only good things await you." The Root said.

Jeanne looked to her companion, who stared back at her, an unspoken understanding between them.

"Alright, we accept." Jeanne said.

"Very well. This concludes our talk for now. I must rest, and continue building energy for what's to come. I will watch Alaya closely, but understand I can only do so much while I slumber. I trust you will find a way to combat what Alaya has in store for you."

"Can't you do something? She'll try her best to kill us?!" Jeanne said with trepidation.

"Of course she will. But as some of the humans would say… what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. And besides, she can only work within the parameters I have set, so… continue to impress me." The Root said, before it lost some of its hue, and went dormant.

"Well, that went better than I thought it would have." Godrick said, turning to Jeanne.

"Given the fact that you injured Alaya, so do I." She replied.

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Please tell me what you all thought of this chapter. It's packed full of set up for future arcs, as well as answering some questions. Please, please, please tell me what you think. I know that this chapter changes a lot of things from Fate Canon, especially with Alaya, and the Root. Please tell me your thoughts!

Also, I've decided to try and get back to my normal 2 chapter schedule. I can't promise that we will get 2 chapters a week, but I'm going to try my best. I've also decided that I'll release the Prologue rewrite chapters all at once, and not 1 chapter at a time. Meaning that we won't get them until they are all done. I just don't think it's the right call to give them one at a time. Thanks for understanding!

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If you enjoyed this chapter, maybe consider leaving me with some of your power stones? I promise I'll take good care of them :)