Genolution
Hello there
- Location
- [DATA EXPUNGED]
Who knows, maybe Swordo will fake us out and Kojiro will end up being summoned on the protag's side like Marie or Georgios was canonically.
Fate/Sunny Order (FGO)
- Thread starter Swordomatic
- Start date
Chapter France - Pt. 2
- Location
- Singapore
The forests that cover France provide much-needed cover and concealment from the winged menace that dominates the land. It gives them time to think and collect themselves, while a link is established with Chaldea and they only have to busy themselves with the occasional ground-locked pack of wyverns. Without space to maneuver or the advantage of surprise, Kana thinks, they are not so scary. Not when you have Cu Chulainn and Medea of Colchis, ready to blow their heads off at a moment's notice.
They spend the first day simply wandering the woods, trying to get an idea of their location in France from the woods alone. With Medea unable to create familiars outside of her Territory and no time to find a nexus to build it on, they spend the day finding points in the forests where they can 'read' the land with magecraft and build a map from there. Most of the day is spent walking - aside from the aforementioned occasional wyvern attack - and walking in silence at that.
Plenty of time to think about things, and to start asking uncomfortable questions.
"Why would Jeanne D'Arc become a threat to the human order?" Ritsuka asks, voicing one of those uncomfortable questions. On the blue screen floating over his arm, Roman gives him a pained expression. "Doctor, I know this sounds like pointless theorising, but if we can pin down a motive…"
"No, I agree," the doctor agrees through the line. "I'm just… struggling to wonder why a Saint would destroy the land she fought to save, myself."
"Or why she'd have an association with wyverns," Kana adds, arms behind her back. "As I recall, Joan of Arc was burned at the stake, so why would she be associated with wyverns, not fire?"
"There are many references to Dragons in the Bible," Mashu points out, her free hand cupping her chin pensively. "They are wicked creatures, compared to the Devil himself, and we know that Saint George made his name slaying them. Combined with her relation to fire, and… it might be possible that being burned at the stake as a 'witch' has given her power over dragons - but the falsehood of her execution degraded that association?"
"It's a theory," Ritsuka nods, "But I doubt it. Jeanne D'Arc was devout, and it doesn't explain her role in attacking France… The English burned her at the stake. You would think she would set Britain on fire instead."
"Perhaps she seeks revenge on the land that failed her?" Roman suggests. "The only reason Jeanne D'Arc was captured to begin with was because King Richard VII refused to support her armies after Reims was recaptured."
"...Then why wyverns? Assuming it even is her," Kana points out. "Doctor, are you sure she's the threat to France?"
"Leonardo confirmed it herself," the doctor sighs sadly. "The threat you have to stop in this Singularity is the Maid of Orleans herself."
"...All those people," Mashu laments, "They died in their homes, attacked by wyverns… I know that history won't be affected by the singularities, doctor, but we should still help them!"
"We have to be realistic," Ritsuka says to her. "We kill Joan of Arc and they'll be fine. Saving lives spends time and resources we don't have."
"It's worth something," Kana interjects, before the two of them can have a row. "We still need to know what happened. The fact that half of France is on fire or formerly on fire means something must have happened. Caster, any comments?"
"If we stop, it should be at a nexus," the Princess of Colchis says coldly. "I could end this Singularity easily, if I had a Temple and some time. Focus on the future, Shielder."
"What, the future they don't have?" Lancer asks bluntly. "Don't kill the girl's innocence, Caster. It's not nice."
"It's a mercy. Innocence has no place on the battlefield."
Kana frowns at being reminded about the loss of everyone she ever loved, present company excluded. She looks over Ritsuka's shoulder at the screen. "Doctor, are we sure no one could survive the Incineration?"
"If anyone did, it's highly unlikely. Try not to think about it, Kana."
"Alright," she pouts. Kana hardens her expression and returns to seriousness. "We'll update you if anything develops."
Ritsuka nods. "What she said, doctor."
"Don't hesitate, all of you. Stay in touch." The screen winks out, and Kana sees her brother's shoulders slouch. He's probably thinking again. Never a good sign.
"What's on your mind?" Kana asks.
"Jeanne D'Arc was one of the foremost military minds of her generation. She was a brilliant general at the age of eighteen. She was a master of cannonry and a rousing leader! And now she has an army of flying lizards. We haven't run into any so far, but I'll bet that a few have fire breath or worse." He inhales sharply and pinches his nose. Ritsuka exhales heavily. "We are fighting an uphill battle here, Kana. And we don't know her goals, her methods, her limits, or even if it's actually her. How am I supposed to fight like this?!"
Kana frowns, and then slaps him on the back of the neck. It's loud and it stings but Ritsuka only turns around and half-swears. He's getting better. "We deal and we stay aware of what we have," she tells him, before Ritsuka can tirade more. "It won't be easy, but it's hardly impossible. Calm down, and think about our strategy."
"Our strategy will crumple the moment it meets theirs if we don't know what her strategy is," he retorts.
"Then we make shit up and deal," Kana explains. "Better half a plan than no plan. But if we knew what is going on…"
Ritsuka sighs while Mashu behind her perks up slightly. "Lancer, where's the nearest hamlet?" The man in blue points in a random direction, through the woods. "We'll go ask around. Maybe Kana's right and we'll find something useful."
"We're talking to people who live here," Kana says brightly, "Of course it'll be useful."
"What are we waiting for?" Mashu asks hopefully. "Let's go!"
----
History has no name for the sleepy hamlet they arrive at. It is simply one of many villages in France, too small to have a name. But as they break through the woods and catch their first glimpses of civilisation, Kana hears the wind flapping, and the distant clash of steel. Fighting. The hamlet is under attack.
Lancer moves first, beastial agility brigning him straight into the fray before any of them need to order him around. Caster takes to the skies, where her magic can be of most use. The rest of them chase after, making sure to stay behind Mashu's shield and under Medea's cover. All it takes is a bad hit for Chaldea to lose another priceless asset.
Running makes way to jogging and then to walking carefully as they arrive to the village, however, choked with rubble as it is. Every so often they catch a glimpse of a person, children hiding in boltholes or old ladies wailing about curses. The militiamen they do come across are all dead, barely armed and totally unarmored. They wield pitchforks and knives, as far as Kana can tell. Nothing properly built for war, just anything they could get their hands on.
By the time they arrive at the heart of battle in the middle of the hamlet, however, it is nearly over. Lancer is in the air as they arrive, one hand wringing the life out of a wyvern while his legs blows another's head off with a kick, all while Gae Bolg pins three to the ground, free to be killed. They die in explosive conflagrations, fireballs tinged with magical energy, in a manner that is all too familiar but also alien.
And then they see her. Past a young girl barely their own age wearing a large hat, past the few dozen militiamen carrying butcher knives and pitchforks and stones against monsters, and past even Lancer as he is picked up by a wyvern that is quickly incinerated by Caster, is a woman with golden spun hair tied into a braid, carrying a banner that displays the fleur de lis proudly. Her voice rings out across the battlefield, strong but melodious, and it fills them with confidence. That despite everything, it will all get better. That if they follow her, it will all be fine.
The battle ends literal minutes after that, the last of the wyverns fleeing the scene. As the frenchmen cheer and the townsfolk emerge to thank their saviors, the woman in blonde walks towards the three of them, banner still held high and fluttering in the wind. As she approaches, and the high of battle fades, it becomes more and more clear that the woman is their own age, if that. She smiles thankfully at them, and she speaks as if she already knows of them.
"You have come, Masters of Chaldea! I prayed for your arrival, and bless you, you come just in time to save them." She curtsies, lifting her skirt, and the girl she is with clasps her hands joyously together at the act. "I am Jeanne D'Arc, Servant Ruler. This is Servant Rider, Marie Antoinette. I hope we can work together to save France."
"Bonjour!" The young girl with a big hat, twintails, and many gemstones waves cheerfully. "I hope to work well together!"
"Of course!" Mashu says immediately. "We should help one another, as much as possible!"
Kana blinks. She tilts her head. "Wait, but… I thought you were destroying France," she says bluntly.
Jeanne D'Arc, in her blonde glory, reacts well. She flutters her eyes and claps her hands together. "Oh, that's my other self, the one I am trying to stop!" The peasant girl who would become legend frowns, and looks sadly at them. "Will it be a problem? I assure you, she and I are nothing alike!"
Ritsuka, looking at the girl before them who claims to be the Maid of Orleans, twitches slightly. He puts his hands on his head, and tries to not furiously scratch away. He fails, quite badly. "...I have so many questions," Ritsuka gasps. "The first one, and please don't be offended, is why are you blonde?!"
Jeanne looks at him with a concerned frown. "I've… always been golden haired? I'm sorry if it displeases you?"
"Second thing, aren't you supposed to be really angry."
Jeanne blinks, and somehow looks even more concerned. "Should I be? I-I mean… I could try to be?"
Kana elbows him in the side and clicks her tongue. "Don't be rude you idiot she's nice."
"But is she Jeanne D'Arc?"
"I think so," Jeanne says in a small voice, hands on her cheeks and no longer so sure of herself.
Mashu looks between the three of them and shakes her head sadly. She turns to Marie, the Queen of France still looking brightly at all of them. "Is there anywhere we could sit?" Mashu asks.
"Of course!" Marie says. "Come, everyone come please! We can talk over a bit of cake and wine!"
"We could but we shouldn't," Kana says sadly. "We're in the middle of a war right now. Let's stay focused." She turns to Jeanne, the girl still holding her hands to her cheeks. "Ruler, what happened before we arrived?"
Jeanne looks back and immediately composes herself, hands on her banner. "Two weeks ago, I was summoned alongside seven other Servants, sent by the Counter Force to deal with the Singularity and claim the Holy Grail. But my twin… she commanded seven Servants of her own, and the Grail was already in her grasp."
"Shit," Kana says under her breath, while Ritsuka blanches and Mashu takes a step back in shock. Seven other Servants, plus the other Jeanne. And they have the Grail.
Shit.
Jeanne grabs Kana's hands in her own, the metal cool against Kana's hands. "Please, Chaldea, you must help me. My twin, she intends to continue the war against Britain, by burning all of France!"
They spend the first day simply wandering the woods, trying to get an idea of their location in France from the woods alone. With Medea unable to create familiars outside of her Territory and no time to find a nexus to build it on, they spend the day finding points in the forests where they can 'read' the land with magecraft and build a map from there. Most of the day is spent walking - aside from the aforementioned occasional wyvern attack - and walking in silence at that.
Plenty of time to think about things, and to start asking uncomfortable questions.
"Why would Jeanne D'Arc become a threat to the human order?" Ritsuka asks, voicing one of those uncomfortable questions. On the blue screen floating over his arm, Roman gives him a pained expression. "Doctor, I know this sounds like pointless theorising, but if we can pin down a motive…"
"No, I agree," the doctor agrees through the line. "I'm just… struggling to wonder why a Saint would destroy the land she fought to save, myself."
"Or why she'd have an association with wyverns," Kana adds, arms behind her back. "As I recall, Joan of Arc was burned at the stake, so why would she be associated with wyverns, not fire?"
"There are many references to Dragons in the Bible," Mashu points out, her free hand cupping her chin pensively. "They are wicked creatures, compared to the Devil himself, and we know that Saint George made his name slaying them. Combined with her relation to fire, and… it might be possible that being burned at the stake as a 'witch' has given her power over dragons - but the falsehood of her execution degraded that association?"
"It's a theory," Ritsuka nods, "But I doubt it. Jeanne D'Arc was devout, and it doesn't explain her role in attacking France… The English burned her at the stake. You would think she would set Britain on fire instead."
"Perhaps she seeks revenge on the land that failed her?" Roman suggests. "The only reason Jeanne D'Arc was captured to begin with was because King Richard VII refused to support her armies after Reims was recaptured."
"...Then why wyverns? Assuming it even is her," Kana points out. "Doctor, are you sure she's the threat to France?"
"Leonardo confirmed it herself," the doctor sighs sadly. "The threat you have to stop in this Singularity is the Maid of Orleans herself."
"...All those people," Mashu laments, "They died in their homes, attacked by wyverns… I know that history won't be affected by the singularities, doctor, but we should still help them!"
"We have to be realistic," Ritsuka says to her. "We kill Joan of Arc and they'll be fine. Saving lives spends time and resources we don't have."
"It's worth something," Kana interjects, before the two of them can have a row. "We still need to know what happened. The fact that half of France is on fire or formerly on fire means something must have happened. Caster, any comments?"
"If we stop, it should be at a nexus," the Princess of Colchis says coldly. "I could end this Singularity easily, if I had a Temple and some time. Focus on the future, Shielder."
"What, the future they don't have?" Lancer asks bluntly. "Don't kill the girl's innocence, Caster. It's not nice."
"It's a mercy. Innocence has no place on the battlefield."
Kana frowns at being reminded about the loss of everyone she ever loved, present company excluded. She looks over Ritsuka's shoulder at the screen. "Doctor, are we sure no one could survive the Incineration?"
"If anyone did, it's highly unlikely. Try not to think about it, Kana."
"Alright," she pouts. Kana hardens her expression and returns to seriousness. "We'll update you if anything develops."
Ritsuka nods. "What she said, doctor."
"Don't hesitate, all of you. Stay in touch." The screen winks out, and Kana sees her brother's shoulders slouch. He's probably thinking again. Never a good sign.
"What's on your mind?" Kana asks.
"Jeanne D'Arc was one of the foremost military minds of her generation. She was a brilliant general at the age of eighteen. She was a master of cannonry and a rousing leader! And now she has an army of flying lizards. We haven't run into any so far, but I'll bet that a few have fire breath or worse." He inhales sharply and pinches his nose. Ritsuka exhales heavily. "We are fighting an uphill battle here, Kana. And we don't know her goals, her methods, her limits, or even if it's actually her. How am I supposed to fight like this?!"
Kana frowns, and then slaps him on the back of the neck. It's loud and it stings but Ritsuka only turns around and half-swears. He's getting better. "We deal and we stay aware of what we have," she tells him, before Ritsuka can tirade more. "It won't be easy, but it's hardly impossible. Calm down, and think about our strategy."
"Our strategy will crumple the moment it meets theirs if we don't know what her strategy is," he retorts.
"Then we make shit up and deal," Kana explains. "Better half a plan than no plan. But if we knew what is going on…"
Ritsuka sighs while Mashu behind her perks up slightly. "Lancer, where's the nearest hamlet?" The man in blue points in a random direction, through the woods. "We'll go ask around. Maybe Kana's right and we'll find something useful."
"We're talking to people who live here," Kana says brightly, "Of course it'll be useful."
"What are we waiting for?" Mashu asks hopefully. "Let's go!"
----
History has no name for the sleepy hamlet they arrive at. It is simply one of many villages in France, too small to have a name. But as they break through the woods and catch their first glimpses of civilisation, Kana hears the wind flapping, and the distant clash of steel. Fighting. The hamlet is under attack.
Lancer moves first, beastial agility brigning him straight into the fray before any of them need to order him around. Caster takes to the skies, where her magic can be of most use. The rest of them chase after, making sure to stay behind Mashu's shield and under Medea's cover. All it takes is a bad hit for Chaldea to lose another priceless asset.
Running makes way to jogging and then to walking carefully as they arrive to the village, however, choked with rubble as it is. Every so often they catch a glimpse of a person, children hiding in boltholes or old ladies wailing about curses. The militiamen they do come across are all dead, barely armed and totally unarmored. They wield pitchforks and knives, as far as Kana can tell. Nothing properly built for war, just anything they could get their hands on.
By the time they arrive at the heart of battle in the middle of the hamlet, however, it is nearly over. Lancer is in the air as they arrive, one hand wringing the life out of a wyvern while his legs blows another's head off with a kick, all while Gae Bolg pins three to the ground, free to be killed. They die in explosive conflagrations, fireballs tinged with magical energy, in a manner that is all too familiar but also alien.
And then they see her. Past a young girl barely their own age wearing a large hat, past the few dozen militiamen carrying butcher knives and pitchforks and stones against monsters, and past even Lancer as he is picked up by a wyvern that is quickly incinerated by Caster, is a woman with golden spun hair tied into a braid, carrying a banner that displays the fleur de lis proudly. Her voice rings out across the battlefield, strong but melodious, and it fills them with confidence. That despite everything, it will all get better. That if they follow her, it will all be fine.
The battle ends literal minutes after that, the last of the wyverns fleeing the scene. As the frenchmen cheer and the townsfolk emerge to thank their saviors, the woman in blonde walks towards the three of them, banner still held high and fluttering in the wind. As she approaches, and the high of battle fades, it becomes more and more clear that the woman is their own age, if that. She smiles thankfully at them, and she speaks as if she already knows of them.
"You have come, Masters of Chaldea! I prayed for your arrival, and bless you, you come just in time to save them." She curtsies, lifting her skirt, and the girl she is with clasps her hands joyously together at the act. "I am Jeanne D'Arc, Servant Ruler. This is Servant Rider, Marie Antoinette. I hope we can work together to save France."
"Bonjour!" The young girl with a big hat, twintails, and many gemstones waves cheerfully. "I hope to work well together!"
"Of course!" Mashu says immediately. "We should help one another, as much as possible!"
Kana blinks. She tilts her head. "Wait, but… I thought you were destroying France," she says bluntly.
Jeanne D'Arc, in her blonde glory, reacts well. She flutters her eyes and claps her hands together. "Oh, that's my other self, the one I am trying to stop!" The peasant girl who would become legend frowns, and looks sadly at them. "Will it be a problem? I assure you, she and I are nothing alike!"
Ritsuka, looking at the girl before them who claims to be the Maid of Orleans, twitches slightly. He puts his hands on his head, and tries to not furiously scratch away. He fails, quite badly. "...I have so many questions," Ritsuka gasps. "The first one, and please don't be offended, is why are you blonde?!"
Jeanne looks at him with a concerned frown. "I've… always been golden haired? I'm sorry if it displeases you?"
"Second thing, aren't you supposed to be really angry."
Jeanne blinks, and somehow looks even more concerned. "Should I be? I-I mean… I could try to be?"
Kana elbows him in the side and clicks her tongue. "Don't be rude you idiot she's nice."
"But is she Jeanne D'Arc?"
"I think so," Jeanne says in a small voice, hands on her cheeks and no longer so sure of herself.
Mashu looks between the three of them and shakes her head sadly. She turns to Marie, the Queen of France still looking brightly at all of them. "Is there anywhere we could sit?" Mashu asks.
"Of course!" Marie says. "Come, everyone come please! We can talk over a bit of cake and wine!"
"We could but we shouldn't," Kana says sadly. "We're in the middle of a war right now. Let's stay focused." She turns to Jeanne, the girl still holding her hands to her cheeks. "Ruler, what happened before we arrived?"
Jeanne looks back and immediately composes herself, hands on her banner. "Two weeks ago, I was summoned alongside seven other Servants, sent by the Counter Force to deal with the Singularity and claim the Holy Grail. But my twin… she commanded seven Servants of her own, and the Grail was already in her grasp."
"Shit," Kana says under her breath, while Ritsuka blanches and Mashu takes a step back in shock. Seven other Servants, plus the other Jeanne. And they have the Grail.
Shit.
Jeanne grabs Kana's hands in her own, the metal cool against Kana's hands. "Please, Chaldea, you must help me. My twin, she intends to continue the war against Britain, by burning all of France!"
But if France is burnt to the ground then doesn't Britain win by default?.
- Location
- Singapore
Man, grow some balls Ritsuka. Neither of your parents were ever that flaky.
Max Uristwell
Custodian of the Toobs
- Location
- United Kingdom
But if you combined their flakiness...
Icipall
Don't worry, we can fanfix that!
- Location
- Cold snow fields of Finland
Cu is having the time of his life.
Marie!
Jeanne!
Ritsuka, stop trying to give Heroic Spirits identity crises!
Toasty.
OverReactionGuy
Verified Sanity
Jalter kinda missed the point. At least someone will be able to point it out to her.
Hell on Strikers
Tank Cat
- Location
- The Commonwealth
So Jeanalter's plan is to go Full Belka?
all fictions
I hate you! (it's not against the rules!)
- Location
- Mons Regius
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Well technically, Britain was fighting to take over France as it was supposedly in the right of inheritance of their king. If France burns to the ground, they lose what they were after, and France wins, QED.
GilliamYaeger
M'crazy.
muh rightful clay
Yes, Jalter honestly didn't undertsand.
But Gilles de Rais, in the other hand, just want to watch the world burn.
Mizu
Software Developer
- Location
- Victoria, Australia
bringing him straight
Is it a problem that Jeanne is blonde? Admittedly the modern depiction of french folk in media today has them with blonde hair, IIRC, but perhaps that was different in the past? Should Jeanne have brown or black hair instead, according to history?
all fictions
I hate you! (it's not against the rules!)
- Location
- Mons Regius
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Most art depicts her brown or black haired. Contemporary accounts confirm that.
Minusmagnus
Open Lurker
Oh, that explain why things have already gone off the rails.
From what I remember, in the game vanilla Jeanne had been around for less than a day before she met Mashu and the MC. She didn't even know there were other Servants not under Jeanne Alter running around before Marie and Mozart saved their beacons during the first major engagement.
It's long enough for Phantom of Opera to scour Lyon and find Siegfried. And maybe for Jeanne Alter to realise Saint Martha have been working behind her back to try and stop this mess.
It doesn't explain why it took so long for the party to get here compared to the events of the game, tho. That might be important.
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She was also supposed to be pretty ugly since she was, ya know, a peasant. Not to mention BUILT due to the farm work she did before she went and became God's envoy and everything. That ship has long since sailed I think.
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Theunderbolt
"Prepare for trouble..."
- Location
- USoA
Does he really have a leg to stand on when he knows King Arthur looks like this?
Seihai-kun
[Unverified Wish Granting Device]
- Location
- Brasil
Oh shit, Ritsuka is going to break down hard when he discovers this isn't true.
He still has a hard time believing that.Does he really have a leg to stand on when he knows King Arthur looks like this?
Considering some of the eccentricities of historical figures in various Nasu works, Jeanne being a blonde is downright prosaic.
Deadly Snark
Tryhard As Fuck
Let's be honest, Jeanne Alter is kind of a dumbass. I love her, but she is.
Zap Rowsdower
Ex-cultist vagrant
- Location
- Bright lights, big city
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Bluebeard wanted somebody who would agree with him, which by necessity precludes sanity, intelligence, or both.
Max Uristwell
Custodian of the Toobs
- Location
- United Kingdom
He's gonna open a textbook, see the SAVIOR OF FRANCE and break down crying.
Your father and mother managed it! Both ways uphill in the snow!
Follow the Maid - God is with her. Charisma at work. I think Jeanne has Charisma anyway - she's certainly eligible for it.
The way you know this is intended to be semi-serious is that Marie doesn't say "whassup".
Does he really have a leg to stand on when he knows King Arthur looks like this?
On the one hand, King Arthur doesn't have any contemporary descriptions describing his appearance, unlike Jeanne. OTOH, Okita Souji had legit, no shit photographs taken of him. Presumably Ritsuka raised a whole hue and cry about it off-screen - or depending on the timeline, he will when she appears.
SplicedHunter
Renata
You'd think that after a while, he'd learn how to roll with how weird history is going to get, and how people are going to look.
Boy, you stop your history-buff-isms right the fuck now.
It's for your own good that you just nod and move on. Do not question things, because they will get worse.
I mean...yeah. She's the emodiment of the vengeance and hatred of KOORU after all, and his hatred for France and the world in particular caused Jalter to come out very unlike the way a reasonably hateful Jeanne would be.
Granted, she has every right to be pissed at France for what they did to her, but she wasn't all that smart about how she did things. It did work pretty well though, and if she was a bit more savvy she could've beaten Chaldea.
But c'est la vie and whatnot.