Chapter 69 - Cero vs Caliburn
As Jaune felt a very uncomfortably familiar sense of weightlessness overtake him, he found himself unable to even muster anything beyond a simple sigh of exasperation, wondering why he was even surprised and what in Oum's name had happened this time.
After all, from his perspective, it was just that kind of day.
The past 24 hours (as far as he could tell; he didn't really have a watch) had started with being asked to find a satellite that had crashed in the middle of the desert after that little stunt with the nuke and the alien scout craft, and after he'd been vaporized (or whatever it was that the satellite had down to him), it had all gone to hell.
Literally.
Thrice.
Then, after killing that last big-brained spider demon, they'd been betrayed by that damn cyborg, and then Jaune had woken in another dimension, that had turned out to be the home of heartless ghosts that feasted on the souls of others.
And then, when he'd been protecting the ghost who'd agreed to help him from that giant guy, he'd suddenly felt a tugging sensation on his back, and his feet had suddenly sunk into the ground.
And now he found himself spinning through the air.
At least the sky and land looked like... well, like what a sky and a land should have looked like.
And, of course, the giant one-armed ghost was still there.
And gravity was about to exert itself on him as well.
Quickly, he took advantage of the Arrancar's momentary confusion to right himself in the air just as he begun to fall.
Of course, the giant seemed to be able to float in the air without any issue. Damn ghosts...
As he dove towards the ground, however, his eyes widened.
A man in a hooded white robe, with white hair peeking out from under it, stared at the Arrancar with barely-visible caution, while a young blonde boy, with long hair tied into a bun, watched him with concern shining in his vibrant green orbs.
Jaune's mind raced.
People?
Humans?
Had Tier Harribel managed to send him to the Human World?
Well, he hadn't seen a broken moon in the sky, so it probably wasn't Remnant.
The two didn't seem armed, and the air was brisk, but not biting, so it probably wasn't Skyrim.
And he could see lush vegetation, so it definitely wasn't the Wasteland.
Either way, it didn't matter.
There were other people present.
He couldn't let them get hurt.
Instead, as he landed, placing himself between them and the Arrancar, he shouted: "Get away, kid! It's not safe!"
The two people behind him were talking, though he didn't pay them attention as his mind instead raced.
His Aura was still in the yellow, at most, after the exertions of the past few days.
The Arrancar favored melee combat, but could also fire destructive beams from its hand.
And it could float.
Fortunately for him, though, the Arrancar lowered itself down to his level, and demanded: "What did you do, human?!"
"Me?!" Jaune shot back. "I've got nothing to do with this!"
Edrad looked him over, and saw that the boy wasn't lying.
He may have enough Reiatsu to scare a Captain-class Shinigami, but he was still a human.
This probably wasn't his doing.
Which meant that keeping the human who'd taken his arm alive had no value.
But still, for a human...
"What is your name, boy?" The Arrancar suddenly asked, deciding to grant the valiant human one final courtesy.
"... I'm Jaune." Jaune replied cautiously. "Jaune Arc."
"I see. Jaune Arc. I will remember that." The Arrancar nodded, respectful to a worthy opponent even as bloodlust surged within him. "My name is Edrad Liones. Know me as the one who will end your existence today, for taking my arm and interfering with my revenge."
Then he charged forward, volcanic Reiatsu burning away the vegetation around him, and Jaune grunted as he took the blow head-on instead of deflecting it or batting it away, refusing to let the two people in the area be endangered by the battle.
Edrad then danced back warily, as Jaune poured Aura into his sword, and fired a small Cero at him, trying to disarm him.
Jaune easily cut through the beam with his blade, and parried the follow-up punch from Edrad, but the Arrancar feinted, and Jaune overextended with his counter-swing as the Arrancar nimbly danced to the side.
Edrad didn't miss his chance, and kicked at Jaune, which he barely intercepted, before firing a point-blank Cero from his foot.
Jaune felt it coming, and could have dodged it, but his Aura-enhanced senses registered the two people he was protecting were still in the area, and the sword was sent flying from his grasp as he took the blow to his right hand.
The dragonbone blade landed far away from him, too far away for him to safely grab without leaving the two bystanders at risk.
Edrad leapt back, and charged a Cero as he declared: "Be proud, Jaune Arc. I will finish you off with my strongest move."
Merlin watched in confusion, cursing Zelretch for the spell he'd given him as he did so. Wasn't Artoria only supposed to summon one familiar? And wasn't it supposed to have been a Heroic Spirit?! The one-armed giant had a body made of Ether, but it was the other figure that had a... no, wait, what in the Root's name was that blade?!
Artoria meanwhile, had wanted to assist the red-armored man as soon as he'd leapt in front of her, and shouted at her to get to safety. After all, he was clearly a noble knight, judging by the way he'd immediately moved to defend what he perceived to be innocent bystanders. But she'd lacked a weapon of her own at hand, and more importantly, the way the Beast had announced his name and asked for the armored man's made it clear that this was a duel between the two. As such, how could she, the Squire of Sir Kay, taught by Sir Ector himself, interfere in the battle?
The code of chivalry was clear.
Even so, at the back of her left hand, a symbol began faintly glowing.
Jaune, meanwhile, desperately looked around for a weapon to defend himself with. He might have been able to survive the blast by channeling his Aura into his Shield and blocking the coming attack, but his Aura would probably be almost empty after that.
Then an ornate gilded sword stuck in a stone near the boy caught his eye.
He had no idea what the sword was, why it was stuck in a sword, or why it was so overly-designed...
But it could have been a simple piece of wood, and it would have been fine, as long as he could have have channeled his Aura into it and smacked the Hollow in the face with it.
And as he quickly took a few steps forward and gripped the sword, before either of the two could warn him, a symbol faintly glowed on the back of right hand, two inverted crescents over the head of a dragon.
The moment his hand came into contact with it, however, a voice like the first breath of spring whispered: "Doth thou wisheth to draw this sword from the stone?"
Great, another talking sword, Jaune groaned mentally, even as he gripped the hilt tightly, and began pulling at what felt like the heaviest sword he'd ever touched.
"Thou art hath no rightful claim by birth."
Who gave a shit about birth?!
"Thou art hath no training to be a King."
What did being a King have to do with protecting the people behind him?!
Since when did he ever say he even wanted to be King?!
"Doth thou not knoweth the significance if thou draweth this sword?"
It was just a sword in a stone, right?
His sword was probably better anyway.
"..."
Oh, good, it had stopped talking.
Wait, why did the sword feel even heavier?
"..."
Was the sword seriously sulking now?!
"Thou art an uncultured lowly swine who stinketh of The Pit."
And now it was insulting him.
Was it sad that he couldn't even find it in him to be surprised anymore?
"And yet... thou hath the Od of the Rightful King."
Uh... thanks?
Was that a good thing?
"By the value of thy actions, and by the prosperity of thy followers, thou hath a measure of worth."
Wait, what actions? And since when did he have followers?
"Thou shalt be granted a chance. What would thou do, if thou were to draw forth the sword of selection from the stone?"
What would he do?
Wasn't it obvious?
Kill Edrad, protect the people around him, and put it back once he was done.
"Art thou not even the least bit tempted to be King?"
Once again, why would he want that?
Being a King sounded tough.
Oum, he could barely even handle being a good leader for Team JNPR!
"What doth thou believe maketh a good leader?"
Jaune had to give pause at the question, as a pang of nostalgia filled his heart.
A good leader, huh...
"A good leader puts his team ahead of himself, and strives to be the best he can be, because he knows they deserve the best he can give. They're a person who isn't allowed to be a failure, no matter how hard it is... its not just about them. Not anymore."
Artoria found herself speechless, as she heard the blonde man's quiet words, and watched as the ideal leader stood in front of her, claiming the Sword of Selection.
Caliburn studied the soul of the man attempting to wield it, and finally came to a conclusion.
"... for the honest answer thou hath given, for the ideals held in thine heart, for thy deeds as a Leader of Men and a Protector of the Land, and for the feat of overcoming the temptations of the Pit, thou art shalt be granted a special dispensation."
With a low rumble the sword slowly allowed itself to be lifted by the familiar of the Rightful King, and the eyes of Artoria and Merlin widened, as Caliburn left the stone it had called home for fifteen years.
Light blanketed the area, and a soft gentle melody could faintly be heard in the distance.
Jaune pointed the tip of the heavy sword at Edrad with his right hand, who had paused to allow his foe to recover his weapon.
And then he burst forward, a yellow glow enveloping him as he began to consciously draw forth his Aura.
As he appeared under the Arrancar, Edrad punched down, firing the volcanic Cero point-blank at him.
"Thrust me forward, and call upon my True Name, child."
Jaune channeled his Aura into the sword as he stabbed through the beam and into Edrad's fist, before shouting a name that came unbidden to his mind.
"CALIBURN!"
A beam of golden light utterly dissipated the Cero, before spearing through the Arrancar's arm, the chest behind it, and the clouds above them as it erupted upwards from the holy sword.
The lower half of the Arrancar toppled to the floor as the heavenly light finally faded away.
Jaune spared it a last look, hoping that the ghost would find peace, before going to pick up his dragonbone blade.
As he transformed the shield on his arm into a sheath, however, the two bystanders quickly approached him.
He couldn't help the tired smile on his face.
Even if the two were utter idiots with no sense of self-preservation... it was good to see they hadn't been harmed.
After all, strangers were just friends he hadn't met yet, and they didn't appear to be trying to rob him or attack him first.
As the small boy ran up to him, he casually handed the blade over to her, saying: "Thanks for the sword, kid."
And as Artoria and Merlin tried to get over the shock of the stranger drawing Caliburn, managing to use its power, and then just handing it over like it was nothing, before they could begin to ask him what was going on, the sound of numerous heavy footfalls caught their attention.
"The one-armed giant! It descended over there!"
"So did that rumbling! And that pillar of light!"
"We must protect the church!"
And so it was that the gathered knights and lords of the realm sallied forth from the interrupted joust, determined to investigate the strange sighting of the one-armed giant, and instead found a young blonde squire holding the Sword of Selection in their hands, while a knight in red armor knelt before him with his weapon on the ground, the lower half of a giant creature rested in a small crater, and the Magus of Flowers watched on.
Author's Note: Something something still reading up Fate something something don't expect regular and frequent updates.
As a side note, thanks to everyone who gave me pointers on where I can turn to the learn more about the Nasuverse... and I'm already regretting absolutely everything. Also, once again we just hit a new record in number of views in a day; 10k views. Seriously, y'all are crazy.
Yes, Jaune isn't an actual Heroic Spirit from the Throne of Heroes. He literally couldn't be, seeing as how he never actually died yet, let alone died in the Nasuverse to be recorded as one by the Throne of Heroes. I am also aware of the fact that even the Grail could only summon a piece of a Heroic Spirit, rather than the actual body of the Heroic Spirit in the Throne of Heroes.
All I can say is Zelretch probably gave Merlin the spell and the saint quartz to power it for a reason.
What's the reason? What's the spell actually do?
Moving on... the spell does not use the FATE system to call forth a Heroic Spirit from the Throne of Heroes. It instead looked through different timelines and parallel dimensions for a target that fit the two criteria that it was given. With that said, though, Merlin (and Artoria, by extension) were told that it would likely summon a Heroic Spirit.
And no, as an actual flesh-and-blood person, Jaune doesn't need mana from Artoria. Nor have Command Seals been developed yet. But they are still linked, and he can draw it from her... even if he has no idea how to consciously do it (and probably never will).
Also Caliburn, as a holy sword, would probably not fully approve of the guy who accidentally uses Hell energy whenever he uses his sword, nor is Jaune necessarily worthy to be the Rightful King of England, since it seems to look at birthright as well as ideals and personality. And it does also seem that any timeline where Artoria doesn't pull Caliburn is doomed to be destroyed, as far as I can tell...
But since Jaune's technically a familiar of Artoria, the line's probably blurry enough that I can handwave it away.
And yeah, since its mentioned somewhere that the people in the past of the Nasuverse were a lot stronger than humans in the 21st century, I'm just going to go out on a limb and say that they do meet the threshold for being able to see Hollows.
Also seriously. Don't expect regular and frequent updates from me after this. I swear.
