The woman in the vision turned about, and Jeanne saw her in all her glory. She wore furs and bronze and wielded an iron sword with a painted shield. Those pieces of orange bronze glistened in the sun light and they were woven into an intricate weave by some master metallurgist of the time. The warrior maiden moved and stilled at the same time, as if there was some strange disconnect between the two memories, as if she moved slower than she ought to, yet banded backwards to when she had not moved at all. In one memory, Jeanne saw her stab into the stomach of a man she thought might be a Roman soldier--from the way his segmented armor looked with his plumed helmet and blood-soaked cloak. In another, the warrior woman was hung, her body lifeless and like a rag doll as spears lanced into her body from all sides. Finally, she watched helplessly as her own kinsmen were killed buy their own, a monster who donned a stone mask that had grown stone spikes into the man's face, showering in the blood of massacre.
The golden torc at her throat mesmerized Jeanne and as she fell deeper into the image, her fingertips touched against the vision. A ripple in the picture rippled out from where she made contact, rippling through the waters as Jeanne's vision blurred. In that instant, she was sucked into the vision, and the woman turned, her eyes staring directly into Jeanne's...
Panic seized Jeanne's heart, she tried to turn, to swim away, but she couldn't look away and her body left her control as she swam in...
... And that fear spiked, as the woman's face was but a reflection of Jeanne's visage.
Brutality not belonging to a man's but a beast and a devil's was inflicted upon Jeanne--the torture of a year's worth in a single instant, the abuse of men upon women, the imposition of will of the strong on the weak, and utter betrayal--as she lived the final moments of the woman's life. Very few memories stayed after that single suffocating moment, but Jeanne memorized them few.
"She was a maiden blessed with power, like I am," She realized.
"Yes," A new presence appeared before her, bright and blue. "She was from before your time. She was from a time before the time of Yahweh."
Jeanne blinked and took a refreshing gulp of air, having finally been freed from the horrid vision of betrayal and death. She looked and saw but a vague silhouette of a woman floating in the water before her, a woman in white, but can't be seen. Her features were unremarkable and unrecognizable, but clear enough to express emotions through her smile and frown. Jeanne shivered, this woman's power was oppressive even though she tried so hard to be soothing. "W-Who are you?"
"I? I am but a lady of lakes, you can find many bodies of water a portal to my realm, Jeanne Arc. But I am uninteresting, who you are is more interesting, to me. So tell me, what will you do next, your nation is in peril as another defeat will shatter Gallia. But should you go west, your home shall be destroyed and your family murdered." The lady smirked, "And should you choose either and reenter the world of mortals, you shall suffer the fate you just witnessed. Did you enjoy that? It was the soul of your predecessor, who made a bargain with me and was bestowed a similar power..."
"... Who was she?"
"Her name is now lost in the mists of time, but... you are genuinely curious? Curiouser and curiouser, Jeanne Arc." The Lady of the Lake chortled in her fae-like, inhuman language that Jeanne not once wondered how she could possibly understand, "Her name was Boudica, and back then, I was known by a different name as well... well, well, she too fought against the Albionites, and she too fell. That is what it means to struggle against fate, you understand?"
She was going to suffer such a fate? Those prophetic words shook Jeanne to the core, and her lips trembled. But these few days of struggle, stacked on a life time of fear and her will for a better future, Jeanne found she did not find such a fate so intimidating. Perhaps, perhaps she might even accept it, as harsh as it may be...
[ ] "I am blessed by fate, so there is nothing I fear but fear itself. Let me leave so that I may free my people and defeat the Albionites."
[ ] "I do not care about what is fated, I will save those I love, no matter what the cost. My family will be safe, you can be sure of it."
[ ] "And what is the alternative to struggling against my fate? Do you have something you want to offer me, O Lady of the Lake?"
[ ] "I will struggle against fate and save them both, even if I must struggle on the fields of eternity and suffer all the pains in the world."
