Knight of Avalon

Chapter-12

Artoria, Aesc

The Old Wind Capital, 2019 EoHQ:

"So Jack, what do you do here?" Anice asked.

"I…usually act as a guide, guiding any unfortunate soul who stumbles upon this place away to safety." Jack spoke gazing into the distance where Artoria saw humungous skeletons lying on the fields.

Giant skeletons? Artoria thought as she looked at a massive skull looking at her.

"Many lives have been lost in these old, worn out streets. This city does not need to claim any more lives than it already has." Jack spoke.

"Could you tell us more?" Artoria asked.

"This city was once the pride of the Wind clan, perhaps not as large as Sunken city of Londinum, but certainly grander than Salisbury." Jack spoke as he led the group into city outskirts."

"I don't see a wall anywhere." Da Vinci noted.

"Lord Gwyn. He'd set up a wind barrier around the city that was tougher than any wall in Britain. Of course, it had been burned away during the Great Calamity." Jack spoke before letting out a morbid chuckle.

"I suppose that with it's people dying and their corpses becoming the Nameless Woods, the city no longer needed such an old little barrier."

"Were you…?" Artoria asked as Jack nodded.

"Indeed…I too was once a resident of this place. I even became a Will O' The Wisp before my soul was put into a Pumpkin."

"Who were you…before that?"

"A labourer on Lord Gwyn's wheat fields. Sometimes I had to drive away pests, but nothing much other than that."

"Were you a victim of the calamity?"

"The Calamity of Tears? Huh, I suppose…not. I do not remember having dreams like the Spriggans."

Artoria and Da Vinci exchanged looks.

"It's a funny thing. The Spriggans say they dream of red tears, but of course that means the calamity itself when the people of this city cried out tears of blood until they were left with nothing but their poor souls clinging onto the husks of what was once their bodies. I don't remember that, so…It must mean I have died, yet I cannot remember how."

"Oh…" Artoria spoke. "So, what should we expect here?"

"Bloody Bones." Jack replied. "While the fairies became the nameless woods during the Calamity of Tears, the humans who remained in the city were turned into ghoulish monsters with an eternal hunger for flesh, whether human or fae. Considering the nameless woods is a place for many outcastes, many end up as their meals."

Da Vinci shook her head with a sigh.

"And despite all that, they still come here."

"I do not blame them. The Nameless Woods may be dangerous for many, but for those who hate their lives…they are a chance for rebirth."

"A chance for rebirth…" Artoria muttered.

"The Nameless Woods may wipe your memories, but it takes a very long time for them to do so again. And so, a band of escaped convicts got together and headed into the Nameless Woods to settle into this city."

"...And?"

"You'll soon find their corpses. The Nameless woods and the passage of time then have their names erased from history." Jack spoke.

Artoria shivered.

"But there are some who can survive this city's horrors. In fact, I do remember some knight coming here a few days back and making it out. He must have had powerful connections, because he had spells to protect his mind from the Nameless Woods." Jack spoke.

"Huh, did you meet this knight?" Puck asked.

"I did. But they simply asked me to leave them alone. I complied, since getting into unnecessary fights is not me."

"Hee hee hee hee hee hee hee~" Artoria heard high-pitched giggling as she jumped slightly.

What was that? Artoria thought looking around, as did Da Vinci and Anice.

The giggling started again and this time, Artoria spotted something within a house with its window open, but the interior was very dark.

Artoria tilted her head and took a step forward, before spotting two bulging bloodshot eyes staring at her just above the windowsill.

"EEK!" Artoria screamed jumping back and fired a bolt of mana at the eyes, hitting whatever creature they belonged and killing it.

"W-W-What was that?"

"A bloody bones." Jack spoke. "Don't worry. They're just ghoulish creatures, without much special abilities. If you can handle Black dogs, you can handle Bloody bones."

"That…ugh." Artoria spoke with a feeling of nausea washing over her, as the giggling continued.

Artoria then turned around to see something perched on top of the house. It was humanoid, but without any skin and completely covered in blood. It had bloodshot eyes and a wide grin with its teeth showing.

"Hee hee hee hee…" The creature giggled before jumping away.

"They're not interested in you right now. But that might not stay that way for long."

The group kept walking through the desolate city, passing by houses that had vines growing on them as well as Bloody bones munching on any meat they could fin on the roads. Some of them would peer at Artoria in interest but would be put down before they could attack.

Soon, the group reached what used to be a fountain.

"I have a very bad feeling about this." Da Vinci spoke as Anice looked at her.

"Why is that?"

"Well, Mash…I mean, Anice, there's a lot of these guys in the city. We should have heard Ritsuka and Tristan engaging them if they were here." Da Vinci spoke.

"They could have found a place to hide." Puck spoke with a shrug.

"Jack?" Artoria asked as Jack looked at her.

"It is…possible. If your friends are difficult to kill, the Bloody Bones would have left them alone after some time." Jack spoke. "Although I suggest we stop at the fountain."

"What? Why?" Artoria asked.

"The sky is turning to night. It's his time to come out." Jack spoke.

"Who?"

"...A nameless knight. He comes out, and kills anything he finds on sight." Jack spoke. "Again, let's hope your friends haven't run into him."

"A Nameless Knight…" Artoria spoke.

"Ritsuka's faced worse. So again, let's not get any funny thoughts." Da Vinci spoke.

"Well then, I suggest we stay where we are for the time being. That nameless knight would definitely catch us if we moved too much through the city. If we find a spot to settle, we should be fine."

"And this fountain is fine?" Puck asked.

"Absolutely. I know the knight's patrol routes, he never comes by this area. We wait till daylight, and the knight to return to Gwyn's palace. Then, we can continue looking for your friends."

"But we can't just wait while Ritsuka is out there. We've spent enough time." Da Vinci spoke.

"It is only one night. If you have that much faith in your friends' abilities, you may do so. I am seriously warning you, do not try and pick a fight with the nameless knight. It will not be a fight you may come out of unscathed."

Artoria nodded slowly before hearing a booming sound.

"Hurry! To any one of those houses!" Jack spoke as the group went into a house to their right.

As soon as Artoria stepped through the door, she spotted two bloody bones munching on a pile of meat.

Artoria immediately shot two bolts of mana in disgust and killed the bloody bones, before Puck went up and tossed the meat out of the window.

Artoria looked around the house, which was two-storeyed with a living room that had two sofas and a fireplace along with a dining table and stairs leading upstairs.

"Alright then. We'll stay for the night." Puck spoke as Artoria sat down on the chair, only for Anice to catch her.

"Artoria!" Anice spoke in concern before pointing at an iron nail sticking out of the sofa.

"Oh, thanks." Artoria spoke before sitting down on a different spot. Da Vinci and Anice went up upstairs while Puck…vanished out of existence.

Artoria shook her head. There was no way Puck was just an ordinary thief, especially after all the powers he'd displayed during the time they'd known him.

Artoria, meanwhile, simply slumped back on the sofa, looking out at the window to the darkness, with only Will O' the Wisps flying about. The giggles of the bloody bones could be heard as well.

She had heard of the old wind capital from Ector. The illustrious city of Gwyn which had been destroyed by the great calamity in 1 FE. He had a sort of a wisrdul look on his face whenever he talked about the city, talking about its massive urban sprawl and the sheer number of residents that had once lived here.

To think that the great city would end up like this, adesolate ruin in the middle of the nameless woods with its residents being turned into either soulless husks of wood within the forest or bloodthirsty ghoulish creatures doing nothing but scavenging for meat.

I do wonder what Aesc did here. Artoria thought. Her predecessor had to have come to this city before. What could she have done?

"Thinking of someone?" Artoria heard someone's voice as she noticed Jack floating by the window.

"You're still here, Jack?" Artoria asked.

"My presence will keep the bloody bones away. They do not like wandering souls like myself and the will o' the wisps flying about here."

"Oh, thanks."

"You didn't answer my question."

"I…Oh, I-I was."

"...Was it Aesc?" Jack asked as Artoria blinked.

"H-How did you…?"

"You look exactly like her." Jack spoke, his soft voice going slightly jovial at the mention of Aesc.

Artoria looked at Jack.

"It seems like you know Aesc."

Jack's emotionless eyes looked at her.

"Ah, Aesc…so many years have passed since anyone ever asked me about her. I may not have known her as long as her companions did, but she…she was a fairy who had been cursed with hope in a hopeless world like ours."

Artoria frowned.

"Cursed with hope?"

Jack's light dimmed. "Hope. Such a fickle thing. It can raise us to the brightest of stars and drown us in the darkest of waters. But stories…they often think hope results in the former, when the latter also happens. Aesc was one of hope's victims."

"..."

Jack looked back out of the window somberly. "This city had once found itself on the brink of war. The Giants were raiding the Cornish coasts and our lord Gwyn was not leaving his throne to expel them. So, someone had to help."

City of Gwyn, 1990 FE:

"You kill giants?" Ector asked as the group entered the city. Grímr had stored away the giants through some sort of bottomless pocket to fit them in, in order to not attract any attention towards their group.

"Yes, that I do!" Jack declared loudly, inciting a few annoyed looks from nearby fairies.

But despite that, Aesc frowned as she looked around. Gwyn's city was lively, due to the countless human slaves working in the fields of wheat or selling the produce at markets to either other human slaves working at fae households or to merchants from the subterranean city of Norwich located underground.

They still work, but there was an atmosphere of dread around it. The Giants had been terrorising the city's agricultural fields, arriving in the hundreds from Swansea to steal crops, capture fairies or simply release Wales' wild insects upon the fields. Some had even come to the urban areas and thrown spears, the aftermath of which could still be seen on the roofs.

The Awel Souders had driven some raiders back, but the giants' resistance to fae magic made killing each giant come at a heavy cost. The people wanted their guardians to help drive off the threat, but it was not working.

All the city's residents lived in fear of another attack, and that did not help Aesc's mood any further.

But as she knew, one of her companions did not share her worry.

"How many have you killed?" Grímr asked with a grin.

"30, actually!" Jack replied as Grímr's grin fell off his face.

"Enough with the teases, Grímr!" Aesc snapped at hima s he fell silent.

"So sorry, Jack. Grímr loves being ox dung to any stranger he comes across. He just wants to do nothing but tease everyone on their knowledge." Aesc hastily apologized.

"But anyways, Jack. Whose slave are you?" Totorot asked.

"Me? Well, I-I work for lady Iselde, who owns a farm to the southwestern outskirts." Jack spoke a bit with hesitation.

Aesc looked at him with a slight frown.

Liar. She spoke in Aesc's head.

But Aesc shook her head. She had long since abandoned trying to see everyone's secrets. It made her…uncomfortable.

"What do you think of him, Lady Aesc?" Wryneck asked as Aesc looked at Jack moving forward.

"Can't really say much. He's talked a lot, but I haven't seen much aside from him killing that one giant. But…I can't deny he would be great help against the giants, so let's just stick around with him. We can finally decide whether to keep him away or with us once he shows more of his skills." Aesc spoke.

"I see. And what about…?" Wryneck's eyes went towards the direction of the Palace of the White Wind.

Aesc sighed. "Wryneck…don't."

Wryneck remained silent as Aesc stared at Jack walking forward.

Working for Lady Iselde, huh? Aesc thought.

Aesc stopped for a moment and crossed her arms.

"Aesc?" Totorot asked.

"Coming, coming." Aesc spoke as they headed to Gwyn's palace.

Gwyn's spire, 1990 FE:

In her 2000 years of living, Aesc had faced countless calamities and monsters. She'd even managed to beat Mab as well as the Outer Beast in the Calamity of Rifts. But none of them scared her as much as Gwyn did.

Her entire group stood in Gwyn's hall, all bowing before him as was the custom. Behind Aesc's smile, she was shivering in fear under Gwyn's soul-piercing stare.

Gwyn sat on his throne in the form of an old man, draped in white robes with a long white beard with pearl-white eyes that seemed to swirl like clouds. But despite his elderly appearance, Gwyn exuded a primordial power unmatched by any fairy living in Britain. He was one of the creators of Britain, a fairy who'd lived for 10,000 years now. Even Mab herself struggled to stall him for even a few hours, and Gwyn would have killed her within seconds if not for Aesc's interference.

He may be old, but he's not someone to be tangled with. Aesc thought.

Aesc had no doubt Gwyn could see through her, see her fear…

…And the old bastard enjoyed it. Like most of the other Great fairies, he despised her, all because of who she is.

"Brat of Orkney." Gwyn spoke.

"Milord?"

"Stand up."

Aesc stood up, but made sure not to repeat her last mistake and kept her gaze down.

"Thank you for bringing in those lumps of flesh."

Aesc slightly bristled at that. Even if they were the enemy, she did not like the backhanded insult given to them.

"...Getting excited, are we?" Gwyn spoke with a cruel smirk as a soft breeze brushed Aesc's left ear.

Aesc stiffened. She needed to keep her mouth shut, considering she was standing in Gwyn's territory right now.

"Now…welcome to my city. But my question is - why are you here?"

Aesc looked up before immediately looking down.

"Milord?"

Gwyn sighed. "Oh my goodness, what kind of a brat did you raise, Mither? I'm asking what are you even doing here?"

Aesc blinked. "I-I came here to settle down tensions with the Giants."

"Settle down tensions? You? Brat, do you remember the last time you tried to…settle down tensions with Mab?"

Aesc gulped.

"What makes you think I need you to deal with the lumps?"

Aesc's jaw tightened. Now Gwyn was starting to get under her skin.

"Look at me, brat. Perhaps the other clan heads would be needing such help. But I am one of the great fairies. They've only survived this far because I haven't stepped in yet." Gwyn spoke.

"Don't forget this my city, I am older than every creature living on this accursed island. All I want you to do is bring me those lumps so that I can interrogate them."

"..."

"I do not need a useless brat like you to put them down. You may go back and crawl into your little cave. Britain doesn't need you right now. What you can do is"

Aesc…don't. Grímr spoke in her mind as Aesc closed her eyes, her fear slowly giving way to cold rage.

"I need only but a night to wipe this island clean of those lumps."

Aesc looked at him with a scowl. "If you say that, then why haven't you done it yet?"

"..."

"You're one of the six great fairies. This task shouldn't be difficult for you. Or are you saying you're having trouble?" Aesc spoke.

"Aesc!" Totorot hissed as Gwyn's expression shifted into a scowl.

"..."

"..."

"Shall we take your leave, milord?"

"...Keh!"

Gwyn let out a cackling laugh as Aesc continued scowling at him.

"2000 years…*wheeze*...2000 years and you still have your head in the clouds, girl." He spoke.

"I don't even need to remind you how delusional you are. You know that very well yourself."

Aesc's lips quivered. "That's not true."

Gwyn smirked.

"Even your own mind doesn't agree with you." He spoke, shaking his head before his mouth slipped into a frown as his eyes glowed white.

Aesc gagged as air started being sucked out of her lungs.

"Aesc…!" Totorot spoke in concern but Gwyn merely gazed at the others as they were pushed down by an invisible force.

"Enough with the jokes, Aesc the witch. I won't tolerate your childish games in my city. I hear one little complaint…and I will incinerate your very soul and scatter its ashes among your clan…" Gwyn spoke as Aesc heard loud rumbling of thunder outside.

Gwyn leaned back as his smirk came back.

"Now, you may take my leave." He spoke as Aesc's breathing returned and she fell down hacking and coughing.

Aesc glared at Gwyn as Totorot helped her up before turning to walk off.

"Hlæfdige Vivian!" Gwyn called out in Old Orknö as Aesc stopped.

"Ić ne hæbbe cweald þa Eotens swā same ić ne hæbbe þe cweald. Þin modor ne wæs gehapu."

Aesc turned back, her eyes slightly glowing as Gwyn gave out a sadistic chuckle.

Old wretch. She sneered in disgust inside Aesc's mind.

Wryneck put a hand on her shoulder.

"Aesc…"

Aesc stared at Gwyn with narrowed eyes.

"Hafa godne æfnunge…Hlaford Gwyn." She replied back in her native tongue as Gwyn laughed.

"Hafa godne æfnunge, Hlæfdige Vivian." Gwyn replied in a polite voice.

"Not again, Aesc." Ector grumbled as the group walked out.

"Ector, please." Aesc spoke massaging her forehead. "I'm not in the mood."

"You never are whenever that old fart is within your eyesight."

"Really? I didn't know dear Vivian had such an impression of me." Gwyn's voice echoed in the hall.

"Krk! Forgive me, Lord Gwyn." Ector spoke with gritted teeth.

"Good. At least you have a sound mind, unlike your leader."

Aesc crossed her arms.

"What now, Lady Aesc?" Wryneck spoke.

"Despite the way he put it, Gwyn has made a good point. We can't allow any of our confrontations with the giants to cause damage to the city itself." Aesc spoke.

"You think he'll allow it?"

"I know Gwyn. He doesn't need us, but he doesn't care if we still fight off Giant raiders. It'll only give him more excuse not to get his arse up from his throne and actually do something." Aesc spoke.

"Aesc…!" Wryneck warned in concern as Aesc looked up.

"He won't do anything. He knows I'm angry, and he's only enjoying it further."

Grímr shook his head.

"But…it is weird with how emotionally charged he sounded. His usual disdain wasn't really there when I asked to help with the giants. It almost sounded like…he didn't want us to help even more than usual."

"Gwyn being defensive? That's rare." Grímr noted. "But please, Aesc. You know he can still hear you."

Aesc grit her teeth.

Your companion's correct. It's risky.

Aesc sighed. "Fine, we'll get down to fighting the giants."

At that moment, Jack came up.

"How did it go?!" He asked as Aesc looked at him.

"Haaa…How it usually does." Aesc spoke dejectedly as she walked past Jack, slapping his arm.

"Come on, Jack. Chop, Chop!" She spoke as Jack looked at Wryneck.

"She doesn't look happy, Lord Wryneck."

Wryneck shook his head.

"When it comes to Gwyn…she never is."

Grímr shook his head.

"Alright, I think I need to talk to Aesc…"

"...!" The group heard Aesc's gasp as they rushed through the halls of the spire to a terrace where Aesc was standing.

"You cannot be serious…" Aesc spoke as the group looked at fires erupting in the horizon on the city outskirts.

The shouts of giants could be heard on the horizons.

Jack stepped forward. "That's a lot bigger than I expected."

"It is?" Aesc asked him.

Jack nodded.

Aesc slowly looked back at the fires, before her head hung low.

…That means its war. Aesc thought.

"Lady Aesc…" Wryneck spoke.

Aesc closed her eyes before taking a deep breath in and a deep breath out.

"Wryneck…send a message to Oxford. Rally your troops. In the meantime…hold them off." Aesc spoke.

"What about him?" Ector asked as Aesc looked at Jack.

"Jack…" Aesc smiled softly.

"Let's see what you can do." She spoke.

Jack grinned.

"Alright then! Get ready to be treated with the might of the giant killer!"

The Old Wind Capital, 2019 EoHQ:

"You're Jack the Giant Killer…" Artoria spoke.

"Really? That surprised my name happens to match that of the Giant Killer?"

"But then, how did you…?" Artoria gestured to Jack's state.

"As I said…I do not know." Jack spoke.

"But anyways, the war ended before it even began."

"It…what?"

"Aesc. She…brought about peace between giants and humans."

"Wha…how did she do that?!" Artoria asked.

Did she seriously just manage to calm down what she'd already writted off as a hopeless situation? Artoria thought.

Was Aesc just that good?

"Hm. She didn't convince the giants per se. She did them a favour…although I do not understand what."

Artoria sighed.

"I'm sorry. Whatever she did…someone doesn't want others to find out."

Artoria perked up. "What do you mean?"

"I mean to say someone wiped parts of my memory, shortly after I became Jack o' the Lantern."

Artoria furrowed her eyebrows.

"Whatever it was, I had seen it. And someone wanted me silenced."

"..."

"But enough talk about that. He's still out there." Jack spoke as Artoria heard distant sounds of booms and explosions.

"He's found some unfortunate creatures." Jack spoke. "Please, go to sleep."

Artoria nodded as she looked at the window one last time before heading upstairs. The others were doing their work, but Artoria felt a little sleepy.

She went to a room and crashed onto the bed, tossing the staff to her side.

I wonder what's the story behind that knight? Artoria thought before closing her eyes.

Next morning, the group headed out, continuing to follow the rune.

"Your rune…" Jack noted as Da Vinci looked at him.

"Why is it pointing towards the palace?" Jack spoke as the rune kept floating forward. "Where the knight dwells?"

"Ritsuka couldn't have gone there…could she?" Da Vinci spoke.

"In that case, we will have to move quickly." Puck spoke as the group began running after the rune.

As she ran, Artoria suddenly felt something. The more they got closer to the palace, the more Artoria started feeling some sort of hatred and anger being directed at her.

What is this…hatred? Artoria thought, as she felt like something had woken up.

Artoria felt a sinking feeling in her stomach. Something had happened, and something told her they were heading towards a fight.

"HEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEE!" The group heard giggling as a huge number of bloody bones appeared by the roofs.

"RUN! Don't stop!" Da Vinci yelled as more light erupted out of Jack, driving off some of the closer bloody bones as the horde began chasing them, intent on eating them.

Artoria's world started spinning as the aura of hatred got stronger and stronger, making her nauseous.

Keep it in, Artoria… Artoria thought as her forehead started sweating.

"There it is!" Jack spoke as Artoria spotted the ruins of what used to be a massive white palace with architecture similar to Salisbury cathedral that had one single spire stretching into the sky.

"Ritsuka should be…huh?" Da Vinci spoke as the rune led them to a square in front of the palace steps.

The square had a fountain, but instead of water, it had white wisps of light churning inside. Beside the fountain, was a single rune of a red color floating in the air.

"The rune's stopped." Anice noted.

"But…where's Ritsuka?" Artoria asked Puck as he stepped forward and put a finger to his chin.

"Hmmm…"

"What 'hmmm'? What's wrong?" Artoria asked.

"It seems…we've been tricked." Puck spoke as he stretched out his hand, with the red rune floating over to it and disappearing.

"Our tracking rune was looking for Ritsuka's hugr. And it found it." Puck spoke.

"Wait…you don't mean…" Da Vinci spoke.

"Someone extracted Ritsuka's memories - her minni component of her hugr - and converted them to physical form as a rune." Puck spoke as Artoria's eyes widened.

"But then…that would mean…"

"Ritsuka Fujimaru's body is somewhere else, with a new set of memories in her mind."

In the Winter palace at Camelot, High Queen Morgan sat on the Ashen throne, with the Slave Knight Captain kneeling in front of her.

"The rune has been placed?" Morgan asked.

"It has." The Captain replied.

Ever since Tintagel, Morgan had a feeling that the Child of Prophecy from there was real. And with Salisbury, those feelings had been confirmed.

Another Avalon Le Fae had come. The planet had sent…a replacement.

Aesc squashed the emotions that flooded within her heavy heart. She knew what a second Avalon Le Fae meant, much more than anyone else in Britain.

All her hard work, all her sacrifices - their destruction. She needed to strike while the other Avalon Le Fae was still weak, and she would not do it personally to avoid spending unnecessary mana.

But thankfully, Britain was a land rife with dangers. All she needed was for the Avalon Le Fae to walk into one.

So, when she heard that the master of Chaldea had been found in Cornwall, a victim of the Nameless Woods, she knew the Child of Prophecy who was based at Sheffield would do so as well and come to rescue her.

Hence, Morgan laid a trap.

With whatever spells the Worker has taught Morgan, Morgan had extracted Ritsuka's memories and placed them in a rune, while the Captain was tasked with placing the rune at the Palace of the White Wind.

There was no way I was going to go back to that old bastard's grave again. Aesc thought. But now, the other Avalon Le Fae had fallen for her trap.

Artoria's group raised their weapons as a horde of Bloody bones charged at them.

"We'll have to break through them before we can escape!" Puck spoke.

But then, the bloody bones suddenly stopped as Artoria heard a gust of wind breeze by her ear.

The Slave Knight Captain got up and walked out of the throne room, passing by the red-haired girl named Hermia, still in her mystic code and Tristram. Tristram nodded to the Captain as they passed by each other.

"Hello, Hermia." Morgan spoke as Hermia and Tristram knelt down.

"I apologize for the rather abrupt meeting in Camelot. I needed a favour done. But now…the issue is sorted."

"There is no problem, Your Majesty." Hermia spoke. "Thank you for sending help when we needed it."

"Of course, of course. Now, I officially welcome you to the Imperial Capital of Camelot." Morgan spoke getting up from the throne and walking down the steps.

Meredick looked in slight shock as his Queen stopped in front of Hermia.

"Rise, Hermia."

Hermia rose up to look at Morgan, who was decently taller than her. Tristram towered over both of them.

"I am in need of your help as well, Hermia." Morgan spoke.

"You see, my kingdom has experienced a lot of upheaval in recent years. Many factions seek to destroy the peace and security I have gifted to this land and throw it into chaos."

"I see. And how can I help, Lady Morgan?"

Morgan smiled.

"I require individuals who can carry out covert operations, unlike the massive armies my Tam Lin need. And with your low numbers yet powerful abilities, your help would be deeply valuable."

Morgan then extended her hand.

"Would you and Tristram be willing to fight for the peace and security of Britain?"

Hermia looked at Morgan's hand.

"Your majesty…if not for your help, we would have been left stranded in the Nameless woods and fallen prey to its dangers. Despite what the criminals at the village said, we understand it can be difficult to manage this kingdom. Henceforth…"

Hermia took Morgan's hand.

"...I shall help you quell these rebels."

Morgan grinned.

"Thank you. I can see that in the coming days, we'll be working much. More. Closely."

"ARTORIA, LOOK OUT!" Anice screamed as Artoria turned around to see a blade heading for her neck.

A/N: Ah, it looks like Ritsuka won't be meeting Artoria just yet. And on the other hand, we get Artoria and her friends put into a trap. In all honesty, I like the way Morgan is portrayed as a genius in LB6, but I also wanted some more trickery and manipulation. Flaunting her power and wealth is nice, but some more 'sneaky Aesc/Morgan' would be nice.

Also, I have realised that I put in more research on fanfics than I do on my college assignments. Seriously, I learnt a little bit of Old English in one day just so that I could accurately write Gwyn and Aesc talking to each other in Old Orknö, which is the lostbelt equivalent of Old English. I think that one conversation was the one I put in the most effort throughout this chapter, and as a result have picked up a lot of Old English.

But anyway, I think we're geared up for this 'Gloucester-Cornwall' arc to end and shall put up their final chapters soon. Ritsuka and Tristan have joined Morgan, so well, buckle up for future chapters.

Hope you guys enjoyed and constructive criticism is appreciated!

Translation:

Ić ne hæbbe cweald þa Eotens swā same ić ne hæbbe þe cweald. Þin modor ne wæs gehapu. - I have not killed the Giants for the same reason I have not killed you. Your mother wasn't so lucky.

Hlæfdige Vivian! - Lady Vivian!

Hlaford Gwyn. - Lord Gwyn.

Hafa godne æfnunge - Have a good evening.

Foot Notes:

Old Orknö: The native language of Orkney. In proper human history, it is known as Old English.

Hugr: In Scandinavia, any creature's existence has four parts. Hamr (The Body), Hugr (The Mind), Fylgja (The Spirit Companion) and Hammingja (The Innate luck to survive). Among these, hugr is the mental consciousness that constitutes memories and emotions.

Palace of the White Wind: One of the largest palaces in Britain's history, built by Lord Gwyn. It is only eclipsed by the Winter Palace of Camelot itself.

Response to Reviews:

NotSpecialDude: Yup. I figured there would be people who wouldn't agree with my take. But that's just my personal feelings and opinion, I feel like Morgan got little exploration in the story. But anyways, I won't drastically change Aesc's backstory, just narrate it in a different way and flesh it out a bit. Whether it's better or worse than canon depends on the readers, but I want it to be satisfactory to what I expected from Aesc/Morgan. I do hope you like it.

Journey to the End: Yeah. Its time I started building up Artoria's relationship with Kay. For the last chapters, I've had her be slightly wary of him. But in the end, especially after Kay defended her legitimacy, its time I started having Castoria warm up to Kay.

Sinner and Redeemer: Well...there's still a way to go before we can get down to Ritsuka properly joining Artoria and the others.