Immortal: You know what, I genuinely have no real excuse for this one. Yes, I could say life and work has gotten me busy, but the truth is I just couldn't feel satisfied with this one. I wanted to write something nice and fluffy, but I don't know if it's just me, but writing this felt harder than I thought and I of course kept getting distracted or would delete whole chapters before starting from scratch. Trust me, I don't mean to disappoint readers or to frustrate you all by how long it takes for me to write, but I am honestly grateful that I still get hits, favs and follows of any kind. Plus reviews also still keep me motivated to keep going no matter what.
I had said that I would go through with this story to the bitter end, and I mean to do so. Not just that, but the artist I am working with is truly coming up with something beautiful and amazing, so it WILL absolutely be worth the wait.
Gudako: Well that and the Saint Quartz in my hands both leave feeling empty.
Immortal: Wait what? Are you serious? Even after I pulled Morgan, Barghest, Baobhan Sith, Melusine, Koyanskaya, AND Oberon?! Come on, can't I get some slack?
Gudao: Nuh-uh! Get back to work slave! Don't make me get the salad oil!
Immortal: Wait, when the hell did you get here?! Bah, in any case, as usual thanks to Avenger013 for beta reviewing this as well as to people on Reddit who have found their way here.
Disclaimer: This fanfiction is fan-based writing. All characters and locations are held by their respective owners for the Nasuverse as well as Arthurian mythology. I do not own them in any way, shape, form, or concept to include Reality Marbles, Singularities, or Lostbelts. Please support the official release, but don't go too crazy spending your money on the Fate/Grand Order Gacha!
INTERLUDE: Sir Gareth's First Day at Chaldea.
The spectacle of summoning was something Ritsuka Fujimaru never got tired of. The chamber to summon a Heroic Spirit brought forth a myriad of Heroic Spirits whom she called her dear comrades or strange items that had no rhyme or reason to it. Why Extremely Spicy Mapo Tofu was drawn across time and space to Chaldea a mystery even Sherlock Holmes couldn't quite decipher aside from a vague notion that the Throne of Heroes was perhaps giving a hint or warning of some kind.
"Who do you think will arrive this time Senpai?"
Ritsuka looked to her right to see Mash standing with her and smiling with Fou perched on her shoulder.
"Well who knows? I think that's the best part of the summoning. We never know who will end up arriving. But since Shimousa was the last pseudo-singularity we dealt with, perhaps another Japanese Servant will arrive?"
Fou squeaked and swished his tail as the summoning reached its peak and the room lit up in a pillar of light as a legendary hero was summoned from the Throne of Heroes. From the light came forth a figure who was kneeling in a position of fealty before their new Master. The lights turned on in the summoning chamber as the newest Heroic Spirit stood up.
Ritsuka saw immediately that this was either a Lancer or a Rider from the weapon that was held with the practiced grip of a master despite appearing to be a year or two younger than herself. The appearance was androgynous despite seeming feminine and the Last Master wondered if this Heroic Spirit was perhaps like Astolfo or Chevalier D'Eon.
Thankfully, the Heroic Spirit smiled at her with two pink blush stickers appearing on her face as she spoke in an undoubtedly female voice.
"My name is Gareth! I am the round Table Seventh Seat… a knight who served King Arthur!"
She smiled and the two black tufts of hair on the side of her head perked up, and Ritsuka was instantly reminded of a puppy as she smiled back. But it was the two blush marks on her cheeks that gave Ritsuka a strange sense of déjà vu. Had she perhaps met her somewhere before? Pushing the thoughts aside, the Last Master stepped forward to greet the Lancer.
"Nice to meet you Sir Gareth!", said Ritsuka as she approached the knight and held out her hand to shake, "I'm Ritsuka Fujimaru, this is Mash Kyrielight, and Fou."
Mash bowed politely and greeted her while Fou just tilted his head at her as if puzzling something out.
Gareth was a little surprised at Ritsuka's informality, but when she looked at her new Master's eyes, she could tell that this girl had been through ordeals of her own even though she tried to hide it with a cheerful and optimistic demeanor. so Gareth shook her hand back carefully to not squeeze too hard and said she was happy to be of service.
But then she took another glance at the girl with the glasses before she got a strange feeling in her. She could clearly see Mash standing in front of her, but she blurted out, "Sir Galahad!?"
She moved a little closer and was only an arm's length away when Gareth gaped in surprise before Ritsuka could explain.
"When did you turn into a girl Sir Galahad?!"
Mash's brows furrowed slightly before she politely explained, "Oh uh, I'm not actually Sir Galahad. I'm a Demi-Servant who was fused with Sir Galahad's Spirit Origin. But some things happened and…"
/~/
After explaining some more, Ritsuka and Mash opted to take Gareth on a tour around Chaldea. They informed her that there were other members of the Round Table Knights along with various other Heroic Spirits from across the ages. Gareth was awed to see the various Heroic Spirits and she was especially excited when she saw other Lancers and Riders. Perhaps one of them would consent to a jousting match with her?
At the thought of jousting, Gareth began to recall memories of her previous life all the way up until she was killed by her idol, Sir Lancelot. She kept her sunny and cheerful disposition, but the Throne of Heroes had also informed her about the lives of the other Round Table Knights.
"..reth? Sir Gareth?"
She realized she had suddenly stopped walking and her Master and Mash were staring at her.
"Agh! I'm sorry! I was just lost in thought!"
Gareth got redder and her hair tufts stiffened to the side, which prompted Ritsuka to chuckle and reassure her that it was fine. She guessed that Gareth wanted to see the other Round Table Knights and told her that seven of them were currently present.
Sir Bedivere, Sir Tristan, Sir Lancelot, Sir Gawain, Sir Mordred, Merlin, and King Arthur.
"There are more if you include Berserker Lancelot and the other variations of King Arthur.", added Mash to Ritsuka, which prompted the orange-haired master to count on her fingers what that number would be brought up to. Thankfully she didn't have to count as Gareth eagerly asked for her Master to show them to her.
"You got it! Let's go see them now."
Mash and Ritsuka led Gareth to the simulator as that was the most likely place to catch them honing their combat skills, stopping every once in a while to introduce Gareth to one Servant or other who happened to show an interest. With so many types of Heroic Spirits, Ritsuka showed an innate ability to be on a positive bond with every single one of them, even with hulking brutes such as the Greek demigod Heracles or the profoundly arrogant such as the King of Heroes himself.
Yet it didn't seem like her Master was a powerful magus or something of that sort. She was by all accounts an ordinary human, yet she commanded such powerful legends to fight with her. But she treated them all like people and simply accepted them as who they were while being able to bring the best out in them.
When they arrived at the simulator, they heard the furious clashing of blades from outside and Ritsuka used her communicator to inform them that she was coming in.
"What's the password?", came a deep and gruff voice, prompting Mash to think for a moment before she remembered, "BP, EN!"
Gareth tilted her head slightly before Ritsuka said, "Sorry. I forgot that the Fight Club is using the simulator today. We could still come in and see!"
Once it was cleared, the trio entered and saw that they had entered into a multi-storied parking lot. The air smelled like sweat, heat, and blood as they saw seated on cars and leaning against concrete pillars several members of the Chaldea Fight Club. S
"Yo Master!", came the voice that they heard over the communicator and a huge man covered with scars walked casually over to them.
Gareth's eyes widened slightly at his well-defined muscles and how he proudly carried himself with his hands tucked into his jeans. He had blood pouring from a cut in his forehead and there were bruises all over him, yet he seemed completely untroubled by them as he grinned at them.
"Hey Beowulf.", greeted Ritsuka, "You took a beating huh?"
Beowulf grinned fiercely as he gestured over his shoulder with a thumb to Eric Bloodaxe as he looked even worse for wear, but still was cheering the fight on.
"Nah, but ol' Bloodaxe over there gave almost as good as he got."
Ritsuka introduced Gareth to him and the Lancer looked behind him to see Diarmuid Ua Duibhne in his Saber form clashing with-
"BIG BRO!"
Gawain had Galatine just barely stop Moralltach and Beagalltach from drawing first blood when he looked over to see Gareth standing next to his master and Mash. The last memory he had of Gareth both as a human and Heroic Spirit were not happy ones because both of them were of himself standing over her corpse.
Suddenly his sword was yanked out of his grasp by Diarmuid and the other Saber crossed his blades Moralltach and Beagalltach at his neck.
Gareth instinctively ran to help Gawain only to feel the firm hand of Beowulf stop her in her tracks with such strength that Gareth felt practically rooted to the spot.
"Hold on miss, it's only to first blood. His own fault he got distracted, but I wouldn't worry."
Gareth frantically looked between the Bear of Geatland back to the duel only to realize that Beowulf's words about not being worried were true.
For in that instant, rather than draw first blood and claim his victory, Diarmuid gallantly allowed Gawain to go retrieve his weapon and even went so far as to ask him if all was well since he normally wouldn't allow himself to be distracted even in the pitch of battle.
"My younger sibling Gareth has arrived! I thought I would never see her again, so when I heard her voice I had to be sure.", explained Gawain and the Knight of Fionna smiled before telling him to go and greet his sister.
"We can postpone our match since you were distracted Knight of the Sun. It would simply not do to win even a friendly match with you not at your best!"
"Your words honor both myself and you Sir Diarmuid, and I thank you for it. Gareth!"
Gawain hurriedly retrieved his sword as Beowulf finally let Gareth go and she ran to her brother before she leapt into his arms. The other Fight Club members looked with interest and a couple even felt a little touched at the scene of Gareth and Gawain hugging each other tightly.
"Big Bro! Big Broooo….!", cried Gareth as she hugged him with all her strength and didn't even care that he was wearing his armor as he hugged her back tightly.
Finally, he began to muss up her hair with an affectionate hand, prompting her to laugh and fuss, "Big Bro, stop messing up my hair or I'm gonna get mad!"
It was times like these that Ritsuka Fujimaru was especially happy to be a Master since she could help others reunite in a happy way like this.
After greeting her, Gawain said that the other Round Table Knights weren't too far off and that they should go greet them too. So after bidding the members of the Chaldea Fight Club farewell, Gawain, Gareth, Mash, Fou, and Ritsuka all left to find the other members of the Round Table one by one.
/~/
A short time later, Gareth was reunited with almost all the other Round Table Knights except for Mordred and King Arthur. She had been especially happy to see Sir Lancelot and even though her idol couldn't stop apologizing or beating himself up for what he had done, Gareth reassured him over and over and over that she forgave him because he his actions had been out of love. Sir Tristain's normally unflappable demeanor had been tested when she had been told how he had died, scolding him that infidelity is bad.
She was especially thankful to Sir Bedivere when Ritsuka told Gareth how much he had helped her in the Camelot Singularity, prompting him to feel a little embarrassed but also truly grateful for her words. It was easy to see from the way they doted on her just why Gareth had been so loved by the Round Table. Merlin for his part reminded Gareth to take care of the lance he had given her because he had worked extra hard on it, prompting every person to give him a flat look.
"Now what's with that look that says, "BS!" ?", complained the Mage of Flowers, but he ended up laughing it off and told Gareth that he wouldn't mind some tea and cake like she sometimes would bring him.
The subject was then changed when Gareth asked if Gaheris or Agravain weren't among the other Round Table Knight's that their Master had summoned. Apologetically, Ritsuka confirmed that she hadn't summoned either of them, but that she had met Sir Agravain briefly. Neither had she summoned Sir Palamedes, Sir Bors, Sir Percival, nor Sir Kay.
"Sir Kay was the one who gave me the nickname, "Beaumains", which ended up sticking with me. Too bad that we won't see him nor the others. Is uh… Mordred here too?"
"Yep! Mordred is here also, but I don't know where she is at right now."
Gareth gasped and stared wide-eyed at her Master, "You referred to Mordred as… "she"?"
"Oh! Mordred has come a long way and while she doesn't like being referred to as a female still, Mordred doesn't mind being referred to like that anymore.", explained Mash to Gareth.
When asked why she was so surprised by this, Gareth merely smiled and said, "It's just that… when it was just the two of us, Mordred was okay with just me referring to her as "she" or another girl. My little sister… she's grown up so much. Big Sister Gareth is so proud of her!"
A smirk arose on all the other Round Table Knight's faces except for Bedivere and Tristan who was by all appearances asleep. But Ritsuka quickly held up her command seals and warned, "No teasing and this fact doesn't leave this room. We still need Chaldea for the last Psuedo-Singularity and it will be a real problem if Mordred uses Clarent on all of you until the place gets destroyed. That goes double for you, Merlin."
"You're no fun.", pouted the Mage of Flowers.
But the other Round Table Knights reassured Ritsuka they were just joking and that they wouldn't dare besmirch the honor or press the "don't treat me like a woman" button. Plus, that would also mean a scolding from their king and they didn't want to be rebuked in that manner. That reminded Gareth and she asked where the King of Knights and the Knight of Treachery were.
"Good question. Have any of you seen them around?", asked Ritsuka to the Round Table Knights and Merlin.
None of them knew exactly where they were, but volunteered to help find them if they wanted. Gareth reassured them that it was fine and that they would just search for them, making it her first official, "quest" as Chaldea's newest Heroic Spirit. Gawain proudly mussed up Gareth's hair and smiled, laughing as his little sister complained about him again while the others beamed at her.
The smile she gave, the earnestness by which she spoke, and her heartfelt conviction made it easy for Ritsuka and Mash to see from the interaction Gareth had with the others just why she was so loved. There was only honest, sincerity, and gallantry in her every action.
Even those who had greater deeds to their name or possessed incredible battle prowess simply adored Gareth for being somebody who made them want to live up to their legends even more. If there was a description that Gareth could possess to encompass her, it would be perhaps… "Everybody's beloved little sister."
/~/
Gareth roamed the halls of Chaldea, intent on locating Mordred and King Arthur. Preferably both, but if only one could be tracked down then that suited her just fine. Her Master and Mash had both offered to give her a tour, which the young knight had agreed to. She was informed that the Heroic Spirits of Chaldea had become quite numerous and that even with geniuses such as Thomas Alva Edison, Nikola Tesla, and Leonardo da Vinci around to maintain the energy, it had been deemed that Servants would rotate between being in the spirit forms and their physical ones. If their Master called for them, they would certainly arrive, but for the most part they would either be in their more ethereal states or their physical forms. Some required so little mana to maintain that they could effectively be active at all times, especially the Caster Servants. The Kid Servants were also able to maintain their physical forms at all times and if they weren't using the simulators or their shared room, they were running around Chaldea.
One of them, a girl with grey-white hair and a scar on her face had sneaked up on her and had been poking her before Ritsuka caught her and playfully tickled the small girl who squealed with laughter. Gareth was astonished to learn that said little girl was actually Jack the Ripper, an Assassin and a fellow British servant… maybe. She was wearing a white summer dress and some sandals, looking by all accounts as a normal little girl save for her scars and the marks on her shoulders. Ritsuka casually let it slip that Jack liked to play "pretend" and do this kind of stuff, but she has gotten a lot better.
"She's even stopped using her knives. But you'll get used to this kind of thing and Jack usually stops if you nicely ask her to."
"Yep! We don't even dismember people.", said Jack as she finally slipped from Ritsuka's hold, "But we still wanna do it, but we promised Mommy that we would only do it to people she tells us to."
Before Gareth could clarify the "Mommy", Jack vanished in the blink of an eye and was actually squatting on her shoulder. The surprise didn't end for Gareth as Jack actually started sniffing her. Somewhat perturbed, Gareth asked what Jack was doing before the Assassin told her, "You smell kinda like Saber of Red. But… nicer."
"Saber of Red?"
"Ummm… yeah. We know the Saber and fought them once before."
"Oh! Uh… that's a name Mordred went by.", explained Ritsuka.
"I see! Well I am Saber of Red's sister so I guess that makes sense that we would smell similar."
She reached over her shoulder and carefully plucked Jack off of her before setting her down. Mash explained that Jack would sometimes sniff Servants if she wasn't sure if they were male or female. Gareth nervously laughed and reassured Jack that she may dress like a boy, but she was definitely a female.
"Yay! We love to chop up females, so we hope to get to play with you!", cheered Jack the Ripper as she reached behind her back and produced a pair of wicked-looking butcher knives.
"Okaaay Jack!", called Ritsuka hurriedly as she gently guided the Assassin back, "We're gonna be busy for a bit, so you'll have to play some other time."
"Awww…", pouted Jack before she suddenly heard the voices of her friends, Nursery Rhyme and Jeanne Alter Santa Lily down the hall and running off to go play with them instead.
"That was… certainly something.", said Gareth as she felt her heartrate slow down with the Assassin gone. As she was right now, Gareth knew she would have to get ready before even thinking of tangling with Jack the Ripper. But then she realized with a shout that she should've asked the Assassin if she perhaps knew where she was.
But then she decided with a bright smile that it didn't matter and that eventually she would find her sibling somewhere in Chaldea. It was bound to happen sooner or later!
/~/
But as it turned out, it wasn't as easy as she thought because the tour of Chaldea ended up having them run into lots of other Heroic Spirits and every one of them were interesting enough to Gareth that she would inevitably spend time with them in some form or other.
First she ended up meeting with an excitable and beautiful pink-haired Rider whom she couldn't resist having an impromptu jousting contest with. But this led to her needing to have a steed of some form or other. This led to them having to search for another Rider whom she could borrow their steed from. A blonde Japanese Servant with shiny sunglasses would have been happy for her to borrow his motorcycle, Golden Bear, except that it wouldn't have been a good idea for jousting as Gareth likely wouldn't be able to hold onto her lance and drive at the same time.
They were walking through the halls of Chaldea again when they spotted a burly man with red hair and dressed in the style of a Macedonia king laughing and loudly slapping the back of a lean man with long hair, dressed in a black suit with glasses askew and a cigarette barely hanging onto his lips.
"Oh! Iskandar! Maybe he'll let you ride his steed!", said Ritsuka, wanting to see a joust between the Knight and the Paladin.
"But will Bucephalus be a match for Hippogriff?", wondered Mash aloud before Astolfo suddenly started complaining that his back was hurting.
It was just Astolfo's luck that he said this near the infirmary, where it unfortunately caught the attention of another Servant who threw open the door with a loud "BANG!".
The Heroric Spirit was dressed in a red coat with a black skirt, white leggings, and had a long pink braid tied up in a loop. Overall, she had the appearance of a military officer with a medical bag slung over her shoulder and the loop pressed in between her breasts which made them stand out more. But perhaps the most striking feature of her angelic and beautiful face was the look of absolute determination in her eyes and not more than a little madness. In fact, Gareth noticed quickly that this Heroic Spirit's eyes were as red as her jacket.
Florence Nightingale was in the middle of checking her tools before she heard a voice cry out in pain, prompting her to immediately charged in to see what was wrong. Astolfo hurriedly said that his back wasn't hurt and that he was actually just stretching before he pulled a muscle. The Angel of Crimea narrowed her blood-red eyes at Astolfo in suspicion, prompting the Rider to laugh nervously as sweat beaded around his forehead.
"I see you are sweating. I must determine the root cause of this. Come, we must get a core temperature reading.", said Nightingale suddenly and she grabbed Astolfo's arm in a grip worthy of an industrial vice.
"N-n-n-n-n-ooooo! Master! Save me….!", pleaded Astolfo in terror as he tried to dig his boots into the floors as he reached desperately for his Master. Ritsuka grabbed Astolfo's hand and quickly said told Nightingale that Astolfo wasn't sick and he wasn't hurt, that everything was honestly fine. Gareth also tried to pull Astolfo back, but she found that it took almost all her strength just to keep the pace going slower while the Rider began to yelp that he was splitting in two.
Suddenly Nightingale let Astolfo go and Mash used her shield to catch everybody before the Berserker turned to Astolfo and began to lecture him about the importance of proper stretching and how she would get him some physical therapy exercises that she expected him to do every day he was materialized. So after enduring a long lecture from the Berserker, the quartet were allowed to go.
"Ugh… I wanna go to eat now.", whined the Rider as Gareth began to apologize to him for wanting to joust.
"Joust? I thought we were going to lunch?"
Confused, Gareth stared at the pinkette before Mash played the role of expositor again and told her that Astolfo had a unique trait called, "Evaporation of Sanity Reason D+". According to the legend of the paladin, he had left his sanity on the moon, making him impulsive, forgetful, and absent-minded. Not that this made Astolfo a poor Heroric Spirit because as Ritsuka and Mash described him, Astolfo was indeed a true hero and somebody who they were glad to have on their side.
"Awww, I knew you loved me Master!", chuckled Astolfo as he blushed and promptly threw his arms around Ritsuka, rubbing his cheek on hers.
"H-hey Astolfo, personal space!", groaned Ritsuka good-naturedly before the Rider let go of her.
"By the way.", asked Astolfo as he let go of his Master and looked at Gareth, "Who is she again?"
Gareth stared at Astolfo in frank astonishment at his forgetfulness while Mash and even Ritsuka looked surprised at this. But then Astolfo began to laugh and wave his hand in front of his face before he reassured his Master that he was just joking.
"Should I call that lady back Master?", asked Gareth, slightly annoyed by Astolfo's antics.
"No! Doooon't….!"
/~/
For the rest of the day, it was very much a disappointing fact that Gareth could find neither King Arthur nor Mordred and even though Ritsuka told her more than once that she could call for the two of them, Gareth still insisted on finding them instead of doing things the easy way. But that wasn't to say that the day was uneventful, boring, or even troublesome.
Because everywhere she went, Gareth found herself in awe of the many Heroic Spirits that she was able to meet in person.
Some were funny meetings like with Astolfo.
Other meetings unnerved her such as seeing the Berserker form of Sir Lancelot. She had briefly flashed back to the moment when Sir Lancelot had ended her life, but she kept a brave face and simply went about her search.
Perhaps the most interesting meetings were the ones where she saw different versions of her beloved King of Knights. From stern and cold Artoria Alter to the pure and cheerful Artoria Lily, and from the voluptuous Lancer version to the unexpected male version of King Arthur. It made Gareth's head spin a little at how there were so many versions of her beloved king, all in Chaldea to boot.
But despite all that, she was still not anywhere closer to finding her sister nor her king. So she agreed the next morning for her Master's sake that she would simply accept an arranged meeting and was shown to her room to sleep in and use as her own place.
Chaldea was stocked full of living quarters for Servants to be able to occupy as their own personal space and even though they had no actual need of it, many Heroic Spirits would use beds and sleep in them as it was comforting for their mental states or for the fact that some had never slept in such modern beds before and it was a novel experience.
But for a few rare Servants, they had to be entirely separate from everybody else. One such heroic spirit was Lobo, an Avenger who had a cavern below Chaldea specially built to allow him to roam and allow him direct access to the simulator while having as little to do with humans as possible.
But for Gareth, she was simply happy to be able to have a bed again, and after bidding her Master goodnight, she entered her room and noticed that some pajamas had been laid out on the bed for her. They were in a plastic package with the Chaldea Security Organization emblem etched into the pajama top. Not only that, but there was also a note on them with a cartoon-like drawing of Leonardo da Vinci.
"Welcome to Chaldea! Enjoy your complimentary pajamas. Don't forget to brush your teeth!"
Gareth changed clothes and she was briefly reminded of the old days back when she still lived with her birth parents when she had been a living person. Though she was nobility herself, Gareth had never before worn something so fine for sleepwear, and marveled at just how nice it felt. She re-read the note and saw that there was a small wash room as well along with some toothpaste and a toothbrush. After brushing her teeth, Gareth truly felt ready to go to bed.
As she walked near her door, she heard voices outside and at first felt like she should ignore them. But there was a strange kind of intuition in her gut that told her to check it out anyway. So she opened the door and poked her head out of her room before she gasped softly.
Mordred was there, with her back turned and talking with… with King Arthur!
Both of them looked exactly how she recalled from the last she met them, except Mordred was not wearing her armor and was wearing her underclothes! Her half-sibling, she remembered hating those clothes and would never have shown them to anybody.
King Arthur was not wearing her armor either, except for her sabatons and grieves under her blue dress. The Throne of Heroes had imparted knowledge to her enough to fill in the gaps after her death, and what she saw was in complete defiance of that knowledge, which tore at her to learn.
After her death, Britain had spiraled downward even further into disaster not only due in part to Sir Lancelot and Queen Guinevere's affair, but also in large part due to Sir Mordred's rebellion. While King Arthur had been away at Rome, Sir Mordred had gathered her own forces and declared that King Arthur was dead, and that Sir Mordred, who had been acting Regent at the time, was now the King of the Britons.
The end result was the Battle of Camlann, which resulted in the deaths of not only both Sir Mordred and King Arthur, but the death of other knights she had known including the death of Sir Gawain at Mordred's own hands due to a wound he had been dealt at the hands of Sir Lancelot. Such tragedy and all after her own death.
Gareth's hand balled into a fist and she knew she was going to give Mordred the butt-kicking of a lifetime as a start.
Yet it was strange… her king and the rebellious son who struck her down were talking. Not about anything in particular, but they were talking and smiling even at each other! What was this? This made no sense! How could even King Arthur be so… so at ease with his murderer? Where was the hot-headed and uncouth sibling she had loved regardless of what others said or thought about her?
But as she watched the two talk, Gareth found herself recalling fonder times and remembered how her heart had soared when she knew of King Arthur's joys, of his burdens being lessened, and how she too had wished to help King Arthur in any way she could. She recalled how she had been able to bring forth Mordred's deeply buried softer side and how despite all her faults, Mordred never hurt her and was the only soul whom she entrusted her secret to.
Then the greatest surprise of all happened as the conversation wrapped up.
Mordred quickly ducked into her room and then came out despite looking nervous before presenting the king with a single flower. Gareth had to clasp her hand over her mouth to keep silent, but she realized that Mordred had presented the king with a daisy. Being knights, one of the aspects of their upbringing meant that they had to understand the language of flowers.
The daisy represented family love and affection, but most importantly… loyalty.
Artoria was just as surprised as Gareth was, but took no notice of the youngest Orkney before she nodded and accepted the flower carefully. Mordred looked desperately uncomfortable and seemed on the verge of enacting either Camlann 2.0 or run away in embarrassment. But the King of Knights simply hugged the Knight of Rebellion, who hugged her back.
Gareth's eyes teared up at the moving scene. She wouldn't beat Mordred after all, but she would still give her the scolding of a lifetime for her misdeeds. But whatever else… it seemed that if even King Arthur was able to embrace Mordred, to be given a gift of a flower as a symbol of loyalty, and to be embraced in turn by her wayward son… then perhaps there was hope after all.
Gareth watched the pair separate before they went to their own rooms respectively.
As she herself went to bed, Gareth decided she would turn down her Master's offer to bring them to her. She didn't know still what exactly caused this reconciliation, but she would not take any chance at breaking this in any way. She would simply let things be as they are and when it came time for her to speak to Mordred, to really speak to her she would do so when it felt right. But only talking to Mordred would be half the story. She wanted to see her beloved King Arthur once more, to stand in her presence, to stand by her side, and to learn the other half of the story.
So with this thought in mind, Gareth yawned again, crawled into the covers and closed her eyes. Within fifteen minutes, she slumbered peacefully and dreamt of kitchens and food.
Immortal: Welp, see you folks next time! I hope I can get another interlude in soon because the next main chapter for my story will be a hell of a show!
abed7143: I'm really appreciative of your thoughts here! My biggest challenge perhaps is despite the chaos that is both Arthurian and Fate lore, I want to make what I write here be believable. I'm glad you feel so and I can't wait to show you more of what I have in store, especially concerning Morgan!
Avenger013: As usual, grateful always for your insights and for your thoughts on what I need to do to improve myself! To my readers, I urge you to check out their works as well as they are amazing as well!
