Jeanne breathed in slowly as she sat on her bed with her eyes closed. She hadn't done this since the Orleans Singularity and she had forgotten what truly meshing with her flames and dragon witchcraft felt like,
It would be more accurate that it felt wildly different now than it did then.
She mused. Back then her flames were powered by the Holy Grail that He had left with Gilles and that she had been born from. Whenever a big battle was about to happen she would take the time to meditate and mesh with her flames and witchcraft to make sure that they obeyed her.
That was the thing, she thought silently as the corners of her lips twitched, My flames are both a part of me and not. They are the flames of Hell yet are intertwined with my very essence given they are the very flames that also immolated Jeanne D'Arc. As such I need to make sure they obey me when I use them.
She frowned, remembering the panic she had felt after using her Noble Phantasm and finding those marks on Micheals chest. The first thought she had had at the time was that her control had slipped and she had burned him by accident but thankfully Amelia had quickly corrected her. She still couldn't shake the feeling in her gut that the markings weren't natural but she also knew almost instinctually that whatever was causing them was related to her in some way.
She breathed out more slowly than she had breathed in making sure to empty her lungs completely before inhaling again. She focused and felt her flames stoke themselves in response to her meditation as she slowly felt herself begin to physically get warmer. She twitched in response to the feeling as her mind went back to that damn pyre like it always did when she was too warm. She finished inhaling and held her breath for a few seconds before exhaling slowly like before. The heat slowly became less potent but was still there.
The difference between when she did this in the Orleans Singularity and now couldn't be more apparent. Back then when she had melded with her flames it had been for the purpose of suffering the feeling of burning which she then used to make her flames more powerful which led to the burning feeling becoming more intense all in a feedback loop meant to make her suffer for her existence while also destroying her enemies.
Now though….
She inhaled again, feeling her flames grow in response, and she once again felt herself warm.
Now though as she did her ritual she noticed that her flames weren't as scorching as they were back then. If she compared the two to each other then while she was in Orleans it was like she was being burnt alive all over again but now it felt like all she was doing was sitting a bit too close to a bonfire. Enough to make her feel a bit too warm but no where near a level of pain.
She exhaled and opened her eyes only to blink as for a moment she thought that smoke came out of her mouth as she did so. She chuckled darkly as she reached for her witchcraft feeling it respond to her call. She held out her hand to let darkness manifest and gently wrap itself around her arm like a coiled snake as it became semi-physical. Idly, she made it grow limbs along with a set of wings until she had a miniature dragon coiled around her arm. She stared at it and while she knew in her gut that it wasn't sentient she could have sworn it was staring right back at her.
"It was 'He who stares into abyss everlong shall have the abyss stare back' right?" She said more to herself than to the dragon coiled around her arm.
The dragon blinked in response and then twisted its head to look at her door right as she heard soft knocking. She sighed and dispelled the darkness around her arm while checking that she could call on her flames if she needed to do so. Her armor rustled and clinked as she got off her bed and moved to the door. She opened it right as she saw her Master about to knock again. She raised her eyebrows at him and he motioned for her to follow him.
Her armored boots softly thudded along the wooden floor as he led her back into the living room. She paused in the doorway and glanced around noticing that while the furniture had remained unchanged, the appearance and general atmosphere of the room had. Over the course of the war it had turned into what was essentially a generals planning tent not dissimilar to the one she had had back when she was the Dragon Witch.
The walls were covered in papers with hastily scribbled notes, the chairs and sofa all bore the signs of being used by people and beings of various sizes, and the only real sustenance immediately to hand was one that improved focus and drove off sleep.
She entered the room properly and immediately noticed an incredibly strong bounded field as she did so. It was far and above what Micheal would normally do which made her pause and look at him. He saw her glance and blew out his cheeks,
"My origin showed me where the grail is…. and who's guarding it."
Jeanne blinked momentarily stunned,
"At least now I know why you've put up a bounded field as strong as this." She said, folding her arms, "So where is it and who's guarding it?"
Micheal grimaced,
"Its in the Fuyuki civic center, Its already manifested and the blood tide or whatever Waver called it is being caused just by it manifesting. As for who's guarding it….Its Saber but-"
He hesitated and looked at her calculatingly.
"...What." She said feeling a bit unnerved by the look he was giving her.
"Saber's…. both Saber and not."
Jeanne blinked and tilted her head to the side,
"Like how Lancer was more than one servant in a single body?"
Micheal shook his head,
"No its more like…. She's been Altered somehow."
Jeanne immediately understood what he was getting at as her eyes widened,
"Thats not possible."
He looked at her eyebrows raised. Jeanne bit her lip trying to figure out how best to explain,
"I'm… Okay so-"
"Take your time to explain."
He sat down on the sofa and Jeanne began to sit down in one of the chairs but reconsidered. She moved to sit beside him again like she had the day before.
"As you know, my true name is Jeanne D'Arc Alter. I am not the 'altered' version of Jeanne D'Arc though."
She stared at her gauntlet and sighing, moved it into her lap as she stared at the wall,
"I was created by Gilles de Ray to be what he thought Jeanne D'Arc should have been during her death. He poured his despair, his rage, his fear, and his desire into his wish for the creation of a Jeanne D'Arc who would take the flames that burned her and turn them against the world itself. This is why I am an Avenger class servant and not a Ruler class. The 'Alter' part of my name is there to show I am the 'Alternative' to what happened with the Saint Jeanne D'Arc. I'm what, in Gilles eyes, should have happened."
She looked at Micheal who she could see was watching her concernedly.
"I am not an 'Alter' in the literal sense as far as I understand it. For a Servant to be Altered they need to be consumed or converted by something 'Evil'."
Micheal tilted his head in that damnably cute way he did and she had to force her chest to not fill will butterflies. She failed horribly as she felt her face flush. She turned her head away as Micheal spoke slowly,
"Then…. What would be able to….corrupt a Servant then. The Saber I saw in my vision was….powerful. Unrestrained. Its like she's...the opposite of her normal self."
"You already know what would be able to corrupt a servant to that degree. We both know."
She glanced back at him,
"Somehow, she found the grail and chose to let it corrupt her. She still can't make her wish however until every other servant has died."
They fell into silence for a few minutes that was only broken when Micheal stood up.
"We need to get to the Fuyuki civic center then."
Jeanne watched and caught her breath as the last rays of the setting sun came through the window to illuminate her Master. Time seemed to slow down for her as she stared at him, trying to memorize every inch of him she could see as though he would vanish right then and there. She could imagine the lean muscles under his shirt and she felt her core warm as he turned to look at her and she stared into his grey eyes as he smiled at her.
She stared into his face doing her best to memorize everything about it she could as he reached out a hand to her. He smiled wider and Jeanne could barely think over her thundering heart as that warmth in her core heightened further. She could feel the fabric of the robes under her armor on her skin, the feeling of her hair on the back of her neck. She smelled the scent of the room along with the smell of vanilla and cloves that she loved and had long ago learned was Micheals. She slowly reached out her hand to place it in his as he pulled her off the sofa.
She thought he was going to hug her, to kiss her.
She wanted him to kiss her.
She wanted him to touch her.
She wanted them to do things together that she only dared to imagine in her dreams.
She stared up into his eyes as they stood there together, caught in the moment, as the sun slowly set and the room quickly sank into shadow.
She took a half step forward closer to him and then all at once she remembered that night.
He never loved you.
You are a tool and nothing more than that.
No one loves a tool.
Especially one as broken and riddled with baggage as you.
She took a step back as the Other vanished and turned her eyes away from his to hide her quickly forming tears as she reached up and gripped her arm through her gauntlet hard enough to warp the metal. She felt the intense pressure on her skin under the metal and savored it as the feelings from the moment were replaced by that sharp sense of pain she had learned was the feeling of heartbreak.
She inhaled a bit and shoved her emotions into the back of her mind as she stoked her flames. She looked back at Micheal with a look of determination as she hid her shattered heart in those same flames,
"Lets go."
~~~~~~~~~~
Jeanne leaned into the seat of the car as Micheal skidded around more of that blood red liquid, the tires squealing on the pavement. They needed to get to the civic center as fast as possible but it seemed like every road leading away from the house was blocked off by that red bullshit. She ground her teeth together as Micheal eased out of the turn and slowed to a stop.
"Another dead end." Micheal groaned reaching for the paper map and marking another spot with a pen.
"I'm done. I'm tired of playing nice. I AM GETTING MY GOD DAMN WISH GRANTED AND I REFUSE TO LET THIS FUCKSHIT GET IN THE WAY OF THAT. MICHEAL. GUN THE ENGINE."
Jeanne shouted as she stood up in the passenger seat, extended her arm and shot hellfire onto the road in front of them. She felt the car shift under her and she steadied herself by grabbing the top of the windshield as the car shot forward under Micheals touch. The substance was blown away from the road and even seemed to burn like flesh did as she continued to blast the road in front of them with flames. After a minute of driving they shot over to the otherside of whatever the stuff was. Jeanne sat down in her seat feeling a bit winded.
"You alright?" She heard her Master ask as she opened the glove box and pulled out two energy bars. She nodded to him and tore open the package biting a huge chunk out of one the bars. Eventually she swallowed and immediately felt her mana levels begin to rise as her body turned the bar into energy.
"Find the shortest route to the civic center. I can only do that so many more times."
She ate the rest of that bar and the second one in quick succession as Micheal jumped the median onto the other side of the road to avoid more sludge. After a few seconds of silence,
"Jeanne…. I know its a bit late to be asking but do you have any idea how we are going to even cleanse the grail?"
She paused and turned to look at her master, eyes narrowed,
"No. That would be my normal self's shit. I didn't get any of that…." Her eyes widened, "Please tell me you haven't been flying blind on this the entire time."
Micheal chuckled darkly as he hit the brakes and twisted the wheel at the same to slide the back of the car out as they reached an intersection. He then slammed on the gas and the tires spun a bit before getting traction and the car shot forward. They drove in silence for a few kilometers, dodging more sludge until,
"I have had an idea but its not mine. It was originally my Origins and you won't like it. At all."
Jeanne felt a chill unrelated to the night air crawl its way down her back,
"What do you mean the plan is your origins idea? How long have you known about this?!"
Micheal grimaced at her tone but kept his eyes on the road.
"Around the same time my origin informed me that the grail was cursed it also gave me a plan on how to cleanse it."
She motioned for him to continue only for him to shake his head and look at her with a sad smile,
"If I told you the plan you'd try to stop me from cleansing the grail in the first place."
She froze in her seat and stared at her Master.
At the man she loved.
"...No. NO. YOU PROMISED ME MICHEAL." Jeanne felt herself start screaming as she grabbed his shirt. She immediately knew what he meant and she hated that she knew. That she knew the only thing she valued more than her wish…. was him. She didn't know if he knew she loved him or if the extent of this was just his promise to not create a Miracle and leave her alone.
Because cleansing the grail would require creating a Miracle
Which would burn him from the inside out.
It would kill him.
"YOU FUCKING PROMISED ME. YOU PROMISED ME YOU WOULDN'T LEAVE ME ALONE. MICHEAL!?"
Jeanne grabbed at his shirt, tears streaming down her face as he looked at her with such an expression of sadness it made her heart stop,
"Jeanne. I'm sorry...but I need to break that promise. By my command seal-"
"MICHEAL DO NOT. DO NOT FUCKING DO THIS."
She was begging and she hated that she was. She clutched at his shirt as she sobbed,
"Jeanne D'Arc Alter. You will fulfill your wish for the 4th Grail War no matter the cost. You must see it granted."
She immediately felt the command seal as it put pressure on her entire being. A compulsion to follow it to the letter. She looked at Micheal through her tears,
"I'll never forgive you for this. Do you understand? I am dragging you down to Hell with me you rotten bastard. I will never forgive you."
She spat as she shoved Micheal away from her. She saw the civic center on the horizon and ripped the seatbelt off of her as she leapt from the car. Desperate to get away from Micheal. From the man she loved with her whole heart and who she now had to sacrifice for a wish that wasn't even hers.
She landed on the roof of a building and glanced behind her to see the car driving into the miasma. She wanted to sit and cry. To just stop existing because maybe then Micheal would live but she felt that blasted command seal urging her forward. She ground her teeth together and spat as she dried her eyes.
I've cried more than enough tears. No more. I'm not crying until I can beat Micheal senseless.
All alone again. As you ever will be. As you should be.
….Without me Micheal wouldn't be going to his death.
Everyone you meet and care for will die solely because of you. You are a cursed existence that shouldn't exist.
I know. ...I know that.
Go make your wish. Go wish to live in a world in which the man you love died to make it happen.
...
Jeanne firmed her lips as the Other vanished into her mind again. She began leaping from rooftop to roof top, getting nearer to the civic center. After several minutes of jumping she dropped to the street outside of the center and looked around. Her lip curled as she saw the convertible driven up and onto the sidewalk.
I bet he's already inside.
Jeanne summoned her sword and flagspear as she marched towards the main entrance of the center. She stoked her flames as hot as she could get them using her despair, rage, and anything else she could burn as she lifted her leg and kicked in the doors blowing a massive hole into the wall as the front of the building fell to pieces.
She walked inside and she had the sudden urge to just burn it all to the ground but before she could follow that urge she heard the sounds of Blessed Hellfire being fired from directly ahead of her. She ran forward, glancing up to see the words 'Concert Hall' written on a sign over more doors. She didn't even bother to kick the doors in as she just slashed the air in front of her with her sword causing hellfire to lance out in an arc, impact the wall, and then explode taking the doors with it and leaving a massive hole. The building shook, dust falling from the ceiling as she stalked forward to stand on top of the smoking rubble as she looked down into the concert hall just in time to see Micheal dash past Saber, touch the grail, and vanish into golden particles.
Alone again.
Jeanne screamed, her voice full of all the despair and rage she felt as she leveled her sword at Saber who whipped around as though realizing she was there for the first time. Jeanne summoned more lances than she ever had before, either in the war or her time as the Dragon Witch, and launched them all at the servant in front of her. She didn't care if none of them hit her. Saber deftly dodged the lances and deflected the ones she couldn't with her Darkened Excalibur.
Jeanne shot her flames out of the heels of her boots as she launched herself into the air, crossing her weapons over her head, and crashed down on top of Saber slashing with her blades in an explosion of dust and debris as she heard a draconic roar that she wasn't sure was herself or Fafnir. Not waiting to see Saber, Jeanne twisted her hips as she lifted her leg and slammed it into the side of Sabers cuirass blowing her across the room into the opposite wall,
"I see you weren't joking about holding back at the dockyard Jeanne," Jeanne heard Sabers new almost monotone voice and launched more lances at where the servant had impacted. A dark shadow dashed forward under them and Jeanne swore raising her own sword to deflect the downward slash of Sabers own, "Unfortunately for you. So was I."
Saber followed through with her strike by using the deflectiong to plant her sword into the floor and use it as a leverage point to swing up and around slamming her own leg into the armored corset Jeanne was wearing. Jeanne was blown to the side and crashed through an entire section of seats making her spit blood as she shot more fire out of her boots to shoot forward holding out her flag spear to impale Saber.
The servant sidestepped the flagspear easily and moved to slash at Jeannes face only for her to reangle her legs under her as she shot more fire to launch herself over Saber to land behind her as she dispelled her flagspear to swap to her sword which she inverted her grip on and stabbed down at Saber who was just turning around. Jeannes sword pierced her armor at her midsection and she twisted the blade in the wound causing fire to explode out right as Saber kicked out and knocked Jeanne back away from her.
An explosion happened in between them and blew them to opposite sides of the hall causing both to crash with Saber landing in the seating area while Jeanne was blown into a wall cratering it. As she impacted she reflexively coughed and she noticed that more blood came with it.
She wiped her mouth on her arm and pointed the tip of her blade at the other servant who was picking themselves out of their own crater. They stayed like that for a second until the grail pulsed and the sludge began to actively flow out of it. Jeanne stared at the grail and barely missed Saber taking advantage of her distraction to launch herself forward, her sword held to stab, while Jeanne summoned a wall of lances to try and block her as she dodged to the side.
Saber blew right through the wall, twisted in the air, and slashed. Jeanne barely deflected the strike in time but the force of it blew her back and into the sludge. She immediately felt the divine curses begin to eat away at her and she quickly flooded the area under her with hellfire to blow the sludge away right as Saber shot forward to land in front of her her sword raised above her head in one hand. Jeanne instinctively dodged out of the way but was blown back into the seats as the compressed mana Saber had been hiding in her free hand expanded out burning Jeannes arm.
Jeanne grit her teeth and forced herself to ignore the feeling of being burned as she stoked her flames further while the Grail pulsed again and another surge of sludge flowed out. The entire center floor of the room looked to be shin deep in the stuff but she knew she had to wade through it to get to the grail. Movement caught her eye and she dodged again, using her flames to shoot herself away to gain some distance,
"WHY DID YOU LET IT CORRUPT YOU ARTORIA. IS YOUR WISH TRULY WORTH TAINTING YOUR SOUL!?"
The Saber paused and looked at Jeanne as the Avenger breathed heavily still feeling the command seal's effect. Artoria smirked and lowered the point of her sword signalling that she was willing to talk for now,
"Because without this power I don't have any chance of making my wish."
"You- What happened to you? How did you-"
"Become the tyrant I thought I hated? Easily enough actually," Saber laughed mirthlessly as she slashed her sword at a wall causing it to crumble as the building shook more, "All of my ideals. My values. The idea of being a "Perfect King". Utter lunacy."
Saber spat and levelled a glare at Jeanne. She subtly checked her mana levels and saw she was sitting at around 60%.
It will have to do.
She thought grimly to herself as Saber pointed Excalibur at her,
"A Kings reign is worthless unless he wields the power to enforce its laws himself. I thought I could be king by hiding my emotions, forgiving those who betrayed me, and doing things honorably. Look where that got me Jeanne Alter. Every time I close my damn eyes I see that fucking hill. I see the bodies of people I called family, friends, and allies all strewn at my feet as the land runs red with blood. I see my failure to do anything that truly mattered in the end….but now…"
Saber chuckled darkly as blackened mana condensed around the blade of Excalibur, "It is only in death do I find the power to change my own Fate. To discover I needed to embrace my power. That I should have ruled as a tyrant. THAT I SHOULD HAVE BEEN A DESPOT. BECAUSE ONLY THEN WOULD MY KINGDOM HAVE SURVIVED."
Saber shot forward, swinging Excalibur, and Jeanne shot herself out of the way using her fire as she felt the pressure of the compressed mana explode off the blade as it impacted where she had been standing microseconds before. She landed in one of the bottom rows and glanced behind her to see that the sludge was steadily climbing the stairs.
The grail is right there but-
She ignored the command seal as best as she could and turned to face Saber who was walking out of the crater she had made.
"I don't expect you to understand Jeanne D'Arc Alter. I don't expect you to understand why I'm doing what I'm doing. All you need to do… is die and become fuel for my wish."
Jeanne slashed her hand through the air, igniting the debris under Saber, and engulfing her in hellfire. Jeanne turned and leapt for the Grail only to land just short ending up in what she knew now was Grail Mud. She screamed feeling her fingers crack and bleed from the curses the Mud was carving into her. It was burning into her as she reached out to touch the Holy Grail. She gritted her teeth and flooded the ground under her with more fire blowing the grail mud that had come up to above her knees away from her.
She lunged for the grail only to be knocked aside by that damn Blackened King of Knights. She slid through the mud as she felt the command seal Micheal had used on her compel her to
forward.
Back towards the grail.
She summoned her sword and pointed it at the Fallen King as flames erupted from the ground and surged torwards the Blackened Saber who leveled a Darkened Excalibur in response and shot forward using Invisible Air to both avoid the flames and get in close enough to Jeanne to strike. Jeanne twirled her flagspear deflecting the blade to the side as she swung her own sword in a strike meant to cleave the Fallen Saber from shoulder to hip.
Saber turned outward using the momentum of her sword being deflected to spin to Jeannes right only to come out of the spin with a kick aimed at her leg. She sidestepped and pushed off to get some distance. Levelling her sword at Blackened Saber she felt her rage burn hotter than it ever had before as she stoked her flames to the point of being able to burn the air itself,
"YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE BETTER THAN THIS. WHAT HAPPENED TO WANTING TO SAVE YOUR COUNTRY. YOU THINK YOU CAN SAVE YOUR COUNTRY LIKE THIS?!"
Jeanne screamed as she felt her flames start actively burn the environment around her due to the ambient heat. She glanced to her left and saw the Grail still spewing mud. She had to get the grail and kill the Darkened Saber in one shot but-
The Darkened Artoria took advantage of Jeannes distraction and dashed forward again, the air cracking behind her, as she rushed Jeanne stabbing forward with the Blackened Excalibur. Jeanne dodged but was slowed down by the mud that had enveloped her legs without her noticing, causing the dark blade to nick the side of her neck. Jeanne clenched her fist and drove her gauntlet into the side of the blackened cuirass Saber was wearing, denting it, and knocking her through the miasma of the mud and into the wall of the building.
Jeanne's vision blurred as the curses continued to pile up and she staggered a bit while trying to make it back to the grail. She had to make her wish.
She had to.
It was the only way to fix everything.
Jeannes sixth sense screamed at her and she ducked as the blade of the Darkened Excalibur swung over where her head had been fractions of a second before causing it cut a few strands of her ashen white hair. She kicked out behind her and struck Saber in the center of her chest knocking her back a bit. She put that foot down, flooded herself with the last of the mana of the remaining Command Seal, and lunged for the grail right managing to get her fingers around the rim of it as time to seemed to slow down while light shot out of the cup, through the broken ceiling into the night sky above.
"Not fast enough!" Came the monotone voice of Saber as Jeanne felt the woman cut off her leg at the knee but Jeanne didn't care. She had gotten the grail. She firmed her grip on the lip of the cup and right as the Blackened Artoria was about to drive her Darkened Excalibur through her heart she screamed her wish to the heavens.
"BRING MICHEAL BACK TO ME!!!!"
An explosion of mana blew out of the grail, knocking Saber away and almost through a wall as the grail glowed brighter and brighter until it was almost blinding causing her to close her eyes reflexively. The light cut through the mud dissolving it until nothing remained of it and then suddenly cut out. Jeanne blinked and gingerly opened her eyes to see Micheal not moving on the ground in front of her. She pushed off with her remaining leg and hugged Micheal to her, sobbing into his chest and not caring about anything else in the world.
She heard an armored boot crunch behind her and she whirled around to see Saber staring at Micheal. Jeanne watched as Artoria raised her sword causing Jeanne to throw herself on top of her Master but the blade never came. Hearing a clattering noise Jeanne looked over her shoulder to see that Artoria had tossed her blade aside to grab at her face with both hands.
"Jeanne-"
Jeanne blinked as she heard Artorias original voice,
"Kill me. You need to kill me now. Before I revert back. PLEASE."
Not even hesitating Jeanne summoned Blessed Hellfire which appeared in its new form which was a lever action shotgun. She aimed centermass and pulled the trigger blowing hellfire shot clean through her chest before spinning the gun, recocking it, and firing again all within microseconds. The last thing Jeanne saw of the Saber servant was Artoria's thankful smile and green eyes before her head was turned into pulp. Artoria Pendragon's headless body flew backwards into the seating area but she didn't even notice. She had tossed Blessed Hellfire aside and turned back to Micheal,
"You don't get to die on me. YOU ARE NOT LEAVING ME ALONE AGAIN. YOU BROKE YOUR PROMISE ONCE-" She screamed, choking back her sobs, "I REFUSE TO LIVE IN A WORLD WITHOUT YOU IN IT MICHEAL LAFAIRE SO WAKE. THE HELL. UP."
Jeanne dumped the rest of her mana into her master not caring what it would do to her. She felt her reserves begin to empty and started to feel light headed but she kept going. She eventually stopped flooding him with mana as she laid on top of him begging him to come back.
As she held back her tears she placed her forehead over his heart willing it to start beating again.
Thump
She froze, torn between elation and fear.
Thump, thump
She lifted her head and watched as color came back to his skin. She placed her hand over Micheals now beating heart and waited for him to wake up….