There was silence in the Chaldea team's makeshift camp. "So there's a second Jeanne d'Arc," Rin said, drumming her fingers against her own biceps. "And she's destroying France to get revenge for her execution." The magus turned Servant groaned and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "I suppose it could be worse, but I'm not quite sure how."
"The Holy Grail could be possessed again," EMIYA said with a rather insincere smile on his face.
Rin groaned. "There is that at least. But it's still in the hands of a lunatic."
"Let's not forget that she's probably got her own horde of Servants to back her up," CasCu added.
The other Cu chuckled. "It's not like we haven't handled impossible odds before. Remember that time with the clan?"
CasCu groaned. "Yeah, I remember that one. I don't care how crazy this corrupted Joan is, she can't be as bad as
that woman."
"We'll handle it in the morning," Rin said with a sigh. "For now, Ritsuka needs rest. Maintaining a link to this many Servants at once is stressful, especially on someone who hasn't completely developed their magical abilities yet." The small red-head sat off to the side, watching the conversation in silence. "Are you okay, honey?"
Ritsuka pursed her lips and frowned. "There are
three Mama Sabers. And one of them is evil again."
There was a slight twitch from the blonde King of Knights. "That is slightly disconcerting," Arturia admitted after a moment. "The similarity in our appearances is rather unusual."
Jeanne just shrugged helplessly. "I'm afraid I don't know what to say. Perhaps we're very, very distantly related."
"It's been centuries since my time." Arturia closed her eyes, clearly deep in thought. "It could be possible. I had a fair number of relatives, many of whom had children who survived my reign."
Ritsuka hardly looked satisfied with that answer, but a yawn cut her off before she could press the issue. Mash hurried over, carrying a pack with a rolled up sleeping back on top. "I have your camping supplies here, senpai. We'll figure out more in the morning." She unrolled the blankets and spread them out on the ground, letting the younger girl lay down comfortably. Ritsuka grumbled a little, but curled up on the blanket.
Both Cus sighed. "It's going to be a long night."
"I'll watch for danger, if no one else wishes to do so," Sasaki said, getting to his feet. "The night sky is always so peaceful to be under."
"Do you practice those lines, or do they just come naturally?" Cu asked.
The samurai just laughed. "I think you develop them naturally after days training in the middle of nowhere. Where do you think all the old masters get their wisdom from?"
------------------------------
"Are we there yet?"
EMIYA grinned as Rin winced. "Not yet," she said with a tired huff.
"My apologies," Jeanne said with a bowed head. "My knowledge of this timeline is still somewhat lacking and my ability to locate Servants is limited. We should get there in due time."
"It's fine," Rin interrupted. "Ritsuka just needs to learn a little patience." She looked down at her daughter with a pointed stare and Ritsuka huffed and muttered an apology under her breath.
"I don't think you're going to have to wait long!" Roman's image suddenly appeared in mid-air. "I'm detecting one… two… five Servants just ahead of your position, along with a strong magical signature."
EMIYA jumped up onto the low branches of a nearby tree and looked into the distance. "That is a lot of dragons at the next village. Including one really big one. I'm guessing that's our enemy."
"Everyone ready for a fight," Rin called out, falling back and manifesting her bow.
"Wanna have a little fun?" Cu asked as his spear appeared in a flicker of red light.
Sasaki's blade flicked through the air, testing the heft of the blade. "What were you thinking?"
The Lancer's grin was outright savage. "Let's see who takes down more of the big lizards."
The Assassin's lips twitched up very slightly. "What could be a better test of my blade's capabilities? Just don't be disappointed if you lose." Cu's grin just widened and he slipped into a low, wide stance, his spear at the ready.
EMIYA raised a hand to shield his eyes from the sun. "They're not taking attack positions yet, so I don't think they've seen us yet. Want me to make the first shot?"
"Not yet Papa," Ritsuka said as she ducked behind Mash's shield.
Jeanne nodded. "If it's not too much trouble, I would agree," she said. "This other me… I feel the need to meet her. This darkness… I want to see it with my own eyes."
"That is a terrible idea," EMIYA said bluntly, his fingers flexing and ready to summon forth one of his weapons.
Ritsuka looked up at him. "Please. Miss Jeanne needs this." The red Archer sighed but just nodded, not taking his eyes off the burning ruin ahead of them.
"No one let your guard down," Rin said as the group advanced toward the pillar of smoke rising from the town.
"If they hadn't seen us before, they definitely have now." EMIYA's bow flickered into existence and he fell back a few paces, taking a positon in front of Rin and behind Mash. "This is going to be fun…"
A roar shook the air and the dragons swooped overhead, sweeping back and forth and circling the group to keep them closed in. Ritsuka shrank down a little bit, as the flying creatures surrounded them.
Group of Servants spread out, forming a half circle in front of the Chaldea team. Two women spread out to the left,
one in flowing white robes and the
other in an ornate red dress, covered in metal spines and a cage holding its shape out. To the right, a tall,
pale man in a long black coat and a… probably
man in a blue uniform with flowing blonde hair took up positions. And right in the middle stood a pale, black armored mirror of Jeanne, her heavy fur cloak billowing behind her. "What the hell is this?"
Jeanne gritted her teeth. "So you really are…"
The other Jeanne blinked and just stared at Jeanne for a few moments. Then she started chuckling and doubled over. "This is too perfect! Something like this happening now!" Her shoulders shook violently and she clutched at her stomach, howling.
Jeanne's expression immediately shifted to one of anger, while most of the rest of the team just looked confused. "What are you laughing at?"
The blackened Jeanne finally managed to right herself. "Gilles! This little girl actually doesn't get it! Gilles should…" She looked back over her shoulder and huffed. "Oh, right. He stayed behind this time."
"Are you really…?"
The dark Jeanne chuckled again. "Jeanne d'Arc? Of course I am."
Jeanne's grip around her standard tightened, her knuckles turning white. "That's absurd! You… you destroyed this town. You killed so many people. Why would I do something like this?"
Jeanne Alter visibly fought down another wave of giggles. "Why? You actually have to ask me why? Did your intelligence get lowered as a Servant or something? I think it would be obvious. Revenge. Revenge on France for betraying me." She shook her head. "But I guess that I need to kill you now too." Her grin grew wider. "I'm going to enjoy killing my idiot self. Lancer, Assassin…" She was cut off as a glowing blue arrow tore through the air. She barely managed to move fast enough to avoid having her eye taken out.
"You talk too much," EMIYA said flatly, already notching another glowing missile.
"Get her papa!" Ritsuka called out from her safe place behind Mash.
"Kill them all!" Jeanne Alter snapped, falling back behind her Servants as the four closed in and the dragons roared. There was a moment of total silence. Then everything started moving at once. Cu and the black Lancer collided with a clash of metal on metal, their spears locking between their bodies for just a moment before they separated again. The blue Saber lunged forward, only to be met by Arturia's blade, their swords moving in patterns too fast for anyone other than a Servant to see as they lunged back and forth. The red Assassin waved a hand, calling spiked chains into existence around her, but they were swatted aside as Sasaki stepped forward, his blade moving in perfectly controlled motions to bat the spearing chains away before they could hit anyone. The white robed Rider raised her staff and leaped forward, only to be met by the staff of CasCu. Fire exploded off of Cu's staff while golden light blasted back off of Rider's. The swirl of energy consumed both of them for a moment, scorching the grass at their feet and hiding them from view as they clashed.
EMIYA just clicked his tongue and opened fire, magical arrows blasting through wings, claws, and any vulnerable spot he could find as the dragons swarmed them. Rin's energy blasts fired almost nonstop, hammering the beasts whenever they swooped around to draw close. And Jeanne herself charged forward, her standard batting aside wyverns and blasts of fire as she tried to close the gap on her dark counterpart.
"I told you this was a bad idea," EMIYA muttered as he picked wyverns from the sky, trying to keep them off his allies as they held back the enemy Servants.
Jeanne grunted as she was forced back a few paces before she could get any closer to her evil doppelganger. "I apologize," she said, slamming her banner into the ground and repelling a wave of dragon fire, "For my selfishness."
"How the heck…" Cu grunted as the other Lancer pressed him back, his feet tearing divots out of the dirt beneath him as he was forced back. "Are you this strong?"
"This is a little absurd," CasCu added as he threw up a runic barrier to repel one of Rider's attacks.
Jeanne Alter laughed. "These are my Berserk Servants! Their power has been amplified several times over with a powerful Mad Enhancement. You never stood a chance against them to begin with."
"How horrid." There was a flicker and a beautiful glass rose flew through the air and buried itself in the ground at the dark Jeanne's feet.
"Such beautiful people… all taken over by hate and anger. Surely even those who do evil should be happy, no? That is why I'll stand up to you." Another woman, dressed in a short red dress with a huge, puffy red hat on her head appeared from over a hill, her long platinum blonde hair flowing behind her.
"The hell…" Jeanne Alter muttered. "Another Servant?"
"Ah…" The Berserk Saber froze in place, nearly losing his head as Arturia's blade continued while his nearly froze as well. He tumbled backwards, his clothes taking on a layer of dirt as he bounced across the ground.
"Though I might be a little frightened…" the new arrival continued. "I would fight for my beloved France until my dress is tattered and the last breath leaves my body."
"You know her?" Jeanne Alter snapped, glancing in her Saber's direction.
The Berserk Saber seemed oddly hesitant for a spirit under a madness curse. "Such a beautiful woman… she is the Flower of Versailles, the queen of France, Marie Antoinette."
"Marie Antoinette," Mash echoed, raising her shield to guard against a dragon's talons.
Ritsuka frowned. "She's really pretty," she said after a moment. "But now there's another Miss Marie…"
"Just a pampered little princess," Jeanne Alter grumbled. "You have no right to interfere with us. Someone like you who knows nothing of our fury and betrayal has absolutely no right to get in our way at all."
Marie pouted. "Maybe that's true… I am nothing more than the queen who failed to stop a revolution. But that's why I want to understand you."
Jeanne Alter just stopped and stared. "Come again," she said. The dark Servant didn't even sound angry anymore. She just sounded baffled.
"Do we have any snacks," Ritsuka murmured to Mash. "This feels like something we should have snacks to watch."
"You who were the saint of my dreams… I want to understand how someone like you could simply take your anger out on all of these innocent people! For someone who loved France so much to throw such a painful temper tantrum… And with your other self here, I think that I can understand you. That's why I will claim your heart! No, I'll claim both of you!"
There was a very long moment of silence. "What?" Jeanne said flatly.
Marie blushed. "Oh dear, that didn't come out right. What I meant was that I will have you kneel and acknowledge me as your queen!"
EMIYA groaned. "So many mental images I didn't need…"
The two Cus just shrugged. "Eh, not the worst that we've met," the Lancer said as he kicked his opponent back.
"Oh definitely," the Caster said as he cleared some space with a blast of fire.
"What are they talking about?" Ritsuka asked, cocking her head.
"Grown up things, honey," Rin said without looking down. "We'll talk about it when you're older."
Marie huffed and pouted. "Now that's just rude. Amadeus! We need to go!"
Another Servant, this one in a flowing black and gold outfit appeared from behind Marie. "Of course my lady. Allow me to perform a special piece just for this moment. Requiem for Death!"
The air rippled with sound as the horrible noise pressed down on all of the combatants. "Argh." Jeanne Alter dropped to one knee and her Berserk Servants cried out, covering their ears and falling back as the wave of discord washed over the battlefield.
"Now's our chance to retreat!" Jeanne called out. "Let's go."
"I guess we're not in a position to turn down new friends," EMIYA muttered as the group turned tail and bolted.
