Chapter 24: Chapter 24
(A/N: for this chapter just know that Jeanne will be translating for Godrick. I just do want to put a bunch of "Jeanne translated for Godrick" stuff in here. It will be like a normal conversation, but in reality Jeanne is the one asking the questions.)
===Mordred===
Driving to the safe area that had been agreed upon, Mordred and her master drove mostly in silence. She couldn't help but fiddle around a bit, nervously biting at her nails and shifting around.
"Will you cut it out? You're starting to make me nervous." Kairi said, looking at her from the driver's seat.
"Shut your mouth old man, and just drive will you?" She retorted heatedly at him.
"Do you want me to turn this car around, because I will!" He shot back at her.
"Oh, I bet you will, you no good grouch." She huffed, folding her arms and looking out the window.
Letting out a sigh Kairi looked back to the road. The trunk and back seat were full of their belongings, making it hard to see in the rear view mirror. So when the car that had been trailing them suddenly shot forward and passed them, they both jumped in surprise.
"YOU MOTHERFU-!" The rest was lost as Mordred stuck her head out of the window, yelling as loud as she could and shaking her fist at the car.
Kairi couldn't help but give a chuckle as she pulled herself back in and huffed once more.
"Jackasses." She pouted, folding her arms once more.
"I know your stressed kid, but try and keep it together." He told her.
"Shut your mouth." She replied. A small smile came to his lips as they neared their destination.
Finally making it to a good place to leave the car, they parked and started walking through the forest. After a while they came to a clearing where they were set to meet the black faction.
"If this doesn't go well, you have my permission to go all out." Kairi said as he looked around their surroundings.
They were in a clearing, surrounded by trees and rocks, with a stream running nearby. Grass covered the ground with a few flowers starting to bloom. On the farside of the clearing, there was a large ledge, about 50 feet in height, where they assumed that the black faction would come from.
They didn't have to wait long before the black faction showed up. Four figures showed themselves, coming from the tree line to stand on the ledge.
Mordred felt her chest tighten as she looked at one of the figures, fear starting to creep into every corner of her being.
First to arrive was a young woman in a chair, being helped by the servant Chiron. Next to come from the trees was the ruler, followed closely by her brother. He had removed his helmet, letting his long golden hair flow down the back of his armor. He regarded her with cold eyes, looking down on her from the ledge. He stepped forward before turning to the ruler next to him. She gave a nod, which he returned, then jumped from the ledge to the ground.
His hulking frame shook the ground as he landed, tossing fresh soil into the air. The Ruler landed next to him, much more elegantly, not making any noise or breaking the ground. Mordred and her master started walking to the center of the clearing as Godrick and Jeanne did the same, meeting in the middle.
Kairi stopped a few meters away from the other pair, but Mordred kept walking, meeting ruler and her brother in the center.
"Ruler… Brother…" Mordred said as they all stopped near each other.
"Hello Mordred. It's good to see you, thank you for meeting us here." Jeanne said as she tried to quell the tension between the two siblings.
Mordred just gave a nod before looking at Godrick.
"Do you know?" She simply asked, to which he nodded. She gave a sad nod, trying to hold her emotions at bay.
Godrick made some sort of movement with his hands to Jeanne, who turned to Mordred.
"He asks one simple question. Why?" She said plainly.
Mordred nodded again before hanging her head. "I'm not quite sure anymore." She whispered.
"You see…" She continued. "I thought I could do better. I guess it was when I saw your tomb. Father-" She stopped abruptly, seeing Godrick clench His fist in anger at her use of the word.
"I mean moth-... Artoria," She said, not ready to use the word mother yet. She noticed Godrick unclench his fist.
"Artoria buried you in the tomb that was meant for her. The king's tomb. When I visited it for the first time I was heartbroken, but I guess that soured over time. I became more angry as time went on." She said.
"I thought that you had abandoned me… because I abandoned you that day i went with the Warlord. I had built this idea in my mind that you didn't come to get me because you were angry With me, and not because you had died." She looked up into his grim face.
"But why did you fight against our mother? Why did you bring so much chaos to the land you once loved so much?" He signed.
Mordred brought a hand up and wiped at her nose as she looked away from him.
"Morgan." She whispered. "She encouraged my rebellion against Artoria." When you died, she changed. She started to tell me that I was the rightful ruler of Camelot, and that Artoria was fearful of me usurping her throne." Mordred explained.
"So you decided to make those so-called fears a reality?" He signed.
Mordred looked back up at him sharply. "I was next in line. There is no argument about that, and she wouldn't pass it down." She said defensively.
"Don't give me that bullshit!" Godrick signed aggressively. "I saw what happened the day you died. I saw a vision before i fought the Warlord. I saw what happened between the two of you. What words you exchanged. She kept the throne from you to protect you!" He signed.
Mordred's face hardened as she looked to her brother. "Protect me? She didn't want me to rule!" She protested.
"Of course she didn't want you to rule, you idiot!" Godrick signed aggressively. "You were too hot headed!"
"Too Hot headed!?" Mordred shouted, "I wanted to rule, for you! So that no one else had to die!" She shouted at him.
"I died FOR YOU! To give you that chance to be king, and you squandered it!"
"If I had been king in the first place, I wouldn't have let you die!" She screamed at him
"I chose my death! If she had faced the Warlord, she would have been killed!" He signed to her.
"Well if I were king, I would have faced my death with some honor! And not let some seventeen year old boy die for me! She was a coward and you know it! SHE LET YOU DIE!" She Screamed at him.
Letting his temper get the best of him, he stepped forward and shoved his sister. She fell to the ground, before sitting back up.
"Really?!" She yelled at him. She stood and shoved him back, which didn't budge him at all, so she retaliated with a full strength Left haymaker, which connected with his jaw as she jump. It succeeded in knocking him off his feet, and landing a little ways away, sending him through some trees. He stood back up and looked at his sister. He hadn't expected her to go all out, which only made him more frustrated.
"You are such a little brat!" He signed.
"You shut your damn mouth, or fingers.. or. Ah, whatever!" She screamed as she appeared next to him. She tried to drive a fist into his sternum, but he was prepared for it. He caught the fist in his right hand and held it wide, before driving his head forward in a headbutt that dazed his sister. He used his other hand to grab her arm next to her armpit and spun her around before throwing her from him.
She crashed through the trees on the far side of the clearing. She reappeared with her armor equipped and charged at him. She didn't summon her sword, just wanting to use her fists.
He met her charge as he aggressively walked towards her, letting her left fist meet his left forearm. Retaliating with a right hook, he sent her into the ground. She tried to sweep his feet with her own, but it gained her nothing. Only a kick to the chest, which sent her back into the clearing.
Jeanne had gone over to Mordred's master to not only protect him, but to talk with him as well. She had grabbed him by the collar and taken him to where Fiore and Chiron were, letting the siblings duke it out.
Mordred was going all out, physically at least, as her power was somewhat capped without her sword. But her anger and frustration grew as she felt that the massive knight before her was holding back quite a bit.
"You big bastard!" She grunted out as they locked together. "Stop holding back!" She yelled into his unhelmeted face. He snarled at her, before grabbing her arms and pulling her towards him. He brought his knee up into her chest, which she tried in vain to mitigate. He let her fall to the ground wrapping her arms round her stomach, as he quickly grabbed one of the nearby trees. He ripped it from the ground, only to twist and smack her with it.
"You've got to be kidding me." She said watching it swing towards her.
The tree was tall, so as he swung it, it broke itself, and the nearby trees, shaving it down which only increased its speed.
All Mordred could do was bury her head and left shoulder into the tree, letting it smack her farther into the forest.
After a minute she came back into the clearing, holding her stomach with one arm.
"You hit like a girl." She said finally limping to where he was. Striking out, he slammed his fist into her arm that she had raised in an effort to block.
"Im kidding! Im just kidding!" She shouted, her aggressive behavior changed. It seems she had gotten it all out of system, and was now wanting to talk again.
"Holy cow that hurt." She said with a laugh as she rolled the arm she had used to block with, and rubbed her stomach.
"Look, all I'm saying is that I thought I could do better… and when she wouldn't back down, I thought that I couldn't either." She told him.
Jeanne and Kairi had joined them, now that their fight was over. Godrick and Mordred both dematerialized their armors now that everything was calm.
"When I first found out about what had happened this morning, I was extremely angry." He signed to her.
"And I'm still angry. But after everything you've done… I still love you." He finished.
Mordred hung her head once more as she slowly approached him. Reaching him, she put her head against his stomach, leaning against him, and started to weep.
"I am so sorry." She whispered over and over. He made no reply, but let her cry softly, leaving his stomach wet from the tears.
She finally backed away from him, revealing her tear stained face. "You really messed up." He signed to her. "But it's ok. I'm here now, and we will fix it."
She scrunched up her face before a snot bubble came from her nose and popped.
"Oh, come 'ere!" She said Wrapping her arms around his waist.
He gave a look of disgust as she rubbed her snot filled face across his shirt, but after a minute he finally knelt down and gave her a proper hug.
"Please help me to make it right." She whispered to him, to which he nodded.