6 Months, 1 week, 6 days, 18 hours, 57 minutes until the Grail War
"Over four months of this shit….," Micheal groaned as he blearily opened his eyes to see the ceiling of his dorm room at the Clock Tower. He glanced at the clock beside his bed which showed 3:47am, "Its almost weekly at this point that I have some dream about her past…." Micheal dug the heels of his palms into his eyes until he saw stars and made the decision to try and get some more sleep before his alarms went off in three hours, He turned over in his bed and soon fell back asleep
only to open his eyes seconds later.
Micheal knew by now that he was experiencing Jeanne Alters past based on the feeling he had upon waking up in her memories. It had first started happening about a week after he had summoned her and he initially thought he was dreamwalking again only to find out that he was invisible to everyone and anytime he tried to interact with anything he phased through it.
That first dream was horrible. He couldn't get the sound of her screams or the smell of burning flesh out of his head and nose for days after he woke up. It got to the point where Jeanne had even asked him what was wrong to which all he felt he could say was that his sleep had been bad. He remembered her looking at him with suspicion as he had purposely changed the topic to something else. He wanted to be able to talk to her about what happened, to try and...help her somehow, but….with the things he'd seen so far he didn't even know how to even start talking to her about them.
This memory was clearly a while after she had been created and it was during her campaign to conquer the Holy Roman Empire to the east of France. He tried to look around the massive tent that this memory started in but it was so dark he could barely see anything. As a few minutes passed he heard whimpering to his left in the dark following by sudden jerking movements. He looked to his left and faintly saw Jeanne Alter laying in her bed having a nightmare. He knew by now that she didn't have any pleasant or even neutral dreams. It was why she purposely avoided sleeping until that bastard with the chameleon eyes and the needle teeth forced her to sleep out of the appearance of "caring".
Micheal ground his teeth together as he remembered some of the earlier memories he'd experienced. How the man had tortured Jeanne, injected her with poisons, venoms, and such purely to see what the result would be. How he had had stripped her nude, strapped her to a table, and let some evil fucking worm shove itself into her through her mouth. She had screamed and screamed and-
"Shit….must have fallen asleep again…" He heard softly to his left thankfully drawing him out of his memories of what Gilles De Ray had done to his servant. A light popped into existence as Jeanne conjured a flame at the tip of her finger and lit a candle beside her bed that gently illuminated the tent. Micheal watched in silence as Jeanne's eyes glowed with power and the flame slowly changed colors moving through the entire color spectrum. He watched as the small flame grew bigger than the candle itself, then contorted itself into a spiral, and then into several other distinct shapes. Micheal watched as Jeanne smiled softly to herself as she was illuminated gently by a flame of her own creation as she did her morning ritual that was purely something for herself. Something that was purely and solely hers. Movement outside the tent caused both of them to snap their heads to the entrance of the tent as a man with white hair and an executioners sword entered the tent. He saw that Jeanne was wearing her nightgown still and turned his gaze away his face turning red.
"The troops await your command my lady. With this final push we should have the Holy Roman Empire's army cleared out of the way and have a direct path their capital."
"...Good."
The man turned to leave only for Jeanne to stop him,
"Sanson."
"Yes my lady?"
"Out of all of us, who do you think is the biggest sinner?"
The mans face turned thoughtful and was about to speak as Jeanne laughed darkly to herself and cut him off
"Its a rhetorical question. The answer is either me or the man who created me. Rouse the troops. We march in an hour."
The man firmed his lips, bowed, and left. Micheal watched him go and then turned back to look at Jeanne as she stared at the tent flap as it moved slightly in the breeze. She had dropped her commander face and looked torn. As if she was being forced to choose between two things. As she was hesitating they both heard laughter outside the tent that made Micheals blood boil and Jeanne's already pale face pale further. She quickly slapped her cheeks and arranged her face into one of apathetic indifference as her tormentor and creator let himself into her tent. He had to bow slightly to get under the entrance but his gaze lit up upon seeing Jeanne.
"Ah...my fallen saint. My destroyer of France. The one who will avenge my-"
"What do you want Gilles."
"I merely wished for you to ask our soldiers to not kill our enemies outright. I have experiments I wish to perform and need….participants."
Jeanne didn't even have to pretend to be disgusted as she glared at him. Micheal had guessed by now that something in her creation prevented her from saying no to him. It wasn't obedience but more...like the ability to say no had been taken from her. As though her ability to choose in anything she did was taken from her in her creation in regards to anything Gilles did to her or told her to do. Micheal walked over, reinforced his arm, and threw a right cross at Gilles face only for his hand and arm to pass harmlessly through the bastard. Jeanne sighed and crossed her arms,
"One in every four. I will tell the troops to spare that many but no more than that. Everyone else must die."
Gilles laughed again and bowed, "My lady is so sweet upon her retainers….very well. I will make use of every onze of flesh I am given. All for you and your wish Jeanne D'Arc Alter. If I may be so bold as to ask….are you planning to address the troops as you are? It might provide them...extra bravery…."
Gilles licked his lips as he oogled Jeanne who just glared daggers at him.
"Leave. Now."
Gilles bowed one more time and then left still chuckling to himself. Jeanne hugged herself and fell to her knees after he had left and she bit her lip to stop herself from crying,
"Just once….Just once in my god damn life….I just want to tell that creep to fuck off and leave me alone…."
Micheal watched as Jeanne shook and worked her way through her feelings, then after a minute or two stood up to get changed out of her nightgown. He averted his eyes as he saw her drop the straps off her shoulders and didn't look back at her until he heard her say she was done changing.
"Done….Now. To set fire to everything in my way…" Micheal looked back at her as he saw an evil smile play its way across her face as she exited the tent to the sound of an army roaring in response seeing its leader.
~~~~~~~
[BEEP] [BEEP] [BEEP] [BEEP]
Micheal opened his eyes and reached over blindly to turn off his alarm as he groaned. He managed to smack the sleep button and he laid there glaring a hole into the ceiling as he noticed the light of the morning sun coming through his window. He laid there for a few seconds longer before sitting up and starting his morning routine. It had been a month since he had come back from Winter break and resumed his studies at the Clock Tower. When he had first gotten back and settled back into his room he had habitually gone to Arneheartes office to say hi to his uncle only to see that there was a sign on the door with "Renovations under way" which soured his mood completely. It had been a rough week from then on. Most of his professors took pity on him but a few didn't treat him any differently and one of them increased the workload.
As Micheal walked into the bathroom yawning he glanced over at the calendar he had put up on the wall outside his bedroom. He had put a tab on each month for something was supposed to happen and he briefly checked all of them making note of the current day,
"June 12th. I have...two reports due by the end of the week and I have to write my notes on the current lecture for…..Astral Projection."
Idly, he flipped four months ahead and stared at the date he had circled in red marker. Shaking his head he let the calendar fall back into place as he went into the bathroom to brush his teeth and wash his face. Several minutes later he was eating breakfast when he felt something touch him mentally only to pull away making him drop his spoon to let clatter on the table.
"...No. She didn't…..Please tell me she didn't." Micheal stood up, food forgotten, and threw on some shoes not even bothering to get changed out of his Pajamas as he bolted from his dorm room to the elevators. He had the weirdest sense of deja vu as he stepped into the elevator and quickly punched the button for the main floor but he shook his head to clear his thoughts as he tapped his foot waiting for the door to open. As the doors opened he bowled past a group of younger students as he made a mad dash for the main hall just in time to catch the tail end of someone yelling,
"….don't care WHO you say you are and I don't care what your relation to one of the students here might be. Now I don't know how you got in here-"
"AND AS I KEEP TELLING YOU, YOU DEAF BASTARD. I. WAS. INVITED. TO. COME."
"HOW DARE YOU TALK TO AN OFFICER OF THE CLOCK TOWER IN SUCH A MANNER."
Micheal rounded the corner into the main hall practically skidding to a stop as the yelling increased in volume while a crowd of people watched, murmuring among themselves. He pushed his way to the front and caught sight of a very familiar white cowlick that seemed to be vibrating and bouncing with rage.
Right as Micheal got through the crowd he felt mana surge from his servant and he filled his legs with mana and dashed forward to grab her wrist,
"Hang on tight." He told her as she grinned and fastened her arms around him. He did his best to ignore the two soft things pressing into him as he looked apologetically at the Hall enforcer, activated his eyes, and dashed away using his five seconds of future sight to weave his way through the crowd like a snake through grass.
Several minutes later he had stopped to catch his breath inside an old classroom that no one used as Jeanne sat on the teachers desk, crossed her legs, folded her arms, and glared at him
"I could have handled him." She ground out as Micheal took his hands off his knees and fixed his servant with a look.
"Go. Home."
"And what if I don't want to? Hm?"
Micheal groaned and ran a hand over his face before deciding to ask a different question
"Why are you even here? And what do you mean you were invit-"
Jeanne smirked and reached into her jacket to pull out a letter which she tossed to him. He caught it, read it, and then reread it several times only to look up at Jeanne with muted horror on his face to which she responded by looking supremely smug,
"Hello Micheal Lafaire. My name is Jeanne de Ruilly. As of today I am your girlfriend."
—Jeannes PoV—
"Explain. Now."
Micheal finally said after a long pause.
Jeanne rolled her eyes, hopping off the desk, and began moving around the classroom looking around,
"This was Desmonds idea actually. In the month or so you've been gone he and I were talking a bunch, turns out warfare has changed wildly since the 15th century, but~before he left to go back to Fuyuki, we decided that in the lead up to grail war I need to be able to protect you. Which led that letter from the "De Ruilly" family of mages," Jeanne said smirking at her own genius and sitting back on the teachers desk, "Said family disowned me entirely and so I decided to come to the clock tower to see if my darling boyfriend would dare to leave the woman he loves out in the rain…."
Jeanne trailed off forlornly as Micheal glanced at the forged letter and sighed. He folded the letter and handed it back to her as she stretched from her position on the desk,
"Also I can't protect you if I'm not nearby and neither of us want you to blow a command seal to make me come to you when I could just...already be nearby." She smirked at Micheal who had moved to a desk to sit down behind it.
He held his head in his hands and she heard him muttering to himself so she pressed on, "I honestly don't know what you're worried about. As long as I keep my mana under control and have the mystic code you made for me somewhere on me I pass off as a normal mage easily enough." Jeanne leaned back against the desk and rested on her hands as she gave Micheal a look as he lifted his head out of his hands to look at her. She arched an eyebrow at the look he was giving her,
"Except you haven't thought about one thing. You are pretending to be my girlfriend...at the same time my mother is currently here."
"….Shit."
"Indeed, of the purest form and quality." Micheal responded dryly.
Jeanne leaned her head back thinking quickly only for Micheal to stand up and move closer to her. She tilted her head to look at him and her eyes widened as she saw him give her a once over. She instinctively felt as though she should cover herself despite being fully dressed and she glared at him,
"...You pass well enough for a current day mage. Where'd you get the clothes?" was all he said to her relief,
"We took a trip to Orleans to one of the fashion stores there. Apparently this isn't some high end brand but its also not bad either. Why?" Jeanne hoppedoff the desk and did a quick spin striking a pose as she landed. She was wearing a plaid pleated skirt with a white button up blouse and a grey jacket along with a plaid tie. She was also wearing black thighhigh socks and loafers. She knew she looked good in them and looked at Micheal smugly as he said,
"...You look good in them."
Jeanne felt her face flush and suddenly found that her tongue couldn't move on its own. She averted her gaze and curled her fingers around the hem of her skirt as she tried to not think about what her master had just said about how he thought she looked good in them. Micheal clearly noticed her distress and coughed awkwardly
"Is that the only set of clothes you brought?"
Thankful for the change in topic Jeanne nodded,
"Yes. Desmond said that I'd 'find clothes while I was here' which made it sound like the Clock Tower supplies its students with clothing….which I'm guessing by your reaction that that's not the case."
Jeanne watched as Micheal's face went from thinking to horror as he clearly figured out what Desmond had meant,
"We need to come up with a backstory for our relationship. Now."
"What? Why. Whats the rush?"
"What did Desmond tell you to do once you got through the barrier."
"He told me I should be able to talk to the guards stationed outside and mention that I'm here to meet with my boyfriend, Micheal Lafaire, as well as resume classes that I had to put on hiatus due to some issue I could come up with later. He said everything past that would work itself out."
Jeanne felt concerned as she watched her master look like he was about to faint. Jeanne reached out to grab him in case he fell just when Micheal groaned and turned to look at the door. At the same time Jeanne felt mana.
A lot of mana.
And it was heading right towards them.
Jeanne quickly grabbed the back of Micheals shirt and threw him behind her as the door and some of the wall blew apart into the room. She quickly erected a barrier to block the debris from hitting her or Micheal when she saw a woman standing there breathing hard, mana roiling off of her in waves. She stared Jeanne in the eyes and Jeanne narrowed her eyes at the woman in turn trying to place where she'd seen her before.
The woman stood upright and shook dust off her arm as she looked Jeanne directly in the eyes. Jeanne didn't move but stared back as the woman looked from her to her Master behind her. The woman clicked her tongue and snapped her fingers, suddenly Micheal was whisked out from behind Jeanne who attempted to reach out to grab his shirt but barely missed. Jeanne noticed that his feet were encased in stone and she moved to break him free only for Micheal to stop directly in front of the woman who reached up and pinched his cheek.
"Micheal Lafaire. You have a lot of nerve."
Micheal sighed as the woman let go of his cheek and he rubbed it before looking down at the woman as Jeanne finally remembered where she had seen this woman before,
"….Hi mom."
Shit.
#####
Jeanne tried not to feel like she was about to go into a battle and found she was failing miserably. Sitting across from her at the table in a London Cafe was Amelia Lafaire. Brand of the Clocktower. "The Queen of Unbroken Stone". "The Modern Day Asclepius"...
Who also happened to be Micheals Mother.
Jeanne promised herself she'd give Desmond a thorough verbal beating the minute she saw him next. A waitress came by with a notepad,
"What can I get for you all?"
"A tall coffee with three shots of espresso, mocha syrup, strawberry whipped cream and a generous helping of chocolate chips on top." Amelia rattled off succinctly. The waitress noted all that down and then looked at Jeanne who momentarily panicked before the person sitting next to her nudged her arm with his elbow and subtly pointed at a drink next to which were more of those damn scribbles.
"I'll have this...please."
The waitress leaned over to look at what Jeanne was pointing at and nodded saying it was a good choice for the weather and then looked at Jeannes Master sitting to her right who looked like he was half dead and would rather be fully dead.
"..Water please. Unless…." He looked at his mom who rolled her eyes and nodded to him, "Actually I'll have a decaf mocha with vanilla whipped cream and cinnamon on top."
The waitress nodded writing down that as well and went off to go get their drinks made. Micheal tapped out a rhythm on the tabletop and Jeanne felt a bounded field encompass them.
"Before you start mom-"
"I believe I was quite explicit in my directions Micheal."
"There wasn't any chance to tell-"
"You had all of winter break up to the point I left for my hearing and then any other time past that."
Jeanne looked between them and tried to speak up only for Amelia to give her a warm smile,
"Oh don't worry dear. I'm just giving your boyfriend a bit of a verbal lashing for failing to mention he got a girlfriend."
Jeanne nodded silently and tried not to feel awkward that this was her 'boyfriends' mother. First impressions of her from Micheals dreams not withstanding the woman was clearly powerful. She had a quiet confidence that bespoke coiled power and true understanding of ones craft. Something which Jeanne had none of. Eventually their drinks arrived and Amelia took a break from interrogating her son to sip her drink while Micheal gingerly drank his. Jeanne looked down at her drink not quite sure what to expect of it. It was a rich brown but with darker browns swirled through it. It was topped with the same whipped cream that was on top of Micheals although his was a few shades lighter.
Jeanne gingerly picked up the drink and took a cautious sip only to be met with the richest chocolate taste she'd ever tasted. Chocolate was rare in the Orleans singularity to the point where she had only ever tasted it three times. She took the drink away from her lips and stared at it as Micheal nudged her with his elbow again and mimed wiping his upper lip with a napkin. Jeanne rolled her eyes and just licked her upper lip clean of the whipped cream only then noticing Amelia watching the two of them with a soft smile on her face.
"So. How'd you two meet then?"
Jeanne panicked momentarily before she remembered her forged letter and decided to expand on it a bit. She stared at her drink smiling softly,
"Well….You know Micheals ball bearing gun thing right? Well one night at about 2 am he was working on it outside in one of the practice fields and put a ball bearing through my dorm window that embedded itself into the ceiling of my room. I got angry and stormed out in a nightgown to start conjuring lances to throw at him as he ran away yelling apologies. The next day he tracked me down and offered to buy me breakfast to apologize. That was over a year ago now."
She tucked some of her hair behind her ear as she sipped her drink again savoring the chocolate as she watched Amelia turn slowly, almost robotically, to look at Micheal who was staring at Jeanne open mouthed.
"Micheal…. You put a ball bearing through her window?"
"Uhhhhhh-"
Jeanne felt Micheal in their bond and heard his voice through it for the first time since she had been summoned,
[Jeanne what the fuck are you talking about. We cannot start with that.]
Jeanne mentally rolled her eyes and thought back
(And what was your idea huh? We happened to meet in the hall at one point?)
Silence lingered in the bond and she physically turned to look at him unimpressed
(Oh my god. Thats actually what you were going to lead with weren't you.)
Micheal coughed and sipped his drink avoiding both her and Amelias gaze. After a few seconds Amelia turned back to Jeanne and placed her hand over Jeannes which made Jeanne recoil a bit but she managed to mostly stop herself
"I am so sorry for whatever my idiot son has put you through."
Micheal scoffed and glared at his mother who leveled a gaze at him as if daring him to say other wise. Jeanne decided to throw her master a life ring and said,
"While yes that is how we met...he's been nothing but supportive since my….incident." Micheal looked at her with a calculating look on his face as Amelia gasped in shock,
"What happened? Are you okay? What about your family?"
Jeanne chuckled darkly and looked above Amelias blonde hair to stare at a specific spot in the ceiling. She'd tell a half truth. Enough of it to be the "truth" while enough was hidden so that she didn't give the fact she was a servant away. She pulled out the letter and handed it to her,
"I'm...the fourth in line for my families magic which meant that I was never going to get it. Even still they had my circuits tested but found out… I didn't have any. In place of where my circuits would be was a curse that I had apparently been born with which prevented me from learning any traditional or modern magecraft. Due to this I was...locked away for most of my childhood. At the best of times I was seen as a disgrace to the family name and at the worst...I was often used as an example of what failure would look like to everyone else."
Jeanne clenched her hand digging her nails into her palm as she frowned. She continued,
"I only got into the Clock Tower due to a friend of the family who had the idea that if nothing else, somebody at the Clock Tower could try to remove the curse so I could at least live as a normal human but she had to go back to the states before the current semester started. I also can't take classes right now because of my curse. Since she was the one who owned the dorm room I had to move out. I've been living in a tiny apartment on the outskirts of London waiting for Micheal to come back…."
Amelia looked up from the letter to look at her and then she stared at her own drink, "Do you mind...if I ask what form your curse takes? Do you know its origins? I may be able to help…"
Jeanne sighed and looked at Amelia, briefly feeling guilty for the act she was putting on as the woman looked at her with such worry that it made Jeannes heart hurt. She grimaced and glanced over at Micheal who was looking at her with that calculating expression still. She looked back into Amelias eyes,
"We think its related to Fafnir in some way. There's a legend in my family that a lot of our current wealth comes directly from the hoard of gold that's related to the dragon. We've never been able to find out for sure but we never seem to run out of money no matter what its spent on. As for the form it takes….Hellfire and solidified darkness. I can conjure weapons made of this darkness that curse whatever they cut while my fire can even set cold ashes alight."
"Fafnir….," Amelia muttered under her breath shaking her head before she looked back at Jeanne, "Well that would explain how the De Ruilly can buy their way into almost anything. I'm sorry for offering false help but…"
"Its fine. I've learned to live with it, although being with Micheal has helped me a lot."
[You sure are laying this on thick. Why don't you also add in that you're an orphan while your at it just to make my mom feel even more guilty]
(Thats not a bad idea actually…)
[Jeanne. Do not.]
Jeanne reached over to grab Micheals hand, mentally fighting her own hatred for human touch, and looked at Amelia with a sad smile
"It actually all came to a head about a month ago," She said gesturing at the letter still in Amelias hand, "My family didn't know that I was at the clocktower and…..denounced me from the family. As far as the De Ruilly are concerned...I never existed."
Jeanne made sure to say this last part softly as she gestured at the letter. Jeanne felt Micheal squeeze her hand a bit as if to comfort her while Amelia gasped. Jeanne looked over at Micheal and was glad to see he was playing along as he gently rubbed his thumb over her knuckles. Jeanne let him do that for as long as she felt she could and then withdrew her hand,
"You poor child….." Amelia whispered as she reached over to grasp Jeannes now free hand only for Jeanne to involuntarily jerk it back causing Amelia to purse her lips.
"Sorry the...curse makes it really hard to touch people. At the best of times it feels like course sandpaper...at the worst it feels like I'm actively being burned alive.The only person who doesn't make me feel that way is Micheal but even then...I can only endure it for so long..."
At this Micheal sipped his drink and stared in one direction not looking at either of them.
After the table fell into silence for a minute or two Amelia nodded to herself,
"….I've decided." Amelia said firmly causing Micheal and Jeanne to both look at her, "Jeanne would you like to live in the Lafaire house with us?"
Micheal choked on his drink and looked wide eyed at his mother as Jeanne felt a smile creep its way up her face,
"Oh I would love nothing more Mrs. Lafaire."
Amelia waved her hand and smiled happily at Jeanne, "It will be nice enough to have another woman in the house. Its been rough living with two men. Even if one of them is your boyfriend."
Jeanne laughed at that,
"Yes he does take some getting used to doesn't he?"
"Why do I feel like I'm the only one losing here…." Micheal muttered causing Jeanne to elbow him in the arm and glare at him.
"Well...I need to get back to my official duties after making some time to meet you. It was so nice meeting you Jeanne and please take care Micheal for me? He's reckless and a bit of an idiot but he means well."
Micheal groaned at this as Jeanne nodded and smiled as Amelia got up to leave.
"….Well that could have been worse." Jeanne said a bit after Amelia left causing Micheal to rub his temple with a finger, "...What?"
"Just thinking about how I'm going to survive from now on."
"Oh you'll be fine. Oh! Right. I've been meaning to ask. What does this say?" Jeanne pointed at some of the lines on the menu causing Micheal to look at her then back at the menu and then back at her. He opened his mouth, closed it, and then opened it again,
"Jeanne….do you not know how to read?"
Jeanne shook her head causing Micheal to groan,
"Its not as though I never tried you know…" Jeanne said indignantly, "I just never had a teacher to help me. Reading and Writing….never really came up in my creation or afterwards…."
She stared at her drink feeling not a small amount of shame only for Micheal to clear his throat and look at her determinedly,
"Okay then. I'll help you learn. The question now is how to help you learn while you're at the house."
Jeanne had a thought and felt her face heat up as she curled her fingers around her drink and was about to say it when suddenly Amelia came back breathless,
"It just occurred to me. Jeanne you don't have any other clothes do you?"
"Erm...no?" Jeanne's mind raced as she tried to come up with something to say, "Why?"
"We are going clothes shopping. Also I refuse to let someone as pretty as you stay in some dingy apartment a moment longer and I bet you'd like some new clothes that don't remind you of your old family. We'll go shopping for a bit and then I'll take you back to the house," Amelia reached into her purse, quickly got some cash out, put it on the table, and made to grab Jeannes hand before stopping suddenly remembering her aversion to human touch. Sighing she instead motioned for Jeanne to follow her. Jeanne looked at Micheal who himself gave her a lopsided smile,
"Enjoy shopping Jeanne. I'm sure whatever you pick you'll look great in. I'll be back home in a few weeks for summer break. We'll work on your reading and writing from then until we have to leave for Fuyuki."
Jeanne felt her face heat at Micheals compliment only to hear Amelia calling for her to hurry up. Jeanne began to leave and looked back at her Master who had turned back around to finish his drink then she followed Amelia out into the streets of London.