Jeanne D'arc Ainsworths journey: Unbroken warrior

Chapter 11

"As you might know there are hundreds if not thousands of heroic spirits. Each of these heroic spirits also have seven different forms if not more" I said taking a long sip of wine.
"And that was another form of Saber?" Irisviel enquired.
"Yes that was Lancer Artoria instead of using the holy sword Excalibur she chose to use the holy lance, Rhongomyniad. After she had united the British land, became king and made the knights of the round table she returned the lance to the ground from which she had pulled it" I started.
"What? Why would she do that?" Waver asked.
"Because she no longer need the power of the gods because she had the power of her people behind her and she had Lancelot" I smiled gently.
"Why is Lancelot so important?" Saber asked confused.
"At the time in which they fought the invaders and soon fell, Lancelot and Lancer Artoria were only a month away from there marriage ceremony" I said and had to hold back my laughter at the look on there faces.
"Anyway I am sure you know your own story compared to Lancer Artoria's. You chose to keep Excallibur and stood by yourself instead of with your knights so you can see why she reacted to your words" I sighed.
"Ah yes I understand" nodded Rider.
"One warrior to another anyone would be able to understand" said Gilgamesh as even though he saw himself above the rest of humanity he would never discredit his soldiers like Saber had done.
"What are you talking about?" Saber demanded with a glare.
"You disrespected and basically threw away the lives of those that had sacrificed themselves for yourself and the kingdom of Britian. Those same soldiers that Lancer Artoria saw as her lover and brothers" said Salter with a glare that made Saber go silent.
"What I want to know about was the man that looked exactly like Goldie" said Rider breaking the tense air.
"As I said there are different types of heroes, since you have not yet discovered his identity I can't say his name but he is the Caster version of Goldie" I said with a grin as Gilgamesh scowled at me.
"I want to know who exactly that girl beside you is" said Gilagemsh.
"My name is Salter" said Salter her facial expression not changing from bored.
"She is Saber if she would have walked down a dark path of death and torment" I explained before I felt something off but I didn't react outwards taking a sip of wine.
"Waver come over here" I ordered and he blinked but nodded as he walked over just as one of the many assassin's appeared.
"Assassin" said Waver as he sat behind Rider and the rest of them appeared making Irisviel go to Saber. I wasn't really worried seeing as Kirei and Tokiomi would be stupid to attack me. If they did though I could handle them and with Salter here well they wouldn't last five minutes.
"So is this all your doing Goldie?" Rider asked.
"Tokiomi, what a shameful cur" scowled Gilgamesh.
"This isn't fair why are there so many assassin's surrounding us" said Waver making me smile at him reassuringly.
"We are one divided into many" said one assassin.
"An army and also one" said another.
"A servant with many shadows" said another.
"And one" said another.
"A servant with separate bodies for each of his multiple bodies" noted Waver.
"R-rider um, I" said Waver nervously while I finished my drink.
"Oh calm yourself, nothing to worry about boy. Even those rude enough to intrupt our banquet may yet show us which of us is the greatest king" reassured Rider which made both Waver and Salter look at me.
"So I suppose you'll invite them all to our little banquet as well king of conquerors?" Gilgamesh enquired.
"But of course the kings words are meant for all to hear and absorb. If they have come here to listen it matters not if they are friend or foe" said Rider before filling the ladle full of wine from the barrel.
'Lucy you know you can no interfere unless it is self defense' warned Jeanne.
'I am aware but that is fine, we will not have to fight. Plus it we did then I would simply ask Angelica to do the fighting since the rules don't apply to her' I assured her.
'I would fight then even if the rules tried to bind me' said Angelica.
"Now then don't hold back any who would speak with us come forth and take a cup, this drink is as your blood" said Rider trying to show them peace. Unfortunately they weren't after peace seeing as they used a throwing knife that cut the ladle that made it spill on Rider's shoulder and also my own hair making me scowl.
"Very well as I said this drink is as your blood. If you insist on spilling it here tonight then so be it" said Rider as a fierce wind started to whip around us making most cover there eyes other them me, Gilagemsh and Salter. Rider instantly changed into his armour ready for what he was going to do and I was looking forward to it.
"Saber, Archer, Salter and Jeanne let me ask you a question, does a king always stand alone?" Rider questioned. Gilgamesh smiled at the question while both me and Salter had the same answer. A king was never alone because he always had his retainers, his subjects and those that fight with them. Salter may have once though the same as Saber but with working along side us and everything else that she had encountered she knew now a king was never truly alone.
"A king, must indeed be alone always" Saber answered still having trouble with the wind.
"No, no, no you obviously don't understand. I suppose I'll just have to show you all right now exactly what a real king is all about when faced with an adversary like this one" grinned Rider as he used his noble phantasim. It was a reality marble that made it seem like we were in a desert that went on forever.
"A reality marble? That's impossible a mental image materialized into the real world" said Irisviel as Saber held her close.
"My glorious armies once rode across these sands a place that all the heroes who stood with me through joy and sorrow will never forget" grinned Rider as we heard the clangs of soldiers marching. Even though I knew what Rider could do, seeing it still took my breath away.
"I can make this world as real as real can ever be because it still exists deep within our hearts. Behold my endless armies, there bodies utterly destroyed and there souls offered to the current world as heroic spirits of old and still these legendary heroes pledge there loyalty to me. My bond with them is my greatest treasure, my path to kingship. The ultimate noble phantasim that I possess, Ionioi Hetairoi" announced Rider spreading his arms and that's when I saw a familiar face that made me tear up and smile at the same time as all the spirits cheered.
"Wait a minute so each of these is a servant?" Waver asked.
"Indeed they are" I answered wistfully, Jeanne's emotions mingling with mine for a bit. Being of the Ruler class we knew each and every spirit by name and could identify them by the feel of there mana no matter the master.
"It has been a long time partner" said Rider gently stroking his horses neck before turning to his army.
"Hear me, a king must live a grand life and embody his peoples admiration" yelled Rider.
"AYE! AYE! AYE!" the army all yelled back.
"He who is worthy of all heroes envy and he who leads there way that is a king, therefore the king is not alone for his will is equal to that of all those who would follow him to his ultimate glory combined" yelled Rider.
"AYE! AYE! AYE!" the army answered.
"Now then shall we begin our battle assassin? As you can see what we have created is a vast plain and with our superior numbers we hold the advantage. ANILLIATE THEM!" Rider ordered drawing his sword making the army charge towards assassin with Rider leading them. I could tell that assassin had basically gave up making me turn away a little as I felt them get killed. When Rider cheered their victory the army cheered with him.
"That ending is not as much fun as I hoped for, are you alright Jeanne?" Rider asked probley noticing how I had paled once we were once again sitting in the garden.
"I'm fine really" I smiled weakly and Salter placed a hand on my shoulder.
"Very well I suppose that will do today" said Rider getting up.
"Wait Rider I have not finished" protested Saber.
"You may keep silent tonight was a conversation amongst kings but I, no longer recognise you as a king Saber" said Rider summoning his chariot.
"Little girl you must wake from your sad dream and see the truth, if you don't someday you'll lose even that pride you've retained as a heroic spirit. The dream of a king you spoke of earlier is a curse and a burden which blinds and cripples you" warned Rider.
"A what?" Saber said shocked as Rider and Waver left.
"Pay that mongrel no heed Saber you are correct follow the path you believe in. Your agonising pain and terrible sorrow as you bare a burden of kingship that is to heavy a weight of any, is quite a splendid and marvelous thing to look upon. Keep at it oh great king of knights, it is possible you will prove worthy of yet more of my magnificent love" laughed Gilgamesh as he left. I felt Angelica snarl in our mind in anger while Jeanne tried to calm her down and I grabbed Salter to stop her.
"Saber" I called as she looked at me.
"Soon enough you shall understand the burden and fate you have bestowed on those that followed you only then will you understand what you have done" I said shaking my head as I left with Salter. As soon as we got home I was panting and sweating buckets making Arthur rush over to me when he saw us.
"What happened?" Lancer demanded.
"I'm fine, just a bit of magic drain that's all" I smiled weakly.
"Magic drain?" Caster Gilgamesh asked with narrowed eyes.
"Yes I'm going to switch with Angelica" I mummered my eyes starting to close. Once Angelica took control she looked much better other then the fact that her skin was still pale white.
"I guess I should explain, as you know Lucy is of the Ruler class because of Jeanne D'arc. The ruler class has three things that they must do" started Angelica.
"The first is that we must watch over the holy grail war to make sure no one breaks the rules you can bend them a little so long as they don't break. Secondly if anyone has broken the rules more then once or has broken a forbidden rule it is our job to strip them of there command seals and spirit banishing them from this holy grail war and any other that they should live for.  Finally we are to protect the servants from each other along with protect innocent people" Angelica explained.
"Why protect the servants? The war is about defeating the other servants" said Lancer. "Yes defeating but not killing, killing the servants can have horrible consequences, for now Lucy should rest" said Angelica.
"Why does she need rest but not you?" Salter questioned.
"Because it is her mana that gets drained remember me and Jeanne share Lucy's body therefore it is still her mana. She will be fine come tomorrow afternoon, I should also suggest you all rest because Lucy wishes to go after Caster tomorrow night" warned Angelica as she headed to our bedroom.
"But won't she once again have a backlash from it?" Arthur questioned.
"Yes but Caster needs to be stopped therefore she has taken it upon herself to bear that burden" said Caster Gilgamesh before they all sighed even Salter. They wanted to be able to help there master but there wasn't much they could do.
"We will just have to be there when she needs us so let's get some rest" commented Lancer Artoria from the door way looking tired. With that they all nodded heading to there rooms to either rest or meditate.