037 - Madness

Mashu Kyrielight

Mashu couldn't even hold her ground before the onslaught of grasping tentacles exploding from the bodies of their enemies. Some Servant of the Shield, pulling back in the face of danger, like the fraud she is. She could've jumped in the way and protected her comrades in arms, she had the ability to do that much, at least. Instead, she ran away, watching how they were taken by surprise while at their weakest, easily overcome by the unexpected horror.

Siegfried-san, who had been fighting while horribly wounded and then had poured everything he had into his Noble Phantasm and Georgios-san, who had already sacrificed his own noble steed to save Senpai and then exhausted himself creating the perfect opening so the final blow could be delivered.

It couldn't be helped, though. Her shield could only protect in one direction and the thorny limbs were swift and powerful, threatening with surrounding and overwhelming her defenses at the slightest opening. She couldn't afford that, not when Senpai was relying on her for protection.

And maybe it felt a tiny little bit nice to be the dashing knight saving the helpless maiden for once.

… She feels horrible about her own feelings, but the battlefield isn't a place for moping or self-crimination.

Still holding Haku-senpai in a princess carry -don't think about it, don't think about it!- Mashu hurries to reunite with the others. A pang goes through her chest when she fails to find Jeanne-san anywhere, but she tries to find solace in the fact everyone else is safe, at least.

(It doesn't work very well.)

Swallowing thickly, she takes her place amongst the group and follows everyone's gaze towards the small hill in the middle of the flesh garden, where the Dragon Witch stands on a small clearing. Mashu had always been aware of her presence, of course, it's hard to miss that overwhelming presence no matter how shaken one is. But it's only now that she's paying proper attention to her.

She looks clearly displeased, even more than usual. Her eyes are narrowed dangerously and her lips are set on something that's half a frown and half a snarl. She's glaring at the figure standing amongst the tentacles, a newcomer that Mashu doesn't recognize. Who is that man?

"Gilles." The Dragon Witch speaks up, words slow and dangerous and hackles clearly raised. "What's the meaning of this?"

"Gilles?" Mashu mutters to herself, the name seems to want to ring a bell, but… "Who is Gilles?"

"Gilles de Rais. A famous French knight during the later stages of the Hundred Years' War and the biggest Jeanne simp you'll ever meet." Haku-senpai whispers back, shifting on her arms to whisper straight into her ear in a way that sends a shiver down— Don't think about it, dontthinkaboutit! "During his late years, after Jeanne burned in the stake, he descended into madness and did things that would later earn him the name Bluebeard."

"Oh, My Jeanne! Here you are!" The man calls joyfully, seemingly unfazed by the wrath of the Dragon Witch. "Worry not, everything will be fine now."

"Don't give me that crap, Gilles!" The Dragon Witch retorts hotly, abandoning the ominous approach to blow up on his face. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Oh, I simply took care of some annoying pests!" The man continues, the smile on his lips only growing as he spreads his arms wide. "It's the least I could do for My Jeanne!"

"I didn't need you to take care of anything!" Maybe frustrated by the man's lack of reaction, the Dragon Witch crosses her arms and stomps on the ground. "I had everything under control, damnit!"

Ah… It looks like there's a limit on how much you can try to antagonize someone who isn't even noticing before it starts looking like a petulant kid throwing a tantrum. Still, Mashu can't help but feel somewhat uneasy about the whole conversation. There's something wrong in there she can't quite put her finger on…

"Did you really, My Jeanne? You seemed… burdened last time we saw each other, so I thought lending a hand would be the least I could do."

"I… Mind your own business! I don't remember asking for your help, Gilles! I can so take care of everything on my own!"

"Then, please excuse my overzeal." The man bows, still smiling, while his bulging eyes sweep in the direction of Mashu and the rest of the group. "But now that I'm already here, we may as well use the chance to handle the whole problem at once."

"Wha–!? No! You can't do that!"

"Hmmm? What do you mean I can't?" Bluebeard hums, his wide smile lessening a bit for the first time. "Surely, we should dispose of our enemies as soon as possible, there's no need for subtle tactics or complicated plans when they're within reach and we have overwhelming force on our side."

"But she enthrusted— I mean, I can do it on my own!" The Dragon Witch blurts out some flustered words before catching herself and changing tracks to double down on her original approach. "Stop cramping my style, Gilles!"

"That… doesn't sound like you at all, My Jeanne." The man frowns, his smile disappearing completely as he makes to step closer to the Dragon Witch. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Have these disgusting tentacles of yours grown inside your ears too or is your brain rotting with all the cellar dust you're huffing!?" His approach is rebuffed, though, the Dragon witch going as far as to unsheath her sword to slash at the air between them in a threatening fashion. "I already told you I'm fine! Stop treating me like spun glass!"

"No, I don't think you are, not at all. It's these people isn't it?" Bluebeard turns towards them, a furious snarl on his much-too-wide lips as out-of-place shadows spread over his face in a foreboding fashion. "They are still poisoning your mind with their petty lies, aren't they? Trying to twist the truth in their favor so you'll want to spare them from the retribution they rightfully deserve!"

It's at this point that Mashu finally figures it out, the source of that uneasy feeling she's been experiencing since the start of the exchange. The words of the Dragon Witch aren't working at all. It's like she's talking to a wall. Sure, Bluebeard is answering and his replies even make sense when taken out of the wider context, but there's no real interaction. He's moving at his own pace and nothing the Dragon Witch has said so far has made his outlook or intentions shift an iota.

"I'm telling you, they don't deserve—! Oh, just shut up, Gilles! Leave already!"

"Of course, of course…" Bluebeard nods distractedly, busy causing some sort of strange staff to grow out of the tentacles and into his hands, not really paying the Dragon Witch any mind anymore. "Just a moment, My Jeanne. I'll fist take care of these pests real quick and—"

Then he stops talking, because the Dragon Witch just chopped his head off. It's very hard to keep talking without a head, after all. At least, that's what Mashu thought.

"Oh? Why would you strike at me, My Jeanne?" Bluebeard's voice echoes all around now, coming out from the flesh gardens instead. "What's the meaning of that?"

"Shut up, shut up, shut up! I said I will take care of this and I will!" The Dragon Witch loses all composure, waving her blade around dangerously with one hand and summoning an orb of black and purple flames with the other. "And stop with that creepy 'My Jeanne' bullshit! I'm not a thing for you to own, Gilles!"

"Oh, of course! You are still confused." Bluebeard's voice recovers his previous joviality as the flesh gardens start growing towards their group but, Mashu realizes, the tentacles are also creeping towards the Dragon Witch from behind. "Worry not, My Jeanne, everything will come clear soon…"

Right before the tentacles can reach her, she turns around at lightning speed, chopping off the closest one and lobbing the sphere of cursed flames into the mass of flesh. The whole garden seems to come violently alive at that, surging upwards and around the Dragon Witch like a tidal wave to swallow her whole.

For a moment, things seem to calm down after the Dragon Witch gets caught inside a cocoon of fleshy tentacles, but the silence doesn't last. Soon, the constant shifting and squirming of the flesh garden gains a frantic, erratic quality that gradually grows in intensity until an unearthly shriek of pain echoes through the plains and the cursed flames explode from the cocoon, swiftly spreading all over the gardens. Like regular fire would do over an oily puddle.

Thick columns of black smoke start rising from the whole thing, obscuring sight and tainting the skies even as the desperate screeches of alien pain continue.

Mashu can only watch, a muted sense of horror overtaking her as her arms instinctively become a bit tighter around Senpai.

"What…?" She trails off, unsure of what she wants to ask. She doesn't even know what's going on anymore. "Did Bluebeard really just…"

"He turned against what he claimed to love the moment things stopped playing out the way he thought they should. No doubt believing he was doing the right thing from the bottom of his heart." Senpai answers in a strangely solemn voice. "Insanity can give birth to beautiful things, I know that better than most. But this sort of intransigent, covetous obsession never makes for a pretty sight."

"Eh?"

"Ah, I see you noticed too." Vinci-san's translucent figure materializes in front of them as their holographic communicators come to life. "Since when?"

"For a while now." Haku-senpai answers in a voice that lacks much of her usual exuberance. "Want to explain for the audience? Our cute Kouhai looks adorably lost right now."

"Fufun~! Didn't everyone think it was weird? Why Berserker Servants? Why not Saber Servants, Lancer Servants or even Ruler Servants? Sure, they were supposedly being controlled through their madness but that doesn't actually stand scrutiny." Vinci-san starts explaining a hand fixing her glasses and a smug look on her face. "Mad Enhancement makes Berserkers notably hard to control by default and, if they had the means to customize their madness so it'd play to their favor…. Well, they obviously had the power to spare and could've just as easily achieved the same results in more convenient ways."

That… makes sense to her? She's no magus, but it surely would take a lot of power or very intimate knowledge to twist Mad Enhancement to the point where madness itself works towards one's interests. That sort of resource would be better employed by adapting a different key aspect of a Class Container. Like a Ruler's duty to impartially and objectively fulfill their purpose. An army of Servants with a Ruler Template stacked on top of their regular sounds like a frightening prospect. And a much more reliable tool than a maddened warrior could ever be.

"This beautiful and always right Renaissance Woman now believes it was a matter of compatibility." Vinci-san continues, pointing up with her index finger. "The Berserker Servants were maddened because they had to be maddened, because that was the field where their Master could actually load the dice in their favor."

"That explains so much…" The Dragon Witch suddenly walks out of the flames, nonchalantly joins the conversation with an annoyed expression on her face as she tries to wipe soot from her hair. "Tsk, it was obvious when you think about it, wasn't it?"

"Dragon Witch…" Mashu tilts her head in confusion at the unexpected arrival. The Dragon Witch doesn't look any worse for wear, at least physically. That's… good? "...San?"

"Don't call me that, it's creepy." The Dragon Witch demands with a full-body shiver. "Like Gilles. That bastard was the mastermind from the start, wasn't he? I was just a proxy. A puppet dancing to his tune. And I never suspected anything."

"Don't be too hard on yourself." Haku-senpai tries to comfort the Dragon Witch with a reassuring smile that would melt Mashu's heart if it was aimed her way. "You were made to be that way."

"Save your pity for whoever cares about that crap. I only care about paying him back." She huffs dismissively, though Mashu can't help but notice how her usually pale cheeks have gained a somewhat rosy hue. "So what now?"

"What do you mean paying him back?" Mashu tilts her head in confusion, sparing a glance towards the still-burning flesh gardens. "Didn't you just… well."

"Nah, that was just some sort of projection, I can feel his Spirit Origin is still in Paris." The Dragon Witch waves a hand dismissively before straightening up with a frown. "He's also… doing something with my Grail? Or rather, his Grail. Because of course that was a fucking lie too."

"We might be capable of getting some information from our side." Vinci-san pipes in cheerfully. "Just let me take a peek at our scanners and… Ah. We'll get back to you, okay?"

"It's not good news, is it?" The Dragon Witch asks resignedly.

"When is it ever good news?" Haku-senpai chuckles mirthlessly.

It's with some dismay that Mashu finds herself wholeheartedly agreeing with Senpai on this topic.

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