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Chapter 01 – Pain
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The very first thing Arthur had done after he was awake in this strangely familiar place, was running. He was running through the grass field, using his Chaos power to see through the vast land and he recognized this place as the land of Britannia far in the past, even before he became the King of Camelot.
He thought he was lost in between the dream and the reality. All his wounds healed. He was dying, only a second ago. He was supposed to be dead. He thought that finally, finally, he could die and perhaps, just perhaps, he could get to see her one more time.
But this?
Yes, he had wished that he could fix everything and start over from the beginning, but he didn't expect to go back to the past. What if… he had to go through those painful experiences again? Losing his friends, his Kingdom, and his people.
Why should it be him?
Why him?
Arthur gritted his teeth and screamed to the top of his lungs "WHY?!".
Panting, once he regained back his composure, Arthur decided that there was only one place where he could get the answer.
"...perhaps, Nimue can tell me the answer".
Nimue was the Lady of the Lake.
When he reached the Lake Of Salisbury where the Lady of the Lake lived, Arthur demanded an explanation about his circumstances. Was it because of the Holy Grail or what?
"because from what I knew, the Holy Grail has been sealed away in the Celestial Realm".
The Lady of the Lake concluded "no, it's because of your power, King of Chaos. Haven't we from your time told you yet? The catalyst of your power is your desire. Your desire to fix everything from the beginning and your desperate plea in your dying state has sent you into this timeline, far in the past, before you ascend the throne as the King of Camelot when the Queen you loved is still alive and she's still trapped in the Cameliard Kingdom".
Arthur's eyes widened, with a hopeful tone "...Guinevere is...still alive?".
After knowing that she was still alive, Arthur could not stop himself from running to her side right away. Before he left to find her, the Lady of the Lake told him to be careful when using his power and he could not reveal his true identity to everyone. At least, until he reached his purpose to save her life.
"I understand. From now on, I will use the name 'Mordred'. I will live my life and thrive to protect her, to stay by her side, to save her life", Arthur's eyes fulfilled with the strong resolve "even if it will cost my life, even if I have to turn into a Villain, as long as it is needed to protect and save her, I will endure it".
The Lady Of The Lake had nothing to say, she could not stop him "then, I wish for the safety of your journey. From now on, you are no longer the King of Chaos, but the Guardian of Chaos".
After he was adopted by the King and the Queen of the Cameliard Kingdom, it did not take a too long time for Mordred to figure out 'The Dark History' of The Cameliard Kingdom. As the neutral faction who had been learning about 'The True History' of the Ancient Holy War, the Cameliard Kingdom knew better than anyone. They knew that the seal would not last long, and when the time came, they knew that they could not fully trust the other Clans.
Demon Clan was their enemy. Not all of them were evil, but it did not mean they could befriend them after trying to persuade them like the Goddess Elizabeth usually did.
Goddess Clan could not fully be trusted. They might able to help humanity to defend themselves against the Demons, but they were too full of themselves, thinking of their Clan members as the purest, the most sacred and holy beings. Not to mention, those warmongers were too prideful about their holy beings and too hostile towards their enemy. Especially against their natural enemy, the Demons. They only thought of the three other Clans (Human, Fairy, and Giant) as their discardable pawn to win the war for them. Courtesy of Guinevere who despised them, to say that they could not be fully trusted, was an understatement.
Giant Clan was too simple-minded, they only thought about fighting and be the strongest fighter.
Fairy Clan was too carefree and lack of ambition who could turn into the killing machine when their pure heart was tainted by the darkness (note: Helbram and Gloxinia).
Human Clan was too weak, to fight the Demons without help from the other Clans.
Feeling the sudden headache, Mordred leaned his back on the chair "...suddenly, I can see why Gwen and her siblings thrived to fight their own battle. Not to mention, they have the trust issues. Most of them".
Mordred was in the library, looking through the pile of old documents, historical literature, and books. He closed the book and sighed heavily. No matter how hard he tried to find it, he could not find something related to the 'Dark History' of the Cameliard Kingdom.
Without he knew, he would find out about it soon.
That day, when he was walking in the hallway, Mordred met with another familiar figure. Fou, the Cath Sith, Guinevere's familiar. It looked like it had wanted him to follow it. When Mordred stumbled upon a secret passageway, he accidentally pushed the secret button on the wall and he found the secret laboratory underground the Castle of the Cameliard Kingdom.
Mordred's eyes fulfilled with an incredible shock after he found the creatures in the cylindrical glass where the various creatures, mostly human-like, drowning in their transparent or yellow-greenish liquid.
"ah, so you've found this place, prince Mordred".
Mordred jumped when he saw Nanami, the baldheaded ominous healer in the Cameliard Castle. He was the Head of this laboratory and Guinevere's personal doctor. Thinking that Mordred also had the right to know as King Leodegrance's adopted son, Dr. Nanami welcomed him to his laboratory, offering him a tour around this laboratory. Dr. Nanami explained their experiment which called the Bionics Humanoid Weapons. From generation to generation, they tried to create a living weapon by mixing the human body with the part of the animals' body.
Deliberately ignoring Mordred's increased anger and disgust, Dr. Nanami boasted "you will get used with this soon, prince Mordred. The family members of Cameliard Kingdom, including your father who was so against it at first, have gotten used to this custom. Right now, we can create the Homunculus, even. My greatest creation is princess Guinevere".
…that was it. This man had died for him.
"as someone who possessing Chaos magic power, you have both the Light and Dark fragment in your magic power. You should be careful. Don't let yourself drown in your power".
Covering his eyes, Arthur smirked devilishly "but I like both sides of my power, be it the Dark Side, or the Light side".
Inside his head, Arthur could hear Cath's sinister laughter before Cath whined to him "destroy! Kill him! Let's destroy this Kingdom and kill the people who dare to hurt your love, Arthur!".
"not so fast, Cath. To kill this man? I agree. But to destroy this Kingdom and kill the people… let's ask Guinevere first".
"The Lady is still too young at this moment. Like the hell that naïve, pure, and innocent little girl like her could fight against her torturer. Don't you hear him? This man in front of you dared to think of your love as his greatest creation, as his subject! She is yours, not him! Take back what's yours, Arthur. I don't see something wrong with it, King of Chaos".
"stop calling me that, Cath. My name is Mordred now. Stop whining, and I'm not the King anymore".
"But you still love her".
Something in Mordred's head started to wriggle. He knew it was the strain of his sanity and he could not let it snap. However, he totally lost it when Dr. Nanami ushered him to the Homunculus room. In this room, Mordred felt like that he wanted to vomit. He saw the pool of Holy water, fulfilled with the scattered, unmoving body. Their eyes were void of emotions. They had deadly pale skin as if all blood drained from their body. However, the most identical of them…
…they did look so much like Guinevere.
Mordred exhaled his breath which he unconsciously had held. He felt like hyperventilating before he gulped nervously and asked "what… are these?".
"the failed clones of princess Guinevere. We learned her DNA and tried to create her clones, but these dolls can't even function properly as humans, so we always throw the failed ones here".
The strain in Mordred's head snapped.
When Dr. Nanami asked his opinion about his magnificent creations, Mordred created a sword in his hand before embedding it into Dr. Nanami's heart. Looking down disdainfully, Mordred scoffed "you asked my opinion, did you? The truth is, I feel disgusted to my stomach. My blood is boiling and do you know? I will kidnap her and destroy this Kingdom today. Cath!".
Cath roared in glee when Mordred let him out "finally, my King! What should I do? Other than to help you save her".
"you may eat whatever and whoever gets in our way", Mordred "once we find her, we're leaving".
"you can't do this to us… prince Mordred… you have dedicated yourself… as a Cameliard…".
"no, I never dedicate myself to the Cameliard Kingdom. I dedicate myself solely to Guinevere", looking at the older man's shock at his indifferent attitude, Mordred's lips twisted in a sickening grin before he crouched in front of him "and what was that nonsense, that I can't possibly do it to you? I can do it, not as a Cameliard, but as a Pendragon. I am Mordred Pendragon, and I will take Guinevere Cameliard no matter what, because she's mine, not yours".
Leaving the mad doctor to die, Mordred never turned his head to look behind. As long as Cath destroyed the Cameliard Kingdom, Mordred was looking for Guinevere. After he arrived in the throne room of the Cameliard Kingdom's Castle, he creaked the door opened. There, Mordred saw King Leodegrance was sitting on the throne. His wife, the Queen buried her face on the armrest of the throne by his side, carrying the sleeping Guinevere on her lap.
King Leodegrance stood up "finally, you've come to end this Kingdom".
"Just give her to me and let us leave this place together, then I will order that Magic Beast to retreat. I don't want to kill people meaninglessly", Mordred rolled his eyes when King Leodegrance laughed instead "what's so funny?".
King Leodegrance reached out his hand and asked Mordred to come closer "ever since I've seen you, I know that you are the chosen one who has been fated to meet with my daughter. To save her, and to bring the judgment for our Kingdom".
Ever since King Leodegrance knew about his Kingdom's Dark History, he always wanted to stop it, but he was too powerless against his own Kingdom. He could end this Kingdom every time he wanted to, but he wanted to see his wife and his daughter longer. He always worried about his daughter. What the little girl could do without her Guardian?
"but now, I needn't worry about her anymore… because you can protect her and save her. Now, take her from my wife's side. Run, and never look back".
Only now Mordred realized, that the Queen had died. She slit her throat with the dagger in her hand. Before Mordred took her, though, King Leodegrance asked him to end his life, as the last survivor of this Kingdom.
Mordred tightened his grip on the handle of his sword and closed his eyes tightly "…it seems like I've killed too many people, to the point that I can no longer feel anything even if I kill them".
After Mordred killed King Leodegrance, he carried Guinevere and ran from the Castle. He had put the bomb with a timer in the laboratory underground of the Castle. Jumping from the window, he called forth "Cath! Fou!".
Both beasts appeared. Fou changed its form and functioned as the pillow where Mordred landed on top of it. As long as Cath destroyed everything in his sight, Fou gave a ride for Mordred and the sleeping Guinevere to the outskirt of the fallen Cameliard Kingdom. After Cath finished his task to destroy the Cameliard Kingdom, Mordred tightened his hold for the bloodied white bundle in his arms. Mordred knew he and Guinevere were the reason for Cameliard Kingdom's befall. Even if Cath was the one who destroyed the Kingdom with its destructive power, but Guinevere was the one who killed the people of the Cameliard Kingdom by sucking their life-force.
Staring to the fallen Kingdom, Mordred tried to tell himself "the pain is fine… it's better to feel the pain, rather than to feel nothing… it's the proof that you're still alive…".
Fou sensed his master's unsettled feeling, thus the magic beast (which had turned back into its cat form) poked his leg "kyu?".
Mordred breathed out the white breath and showed the shaky smile "…it's fine, Fou. We can find the new home. We just need to wait here, until—".
"oh, damn. What the f*ck happened here?".
Mordred jolted at the familiar voice, turning his head behind slowly. When he saw the Seven Deadly Sins, alive and well, he blinked away his tears unconsciously.
When the Seven Deadly Sins saw them, the first ones who approached them were Meliodas and Merlin. After Merlin took the sleeping Guinevere on his hands, carrying the sleeping little girl who whimpered in her sleep, Mordred wrapped his arms around Meliodas and Merlin's shoulders, crying hysterically. It was the very first time he had cried after a long time.
A/N:
To Ansy:
I guess we do love the dark side of life when it comes to the story, huh? Yeah, me too. LOL.
Glad to know that the response is quite positive, though I'm not sure about it later~
You must have realized it too by this point, this Arthur Pendragon 1.0 (the future one) will be entirely different from the Arthur Pendragon 2.0 (the past one).
Arthur 1.0 is no longer the naive youth, a cinnamon roll we've known because he's a fully grown up, adult man. A good King for his people and a dependable Knight, even if he himself doesn't think so. His devotion and love for Guinevere 1.0 are still just the same, though.
For your question, it will be the latter. We will jump to the Commandments Arc immediately after some flashbacks (perhaps one or two chapters later). It will take a too long time to start over from the beginning again (and I'm too tired to do it).
*looking_back_to_the_number_of_my_first_book_and_sigh_considering_how_long_it_took_to_finish_season_one.