Altered Mordred

Chapter 8

AN: Corrupted Arthur is a mindless Artoria Pendragon (Alter) summoned by Bedivere using the corpse of Arthur and Excalibur as the catalysis.

Chaldea will be in this story but just not now.

The sound of dripping water echoed past the walls of the cave. The fresh water pooled at a point of the ceiling and collected in a cavity carved into the dents of the cave walls. In a frenzy, a lone figure submerged her face into the water to have a well deserved drink.

I lifted my head as I choked from the large intake fluids. Each cough was violent and ejected forth saliva mixed in blood from my throat. The corrupted blade in my chest was aggravating the problem. My condition was worsening; there was so much pain, so much blood loss. I needed to get to end this quickly, or face eternal sleep without finishing what I wished for in life.

A male voice screeched from the route I was stumbling in. It grew louder as I walked closer; the ominous black light at the end of the tunnel was a sure sign I was on the right path. As I exited the cave tunnel, a man of slender build and silver skin was madly screaming at the grail that sat on the pedestal. Beside it was Caliburn, the golden sword of victorious and the blade that made Arthur king. It stood, implanted into the pedestal in all of its glory, in front of the grail. A dark vile spewed from the base of the structure and grew into the pillar that cracked the sky. Right behind them, was a throne of stones; it was perhaps corrupted Arthur's throne.

Bedivere noticed my presence and confronted me, his face distorted in anger and his armor dirtied by silt and blood. His right arm was not proportional to the rest of his body; the skin tones and limb size were different. It was as if he grafted another person's limb to his own body.

"YOU RUINED EVERYTHING!" He yelled. His grafted limb pulsed and I was flung to the rocky walls by an unknown force. Excalibur clanged between my bones, further increasing the blood flowing from my gaping wound. Claren fell from my grip and slid away.

"I brought our King back to life. I e~ven revived Merlin." He brought an arm towards his face. The words he spoke grew more faint than the next.

Bedivere took Clarent from the ground, dragging the blade upon the stone floor as he slowly approached my back. "I gave up my humanity to restore this reality."

He stopped a few feet in front of my downed body. "In return, Lev Lainur Flauros gave me his arm...His demon god miracles and powers. I gave up my humanity for a future."

"A FUTURE you destroyed!" His foot impacted my head and forced my body upward. My head smashed against the rocks; there was no strength left in my body to do anything. I slouched there facing towards the wall, desperately clinging to life. I listened to this madman's rambles and only thought how insane he was. If Gawain was here, I would take back my comparison of him to Bedivere. Bedivere was way worse of a simp; at this point, he was a full blown yandere.

His shadow loomed over me, mocking my weakness. "The revival of Camelot and King Arthur would be perfect. The pillar would consume the world in the king's light and be remade into his ideals."

I couldn't help but be amused at his claims. My mouth opened and a tickle of laughter escaped my lips.

"What are you laughing at?" He questioned.

"It...was never...abo...ut...Arthur..." I weakly responded. Every word took a fraction of my life away from the already abysmal time I had remaining in the land of the living. "It...was... al...ways...you."

"It was never about me!" He screamed into my ear.

"Ev...ery...thing...was...all...for...your...self."

"Stop your lies!"

"You...are...so...self...ish."

"ShutupShutupShutShutup!" I felt a load leaving my left side. My remaining arm dropped to the floor and I felt the cold blade of Clarent on my new wound.

He pulled on my hair to bring my face closer to his. "You know nothing of the suffering I had gone through."

The new affliction jolted my body, giving it more fumes. "And I don't...give a F*CK!"

With all my might, I smashed my chest into the rocky walls. The corrupted Excalibur pushed further into my body. The blade's rain-guard lodged itself into my armor, against my flesh. Behind me, I could hear Bedivere's agony as he cried in pain. The blade was pushed further into my body, enough for the tip to impale his flesh.

He flailed his arms in distress and struggled to detach himself from me. His grafted arm slipped past my hair due to the abundance of blood that soaked it. I saw my chance when I saw his cursed arm before me...I bit down on it with the same savagery as I did to Arthur's neck.

"Let go, abomination!" His anguish only increased my death grip. I twisted my body and we both collided against the rocky walls. I pulled and twisted, using every method I could to rip off this arm.

Then, the limb came off at the shoulder joints with a sickly tear. Bedivere dislodged himself from me. He motioned his remaining hand at where his other arm was supposed to be. Finding nothing, his screams and rambles grew more desperate.

"What have you done!?" He cried out in fear.

I loosen my jaws and the grafted arm fell between my legs. My lips curved into a smile, but no words left my lips.

"You...You...You!" A dark void irrupted into existence behind him. It began sucking in anything in sight of its gaping maw.

"No...Not like this!" Bedivere shrieked. "I still haven't fulfilled my king's wishes. My duty as his knight."

"Merlin! Save your master." He was becoming more distraught. "Merlin, you useless jester, where are you?!"

No one came...Nobody was there to help him.

"Flauros promised that it was my destiny! He-"

"Says time is up." A malicious voice sprouted from the void as tendrils covered in eyeballs wrapped themselves around Bedivere's body.

"Please no." He gave one last plea before the tendrils covered his mouth.

"I gave you my power. I left myself weak for you." A hooded figure protruded from the void. "You had your chance...And you failed."

"Time to pay your dues." The tendrils made one final pull and Bedivere was devoured by the void.

The black hole closed, leaving me alone inside the cave. A continuous flow of blood spewed from my wounds. I attempted to stand on my two feet, but my legs collapsed from the weight. Too tired...Death felt so appealing.

The pillar of black and red light still persisted. Caliburn was the source; even in my state of mind, I could feel it. 

I slid my way towards the pedestal, using my legs as leverage.

Slowly and surely, I reached my destination. I leaned against the structure to regain my footing. My arms reached for the blade, but stopped when I registered their absences. Instead, I tilted my head sideways and bit down on the vertical hilt. The blood and saliva forced my teeth to slide against the hilt. I struggled to lift it...I used every bit of strength left in my temple...It moved out of the pedestal...I tossed the blade away from the holy grail.

The pillar of light flickered and soon disintegrated. The sky repaired itself; the cracks and malicious energy dispersed into oblivion.

Relief washed over my soul when I saw the pillar disappearing. My legs buckled and I fell onto my knees. I saved as many as I could and sacrificed myself to achieve it. 

Was it alright for me to leave now?

"Is this your happy ending, Mister Knight?" A child voiced out. My eyes were clouded, yet I could see her clearly. Lena stood there, beside Egbert and Kenelm. Other familiar faces were among them: the nobles that supported me, the soldiers that fought for me, and the people that bonded with me.

Lena was smiling; it was warm and inviting. I did so in kind.

"Yeah." I nodded. "This is my...happy ending."