Chapter 21: Chapter 21
===Godrick===
After agreeing to help the Black faction, Jeanne and Godrick were shown around the castle where they would stay. Repairs were already underway, as the homunculus workers removed the rubble and debris from the surrounding areas.
A young man and a woman in a wedding dress found them as they were being led to their individual rooms in one of the wings of the castle.
The young man stopped in front of Godrick and bowed his head to him.
"My name is Caules Forvedge Yggdmillennia, and this is my servant Frankenstein." The woman stared up at Godrick and gave a short grunt before holding up a small flower.
The woman had been the same one that Godrick had hit off Mordred the same evening. The pair had thought she would be angry or scared of the monstrous knight, but here she was, giving him a flower.
"She wants to thank you for not killing her earlier, and so do I." The young man said as he bowed at the waist.
Godrick didn't know how to react, so he looked to Jeanne, who gestured for him to take the flower.
Dematerializing his armor Godrick held out his hand, to which she placed the flower.
After giving him the flower, Frankenstein walked away, dragging her master with her.
Looking at the flower in his hand, Godrick looked at Jeanne who looked back up at him. He reached out to her and placed some loose hair behind her ear before placing the flower there as well.
She blushed deeply as she looked up at him, giving a shy smile.
"Ah! You've decided to join us, huh?" A new voice interrupted their little moment with each other.
Gordes was walking down the main corridor towards them, Siegfried in tow.
"Oh, hello Gordes. I'm surprised you didn't send Saber into the Hanging Gardens to help retrieve the grail." Fiore said with a hint of scorn in her voice.
"Yes…" Gordes said a little hesitantly. "Darnic had ordered me to withdraw Saber." He said.
"What do you mean? I didn't get an order to withdraw?" Fiore asked.
"Well… he needed someone expendable to go with him. But no matter, your archer is fine right?" He said before giving a nervous laugh.
Suddenly one of the precious vases struck him in the face, making his nose bleed as it shattered. He reared backwards from the force, falling on his backside.
"You better learn when to keep your mouth shut, do you understand me?" Fiore said dangerously as she brushed some of the pedals off of her lap.
"What the hell is your problem!?" Gordes shouted As he held a hand to his face. He got to his knees and looked up at her.
"You might be Darnics' choice to lead now, but that doesn't mean you get to attack the rest of us!"
"Well maybe you shouldn't insult Chiron! He is just as valuable as your Saber!" She shouted back.
Gordes got to his feet and gave an angry huff. He turned to Siegfried and gave him an angry look.
"You could have stepped in, you know!" He shouted at his servant.
Siegfried gave his most charming smile. "Now why would I have done that?" He asked innocently.
Gordes just gave a snort of anger and continued walking past the small group of people.
As Siegfried passed Godrick he gave a nod of acknowledgement, which Godrick returned to him.
As the group returned to their tour of the castle, they started to feel faint shaking that gradually grew. The group stopped as Jeanne looked out the window.
"My goodness. Avicebron is attacking with an enormous golem!" She said as she materialized her armor and spear, while looking at Godrick who did the same.
Running outside the pair stood with the servants and masters of black as they watched the giant golem with green accents approach the castle.
"I'm surprised you're out here Gordes, I thought you would be hiding in your room with Saber to protect you." Fiore said venomously as she looked at her clan member.
Gordes showed a surprising amount of self control by not responding to the remark, only showing a vein on his forehead.
Ignoring the black faction, Jeanne turned to Godrick.
"Wanna take a crack at it?" She asked.
Godrick responded by leaping from the roof towards the giant. As he fell from the sky, he brought his halberd downwards onto it, shattering the golem in one strike. Avicebron had leapt away from his golem and had fallen to the ground.
Godrick had landed under the ruin of the golem as chunks of stone fell to the ground. He felt a little disappointed at killing it in one shot. He didn't realize, however, that the stone had stopped falling. It started to reform behind him, and by the time he had looked behind him, it was too late. The golem had stomped down on him, thinking it had crushed him underfoot.
Avicebron had appeared at the foot of his golem, thinking he had killed the Juggernaut. He began to laugh as prepared to jump to Adam's shoulder once more.
Before he could move however, Adam was thrown high into the air. Where the golem had stood, Avicebron saw Godrick standing there, dusting the dirt off his armor.
Adam landed on the ground near the castle of Yggdmillennia. It took him a moment to stand up before running back towards the knight.
Avicebron took this moment to begin running back towards Adam for safety, but was pushed to the ground by Godricks foot.
"Let go of me!" He shouted.
Godrick simply applied more pressure, as he forced Avicebron deeper into the ground.
"Killing me won't do anything, the golem is unstoppable!" He grunted out as blood began to come from his star shaped mask.
Godrick looked up at the approaching golem, and applied more pressure to the being below him. He did this to see if the golem would react at all, which it didn't.
He looked back down at the bloodied servant underneath him, before stepping off of him.
Avicebron quickly took the moment to escape, which was short lived as Godrick grabbed him from behind.
Grabbing the man's head with both hands, he gave a vicious twist, followed by the sounds of bones Snapping. He then kicked Avicebron in the back, sending the servant limply to the ground. Avicebron turned to blue particles that suddenly flew to the golem charging Godrick.
The golem absorbed the power of its creator, then held out a hand which a large stone club formed.
The golem swung its club down on Godrick, who simply raised an arm to meet the blow. The stone club shattered over Godricks forearm, leaving the golem open to attack. The knight held his halberd like a spear and threw it right through the golems head, completely obliterating it. As Adam fell backwards it caught itself before the head reformed.
Godrick didn't notice at first, but the golem now had two pupils in its eyes that were vacant before.
Recalling the halberd, it flew through the head once more destroying it, only for it to reform again.
The golem swung it's reformed club once more, only to be met with Godricks halberd. The stone shattered again with the clash of weapons, only for Godrick to leap at the golems' feet. Nearing one he swung his halberd at it, destroying it. The golem knelt and let out a roar of anger. It grabbed the knight in a sudden burst of speed, catching him a bit off guard. It picked him up and threw him as hard as it could towards the castle.
"Take cover!" Siegfried said diving to the side. Servants grabbed their masters as they jumped out of the way, keeping them safe from the giant knight that was flying their way.
Godrick hit the castle where they were standing, buried in the rooms and halls behind the wall he had flown through. After a minute he emerged from the hole uninjured.
He looked to Jeanne, who looked at him concerned.
"Are you ok?" She said hurrying to his side. He gave a thumbs up to her to let her know he was OK, then turned back to the group.
"As we watched you fight we came up with a plan." Jeanne said, looking back at the group who nodded.
"This thing will become immortal if we don't kill it soon, and it can only be killed if it's not touching the ground. We have to completely destroy all of it, not even dust can remain." She said.
The young woman Fiore came forward to speak next.
"If we had fought it sooner we wouldn't have to obliterate it completely, but with every moment it's still here, the stronger it gets. By the time we are done with our plan it might already be too late." She said looking at the knight.
"I told them a bit about your Noble Phantasm, and that you could store energy and release energy at will. I was thinking if they hit you with all their noble Phantasms, you might be able to obliterate the golem…" Jeanne said before pausing. This made Godrick motion for her to continue.
"The problem is that we don't have enough time for you to absorb them one by one. You'll need to do it all at once."
Godrick just nodded, before giving her another thumbs up.
"If he's ready, we can do it in the Castle courtyard. But you'll need to distract the Golem for a while." Fiore said to Jeanne.
"I will also be able to help. Once I unleash my Noble Phantasm, I will return to aid you." Chiron said. Jeanne nodded before looking at Godrick.
"So will I, I'm not sure I have a Noble Phantasm that will help the big guy much!" Astolfo said.
"Don't take too long, yeah?" Jeanne said with worry in her voice. Godrick noticed that she still had the flower in her hair. He gave a sharp nod before walking back into the hole he made in the Castle, letting the rest of the servants and masters follow after him.
Jeanne gave a nod to Astolfo as they readied themselves, then jumped into battle.
Arriving in the courtyard, the masters discussed the best way to do this. They came to the conclusion that Frankenstein would stand next to Godrick while activating her noble phantasm. She would only keep enough energy so she wouldn't die, and the rest would go to Godrick. Chiron would then fire his from above, then leave to go help Jeanne. Siegfried would then use his to hit Godrick without hitting Frankenstein.
Feeling good about the plan, Godrick stood with his back facing the mountains, with Fran to his left and Siegfried to his front. He nodded then grabbed Frans mace, the Bridals Chest. She then activated it as it began to spin. Green lightning began to pour from it, but as Godrick started to absorb the energy, he knew it wouldn't affect him at all. Frans NP could reach rank B when she went all out, but it would kill her. Right now it was only as strong as rank C which Godrick was immune to. The energy was still great however, as Godrick felt himself becoming stronger and adapting as his left arm became white.
Chiron was next as he simply looked at Godrick, nodded, then left. Godrick looked to the sky to see the shooting star aimed right at him. Raising his right hand, he caught the star as it tried to force him downwards. Godrick had to shift his feet for a moment, as the force pushing downwards was so immense it almost forced him to a knee, but he didn't buckle. The energy from this was incredible, making him feel as if a real star was in the palm of his hand. Starting to absorb and adapt to it, he became even stronger, making his whole armor turn white hot.
Next was Siegfried who had been ordered to not hold back. He activated his sword balmung, and aimed it point black at Godrick. The pain from the two Noble Phantasms was excruciating, and he was half immune to Siegfrieds Noble Phantasm already.
As Godrick stood there, absorbing the three Noble Phantasms, the servants and masters could see the cracks start to form in the armor. Fran was the first to give out, passing out from the amount of energy she had used.
"Fran!" Caules shouted As he ran forward, only to be stopped by a hand on his shoulder. Gordes gave a serious look at the young man before shaking his head slightly.
Breaking free from the grip, Caules ran towards his servant, but was knocked back by the amount of energy that was being discharged and absorbed where she was.
Seeing the young man's plight, Godrick kicked Frankenstein as gently as he could towards the boy, who was able to grab her and drag her away.
The star was next to fade, soon followed by Siegfried.
They all backed away from the glowing knight as he knelt to absorb the rest of the energy. As the white hot left his armor he stood once more, looking to where he knew Jeanne to be.
And leapt.
===Jeanne===
Seeing everyone but Astolfo go through the hole following Godrick, she looked back at the approaching golem. She hoped this would work.
"You ready?" She asked Astolfo.
"You know it!" He shouted, giving her a peace sign.
They leapt into the air towards the golem, Astolfo landing on his griffin in the process. Jeanne landed on the ground near the golem, and ducked as it swung its club.
Taking this chance she ran towards the feet, swinging her spear to the right, destroying the left ankle. She then back swung her spear to the left, taking out the right ankle.
The golem fell to its knees, which allowed Astolfo to swoop down, and gouge the golem's eyes out. Jeanne jumped high into the sky landing on its back, then leapt once more, bringing her spear downward on its head as she fell. To her surprise the golem retaliated as she fell, swiping out with its left hand hitting her mid air. The blow sent her into the trees to the golems right. Crashing through multiple trees as she flew, she finally landed hard as she came to a stop.
She was laying on her back looking towards the sky. She could see a faint green coming from the direction of the castle, and as she looked to the sky she could see a shooting star speeding towards where she knew Godrick to be.
Sitting up, she brought a hand to her head. She felt her ear for something, and was relieved to feel the flower was still there through everything. Standing, she looked back at the Golem.
"OK, how about round two?" She said to herself as she charged the golem. It swung it's club at her once more, which she slid under. It then brought its club up, and then downward towards her. She backstepped to dodge the blow, then ran forward up the club to the golems face.
Suddenly it's eyes were once more damaged as they were filled with arrows.
Using this moment, she swung her spear at its head, shattering it completely. The head then reformed, and it swung it's club once more, but she was ready for it.
Twisting in the air, she used her spear to glance herself off of the club itself, before landing near its feet, which she destroyed once more.
Arrows littered the golems body, and claw marks covered its face and arms. The wounds all healed as the flowers around it began to wither, giving their energy before regrowing. The golem gave a scream that generated a sound wave that knocked everything away from it. Jeanne at this moment had leapt into the air to hit its head once more, but was stopped by the Shockwave. Left floating in the air for a split moment, the golem swung it's club down on her, sending her straight into the ground. The Shockwave of her hitting the ground ripped the surrounding trees up out of the ground, and left a crater where she was.
All she could do was to weakly try and stand as the golem swung it's club back down at her. She closed her eyes and braced herself for the blow but it never came. She tentatively opened her eyes and looked up.
A towering knight stood behind her, holding the club with one hand. He gazed down at her before pushing the club back so hard, it took the golem with it.
Looking back down at Jeanne, Godrick knelt to one knee to pick up the flower that had fallen from her ear. He looked at her face that had swollen somewhat, before tucking her hair behind her left ear, then placing the flower there once more. He stood and looked at the Golem who had stood and was now preparing to stomp on them.
Godrick caught the foot, stopping it dead. He then threw the golem high into the air once more.
Using his ability to raise his stats, he raised his agility from B to A. This used a small amount of energy, and he felt like it was close to ranking up permanently, which surprised him.
He then threw his halberd high into the sky before swapping places. He began to fall as he recalled his halberd, falling towards the golem that flew up towards him. Meeting the golem in the air, Godrick flew straight through it, completely destroying its head and chest, breaking the entire golem into pieces.
Hitting the ground creating a crater, Godrick then pointed his halberd up in the air towards the golem.
The spearhead of his halberd started to glow blue, purple, and Golden, with green lightning sparkling around it, signifying the Noble Phantasms he had stored till this moment.
Taking his halberd in both hands, he thrust up with the weapon, shooting the beam towards the golem that was in pieces.
The discharge of energy destroyed the surrounding area, leaving only the place Godrick stood relatively untouched.
The beam hit the golem, engulfing it in a mix of the colors of the beams.
Everyone heard nothing over the sound of the beam, and they were lost in the bright light.
After a couple of moments of the attack had passed, the beam faded. The golem was nowhere to be found. It worked.
"Yes!" Astolfo shouted As his griffin landed near Jeanne.
Jeanne looked over to Godrick who looked a little unsteady on his feet. Her smile faded as he dropped his halberd and fell to one knee. She ran over to him, almost slipping and falling as she stopped in front of him.
"Are you ok, Godrick?" She practically yelled as she took his helmet off. She couldn't hear very well, but her eyes worked fine. She gasped as she saw his state. He was bleeding from his eyes, ears, mouth, and nose. He had overdone it. Used too much energy, and now was paying the price.
"Hey, let's just lay you down ok?" She said as she tried to lower him to the ground, which he shook his head at.
"You just need some rest." She said, standing next to him, making sure he was OK. Astolfo had seen the whole thing and had fetched some water and a towel, which he gave to Jeanne.
She took the towel and dipped it in the water before beginning to clean Godricks face.
"You definitely overdid it with that one didn't you." She said to him.
He gave her a bloody grin which made her wince before cleaning the area around his mouth.
She had no idea what he had just gained by pushing himself so far.