Mash was in slight awe of Arieen. Roman had contacted her rather bewildered, because a large shipment of much needed supplies had suddenly shown up in the summoning chamber. The techs were already hard at work repairing the system and their computers now that they had the materials they needed.
It meant they'd be out of contact for a few hours, possibly a day or two, but that was a minor issue.
Arieen had laughed when Mash and Ritsuka profusely thanked her.
"It's no problem. It's the least I could do for Galahad's child," she said with a wave of her hand.
"Galahad's child?" said Ritsuka.
Arieen grinned at them both.
"You really thought I wouldn't recognize that shield and armor? It's clearly Galahad's."
Bedivere was nodding in agreement, as he had recognized it the second he saw her as well.
Mash was stunned.
"Wait...the heroic spirit I'm bonded to is Galahad?" she said in shock.
Arieen looked at her.
"You didn't know?" she asked. Mash shook her head. "How long have you been operating as a demi-servant without knowing the name of the hero?"
"Too long," sighed Ritsuka. "We bonded as Master and Servant under tense circumstances, and we've been calling her Noble Phantasm 'Lord Chaldeas' all this time."
Bedivere stared at her in sympathy. Arieen simply hugged the girl, which had Mash leaning into her. It had been very rough, not knowing who or what she was bonded to.
"Easy, little sister. I can't imagine how much you two have been through, having to half-ass everything because you were thrown into some save-the-world scenario," said Arieen soothingly.
Bedivere looked at Arieen like she had a second head, because he had never seen Mordred act this maternal before. When Mash pulled back, she looked a bit better.
"Feel better?" asked Arieen. Mash nodded.
"How did they get the supplies to Chaldea so fast?" asked Ritsuka, changing the subject.
"One, Tenebrae operates in a minor sub-dimension so they just needed to track down the signal you were using to contact each other to do a pinpoint drop," said Arieen. "Faeries have an easier time going between realms than humans do, mostly because we can handle it better. I've been to multiple Grail Wars to watch the entertainment and even run into an alternate of myself because of it."
Mordred and her master had woken up shortly before she left, and had left with Iris to deal with the pest problem in England. While she wasn't sure how to deal with Arturia, the two had settled into a holding pattern at the moment. It didn't hurt that Mordred treated her former master as her father figure, rather than Arturia and Arturia had no ill-will about the matter.
Then again she had forced the two into overdue family therapy the second she deemed Mordred settled enough. It had been...explosive...for the first ten sessions.
Before Bedivere, Mash and Ritsuka went to rescue Assassin of Serenity, Arieen handed them something.
"What's this?" asked Ritsuka. It looked almost like a seed in a small container.
"They're good luck charms in Tenebrae. Only a select few get the ones I make personally though. If you're going into battle, especially a rescue mission you'll need all the luck you can get," said Arieen.
Technically they were considered good luck charms, but they had another purpose she would explain later.
Bedivere took the charm, and after a moment's consideration put it on and had it hang under his armor. He could feel the protective magic on the bottle, though he didn't understand the significance. Ritsuka and Mash did the same, though with less hesitation.
Several hours later...
Arieen managed to hold her shield spell long enough to get the civilians to safety. She didn't bother to hold back her cursing at the fact that the Lion King had apparently opted to wipe out the opposition.
She had sent two knights and far too many lackeys. It pissed her off things had gotten this bad, all because Bedivere had chickened out in tossing the damn sword at the nymph.
The second he was converted into a fairy, because there was no way this quest of his would end in anything but a last ditch self-sacrifice on his end, she was tossing his ass into therapy.
She gutted another fake knight, and had to roll to the side to dodge an arrow from the fake Tristan.
How long were those idiots going to take!?
She was rather relieved to sense the return of three bottles, because she really didn't want to break out the big guns this early. Doing so meant the Lion King had a chance to prepare for actual opposition, as opposed to what they already expected.
Arieen's expression was perfectly calm, even if inside she was raging. The moment she was told that they were expected to fight Lancelot if they expected anything out of the Sun King, her expression became absolutely giddy with anticipation.
Lancelot did not see the punch to the face coming, but he certainly felt it when he was sent flying through one of the pillars into the unforgiving wall.
Everyone looked at a smug Arieen.
"I have been wanting to do that for centuries," she said with a deeply satisfied expression on her face. "Do you have any idea the mess you caused when you slept with the king's wife?"
Ritsuka looked to Bedivere for an explanation, and Bedivere winced.
"Lancelot was sent to guard the Queen, only to have an affair with her. Someone found out and told the king, which lead to a massive scandal and eventually things went downhill to the point some of the knights turned against the king. As a result, there was a massive fight in Camlann, leading to the king's death."
Ritsuka looked horrified, as did Mash.
"Oh tell them the best part...Lancelot was already married when this happened."
Any sympathy for Lancelot about the epic beating he was about to receive from a very angry Arieen died in an instant. Instead, Ritsuka made a silent plea for whatever nonexistent mercy existed that Lancelot survived...for now.
Lancelot was rather thrown over why this woman had such a grudge against him over that mess. Right up until Arieen tossed her glasses to Ritsuka, who clumsily caught them.
He stared, his expression that of complete shock.
"It can't be..."
"I knew Camlann was inevitable, but I will never forgive you for the heartache you put father through," snarled Arieen. "It took two years of intense therapy just for her to get rid of that damn martyr complex she had."
"How are you alive? I saw you in the city not three days ago!" said Lancelot.
"Alternate reality version, dumbass!" she shouted. Lancelot barely dodged the next punch. "I only came here because Merlin sent me!"
And she was absolutely going to make his life hell when she got back.
Mash, Ritsuka and Bedivere watched with complete shock and fascination as Arieen fought Lancelot with full intent to kill. Something inside Mash was beyond livid with how he was behaving, until she simply couldn't take it anymore.
"Arieen-san...would it be okay if I joined this fight?" she asked.
Arieen barely cast a backward glance at her.
"Try to keep up, little shield!" she called back, which Mash took as implied permission. Arieen calmly dodged backwards from one of Lancelot's blow, allowing Mash to act as her tank.
"Is this...Mash's true power?" said Ritsuka in shock.
"It would seem Mash has almost fully inherited Galahad's will. If she had known his true name earlier, perhaps things would have been different for you," said Bedivere.
Mash and Arieen were a good, if somewhat clumsy team. To be fair, they had never fought together before.
Arieen was still satisfied punching Lancelot's face in for what he did, and seeing him reunite with his child was heartwarming.
Lancelot was still having trouble equating Arieen with Mordred though.
"I don't understand...how is Mordred here, and yet not?" he asked. "You should have died alongside the king!"
Arieen rolled her eyes.
"Right, we might as well get this out of the way...though I'm fairly sure she will have mixed feelings about this. Especially since it was her shade that fought yours back in the Fourth Grail War," said Arieen.
"What do you mean?" asked Ritsuka.
"The main reason I converted my father into a full faerie is because I ran into her shade from the Throne of Heroes in Fuyuki during one of the Grail Wars. Oddly enough this dumbass was summoned as Berserker during that same war," said Arieen, hooking a thumb at Lancelot. "I only wish I had a chance to punch his face in then too, but he died before I got to."
Lancelot's expression seeing a much more relaxed version of the king he remembered was almost painful. Meeting Galahad's "child" as Arieen called Mash was bad enough, but this was a thousand times worse.
Arieen still wasn't going to convert him though. She never forgave him for that stunt he pulled with the Queen.
"Hold up. Faerie?" said Lancelot, staring at Arieen.
"Fufufu...I suppose that since my alternate is here, I might as well drop my usual human guise," said Arieen smugly. "It's been a while since I let my full form loose."
Mash very pointedly stomped on Ritsuka's foot for staring at Arieen's rather impressive bust. Much like the Lion King, Arieen had a very...healthy...chest, with legs to go with it. It did not help that her armor was altered to allow her wings to move freely, and that the chest plate did the bare minimum to hold her bust up.
Lancelot couldn't help the slight nosebleed he got from the sight, and Arieen gave him a dark look.
"Just so we're clear, only my queen is allowed to touch any of this," said Arieen.
"Your...queen?"
Arieen happily projected an image of Scathatch in full armor and her lance. Lancelot's nosebleed only got worse at the sight. He was a man, after all.
As they were heading to the camp Lancelot had made with the survivors of the 'holy test', they all heard an odd bell-like ringing. It was coming from Mash's shield.
"Is someone calling us?" said Mash, putting it down.
"Testing, testing," chimed an all too familiar voice to the knights.
"Merlin...when I get back you're going to be her chew toy for a year," snarled Arieen.
"Is that any way to talk to someone sending gifts?" said Merlin with his cheerful tone.
Arieen growled at him. Merlin wisely took one look at her irate face and quickly changed tone.
"Your Queen figured you were likely running low, so she ordered me to send something your way. The interference has cleared up a bit."
"Send what?" said Ritsuka.
A magic circle formed above them...and three massive barrels that would require some serious muscle power to even move appeared.
Arieen's annoyed expression turned to delight in an instant.
"I'm going to have to do something extra special for her when I get back."
"Is this...liquor?" said Bedivere with disapproval.
Arieen had already lifted one like it weighed nothing, and was very pleased that it was an untouched cask full of the best that the kingdom had to offer. Merlin would live another day, because she had run out shortly before they confronted Lancelot in the Sun King's palace.
Though the confusion of the sudden delivery had nothing on people's reaction to seeing Arieen in full faerie form. Mostly because of her striking resemblance to the king who nearly killed them.
"Sir Lancelot, why did you bring...them...here?" asked one brave knight. His eyes never left Arieen.
Arieen didn't bother to wait on ceremony.
"Alright, where's the nearest tankard?" she asked without any sense of shame. "I have three large casks of faerie mead and I intend to enjoy them properly! Besides, a battle this big needs to be properly christened with drinking!"
Any fear towards Arieen was shot to hell when she easily summoned the three casks of mead...and made a point of sharing it with the entire camp. These men were willing to risk their lives to fight the Lion King and gods knew what...they had earned their last drink.
Besides, it was hard to equate the boisterous, brash and downright mischievous Arieen...with the cold and heartless Lion King.
Arieen still cackled with Da Vinci when she saw Mash and Ritsuka cuddle together while dead drunk. Apparently those two had been a thing for ages, but had never acted upon their obvious feelings once during this entire mess.