She hesitated, looking surprised. "Who are you?"
I felt my heart drop hearing that. I knew it had been a long shot, generally Servants don't recall their memories from previous Grail Wars for many different reasons. There are always exceptions, and Rulers Can fall into the category.
"Master." Raikou returned to my side and Jeanne stepped back warily.
"A Servant." She whispered. "I see, you're her master. Attacking the overseer for the Grail War is against the rules. If you continue, I will have to use my authority to stop you." She held up her Banner, ready to fight.
"I think it's a misunderstanding." I put my hands up to soothe her hesitation. "Saber and I were just…surprised by another Servant."
[Master.] Raikou whispered through our link.
I knew what she wanted to say.
Jeanne didn't even bat an eye when I called Raikou 'Saber' when her Class was still 'Berserker'.
She slowly lowered her banner. "Very well….I can understand your wariness."
"Well, now that this is settled. I think I'll go back and spend time with that wonderful woman I just met. What was her name again, Isabelle?"
"W-wait, what are you saying!?" Jeanne immediately became flustered. "Y-you can't!"
She never acknowledged that I called out her true name, was she going to try and play that she wasn't Jeanne D Arc?
Adorable.
"Why not?" I tilted my head, acting confused. "Do you have some sort of relationship with that woman? How convenient that I may have happened upon Ruler's living relatives."
"I have no idea who they are! But...T-they are civilians!" She seemed to blurt out some half-assed reasoning with the worst lie I've ever heard in my life. "You can't involve them in any Grail War!"
Why did she think there's a Grail War going on?
Lots of questions here.
Regardless, there was something amiss and there was the perfect way to figure it out.
"Sorry, I can't do that." I denied.
"…how come?" She looked at me.
"Simply, I think I've fallen in love." I dramatically place a hand over my heart. "That warm and gentle woman just swept me off my feet. She was so sad and depressed over her Daughter's death, I simply can't leave her alone."
"She's married! You can't court a married woman!" Jeanne practically screeched.
"I assure you, I am quite capable. A romantic dinner, whispering sweet nothings into her ear, giving her all the attention she deserves. I'll make sure to treat her like the queen she is. I've been told I'm very charming."
Raikou was silent, but her expression practically screamed amusement.
"S-she has children! She's...she's old!" Jeanne whined.
"I'll let you in on a little secret." I gestured for her to lean in. "I like older women."
"Naaaah!" She pushed me away, letting out some weird noises.
I missed this so much.
"Tell me, as a Servant, do you know the term 'Milf'?" I asked.
A look of horror that flashed across her face informed me that she did in fact know what that word meant.
I just couldn't help myself.
I think it was my Devil nature.
But enough fooling around, I wanted to verify something. "You know what? I changed my mind."
"Eh!?" She looked a mite happy. "You're going to leave Mo – the woman alone!?"
"No, not that." I dismissively waved my hand. "I still want to take your mom to pound town."
"P-pound –" She paused, letting the words sink in as her face turned a bright red. "Y-you can't just say things like that!!"
I ignored her outburst. "I meant I changed my mind about fighting you. I decided that I want you to punish me for breaking the rules."
"…what?" She blinked in confusion.
"Go ahead, use your Authority as a Ruler. Use your command Seals, force me to stop."
"Why would you want that!?"
"I like being punished." I winked.
"Ehhh!?"
"Don't kink shame."
"S-stop!"
"Raikou, prepare to attack Ruler."
"With pleasure." Raikou smiled happily.
"I-I'll really do it!"
"I'm waiting." I held my arms out.
"Don't test me!"
'I'm waiting."
"If you try to do anything I'll…..I'll force your Servant to stop!"
"I'm waiting." I continued to hold my arms out.
"….."
"..."
"….please don't attack me." She said quietly.
"You can't use any of your Ruler Authorities, can you?"
"N-no…" She looked away.
"Again, seriously? Why is there always something wrong with your summoning?" I let out an exasperated sigh. "First time you needed a vessel, now you can't even use the abilities of a Ruler? What's next, are you going to be summoned without any Noble Phantasms?"
"Again?" She looked at me in confusion once more, her brow furrowed. "Do….you know me?"
I felt another twinge of pain in my heart hearing that again.
"In another time and place. We participated in a Grail War, you were the Ruler then as well." I couldn't help but smile as I reminisced. "Our time together was short, but in that period, I grew to admire you greatly. And at the end, I like to think that we were good friends."
"….I'm sorry, I don't recall. I have no memories of participating in any other Grail Wars. And to be honest, my head has been muddled ever since I've been summoned." She replied gently.
"It's alright, I knew it was a long shot."
"Perhaps…..something happened and my memories were lost? It's possible that if I fix what happened…..it might let me recall?"
That was just like her to try and sooth me while I was obviously distraught.
"We should – " I felt a vibration within my Ring, making any more words die in my mouth.
{Call upon the spear.} Musū Tengai spoke from within my soul. {It's reacting to something.}
The Spear was pushing against the folded space, and I allowed it to exit by its own will. With a bright light, the Holy Spear of Longinus shot out and floated between us.
Jeanne was enthralled by it, she stared without blinking.
She reached for it as if in a trance.
The Holy Light enveloped her, illuminating the night sky. It kicked up a huge whirlwind with her at the epicenter, and I could see the Holy Light infusing into her Servant Container. I didn't interrupted, but the phenomena only lasted a few more moments before the Light began to recede.
Jeanne held the spear, looking lost. Her eyes refocused and they landed on the Spear then back to me. "Wilhelm!?"
I needed no other proof, within a breath, I already wrapped up the Saint in my arms. "Welcome back, Jeanne."
"I'm back." She spoke softly, returning the hug. "…..Will?"
"Yes?"
"….why is your hand on my butt?"
"Just….making sure it's the real you."
"H-how would that confirm my identity!?" She sputtered.
"I'm genuinely surprised you had the foresight to ask me that."
"What's that supposed to mean!?"
"Oh I don't know." I rolled my eyes, releasing her from my arms. I cleared my throat almost comically. "Oh yes, that woman that looks exactly like you obviously has no connection whatsoever."
"I panicked!" She squeaked out. "Some strange person was around my mom, what was I supposed to say!? I can't interfere if the rules aren't broken!"
"So you would have to watch me while I put the moves on your mom?" I questioned.
"Stay away from my mom!" She whined, swinging around the spear wildly.
"Oh no, look everyone, the Ruler Servant is attacking me. Breaking the rules!" I raised my voice.
"NEHHHH!" She cried out, swinging the spear at me still.
"Raikou, subdue her."
"B-Berserker?" Jeanne squeaked as my Server grabbed Jeanne and pulled her into her own hug.
"Hello again." Raikou cheerfully greeted the Saint. It's funny, even with her Madness before, she had a good opinion of Jeanne. That should tell anyone what kind of person Jeanne was.
"You should feel honored." I pat the back of Jeanne's head that was buried firmly between Raikou's large breasts. "Not many people get this kind of service from Raikou."
"Ufufu." Raikou giggled at the squirming Jeanne.
I did take the opportunity to retrieve my Spear. I felt a little threatened letting Jeanne have it while her mom was the subject of as much teasing I could.
Raikou did let the Ruler go a moment or two later. Jeanne puffed up in embarrassment but Raikou and I just shared a laugh.
"Berserker…" Jeanne eyed my Servant and her eyes widened. "My True Name Discernment is back!" She cheered. "Wait, what happened to you!? Your Mad Enhancement it's – "
"Gone?" Raikou finished for her. "Master and Grandfather removed it after the War. I am no longer polluted by those intrusive thoughts." Her gaze towards Jeanne was filled with warmness. "Thank you for putting up with me when I was not clear headed."
This time, Raikou gave her a real hug. The Saintess happily accepted the apology and intent behind it.
"And your class…it's strange. It reminds me of that Assassin that had dual classes."
"We altered her Saint Graph a bit while snipping away the Mad Enhancement." I replied. "And it seems like you're back to normal now?"
"Yes." She beamed. "I don't have access to any command seals, but my Parameters returned to normal, my memories returned and my other abilities as a Ruler are back as well!"
"Awesome, so what's going on?"
"…..I don't know." She said sheepishly. "I was kind of messed up, so I was just working off the assumption that a Grail War was going on because I can sort of sense a Grail somewhere…"
"Really? Your first thought was a Grail War?"
"Why else would I be summoned?" She huffed cutely.
I pointed upward and she followed my gaze. "Did that big ring in the sky not tip you off that something was wrong?"
"….It did give me concern, but I couldn't do anything about it and I was already confused about my summoning." She pouted. "Do you know what that ring of light is? Does it have anything to do with what's going on?"
"….probably, but it's a bit of a long story. What exactly do you know about the situation?"
"I was summoned, I remember that, but then something happened and someone…..I think someone used the Grail to take part of my Saint Graph. Other than that, I've just been stumbling around. I heard about this….Dragon Witch and people are calling her me….."
"They say that Jeanne D Arc was touched by the Devil and turned into a witch…..is that what happened, Jeanne?"
"T-that's nonsense."
"Right, because Jeanne D Arc wouldn't consort with heinous Devils!"
"Stop teasing me!" She puffed up.
"I'm technically a Dragon too…"
"Stopppp."
"Just saying." I truly missed this. "But to summarize for now, this is a Singularity. A….point in time that was altered off the correct path. Usually the Counter Force would purge something like this with prejudice, but I'm guessing that the Holy Grail you sensed is propping it up. We need to retrieve the Grail and stop whoever is causing the mess and fix things."
"Fix things? Will everything return to normal?" She asked hopefully.
"I won't lie and say it'll be perfect. But the majority of the damage should be undone. The concern of the Greater World is that the natural course of history isn't altered too much."
Unfortunately, in the grand scheme of things, the deaths of some thousands of random people during this period wouldn't amount to much….
But seeing her face brighten up, I kept that bit of information to myself.
"For a self described heinous Devil, you're very kind, Wilhelm." She smiled brightly.
'Sure, keep telling yourself that." I rolled my eyes.
"Didn't you say you admired me?" She stepped up, smiling right in my face. "And that we were friends?"
"You probably heard wrong. Considering how bad you tried to threaten me with your supposed 'authority', I wouldn't be surprised if you were hallucinating."
"Nope! I heard it!"
"Stupid spear…." I grumbled. It waited until after I said that to do whatever it did to fix Jeanne. Speaking of. "How were you fixed, exactly?"
"I don't know." She tilted her head. "There was a bright light and a warm voice and I felt memories flood back and…." Her eyes widened. "The Spear! The Lord spoke to me. He must have fixed me too. It would be easy for the Lord to fix my Saint Graph."
"….sure, let's go with that." Should I tell her that God was dead back home and I had his ghost in my Spear? "Big G doing something proactive for once, I guess."
"Don't be disrespectful!" She puffed up again.
"How am I being disrespectful?! He's technically my many times great grandfather, y'know."
"You know what you were doing." She poked my chest. "Be nice."
"Yeah yeah." I rolled my eyes once more. "I was actually invited to become an Angel."
"….what?" She blinked.
"The Archangel Michael, he invited me to join the Heavenly Host and become an Angel."
"I don't believe you." She crossed her arms with a huff. "You're teasing me again."
"It's true!" I quickly defended myself. "Raikou, tell her."
Raikou looked away.
"I knew it!" Jeanne exclaimed. "Lies are not nice, Wilhelm!"
"Says the Saintess who tried to lie to me face." I countered.
"I didn't lie!"
"And there's another one."
"Lalalalala, I can't hear you." Jeanne covered her ears.
"Also, why do you still look like you're using that girl as a Vessel again?"
"What do you mean?" Jeanne tilted her head, forgoing ignoring me. "I told you before that the reason she was able to host me was because of how similar we were, even down to our looks."
"Yes, but you said your chest was smaller, but it's the same size now." I pointed out.
"Wah!? How would you know that!" She demanded.
"Do you think I don't know your sizes?" I gave her a look like she was stupid.
"Don't just admit that so blatantly!"
"Do you still have that school uniform? I missed those booty shorts of yours." I half heartedly joked. But then I noticed her go stiff and look away again. "...you do don't you?"
"I don't know why it's there! After getting fixed, I can dismiss my Servant clothing and I'll be in that School Uniform again." She whined.
"I take back everything I've said about Big G." I put my hands together and silently sent him a prayer as thanks.
If I had to guess, I think the last time that Jeanne held the Spear, he basically did the equivalent of snapshotting her Saint Graph and then pasted it back onto her as she is now, fixing all the issues, but a few other things came along with it.
That raised quite a few questions about the nature of the consciousness inside the Spear. And also about what happened when the one inside the spear sort of….linked up with its counterpart back during the Grail War.
I felt a poke at my cheek again And Jeanne was currently staring at me. "You were staring off there. Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I just got lost in thought. I was imagining your mom in that School Uniform."
She proceeded to pinch my cheeks with a huff. "…..you're not really going to try and…..with my mom, are you?"
I put the teasing to the side for now and I pulled her into another hug. "Jeanne, I'm many things, but a home wrecker is not one of them. Ignoring everything else, your mom is happily married and I wouldn't ruin that."
She sighed happily. "Thank you, Wilhelm."
"For what? Are you thanking me for not banging your mom?"
She let out an exasperated laugh. "For still thinking of me as a friend and remembering me."
"You're the Saintess that accepted a Half-Devil like me as your friend." I pointed out.
"I don't care about you being a half-Devil. I care that Wilhelm is a kind and wonderful person and I cherish you as a friend." She smiled warmly.
…..what a weird Saintess, not caring that I'm the antithesis to her beliefs.
"Come on, let's go back to your mom. I said I would catch the suspicious person rummaging around. I assume that was you and you were looking for the opportunity to check up on her. With everything going on, it must have been hard."
"….I can't."
"…pardon?" I blinked.
"I'm dead, Wilhelm. It's not proper."
"You're going to need to explain this to me."
"I'm more than aware of what year it is, and the date. I died very recently. My parents…my family are already mourning. If I just appeared in front of them, what do I say? They wouldn't understand any of this. It's best that they believe I died how History remembers it and move on. I heard about the Dragon Witch and was just worried about them… I never intended to show myself. I would have left soon had I not noticed you and your Servant approach mother."
I took a moment to process what she said. To try to understand her reasoning and her logic. And I came to a simple conclusion. "Are you an idiot?" I flicked her forehead.
"Oww?!" She squeaked out in surprise.
"Raikou." I called out to my Servant who had been very gracious in allowing me this uninterrupted reunion with my long lost friend. "Is she being stupid?"
"It appears so, Master."
"W-what do you mean?!" She looked confused.
"It's weird because I can't get mad at you. I know you're doing it because you believe this is the best way." If it were anyone else, I would have smacked them silly already. "Jeanne, in trying to be kind to them, you're instead being unbelievably cruel"
"…..what are you saying?"
I put my hands on her shoulders. "I would have given nearly anything to see my Mom again after she passed. To have some kind of closure so that I didn't stumble through after years of depression and sadness."
"B-but, if I go back and they see me, it'll just make it worse. It's best that they continue grieving –"
"You're saying that from the perspective of someone who has died. It's cruel of you, because you don't have to grieve; they were left behind and they have to deal with everything that comes after. Are you going to deny them the chance to say goodbye to their daughter that ran off to war at a young age? When was the last time they even saw you, Jeanne?"
To her credit, she did waver and there was a genuine desire to see her mom, she truly just didn't think it was for the best.
One of those times where someone so kind and thoughtful can get stuck in their own mentality and instead cause harm, even by accident and unknowingly to everyone involved.
"I can't, it's not proper. I'm dead, I can't just walk up to my mom after everything like it didn't happen. There are rules…." Her arguments were half-hearted at best.
"You know what? You're right." I acknowledged
"I am?" She questioned.
"There are rules. And I doubt a Servant has been put quite into your position where they get summoned within days of dying and hanging around their family members. But it's not proper for the Dead to influence their living relatives."
"So you understand my reluctance then, we – "
I held up my hand to silence her. "So, I'm going to take the decision out of your hands."
"What—"
"Raikou, get the rope."
[***]
A/N
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