Chapter 14

===Godrick===

As they walked through the forest, Godrick listened as Jeanne spoke to him. It was nothing serious, as she only spoke of her history and what their goals were for this Grail War. She would also ask him questions, trying to get to know him a little bit more. He would nod and shake his head to convey his answers, until they came into a clearing in the forest they had started to enter.

Jeanne stopped as she bent down and looked at some stones she found peculiar. There were also strange gems that littered the ground as well. Godrick bent down to pick one but, but his hand was too large to grab the small gem. His solution to this was to simply scoop the gem up with the dirt under it as well, then filter the dirt with his fingers. 

"A battle happened here." Jeanne stated as she looked at the destruction around them.

"Three servants of red were here, but there is no sign of their masters…" She said contemplating.

Suddenly she shot up as her armor materialized along with her Lance. She spun around and looked at Godrick.

"There is fighting within the factions!" She said in a panic. She was on edge from the feeling of something being off, and when she sensed the fighting, she felt like this was a lead she could investigate. 

She looked deeply in the forest as she decided the best plan of action. They were too far away, and traveling by foot would take too much time.

"Launch me!" She said.

Godrick grabbed his halberd in both hands and lowered the head to the ground. Using the flat of his blade, Jeanne climbed atop it.

"Ready?" She asked.

Godrick nodded, then with a mighty heave he stepped forward and threw her off his halberd into the sky, then immediately dematerialized to follow after her. 

Jeanne flew through the air as she looked for where the problem was.

Soon she heard the clash of swords and the sounds of servants battling. She saw the Saber of black fighting the rider of black for some unknown reason. 

Using her Lance Jeanne swung it, propelling herself downward, landing in the center of the two servants who were surprised at her appearance.

The three of them were in a tight clearing in the forest, so Godrick decided to materialize near another pair near the servants. 

Gordes was hunting down a weak looking child, whom Godrick assumed this commotion was about. The child knocked Gordes hand away which seemed to make him angry.

"I want to live!" The child said as green patterns covered his arms.

"Gehen!" The child shouted As he thrust his arm at Gordes, who blocked the blow by crossing his arms. The boys attack hardly did anything except burn the sleeve of Godres jacked, which seemed to anger the man greatly. 

"How dare you!" Gordes shouted As he pulled his fist back, ready to strike the child. 

Having witnessed enough, Godrick materialized right in front of Gordes as he swung his fist. Godrick had twisted his body so the strike hit him in the hip and not in the groin. No matter how durable he was, he wasn't going to take any chances with his manhood.

The strike hit, and Godrick felt nothing. He looked down at the little man in front of him as Jeanne and the others joined them in the small clearing. 

"What is the meaning of this!?" Jeanne shouted as she came to Godricks side.

"I- I- I could have died!" Gordes shouted As he pointed at the boy behind Godrick.

"He attacked me, so I defended myself! But your stupid big oaf protected him from me! He tried to kill me!" Gordes screamed. In reality what he said wasn't wrong. But Godrick had seen the feeble strike from the child, and knew Gordes was in no danger. 

Jeanne looked at Godrick, and he simply shook his head.

She then looked at the young boy.

"Are you ok?" She said as she bent down and looked at him.

"Y-Yes." He said as he stuttered, fearful of what would happen to him.

"Ruler, step aside. This is a matter for the black faction!" Gordes said as he tried to make for the boy. Godrick stepped in front of him to stop him, but Gordes surprised him by stepping back.

"Saber! I commanded you with a command seal! Capture or Kill the homunculus!" 

Visibly struggling against the command, Siegfried drew his sword and lunged at the boy. 

Godrick stepped into his path and blocked the blade with his halberd. Locked together Saber tried to push his way through, but Godrick merely shoved him back. Siegfried landed on his feet a little ways away, and readied his blade once more.

"Stop this, Now!" Jeanne shouted at Gordes who ignored her.

"Saber! You will kill that homunculus no matter what, do you understand me!" He shouted at saber who reluctantly nodded. 

Jeanne looked to Godrick and nodded once.

"Just don't kill him. We will resolve this matter with the leader of the black faction. I can't imagine he will be pleased to hear of this." She said. 

Godrick turned to Siegfried who attacked once more. Switching his halberd to his left hand he caught Siegfrieds blade with it. He then delivered an uppercut so strong that when it connected with Siegfrieds chest, it sent him up and over the vast treeline. He then crouched a bit, then leapt into the air to follow his opponent. 

Landing not far from where Siegfried had, Godrick prepared for his first true fight in this new life he had been granted.

"Know I do not wish this. I simply must obey my master's orders." Siegfried said as he got up from the crater he had created from his landing.

Godrick simply nodded, then marched towards Siegfried.

Siegfried appeared in front of Godrick with his sword lowered, then brought it up in an upward slash. Godrick blocked the blow with his halberd, then delivered another right haymaker that Siegfried barely dodged. The air pressure from the blow blew his white hair around as if he were in a cyclone. Siegfried twisted to his left and tried to cut at Godrick, but the blow glanced off his armor as if nothing had happened. This allowed Godrick to bring his right hand backwards again trying to knock Siegfried away. Siegfried leaned backwards, his back almost touching the ground as he dodged this as well. 

He didn't see the followup strike however, as Godrick stabbed down with the butt of his halberd in his left hand, catching him off guard. The butt pierced through Siegfrieds left shoulder and drove him into the ground, leaving him vulnerable. Godrick capitalized on the opening and pulled his halberd from Siegfried, who was lifted from the ground as he did. Faster than the eye could see Godrick grabbed his halberd with both hands and using the hammer side of it, swung downwards catching Siegfried in the chest that drove him back into the ground.

Quickly switching his hand on his halberd so his right hand was on top now, he stepped over Siegfried and smashed the hammer into his side, sending him into the air once more. 

Siegfried crashed into some nearby hills, completely destroying them. He stood up unsteady as he looked at the surrounding area. The one sided brutality had destroyed the area where they had been, and as he looked at his opponent who stood a ways from him, he felt something he hadn't in a long while.

Excitement.

He finally had an opportunity to cut loose and hold nothing back. 

Jumping from the hill he had landed in, he quickly neared the Juggernaut, who didn't react. 

"You have my thanks!" Siegfried said to the silent knight.

"I haven't had a chance to cut loose in a long while. I've enjoyed our fight if you could even call it that. But now.." He said as he took his sword in both hands.

"I'm turning the tables!" He shouted As he activated his noble phantasm.

The surrounding trees were ripped from the ground, rocks and other things were thrown from their resting places, as balmung released itself at full capacity. 

Blinding blue light shot from the blade as the full glory of his sword was unleashed. He knew nothing could stand against the might he had released, but a small portion of him hoped that this mysterious knight could counter with something.

But he was soon disappointed as the knight just stood there, ready to take on his full might.

"Very well." He said with disappointment.

Hey took a step forward which seemed to close the distance between them, and released his full unadulterated might at point blank range.

Godrick took it all as he simply let Siegfried unleash his power against him as everything turned to white.

As Godrick stood watching the beam approach him, he lowered his center of gravity, buried his head and met the vortex of energy head on.

The pain was excruciating, as he felt like he was being evaporated, but he wouldn't budge as he excepted it all. He could feel himself being pushed backwards as his feet started to slowly gouge large lines into the ground. He buried his halberd into the ground to stop himself from moving which steadied him. He then took a step forward, then another, till he was right in front of the source of the energy. Dematerializing his halberd he reached out with his left hand, and grabbed the hands that were holding the sword. Suddenly the noble phantasm was stopped as it was interrupted, and Godrick lifted Siegfried into the air to expose his chest. And once more, Godrick struck out and punched him in the solar plexus, sending him cascading through the air once more. Godrick took a knee as he breathed heavily, giving himself a moment to absorb the rest of the energy he had gotten from the noble phantasm.

===Siegfried===

As he poured all his strength into his noble phantasm, he could feel the knight pushing against him. Suddenly a hand of white hot metal reached out from the beam and grabbed his hands. He immediately stopped his attack as the knight lifted him into the air and struck him in the chest, sending him flying once more. He crashed into the ground once more, as he tried but failed to land on his feet. He had landed not far from the knight as he got to his knees to see what had happened.

The knight was a white hot mass of metal as he knelt down for a quick reprieve from battle. The heat radiating off the knights armor distorted the air around him, telling of the heat. Soon the knight materialized his halberd in his right hand and stood as his armor had begun to cool. He let out a steam like breath that wafted through the holes in his helmet like an ox, ready to get back to his work.

"What kind of a monster is this?" Siegfried said, as he too stood.

===Godrick===

Materializing his halber, he stood as he released the breath he had been holding. It wafted through the holes in his helmet as he watched his opponent ready himself once more. He didn't feel the heat from his armor, but he knew it was white hot. It had started to cool, making himself and the armor stronger as his adaptation started to kick in. 

He had showcased enough of his abilities for now. It was time to end this.

He began to slowly walk towards Siegfried, and started to pick up speed till he was full on sprinting towards the Saber. He pushed his body even further as he impowered himself with the energy he had gotten from the noble phantasm. Deciding to meet him halfway, Siegfried charged as well. It turned out to be a bad decision as they both swung their blades at each other. As Godrick swung his halber, it met balmung in a deafening clash of metal on metal. Godrick was far superior to his opponent, and lifted him into the air with his strike and threw him into the direction on Jeanne and the others.

Siegfried had gotten accustomed to flying now, and felt like he could do it himself if he tried. His thoughts were interrupted as Godrick threw his halberd like a spear. Siegfried was able to block the blow just in time, but it pushed him even further into the air. The halber fell from the sky, but what he didn't expect was the figure that was now grappling with him. Godrick had jumped and caught him in the air, and now they plummeted downwards into the forest.

===Jeanne===

Jeanne was protecting the boy from the black faction masters that had shown themselves. Servants had materialized and had now circled halfway around them. 

"Gordes, what has happened here? Who is that strange servant there? And where is saber?" The leader of the black faction asked.

"My lord She-!" Gordes shouted, but was cut off.

"I am the Ruler and adjudicator of this Holy Grail War. Your Saber, is fighting my Juggernaut, after this man," Jeanne said as she pointed to Gordes.

"Tried to kill this innocent boy." She said pointing to the child behind her.

"He is nothing more than a homunculus that was created for us to use! Nothing more!" Gordes shouted at her.

At that moment two figures crashed from the sky landing in the small clearing. As the dust settled Jeanne and the other Masters saw Godrick crouched over Siegfried. His right hand forced Siegfrieds head into the ground and his left hand held Siegfried's left, which held balmung. He had completely immobilized Siegfried.

He looked at at the masters of black, who stepped back in pure fear at the giant knight. The servants around them prepared to fight as they saw one of their comrades being completely defeated.

Godrick released Siegfried and stood to his full height. He then raised his hand and held it there for a second. Soon everyone heard something crashing and breaking through the trees as his massive halberd flew to his hand. He caught it, and as he smashed the butt end of it into the ground a massive amount of kinetic energy was released from the weapon. It knocked everyone away from the small clearing, as servants scrambled to protect their masters.

Rulers, the boy, rider, and Siegfried under him were all spared from the blast. But the others were not so lucky. Godrick had not intended to harm any of them, just scare them a bit. And it worked, as each of the servants stood in front of their master, who coward behind them in fear.

"Enough!" Ruler shouted. Turning to Godrick and giving a disapproving stare. Godrick left his halberd standing as he gestured towards her, asking what he had done wrong. 

She shook her head, then turned to the masters. 

"We don't want to fight you. But this boy is innocent. He has chosen not to fight in this Grail War, and that is final." She said that she stood.

Her back lit up as she used a command seal.

"With a command seal, I command that this boy be left out of the Grail War. If any master seeks to harm him, their servant will do everything in their power to protect the boy. All other servants will help in this endeavor, until the boy is safe." She said as one of the marks faded from her back.

Stepping off Siegfried, Godrick allowed him to get up and go to his master.

"I hope I get to fight you again. Maybe next time with a partner." Siegfried said as he held his injured shoulder.

Godrick simply nodded, which made Siegfried frown.

"Why do you not speak? Do you find me unworthy?" Siegfried asked.

Jeanne jumped in for Godrick.

"He simply can't. He's mute." She said.

Understanding dawned on his face as he returned to his master.

The young woman in the chair looked up at her servant, who bent down as she whispered something in his ear.

"Perhaps at a later date. Not now though, my Lady." He said as he wheeled his master away.

"Your command has been heard ruler. We will take the boy and care for him. He will not be involved further." The pale looking man on a horse said.

"What are you saying!" Gordes said as he looked up at the man.

"All that untouched potent magic, and you are simply going to leave him?" He shouted.

The man bent from the horse and grabbed him by his throat.

"I said he would remain uninvolved. And that is what will happen." He said with venom. He shoved Gordes from him, then turned his horse and left.

Gordes looked back and shot Jeanne, Godrick and the boy a venomous glare as he too left.

The leader of the black faction came up to them.

"I will take the boy." He said.

Jeanne let him, and reassured the boy as he left.

"You are going to be fine. The servants will protect you." She told him.

Once everyone was gone she turned to Godrick. She kicked him in the shin as she started to shout at him.

"Were you trying to start another fight!" She said, Rubbing her foot she had used to kick Godrick.

"I had it under control, then you come in and almost blast everyone away!" She shouted.

Taking a moment to breathe she calmed herself.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have shouted at you. I know you were just protecting me." She said as she looked up at him. She could see the slight shake in his armor and thought she had upset him. He removed his helmet and revealed that he was laughing at her. He pointed at her foot, then his shin, slapped his knee and laughed.