Mordred snuck into Scathach's private museum, carefully navigating the aisles full of artifacts and trinkets seeking the object of her search. The Red Saber felt no remorse in her actions, wanting to get back at the warrior-queen for humiliating her in battle thrice already. She wanders around, attempting to retrace her steps to a certain section in this vast chamber. Mordred had to admit there was truth to what Scathach said about this place being easy to get lost in.
That's all the credit Mordred will give her...
It's here somewhere...
Mordred eagerly anticipated finding her prize as she went down a familiar aisle of treasures, the objects becoming less antiquated as she went on; a sign that Mordred was going in the right direction. That and the assurance that she sensed nobody following her made Mordred's excitement grow.
After a minute of wandering, the Red Saber found the area of her search:
Scathach's car collection...
Looking around, Mordred eventually zeroed in on the thing she came here for and hurried towards it. She stops in front of the one car she had her eye on last time she was here.
"Hello, stallion..."
The red 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO. Mordred took a moment to admire this piece of art on wheels before attempting to do what she came here to do, and that was take this magnificent mechanical steed for a joyride.
Mordred thought she might need to enter the car through unconventional means, but after deciding to test the handle, she was surprised to know that the driver's-side door was unlocked. Mordred snickered as she thought:
This is almost TOO easy... that dumb witch...
Mordred opened the car door and sat in the driver's seat. The lack of any keys was of no concern to the Red Saber as she "carefully" removed the cover under the steering mechanism. As eager as she was to drive it, Mordred did not want to damage anything more than she needed to. Looking at the antiquated circuitry, the Servant went to work as her Riding skill let her work into cheating the car to start.
Okay, gently remove this, disconnect the ignition, cross the wires... and profit.
Mordred held the exposed wires in her hands and joined them together, forming sparks and sounding the ignition. It would become apparent to the Red Saber that after several attempts, the car failed to start. After trying some more, Mordred begins to get impatient, whispering to herself:
"Come on... come on already...!"
And that was when-
"You know cars don't start without gas, right?"
The sound of a foreign voice caused Mordred to turn and look out the passenger window. Sure enough, the Red Saber saw Scathach looking right at her with a displeased look on her face.
"Crap-!"
Panicked, Mordred hurriedly exited the car, standing up only for Scathach to appear right in front of her in a wisp of smoke and hold her arm out, preventing Mordred from running off.
"Don't bother..."
Mordred was shocked of how Scathach snuck up on her without the Saber knowing and struggles to respond.
"H- H- How-?!"
"Good hunters know how not to become the hunted," was all Scathach said as an answer. She stared sternly at Mordred yet did not seem angry at the Servant judging by her tone. "Mordred, was it? I knew you were interested in the car, and thought it was only a matter of time before you got ideas."
Mordred grew uncomfortable as Scathach loomed over her, but pushing down her initial shock at being caught, the Red Saber mustered the courage to speak up to the warrior queen.
"Yeah, well... it's all YOUR fault..."
Scathach tilts her head questioningly.
"I'm not the one who chose to break into someone's Ferrari..." she says as matter of fact, before asking honestly, "What did I ever do to you?"
Mordred found herself put off by how chill Scathach was confronting her, and more so by the absurd question she just sent Mordred's way, like she legit has no idea.
"Seriously lady?!" Mordred starts before answering bluntly, "Okay, let me think... uhhh, everything?!"
"Namely?"
The queen's quick response only served to irritate Mordred further.
"Tarnishing my pride... embarrassing me in front my teammates... and just being a stuck-up, unpleasable bitch..."
"Oh, that wasn't nice," Scathach remarked, standing up straighter before scrutinizing Mordred even more. "Did you ever kiss your mother with that filthy mouth?"
"My mother was a witch!" Mordred replied with a scowl, not sorry for her earlier slander. "What does that tell you?!"
To Mordred's surprise, her response caused Scathach to raise an eyebrow, and after a brief silence, responded with.
"A lot, now that you mention it..." that statement stunned Mordred, but before she could say anything, Scathach suddenly grabbed her arm faster than she could react. "Come with me."
The warrior queen started pulling Mordred away.
"What are you doing?!" she exclaims as she tries to pull back. "Let me go!"
Try as Mordred might, even with her strength, Scathach was just dragging her along like it was no problem for her, taking Mordred to who-knows where.
"Unfortunately, you have no say in the matter..." Scathach's blunt response prompted Mordred to vainly continue resisting.
"I said let me go!"
"Not until you apologize..."
"No!"
"I can pull harder..."
"I can take it!" Mordred said angrily, unable to stand the humiliation of being dragged by her new arch-nemesis. "I can take anything you throw at me!"
"Defiant, are we?" Scatahch said, looking over her shoulder to the struggling Saber. "How about I let your masters know what you did... or perhaps I should tell Arturia-"
Hearing that made Mordred cave-in, as her feet were dragging against the floor, and she was leaning back far.
"All right! All right! I'm sorry for breaking into your car! Will you please let go?!"
As soon as she said that, Scathach promptly let go of Mordred and the Red Saber fell backwards on her butt.
"Ow!" Mordred let out, surprised that she was let go without warning. "What gives?!"
She looks up and sees Scathach looking down at her with a satisfied smirk on her face.
"See? You CAN be nice..."
Her statement briefly confused Mordred until she realized-
"What the-? You-! You tricked me!"
"I did... sort of," Scathach admits as she leans down and offers her hand for Mordred to get up.
"What do you mean "sort of"?!" Mordred asked angrily, brushing away Scathach's helping hand and getting up by herself. "Did you want to humiliate me further?!"
Scathach just crossed her arms in slight offense as Mordred dusted herself off.
"You really need to stop taking everything personally," the warrior queen remarks, prompting Mordred to look at her. "Yes, I wanted you to apologize, but also show you I can be reasonable. Everybody should feel humbled occasionally, but you don't have to view me as antagonistic."
"I still do..." Mordred grumbled, which was brushed off by Scathach.
"Relax," she said casually to Mordred's surprise. Scathach then turned away from the Saber slightly and expressed a modicum of admiration. "I must say you've got guts in risking my wrath to take one of my cars for a joyride. I never had a student, let alone a girl who was as daring-"
Scathach cuts herself off when she suddenly spun and grabbed Mordred's outstretched arm, using the servant's momentum to flip her on to her back and slam Mordred on to the floor. The Red Saber winced as Scathach pinned her down and held her offending arm at an unnatural angle, the whole thing happening within seconds.
It was evident that Mordred tried to punch Scathach while her back was turned.
"Now what was THAT for?" Scathach asked Mordred in slight surprise.
"You called me a girl!" Mordred answers angrily, in pain from Scathach twisting her arm.
"I'm sorry," Scathach replied sarcastically, but was curious as to why that would prompt retaliation from her student. "Did that offend you?"
"VERY much! I'm a knight!"
Scathach pressed further.
"And what's wrong with being a knight AND a girl?"
"STOP IT!" Mordred said, thrashing against Scathach who kept her pinned down and kept the Saber's arm in place.
"How about you calm down and explain yourself, so we don't have this happen again?"
"I've got nothing to say to you!" Mordred replied bitterly as she was borderline furious at the warrior queen. "You're just like my mother!"
Scathach's face lit up in revelation.
"Ah... there it is..."
Mordred stopped struggling after what Scathach just said, her rage being replaced with confusion, especially after Scathach released her. Mordred was left lying on the floor having no idea what just happened.
"Huh?"
"So that's your issue with me," Scathach said in a surprisingly gentle tone as she stood up and offered her hand again for the Red Saber. "I must say we certainly got off on the wrong foot... Mordred."
Mordred was speechless as she looked up at Scathach, finding her newfound amnesty suspicious.
"What is this? Another trick?!"
"It's no trick," Scathach answers honestly, and Mordred could see no hint of malice on the warrior queen's face. "I just want to clear up any misunderstandings between us."
Mordred glanced at Scathach's still outstretched hand and found herself wanting to accept her offer of helping the Saber to her feet. Mordred reluctantly obliged, still on guard.
"Misunderstandings?" Mordred repeats Scathach's words, letting go of her hand as soon as she stood up.
"How about we try this again?" Scathach suggests and holds out her hand again as a gesture, and Mordred finds herself lost again for words. "Hello Mordred, I am Scathach. Nice to meet you, and I hope we get to know each other."
Mordred's gaze alternates between Scathach's confident face and her outstretched hand, still waiting for the Saber to shake. She was taking back as not ever in her life had anyone approached her like this. Not as a knight, nor as a person in general.
Okay, maybe that was not entirely true. The masters welcomed her into Chaldea, sure, but that was as a Servant entering into a contract. Jekyll was a different case, as they knew each other from a singularity, and any formality was hand-waved. As for Astolfo... Mordred would dare say the way he accepted her was the closest to what Scathach was offering her now. Even he knew all about Mordred's past, and perhaps made an effort to befriend her despite all of that.
Then again, Astolfo attempts to befriend just about anyone summoned to Chaldea.
This time with Scathach, however, it seemed to Mordred that the warrior queen wants about the same thing, albeit with none of those preconceived notions that Mordred carried with her.
The Knight of Treachery... the villain of King Arthur's story...
At a loss of what to feel, Mordred instead found herself falling into doubt. Mordred herself as a person did not seem to matter to anyone past her history.
"Why-?" the Red Saber spoke in a barely audible voice, casting her head down shamefully instead of taking Scathach's invitation to shake her hand. "Why would anyone want to get to know me?"
Scathach was slightly taken back by this, but she was deterred. The warrior queen anticipated resistance from Mordred, having dealt with difficult students before, and knew she was on to something when Mordred revealed the reasons behind her grudge with Scathach. If her goal was getting Arturia and Mordred to act more together as comrades, Scathach knew that she had to get on Mordred's good side.
Despite this current setback, the warrior queen believed she had gotten over the initial obstacles Mordred put around herself. She had to dig deeper...
"That's one of the things I hope to find out," she answers Mordred as she reluctantly retracted her hand, having a new plan in mind. "Follow me... or not. Your choice."
Scathach walks past Mordred in the opposite direction, much to the Red Saber's surprise.
"Follow you where?" Mordred asks as Scathach paused to look over her shoulder at the servant.
"It's a secret..."
Mordred narrowed her eyes suspiciously, having not forgotten Scathach caught her breaking into one of her cars.
"What if I say "no"? You gunna rat me out to my masters?"
"No, and you have my word on that," Scathach answers honestly. "You can leave, and I'll forget all about the Ferrari."
Mordred was speechless again and could not help but believe the warrior queen. Thanks to Scathach's openness towards her, Mordred also found herself curious about what she wanted to show her.
"I'll play along. For now..."
Scathach smirks in victory.
Connection established...
"You'll play alright..."
______
Mordred followed Scathach through her museum, walking through isles full of objects the Red Saber had not seen yet. In fact, this area of the chamber seemed more secluded than the others.
"How far does all this go?" Mordred found herself asking after walking for what felt like several minutes. "It seems to stretch on and on..."
As they came up to a wall, Scathach answers:
"I dare say I have way too much stuff, but I had to fill this space with something interesting. Here we are."
Following the warrior queen into a side room, Mordred's curiosity was piqued when the duo entered, and she could not see as it was pitch-black. When Scathach snapped her fingers, Mordred had to cover eyes as the room lit up. Once her eyes properly adjusted, Mordred lowered her arm in front of her face and marveled at the sight before her.
"Whoa..."
The room was spacious and filled with every musical instrument imaginable, all neatly organized and arranged, as well as having ample space for practice. Mordred was taken back by the sheer volume and variety of the stuff in here, seeing pianos, drums, brass instruments, violins, cellos, even electronic keyboards. There was even a lounge area where there was an old-school jukebox with shelves full of albums.
"Are these all-?"
"Musical instruments, yes," Scathach said as she stood behind Mordred, feeling a bit prideful that she got such an excited response from the rowdy knight, who she bet was wishing she had more eyes. "-From every culture and time-period, with a good portion being dedicated to-"
"Guitars!" Mordred exclaimed as her eyes fell upon the far-side of the room where there were rows upon rows of electric guitars hung against the wall. Scathach did not bother stopping Mordred as the excited servant rushed her way over to the guitar section and darted everywhere.
"There's everything here! Amps, pedals, basses- wait!"
Mordred then stops in front of a glass trophy-case that held something special and valuable inside. Scathach calmly walked over as Mordred was almost pressing her face against the glass to glimpse at what it was.
"Helloooo beautiful..."
"You know about this one?" Scathach asks Mordred, who happily explained to her:
"Yeah! A '59 Gibson Les Paul, and in sunburst. One of 1700 of the original run. Nobody wanted these until greats like Richards, Clapton, and Page started playing them. Hard to come by and worth more than a pretty penny, especially in this condition."
Indeed, taking another glance at the prized guitar, Mordred could tell it had not seen much use. The body, fretboard, and the finish looked pristine. Still, the Saber's face fell as something started occurring to her.
"Why are you even showing me all this?" Mordred asked Scathach, who without hesitation replied:
"Your masters said you are proficient with six-strings."
"They told you?!" Mordred exclaimed with a blush, shocked that her masters would reveal such a thing about herself.
"It's nothing to be embarrassed about," Scathach calmly reassures the Red Saber before remarking, "Everyone has to have a hobby..."
"I guess..." Mordred eventually said before leaving the troph to look at the assorted guitars on against the wall nearby. "You any good with these?"
Scathach watched as Mordred inspected each instrument before replying solemnly:
"When you have as much time as I do... You have to fill it with something productive, even if it's just out of curiosity. I practiced with a lot of instruments, mainly the piano..."
She then shifts the conservation back on Mordred as the Red Saber briefly fiddled with an oddly shaped guitar.
"What do you play with?"
Mordred puts the instrument she held back on its hanger before answering Scathach.
"Oh, Gudao and Gabby gifted me an Epiphone SG. Not high-end but it gets the job done. I'm more of a punk and metalhead when it comes to playing songs."
Scathach suppresses a giggle.
"From your brazen attitude, I'd be surprised if that wasn't the case..."
"Yeah..." Mordred said in agreement, then appearing sullen as she stopped looking at the guitars to instead sit on a cushioned swivel. "I guess I'm not the most approachable person ever..."
Noticing the Saber's change in demeanor, Scathach walks towards her before pulling up a seat in front of her.
"That why you were surprised when I said I wanted to get to know you?" the warrior queen asked before taking a seat herself. "For someone with as much pride as you, why feel so insecure about yourself?"
Mordred grew uncomfortable, somewhat regretting her self-demeaning remark from earlier and betraying her vulnerability. As much as she would have liked not to speak any further, Scathach had indeed been nice to her thus far, especially after Mordred disrespected her by attempting to drive one of her cars.
The Knight of Treachery supposed it would be rude of her not to open herself further to the warrior queen. With a deep breath, Mordred explained to her:
"When I grew up, I always wanted to be a knight. Women couldn't be knights because they were thought of as too weak. But I wanted to be strong, fight for something much greater than myself. King Arthur was my idol, the one person I wanted to lend my strength to. I thought her cause to give prosperity to Britain to be the most noble imaginable. My mother... had other ideas for me."
"Who was she?" Scathach asked.
"Morgan le Fay," Mordred replied bluntly. "Maybe you've heard of her?"
"Oh..." Scathach's response was all the affirmation Mordred needed.
"Yeah, you have. Figures..." Mordred then added bitterly and shamefully, "You don't need me to tell you how she was..."
Scathach was intrigued thus far. Mordred had been answering honestly about her desires about being one of Arturia's knights, along with the fact that she did not care much for her mother. Which made it even more curious as Scathach observed Mordred's hand slowly and unconsciously traveling towards her covered arm.
Like the day before... after Scathach confronted her. The warrior queen recalled Mordred's words from earlier:
I have nothing to say to you! You're just like my mother!
"That why you rub your arms?" Scathach's next question caused Mordred to tense up in panic. Scathach could hear Mordred's heart race.
"How did you-?!" Mordred asked fearfully.
"It wasn't hard to notice, especially when..." Scathach need not finish as her eyes trailed down to Mordred's hand, which was now gripping her arm. "Show me..."
"I can't-!" she refused, shaking her head as her voice quivered. Scathach knew she had to act fast to get to the bottom of this. The warrior queen leaned forward and put a reassuring hand on Mordred's lap, looking at the servant dead in the eye.
"Mordred," Scathach kept her voice even, understanding Mordred did not want to proceed out of shame. "You have nothing to be ashamed of. Showing me something about yourself is not weakness. I won't tell anyone about what we share in here, as I won't about the Ferrari..."
Mordred stared at her silently, struggling to hide the growing shame on her face and tempted to look away. It took her a moment to process Scathach's words, but eventually-
"You promise?" her words almost came off as a warning, but Scathach said resolutely:
"Promise."
Scathach then removed her hand from Mordred's lap as a sign of trust. In the short time she has been talking with Mordred, the warrior queen understood her enough to know that the Red Saber hated displaying any weakness, as well as how difficult this must be for her.
But Scathach needed to see what Mordred was hiding if she were to have any hope of maybe getting the Knight of Treachery and the King of Knights to reconcile. There had to be nothing that one would hide from the other.
Mainly themselves...
Scathach patiently waited for Mordred, who still seemed conflicted. But then, with a heavy sigh, Mordred began removing her red jacket, leaving her arms bare. Mordred's face was unreadable as she then slowly turned her arms over for Scathach to see...
Scars.
Dark, jagged scars, on the lower part of Mordred's arms, standing out against her rosy-pale skin. There were not many things that could unsettle Scathach, but although her face did not show it, her heart wrenched as she could tell that these scars were not made by any weapon, but by magecraft.
"Ugly, aren't they?" Mordred said bitterly, turning away and hiding her shame. Scathach's attention was fixed on the servant's scars.
"Your mother did this to you..." she said, not needing the affirming nod from Mordred in response. Scathach felt great pity for the Red Saber, and internally seethed at the thought that a parent could do such a thing to their child, being a mother herself.
It was not hard to see now where Mordred's insecurities came from. The Saber must loath anything that betrays weakness or vulnerability on her part. Mordred then hurriedly put her jacket back on, unable to bear the humiliation any longer. Scathach does not bother stopping her.
"She claimed it was to make me strong," Mordred goes on to say. "Morgan never felt like a family, at least from none I've ever seen. Mother wanted me to be a knight just so I could destroy King Arthur. She really made it seem like the king was a real monster."
Scathach listened carefully, as everything Mordred was now telling her helped the warrior queen gain a real understanding of her student. It seems Scathach succeeded in getting Mordred to open up to her even after the Saber's feud with her.
Hopefully, hearing more will shed additional light on Mordred's feud with Arturia. Scathach needed to hear both sides of the story.
"But I didn't listen to her. I became Arthur's knight, I served her faithfully, even when I hardly got acknowledgement for it. Turns out that I wasn't the only one. King Arthur was reclusive, spoke of nothing except of what was best for the country. And something else..."
"What was it?" Scathach asked. Mordred's face started to turn from resolute to uncertain.
"When I came face to face with the king for the first time, I- I felt something... Kindred. I could feel her burden, pain and loneliness. I didn't figure out why until I met my mother for the final time. She-"
Scathach then saw Mordred's expression turn to genuine joy.
"She told me King Arthur was my father! I felt overjoyed to have my connection to her make sense! I decided immediately that I wanted to help her! Take all that burden off her shoulders!"
When Mordred then fell silent and cast her head down, Scathach glanced down at her hands to see that they were balled up into fists.
"Then it happened..." The Red Saber's voice cracks as she continued. "I told her everything; who I really was, and what I wanted to do for her... and Arthur rejected me!"
Scathach leaned back slightly after Mordred briefly raised her voice. Having processed everything so far, and judging from Mordred's mood that she never had any ill will towards Arturia to begin with; quite the contrary from what Scathach just heard. Mordred desired to belong to a real family, and she thought Arturia would give it to her. The warrior queen was left wondering if that were true, then why did Arturia not accept her?
Scathach then recalled Arturia's words from the other night:
All I can say is... my rejection had nothing to do with her personally...
Scathach kept that at the back of her mind as Mordred mustered the will to continue.
"I was angry... furious. She walked away like none of it mattered to her... that I didn't matter! In retaliation, I took over the kingdom behind her back, fought her armies and my fellow knights JUST to prove that it was mistake on her part. I finally had her, dead to rights when-! When..."
"Yes?"
Mordred sighed as her tirade dulled, her tone now turning regretful.
"She told me I wasn't worthy to be king. I lost all sense of reason and rushed in at that moment to kill her... but that was my downfall."
Mordred cringed at the memory of being stabbed through and forced to watch Arturia walk away as she was dying, reaching out and calling to her king even after all that's happened...
Mordred sighs again.
"Imminent death has a way of snapping you back to reality, if only for a moment..."
Scathach could say nothing about that, having been alive far longer than any living thing on Earth. Despite suffering injuries that would otherwise be fatal, she has no idea what it would be like to succumb to the finality death is supposed to bring. All the Heroic Spirits here must have experienced it intimately in different ways.
Scathach found herself slightly envious of them for that...
"I don't know why I told you all this..." Mordred then said, exasperated and surprised at herself. "I haven't even showed Beansprout my..."
Mordred trails off, raising her arms slightly in emphasis.
"Sorry?" Scathach interrupts, not understanding who Mordred was referring to.
"Jekyll..." the Saber clarified, showing slight embarrassment as she explained, "He... He's the only person willing to listen to me. Not surprising, what with him being a doctor and all..."
From the way Mordred spoke of the Assassin, Scathach could tell he must be important to her. With the atmosphere having been dour by this point, the warrior queen she could lighten the mood with:
"Is that all?" Scathach's suggestive tone made Mordred perk up in confusion.
"Huh?" Mordred's blush was hardly noticeable, as Scathach could tell that the Red Saber was not aware of her feelings just yet.
"Oh, nothing..." Scathach dismisses, sure that Mordred will learn soon enough. As of right now though, Scathach had some questions of her own for the Red Saber, confident that Mordred will clarify a few things now that trust had been established between them. "So Arturia is your... father?"
Mordred blinked twice, nearly missing the confusion in Scathach's tone.
"Yeah..." the Saber said as matter of fact. "I'm pretty sure I said that."
"Yes, you did," Scathach stated. "Curious, isn't it?"
"What is?" Mordred asked in a warning tone. Judging from her reaction, Scathach could tell Mordred was aware of a certain elephant in the room, being that Arturia is (quite obviously) a woman. How could a woman be a father?
Scathach did not doubt that there was a familial connection between Arturia and Mordred; they looked far too alike to not be related somehow. Recalling Arturia's words again, Scathach wondered if maybe the King of Knights knew exactly how Mordred came to be and was too ashamed of herself to face it. It seemed like to the warrior queen that Mordred herself does not know. It sure could not have happened naturally...
Scathach found it very suspicious that the sorceress Morgan herself would tell Mordred that Arturia is her father, after keeping it a secret all of Mordred's life only to just casually let it slip one day...
Who are you, Morgan le Fay? Scathach thought with narrow eyes. What did you do to them?
Scathach realizes she let the tense silence linger too long and decides to not press the issue to Mordred.
"I'm sure you'll figure it out," Scathach said casually, then changing the subject. "Your masters told me when you were summoned, Arturia was there."
"She was, and then she wasn't," Mordred admitted, internally annoyed that the conversation shifted back to the "thorn in her side". "I'm worthless to her... but I guess after everything I did, I shouldn't have been surprised in the slightest."
"You don't sound angry..." Scathach pointed out, and it pushed one of Mordred's buttons.
"Wha-?! Of course, I am!" she insisted as she stood up before going on to rant, "I'm the one who got shafted in the first place! And even as a part of Chaldea, Father still gives me the cold shoulder. Doesn't matter that I'm fighting to save humanity, I'm pretty sure she hates me..."
"How do you know?" Scathach asked calmly, surprising Mordred. "Have you ever even tried-?"
"Tried what?" Mordred cuts her off, earning no reaction from the warrior queen, who found her ranting close to that of an 8-year-old on the verge of a tantrum. "Father doesn't want to talk to me. Heck, she won't even acknowledge me! What more reason could you have to hate someone who was born and raised by a witch?"
"Somehow, I don't think Arturia would be that superficial..." Scathach assures her, not sure if maybe she should tell Mordred that she was assuming too much.
"What makes you say that?" Mordred asked before the sly look on Scathach's face made her pause. Mordred's face morphed back into that of surprise, having figured out that Scathach had this same talk with Arturia. The Red Saber grunted in frustration and sat back down in a huff. "Never mind, I should have guessed everyone would want to be buddy-buddy with the great king."
Scathach said nothing to deny this. Having spoken with Arturia and knowing how much of a different person she is compared to back when she was alive, it seemed Mordred could only see that past side of her.
"One thing I will say," Scathach starts, attempting to appeal to Mordred. "Arturia is quite the conversationalist... like you."
Mordred side-glanced at the warrior queen, surprised at the compliment, but she then coldly dismissed it as flattery.
"You're screwing with me..." Mordred spat, refusing to look at the warrior queen.
"No, I'm serious," Scathach insists. "And you know what else? I don't think you want to hate her."
Mordred curtly looks back at her, looking almost insulted.
"How would YOU know?"
"You haven't insulted her this entire time," Scathach reveals. "You even called her "a great king"."
Mordred's visage softened... if only a tiny bit. She stands her ground as she tries to refute.
"And what makes you think I wasn't just-?"
"Your heart says otherwise..." Scathach cuts her off, stunning Mordred into silence. "You still care for Arturia, even though you think she doesn't care for you..."
Mordred stared blankly at Scathach for a moment before the Red Saber narrowed her eyes at her, scrutinizing the warrior queen. So far since Scathach caught her, the Red Saber found all her assumptions about the Shadow flipped repeatedly.
"She talked about me, huh?" Mordred asked, seeing if Scathach would say otherwise. When she did not say anything, it was all the confirmation Mordred needed. "I wanna hear what she had to say..."
"Not my place to tell," Scathach stated calmly, visibly disappointing Mordred. "You can ask her yourself, and I think you'd be surprised."
Mordred briefly pondered, perhaps even considering it. Scathach did not get her hopes up, as soon enough, the Red Saber huffed and looked away, crossing her arms.
"It's no use. Father won't speak to me..." Mordred said, then raising a fist. "There is only one way she will. And that's by proving myself as her heir."
That statement caught Scathach's attention.
"I take it that's your wish for the Grail?"
"Huh?" Mordred looked back at the warrior queen, who went on to say:
"Your masters told me that most Heroic Spirits who become Servants have a wish they want granted. Yours is acknowledgement from Arturia, no?"
Scathach gazed at Mordred, waiting for her confirm what she just said as the Red Saber reluctantly revealed:
"Not... exactly," Mordred said anxiously until she proudly clarified: "You see... MY wish is to pull the Sword from the Stone!"
Scathach was slightly surprised at that... Mordred's wish did not seem to be as straight-forward as she thought. She was sure Mordred wanted nothing more than affirmation as King Arthur's heir as well as for Arturia to accept her as such.
"What will that accomplish?" Scathach found herself asking, which Mordred was more than eager to answer.
"Doing so will make Father have no choice but to acknowledge yours truly. It also proves my birthright to be Britain's king!"
"I see..." Scathach said cautiously. Having been shown Excalibur by Arturia, along with the knowledge that the sword does not let anyone simply wield it, it seemed Mordred would rather bank her chance at acknowledgement on pure chance rather than confront Arturia directly. Who's to say if Mordred even could lift the sword? Scathach heard from Arturia herself that someone must be "worthy" to use it. The King of Knights was not even entirely sure what that meant.
"And what if you can't?"
Scathach's bombshell questioned lingered for several seconds. Mordred looked briefly stunned, as it was clear to Scathach that the Red Saber had never thought about that possibility. Eventually, Mordred snaps out of her astonishment.
"What's this nonsense you're spouting?!" Mordred said before declaring with the utmost confidence, "Without a doubt I can lift the Sword!"
"Which one?" Scathach then asked. "Caliburn or Excalibur?"
"Does it matter?" Mordred replied. "I know one is made from the fragments of the first one so-" The Red Saber stops when she realized what the warrior queen just said, and saw the knowing look Scathach was giving her. "Wait... how do you know that?"
A smile grew on the Shadow's face.
"You're perceptive, just like her..."
Mordred's face turns from suspicion to shock when she realizes-
"Father SHOWED you?!" the Red Saber exclaimed in disbelief, getting up and walking in front of Scathach to point an accusatory finger in her face. "WHAT did you do, witch?!"
"Nothing..." Scathach said evenly, narrowing her eyes. Despite wanting to diffuse the tension, she would be a liar to say that Mordred calling her a witch did not strike a nerve. "I was simply curious. Amazing what someone can show you just from talking and getting to understand each other..."
Mordred was heaving as she glared down at Scathach, but eventually, the Shadow's words sunk in and Mordred relents, turning away to kick over her seat in frustration. Scathach watches as Mordred stands beside herself, casting her head down shamefully.
"That just proves my point..." the Red Saber said bitterly in a somber tone. "I won't get anywhere close to that with Father."
Scathach slowly stood up and walked up behind Mordred, knowing to tread carefully as Mordred was clearly distraught and irate.
"Am I wrong to assume that you're sorry about the past and want her to trust you again?"
Scathach's question lingers as Mordred then shifted her weight. The warrior queen could not see her face but was sure the Red Saber was conflicted, hearing her heart pounding. Eventually...
"No..." Mordred answered at last, seemingly fed-up with denying her feelings any longer. "But how the hell do you make up for something like that?"
Scathach knew what Mordred was referring to; her rebellion, killing her fellow knights, mortally wounding her king... the Red Saber was indeed regretful, but to her there was no way she could be forgiven for all that has happened. She was certain that was why she could never reconcile with Arturia. And that there was no other way to remotely earn that forgiveness other than by lifting the Sword of Selection.
Scathach believed that even by some miracle Mordred got her wish, simply lifting a sword would not actually give her the relationship she truly wants with Arturia.
Family...
The warrior queen could only offer words she was sure Mordred heard before.
"Stay true to yourself, and you'll figure it out."
"Father won't understand," Mordred said, shaking her head, with her voice cracking. "I'm supposed to be the villain of HER story. Everyone knows that."
Unbeknownst to Scathach, Mordred pictured Maragaery Fairborough when she said that. Even in this day and age, that stigma endured. Mordred failed to stop a sniffle as she is overcome with despair.
When she saw Mordred's head drop, Scathach asks with a heavy heart:
"Are you crying-?"
"KNIGHTS DON'T CRY!" Mordred yelled angrily, slightly taking Scathach back.
"My apologies..." she said calmly. "I want to say you are just wrapped up in your assumptions about your king. You're only having trouble seeing past them."
"What are you, my mother?!" Mordred's head turned slightly, and Scathach thought she saw the servant's emerald, green eye just bloodshot from holding back tears. Scathach struggles to think of what she could say to calm her down before deciding to play into Mordred's disdain for her only parent.
"I'm truly sorry that you had no proper mother," she says quietly, slowly stepping closer behind Mordred. "And this Morgan le Fay doesn't sound like she was ever one to you. I think you hate her far more than Arturia..."
Mordred was still breathing heavily, overcome with emotion. Her hand was clenched closed as she struggled to collect herself, fighting the urge to claw at her arm again. Not only had Morgan mistreated her all her life, but the experience left Mordred feeling like she was lesser than everyone else.
She was alone until she found the Knights of the Round... found an ideal king to serve. That moment of clarity allowed Scathach's words to sink in.
"I-" Mordred starts, slowly relaxing her hand. "I can't argue about that..."
Scathach let a smile form on her face as it seemed she was getting through to Mordred.
"And you want to know something else?" she then said as she came up beside the Red Saber.
"What?" Mordred asked reluctantly, not sure what Scathach could possibly say to-
"I don't believe you're a villain..." Scathach's statement gave Mordred pause. She tensed slightly as the warrior queen suddenly put a hand on her shoulder, prompting the Knight of Treachery to look at her. "Despite all the shade you threw at me since we met, you haven't done anything that degrades you to such a thing in my eyes. Not to me, not to your teammates."
Mordred stared at her in astonishment, unwilling to believe what she had just heard from the warrior queen. Yet, from the sincere look on Scathach's face, Mordred could not bring herself to say anything of the sort. Thinking about how she spoke down to Mashu the day previous, when she left the group in Edinburgh, and her breaking into one of Scathach's cars just minutes ago, the Red Saber was not sure if she deserved to be dismissed so easily for all of that.
"Thanks... I guess," Mordred said half-heartedly.
"Don't get me wrong," Scathach quickly added, keeping Mordred's attention. "You've still got an attitude though. I was much the same to be honest..."
Hearing that made Mordred's mood lift slightly, now leaving her feeling humbled.
"Oh yeah...?" she said to Scathach, curious as to how the warrior queen could have been anything like herself; brash and hot-headed.
Scathach eagerly obliged her.
"You may see me as a strict teacher, but my mentor... he was a real "hard-ass"," Mordred snorted a laugh at that before Scathach continued as her tone turns nostalgic. "I thought I knew stuff better than he did, but as I learned the hard way more than once... he understood me better than I did myself."
Mordred watched as the warrior queen's face then turned somber.
"We all need a chance to learn better..."
After Scathach had said that, silence briefly lingered until the warrior queen patted Mordred's shoulder before letting go; the mood seemingly lifted as Scathach then said casually:
"We still got time left before dinner," Mordred watches as the warrior queen went to pick up the swivel seat Mordred kicked over earlier, standing it up as Scathach then added, "I'll let you play around in here until then."
Mordred blinked at her, having forgotten where they even were after all the words they had exchanged. Excitement returned to the Red Saber's face as she could not believe what Scathach had just said; giving her access to all her guitars.
"Really?" Mordred asked ecstatically, slowly pointing to the instrument inside the glass case. "Even the-?"
"Even that one..." Scathach said with a nod. "You think I care about how much it's worth? I find it shameful for such a finely crafted instrument to not see any use, wouldn't you say?"
Mordred could not believe it. This did not feel real to her, especially after everything the Red Saber had done to disrespect the Shadow. Her generosity and willingness to forgiveness drastically changed Mordred's opinion of her.
Maybe Scathach was nothing like her mother after all...
"Whoa... uh, thanks?" Mordred expressed gratitude as best she could despite her disbelief. As she then made her way to the glass case, opening it and retrieving the guitar, Mordred could not help but remark to the still watching Scathach, "You know, for an immortal old stiff, you're not so bad-"
(SHRNNT!)
Mordred froze as a red spear suddenly embedded itself in the ground right by her foot as she turned around with the guitar in hand. Shaking, the Red Saber looked up to see Scathach staring straight at her coldly while in a relaxed stance that telegraphed to Mordred that it was HER who threw it. Mordred was shocked that the warrior queen had thrown her spear at her with such velocity that the Servant's Instincts had barely any time to warn her. Speechless, Mordred wondered what on Earth brought this on as Scathach spoke to her in a dangerous tone.
"You've got on my good side., but don't EVER call me old... We clear?"
"Y-Y-Y-Yes ma'am?" Mordred replied in a quivering voice, her Instincts screaming at her to comply. After nodding, Mordred waited anxiously until Scathach relaxed with a smile and the threat had passed.
"Good," she said casually like nothing happened, but Mordred was still stunned. "Don't forget to put everything back where you found it..."
Mordred forced herself back into composure, walking slowly towards an amplifier and taking a seat beside it with the guitar in hand.
"Of course..."
Satisfied, Scathach started making her way out of the room after retrieving her spear. Mordred plugged the guitar in to the amplifier and it in tune. Thinking about what to play first, Mordred smirked deviously and started playing the first few notes of an arpeggio clean without distortion until Scathach calls out adding-
"And NO Stairway..."
Mordred stared at Scathach's retreating form, stunned as the warrior queen left her alone in the music room, the Red Saber sulking as she had been denied a golden opportunity...