I grunted slightly as I opened my eyes, squinting against the ray of light that was making its way though the gap of my tent's entrance, heralding the arrival of morning. I stretch my upper back slightly, hearing a soft clicking sound as I popped my somewhat sore joints. Nero must have spoiled me with that bed she had lent me, especially compared to sleeping on the ground with only a thick blanket to serve as a mattress.
On the bright side, it had been another night that I hadn't had to witness yet another gut-wrenching moment of Mordred's past, though it made me wonder if I was going to have another one? I shake my head slightly, dismissing the irrelevant thought. I had no control over that kind of stuff, so it would be counterproductive to focus too much on that matter.
Now fully awake, I could hear the faint sounds of chatter and clattering, as the Roman soldiers of the camp proceed with their various morning routines. Thankfully, we were nowhere close to the center of the camp, where Nero was and also undoubtedly the loudest area to be in right now. However, I heard the sounds of grunting, and something whistling through the air, sounding to be about a few hundred feet away from my tent.
My curiosity piqued, I poked my head out of the shade of my tent and looked first towards the right, and then the left, seeing nothing. Stepping out of my tent, I looked behind me, and saw the source of the noise.
Mordred was practicing her swordsmanship, striking and parrying empty air in lieu of a partner. I couldn't tell what her expression was, her horned helmet covering her visage, but I had a few ideas why she was doing this.
The first was that she was just doing something. I suspected that perhaps in life Mordred might have suffered from ADHD, seeing as how she struggled to sit down and keep still or quiet unless something big was bothering her, or a few other rare situations. Another reason could be that she was working off her embarrassment at the hands of Boudica at dinner last night. If that was the case, at least she had come up with a constructive way to work out her frustration.
I watched quietly as my first Servant continued her exercises. No doubt an old habit from her days as a living knight, I decided as I took in her figure. Then I felt that someone was standing beside me, though who it was, I couldn't tell. Without looking over my shoulder, I spoke out softly, so as to not distract Mordred. "Good morning."
"Good morning to you too, Jacob," Boudica said, and I turned to look at the smiling Servant. "Did you sleep well?" She asked, a hint of concern in her voice. She really did feel like a mother hen.
"Mhm," I responded lazily, looking back at the Knight of Rebellion. A quiet moment of silence followed my response, as Boudica moved a bit closer, now standing beside me as her own gaze settled on the armored blonde.
"I fear I may have embarrassed your knight last night," Boudica suddenly said. I hummed in agreement, looking at the Knight of Rebellion as she continued her sword drills. "Though I did mean every word I said to her," she added quickly.
"Yeah. Well, as you may have guessed, Mordred didn't exactly have what you could call a happy childhood," I responded slowly, taking care to not reveal too much of Mordred's personal details. This time it was Boudica who hummed her agreement.
"It's a pity that I can't really adopt her, seeing as how I feel that there's probably only a week or two at most left before you guys manage to fix everything. Still, she doesn't seem miserable, at least," Boudica said. I looked at her, quirking an eyebrow at that.
"Your concern….is it because she comes from the same country as you?" I asked.
"In a way. I view all Heroic Spirits of Britannia who came after my time as my children," Boudica responded with ease. "I guess you can say that I especially have a special fondness for Arthur and his knights in particular. Yes, even the infamous treacherous knight, Mordred. Though, I have a feeling that there is more to that now, even if you won't tell me," Boudica added, without accusation.
"Yeah, you're right. It's not my past to share," I agreed, looking back at the very person we were discussing. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Boudica give me another affectionate smile.
"You really do care for her, don't you?"
"Well, yeah. I mean, I care for all of my Servants," I said, confused at her question. I mean, I know that a lot of Masters in the past tend to view Servants as little more than tools, and disposable ones in the end, too. It was just another generalization that kept me away from wanting to do business in the future with the various old Magus families. Boudica laughed softly, and I turn to her once more.
"There's no question about that," Boudica said with an impish hint in her tone. "Something I am pleased to see, too, but that's not what I am talking about." My brow furrows, and I stare intently at the Rider.
"It's too early for this," I said with a soft sigh, shaking my head.
"I can tell you have feelings for her."
"….Come again?" I finally said, taken aback by the brusque manner in which she had delivered those words.
"Oh, interesting. Humor me, please, young one, and tell me what you think of Mordred," Boudica asked. Unable to figure out what she is getting at, I took a few minutes to reflect on her request. Bizarre as she is being, maybe she's has something worth knowing?
"Mordred is a proud and mighty knight. Sure, she has a bit of a temper, tends to boast a lot, and is always eager to get into a fight. But despite her title, she has never once tried to do anything subversive, and has been extremely loyal. I told her when we first met that I would put my trust blindly in her, and I haven't regretted that choice ever since. I'm proud to have her as my friend and partner," I said in all earnest.
"You feel she is incredible?"
"In a way, yes."
"Dependable?"
"Yes, like I thought I implied," I said, starting to get impatient with the Rider general.
"Pretty?"
"Ye—, okay, enough word games," I growled softly, looking away quickly. I am not sure who I am growling out: the inquisitive redhead, or myself? Wait…is Boudica trying to imply something along the romantic line?
Ridiculous! I mean, sure, I do find Mordred attractive, in her own way. I had realized that a few days before the Rayshift to this time, after putting a long amount of thought into it. But, finding someone attractive doesn't mean that you have romantic feelings for them….right?
To my discomfort, I can't deny that there is the slightest of possibilities that this may actually be the case. I shake my head slightly, grinding my teeth slightly.
Okay, well, even if I really do have feelings for Mordred, romantic feelings, I highly doubt that it would lead to anything. I mean, first of all, is this really the time to be dealing with anything related to hormones? Secondly, it could destroy all of my efforts to build a close friendship with the shorter blonde. She doesn't strike me as the one to care for the possibility of romance, and even if she did, I highly doubt that she would consider me.
But…what if she…?
No, stop it, Jacob! Don't fall down this damn rabbit hole any further. Thankfully, the instigator of this brief mental crisis had remained silent, watching me with a patient expression when I look back at her, giving her a stern look.
"Boudica, I ask that you stop this foolishness, please," I said in a polite, but firm, manner.
"Alright. I can see that maybe I was out of line," Boudica responded, before looking back at Mordred. "Forget I said anything. On another note, do you think I should offer your Servant an apology for last night?" She said, to my relief at the change in topics. Despite my discomfort, I will not deny that my gut is telling me that the former queen had meant no ill. So long as she doesn't bring this up, I see no reason to be rude to her. I hum to myself for a few minutes, mulling over Boudica's request before finally speaking softly, my tone warmer.
"You can try talking to her after we finish this meeting you mentioned," I suggested. Boudica perked up at the idea. "I can't promise Mordred will be willing to talk, but I can get her to wait and hopefully, hear you out."
"That is enough for me. It looks like Mordred has noticed our presence," Boudica said, and sure enough, the short blonde was looking at us. "I'll go get breakfast ready, before getting ready for the meeting. Help yourselves to however much you want," she said cheerfully before turning away. I shook my head slightly.
While I could imagine far worse ways that could have started off my morning, this was certainly a confusing one. I walked over to my Servant, smiling slightly.
"Morning, Jacob," Mordred greeted me, her helmet retracted and her ponytail falling down. She planted Clarent into the ground and leaned slightly against it with one arm, the other on her hip.
"Good morning, Mordred," I returned the greeting. "Looks like you had a good warm-up for today
"Eh. I was just bored and figured this would be a good way to do so," Mordred responded in her flippant manner, rolling her eyes slightly as she did so. "So, what did that annoying Rider want?" She said, still on edge in anything regarding the Briton, as I had suspected. I shrugged half-heartedly.
"To be honest, I have no idea. You do realize though that she meant no ill, ri—" Mordred stopped me mid-sentence with a raised hand and a stern gaze.
"I'm not in the mood to talk about last night," Mordred said bluntly. I nod, signaling my understanding, and the blonde relaxes slightly.
"Fair enough. I do know a thing or two you are in the mood for, though," I said teasingly, and the Knight of Rebellion cocked an eyebrow as she straightened up while dismissing Clarent.
"Oh? And what could those be?"
"Well, within the hour, breakfast. In a couple more, a battle to be won."
We were gathered in Nero's opulent tent. Present was the Emperor of Roses herself, Boudica, Spartacus, Ritsuka, Mash, our Servants and myself, and about a half dozen or so Roman officers.
"What are our numbers?" I asked rather gruffly, looking at the map.
"In addition to Nero's legion, we have the Legio V Alaudae, the Legio VI Ferrata, and the Legio XIV Gemina. However, the last two are at half-strength, and remaining one is down a quarter of it's fighting potential." I vaguely recognized the names of the legions. The first two had fought under Caesar, while the latter had been one of the legions responsible for crushing Boudica's revolt. Talk about salt in the wound, right there.
"What they lack in numbers, however, they make up for in their determination to resist these oppressors!" Spartacus roared. While we didn't really respond to his words, he did have a point. Countless times in history have seen an understrength army overcome long odds.
"What about the enemy?" I asked.
"Originally, the commander had five legions. From our scouts, it seems that two of them had been withdrawn in the past few weeks, perhaps to serve as the expedition force that Nero had driven back from Rome," Boudica said, gesturing at the map.
So, we had about the same number of soldiers. Unfortunately, we can't afford to wait for further reinforcements. Seeing as how it took less than twenty-four hours for word to reach the border of Ritsuka and I, I had little doubt that the enemy commander might also know from any spies amongst the ranks. If he had requested reinforcements from his co-conspirators, then we were on a race against time.
"We need to sever the head of the snake," Gilles spoke up, the former French marshal staring critically at the map. An obvious answer, but still one worth voicing. Knowing our current track record, this is going to most definitely be a case of it being easier said than done.
"I doubt no one will disagree with this, but what is the best way to go about this?" A grizzled-looking officer responded, holding a helmet with a transverse horsehair crest dyed a rich blue.
"Agreed. We lack superior numbers, just as they seem to. A frontal assault, perhaps?" Another officer suggested, though he didn't sound too serious about the very tactic he had just put forth. Nero shook her head firmly.
"No. I refuse to sacrifice the entire army just to kill one of these pretenders," Nero countered.
"What if we try to draw them out onto two sides?" Ritsuka interjected besides me. No one responded at first, each of the participants, myself included, weighing the pros and cons of the idea.
On one hand, it could weaken the enemy's defenses but forcing them to defend multiple directions. However, it would mean that we would have to spread out the soldiers Nero and her subordinates had in order to make good on any breakthroughs in the enemy lines. Granted, though, that this could be evened out by the presence of so many Servants on our side.
"I concur with my comrade," I finally said, nodding slightly in Ritsuka's direction. "Furthermore, I suggest that we focus primarily on breaking into the enemy camp with a small, elite force while the rest pin down the main line of resistance. As Gilles said, we kill the enemy general, his men will undoubtedly break ranks and retreat, Your Majesty," I added, finding my support for Ritsuka's idea growing stronger the more I think on it.
"Spartacus and I will take the Sixth and Fourteenth legions, and will focus our assault on the right flank," Boudica jumped in, signaling her own agreement with the plan, while beside her the massive Berserker threw back his head to release a roar of laughter before ranting about how we would crush the oppressors and whatnot.
And I had thought that Mordred was rather battle-hungry…
"Does anyone have any problems with the plan?" Nero asked, having been swayed it seems, her eyes sweeping across all present, looking somewhat impatient. Seeing and hearing no oppositions from her subordinates, Nero nodded.
"Very good, then. We move out in one hour," Nero said, waving a hand to dismisses us, and then left, as everyone else began to file out. I had a feeling she was going to give her soldiers a pre-battle speech, and thankfully I have an excuse to not stand about and listen to her. I locked eyes with Boudica, giving her a subtle nod. If she wanted to talk to Mordred, now was her chance.
I firmly gripped the pauldron protecting Mordred's right shoulder, keeping her in place as everyone else but Boudica left. She glared at me while Boudica coughed slightly, and Mordred's emerald eyes swung towards the Rider. "Mordred."
"What do you want?" Mordred asked in a mixture of annoyance and impatience, staring at Boudica with a guarded expression.
"While I don't regret my actions last night, or what I said, I would like to apologize for causing you any embarrassment," the Rider said in a calm tone, bowing her head slightly.
"Just…don't do it again, and you owe me," Mordred finally sighed. Suddenly, a smirk came to her lips. "You said you have a chariot, right? That is your mount in combat?" I raised an eyebrow at the blonde, feeling somewhat at ease with the sudden 180 that the Saber just pulled.
"Correct," Boudica said, sounding equally confused as I, whilst Mordred's smirk grew bigger.
"Let me give it a spin after we kick this guy's ass, and we'll be good," Mordred suggested, and a smiling Boudica voiced her consent to the idea. I shivered slightly, the hairs on the back of my neck standing up slightly, as if an invisible entity was warning me of danger. I forced it down, shaking my head and feeling silly.
I mean, how bad could it be to ride in a chariot driven by her?
"Push forward, damn it! Don't let up! For Rome!" Nero cried out, spurring her horse forward while Ritsuka and I, along with our Servants, followed close behind.
The battle had started over an hour ago, and we were only now finally beginning to make serious forward progress. First, Chiron led the Roman archers into firing three devastating volleys even as the rest of our army completed its final preparations. The first volley had essentially wiped out most of the United Empire's missile troops, while the second and third had inflicted slightly less amount of loss
Nero's Legio I Italica had borne the brunt of the enemy's countercharge, which had swiftly devolved into a bloody stalemate for a good fifteen minutes. It was hard for me to drown out the sounds of soldiers shouting and cursing at one another. The horrid cries for help, or pleas to the Roman deities of the wounded, while the dying cried out for their mothers, their fathers…
War truly is hell.
I almost fell to my knees with sheer relief when the center of the enemy line began to buckle, and the ranks of the rearmost soldiers began dissolving as a call to retreat billowed forth. Nero then ordered the advance, and now we were approaching the outskirts of the enemy encampment. A formidable structure, with tall wooden palisades, the front gate hanging open when suddenly, two things happened simultaneously.
The first was a series of explosions of sort as sections of the fort were turned into splinters, while the second was my commlink going off. I had a feeling they were connected somehow, and I was proven right as I activated it, and an alarmed-sounding Roman shouted through our connection.
"New enemy signature inbound! Magical creature, be careful!" Doctor Roman called out over the commlink, just as somewhere between thirty to forty large, humanoid-looking things appeared from the various holes in the encampment's wall. They looked to be made of solid rock, and each had a bestial-shaped head with eyes made of bright rubies. A wave of uncertainty overtook Nero's soldiers at this latest development, while the soldiers of the United Empire began cheering, rallying once more.
"Golems!" I don't know who had shouted out the word, but there was no mistaking the animated statues as golems.
"Hold your ground!" Nero bellowed loudly, waving her sword over her head and forcing her mount to rear up onto its hind legs. "They are merely lifeless puppets! Hold your ground, and fight hard! Archers, form ranks at the rear and focus on the enemy formation! Don't let them form up again!" Her words seemed to have been imbued with a sense of command, of authority. Her charisma, perhaps?
Whatever it was, the end result was still the same. Discipline among the ranks were restored, and in a few seconds the auxiliaries that served as the army's archers released a volley upon the heads of the United Empire soldiers.
"Praetor," Nero called out, and I turned to her. "Can your knights deal with these creatures?" She asked, gesturing at the golems. I answered without missing a beat.
"Leave it to us," I said, turning to my Servants. "Sasaki, Jeanne, Mordred! Take them down!"
"Wow, haven't seen ones that look like those before," Mordred said, tapping her chin as she cocked her head to the side slightly, before another one of her feral sneers appeared. "Let's crush them!" I shake my head, laughing slightly.
"Okay, I'm counting on you, Mordred!"
"Right!" Mordred shot back as her helmet hid her face from view, and she activated her Mana Burst ability, before surging forward like a bullet. I looked away briefly to avoid the dust kicked up by her movement getting into my eyes, and when I turn back to look at her, she was almost in front of the lead golem.
The knight leapt forward, pushing herself into the air with one armored knee extended, slamming it firmly into the head of the golem and shattering it. Not slowing down for even a second, my first Servant clambered up the falling torso of the defeated construct before using it as a ledge from which to jump towards another, Clarent raised in an overhead strike.
With a flash of red and silver, the massive blade cleaved the golem nearly in half. Then she turned into a blur, and a quartet of golems suddenly began falling to pieces as the other Servants joined the fray.
Using her flagstaff, Jeanne blocked the fist of a golem, before Sasaki quite literally disarmed the crude-looking construct with a single, graceful strike. The damaged golem raised it's other hand in an attempt to squash the two, when a beam of magical energy from Medea carved a hole through the torso.
In a matter of minutes, the strong but cumbersome artificial creatures were annihilated by the stronger and more agile Heroic Spirits aiding us, and the threat to Nero's followers was ended as they slammed into the somewhat still-disorganized line of infantry standing between the us and the enemy commander.
"Looks like that was the last of them. That still leaves me with a question, however," Doctor Roman reported as we took the moment to regroup while Nero's loyalists continued their assault against the increasingly-thinning UA lines. "Where they the word of an enemy Servant or mage? Or was it Lev Lainur—?"
"Doctor, this isn't a good time," I interrupted.
"Jacob is right! Look over there! There's a gap we can use to get into the enemy's main camp, and defeat this pretender," Nero added, looking furious at the idea of delaying that encounter any further. A sentiment I could fully understand. Even if the enemy army is crushed, if their commander gets away, they would simply raise more legions somehow and essentially leave us back at square one.
"Gilles, Chulainn, Medea, Marie!" Ritsuka suddenly called out.
"Yes, Ritsuka?" Marie asked sweetly. "Can you guys stay with the army, and make sure that they're not about to be ambushed by more golems or even Servants while the rest of us deal with their commander?"
"Piece of cake!" Chulainn snorted. I turned to my look over at my Servants.
"Jeanne, can you and Sasaki also stay back?"
"Leave it to us," Jeanne said resolutely, using my own earlier words against me, and therefore earning a lopsided grin. I shook my head in amusement, before turning to the others.
"Let's finish this battle."
To our surprise, what greeted us wasn't more soldiers, but an empty square. Had those golems been this mysterious pretender's reserve force? If so, why didn't he leave any behind to defend himself, I found myself wondering as we cautiously ventured deeper into the apparently-empty encampment. It just didn't make any sense…unless…
"Servant right ahead!" Doctor Roman called out, and sure enough, a portly-looking man with an embellished longsword strode forth from the central tent, despite his girth moving with a sense of self-confidence before pausing a few dozen yards before us. Looking at the apparent commander, I saw that there was a casual expression on his face as he leaned against his sword. Nestled over his black hair was a chaplet of green oak leaves, woven to look like a crown. He wore red, though his exact clothing was hidden by what appeared to be a solid-gold breastplate, complete with a bulge to account for his gut. He looked at each of us with a calculating gaze before finally speaking after a long sigh, sounding completely bored as he did so.
"…So, you're here."
Orginal A/N notes: And done! I wonder who this mysterious person is?! Anyways, sorry if it feels choppy, but I hope it was good? Also, thanks to Boudica, Jacob has a closer idea to how he feels about Mordred. What did you guys think about that? I hope I did good, seeing as how I felt that I needed to push Jacob now a little closer to the whole relationship thing, but as I mentioned, it's my first time writing this, so please let me know if there is any advice/suggestion/pointers you think would be useful to me in this regard. Also, that Fate/Apocrypha reference XD Anyways, going to be another Servant battle next chapter, so who's psyched for that?! Now, for the question of the day: What's your favorite non-mobile video game series, and if you have one, what is your least favorite? As always, thanks again to my wonderful commenters and my lovely readers, and thanks for sticking to this story! Really am still easily blown away by how popular this story has become, it seems, so thank you guys for taking the time to read it! Also as always, I eagerly await your feedback, comments, and whatnot. Also, potential one-shot requests are still open for discussion as a reminder. Anyways, hope you guys stay safe and warm
Updated A/N: Story is fully up-to-date on my account on Archive of Our Own