บท 67: 66. To Love, And To Be Loved
(A/N: I've run into a problem. You all know I'm currently rewriting the Prologue, and with that comes some things I wish to change regarding it. However, that comes with some problems, because the timeline Godrick and company are in is very similar to his own, so the changes would also affect this arc they are in right now.
The problem is, is that i haven't released the Prologue rewrite, as i'm not done with it, but i've started writing current chapters as if it had been rewritten.
An example of this is I'm changing things surrounding Godricks birth a bit. A change that I'm making is that Vivian didn't give him up willingly, and he was stolen away by Merlin in the night while Vivian slept soon after Godricks birth. (I'm revealing this because that's a little of what's talked about in this chapter.)
So my question to you all is this.
Should I keep releasing new chapters as normal, and you all read them with the understanding that things might change surrounding certain events without having read the rewrite chapters?
Or do I stop releasing chapters all together until the rewrite is done?
I'm sorry this is something we have to deal with, and I should have caught this a little earlier. That's my failing, and I take full accountability for it. Do you all have any more suggestions for this problem?)
===Godrick===
Godrick, who was carrying Jeanne, quickly made his way to Dozmary pool. Leaping and running as fast as he could, holding his beloved Lady to his chest as he did so.
They finally arrived near the pool, as the clouds began to grow even darker, and the lightning became more frequent as it struck around them.
Godrick thought it was strange, as he almost felt as if the storm was protecting them, encasing the area around the pool in a cage of frequent lightning strikes.
Standing next to the shore, Godrick gently set Jeanne down. She was conscious, and her eyes wandered before finally settling on Godricks face.
He dematerialized his armor and asked her to do the same. She weakly complied, making her armor vanish, leaving her in a white linen dress.
The Juggernaut was about to gently pick her up before he looked up, and saw a figure walking towards him on the water's surface through the mist.
"You are not MY Godrick, are you?" The woman asked.
Godrick stayed kneeling next to Jeanne, but he soon straightened as he finally saw the woman who emerged from the mist.
"No, you are not mine." Vivian said, stopping at the water's edge.
"Lady Vivian. It is a pleasure to see you again, though you are right, I am not this timelines Juggernaut."
She gave a soft smile as she gazed at him.
"You are just as foolish as the Godrick from this timeline." She said to him with an endearing smile.
Ignoring her comment, Godrick looked back down to Jeanne, seeing her eyes go in and out of focus.
"If I and the Godrick you know are anything alike, he would have come here in life and received the blessings of the fairies. Is that right?" He asked.
"It is. I assume you did the same, and felt the healing effects of this "holy" water." Vivian replied. Godrick nodded, and continued speaking.
"I would ask that you allow me to dip my Lady into the water, so she can be healed from a powerful poison that affects her." The Juggernaut said.
"And what if I told you that only one person can bathe in the pool before it loses its power. Would you still wish to use it for your Lady?" She asked.
Godrick stared at her before she continued to explain.
"You and your Alter bathed in this pool while you were alive. In doing so, you not only gained the blessing of the fairies, but also awakened your dormant bloodline. But now it is different." She said before continuing.
"You have awakened your dormant bloodline, but there is still much the fairies wish to give your Alter before he became the beast he is. And they have left it here in this pool." She said, gesturing towards the water.
"If you decide to let your Lady bathe in its power instead of you, the power will be given to her instead." She finished.
"I don't understand," Godrick said. "Why hasn't my Alter come to take this power you speak of?" He asked.
"Because I have forbidden it." She answered plainly.
Godrick thought for a moment, knowing of his own strength, and knowing that not many people could stop him outright.
"How did you overpower him?" Godrick asked.
Vivian smiled sadly, looking into his eyes as she explained.
"The fairies have given me control of this pool, and extent, the power it holds for you… And… As your Mother, I have been given responsibility to determine if you are worthy of it, or not." She said, her face resolute for anything that might come from Godrick.
"M-mother?" He asked, his eyes wide.
"You're my mother?" He repeated before Jeanne groaned in pain.
He shook his head that was still reeling from the revelation to focus on the matter at hand.
"If I choose to reject this power, and give it to her, what will happen?" He asked, his voice strongand steady.
Vivian seemed unsurprised at him dismissing what she had said in favor of focusing on the more pressing matter.
"Then you will forfeit the power, and you will never reach the pinnacle of your existence. It would give you an edge over your Alter, and once you have his power, you would be on the level of the Gods themselves." She said, tempting him with the power.
He looked from Vivian, who had just revealed to him that she, or his timelines Vivian was his mother, and looked down to Jeanne.
Her eyes were scrunched together, and pain made her convulse involuntary from time to time.
"I am a fool." Godrick said, gently caressing his Lady's face with his right hand.
"A pinnacle is meaningless unless I have someone to share it with. And what kind of knight would I be if I let the holder of my oath… The holder of my love, and admiration, die before me, just so I can have a little more strength?" He said.
"I reject your offer of power, and choose to let her have it." The Juggernaut said before picking Jeanne up in his arms gingerly, standing up and walking to the water's edge.
"If that is your choice. So be it." Vivian said, a small smile making it's way to her face before stepping aside, making way for Godrick to walk into the water.
The lightning around them stopped all at once, and the clouds seemed to disappear in a moment as if the heavens and earth watched him in anticipation.
Complete silence filled the land for miles around as Godrick walked into the water. Jeannes long hair that hung to his knees became wet first as he walked deeper before finally, the water reached his lower torso.
He gently lowered Jeanne into the cool water, and he saw her shiver as it touched her skin. The pool began to light up a brilliant blue before it all started to collect towards Jeanne.
Slowly he gently pushed her under the water, seeing her take one last mouthful of air before her head was submerged in it.
The water around the two began to bubble and shift, soon becoming waves that smashed against the shore behind him.
He suddenly lost his hold on Jeanne as she was pulled farther into the water, and as Godrick began to panic, trying to go after her, a great force slammed into him from below the water's surface, throwing him high into the air before he came crashing down on the shore beside Vivian.
"RAAAAAHH!" He roared as he got to his feet, ready to leap back into the water before Vivian's slender arm stopped him.
"MOVE!" He commanded before pushing past her, summoning Caliburn and running into the water once more.
His heavy foot falls created large craters in the water as he charged, only to be thrown backwards to the shore once more.
"Enough!" Vivian shouted, looking down at him from where he had landed next to her.
"But my Lady!" He exclaimed before getting to his feet.
"She is fine you fool!" She chided him, moving to stand before him so he wouldn't enter the water again.
"She is OK, she just needs to absorb the power she's been given." She said.
She looked around before looking to the sky.
"It's getting dark. Why don't you make a camp for the two of you. She'll need time to recover after all this. After absorbing all that power, she will need to stay in her physical form for a while until she gets used to it, and I would like her to stay here for the night so I can watch over her, and make sure she is adapting correctly." She said before pointing to the west.
"There is a mortal encampment to the west of our position. Go and see if you can find some sort of shelter for her to stay in while she adapts to everything." She commanded.
Godrick stood his ground, eyeing her suspiciously before he decided to do as she had said, dematerializing after a moment.
Vivian gave a small sigh of relief and began to walk to stand over where she knew Jeanne would be before looking down into the water's surface.
"Grow strong, for his sake. He cannot bear the weight of the world on his shoulders alone." She said before a familiar silver dagger came from the water's bubbling surface.
She gripped its handle in her right hand before dragging it's blade across her left palm. She clenched her hand into a fist to pour her blood into the water, seeing it descend into its depths before she began to speak.
"You have my blessing Jeanne d'Arc. Help kill the beast that my son has become, and take your place next to your Juggernauts side as a champion of this world." Her words rang through the clearing over the rolling waters.
With her words, the world itself seemed to react, shuttering before going still once more.
"And now, we wait." She said to herself.
===
After a while Godrick returned, having stolen a tent and other supplies from a nearby camp on a Noble traveling northwards.
The first thing he did was to come to the water's edge and see if anything had changed concerning Jeanne.
The water still bubbled and turned, so he assumed that nothing had changed.
"She's alright, Godrick." Vivian assured him before he turned away and began to set Jeannes tent up.
'Someone's gonna be pissed.' He thought to himself as he looked at the lavish tent he had stolen.
===Elsewhere, to the west of Dozmary pool===
"Gods dammit!" A man screamed, throwing his helmet into the dirt beside his horse.
He could have sworn that he had packed his Lord's tent.
One of the men standing next to him turned in his saddle and spoke to the panicking man.
"Calm yourself. I doubt the lord will care much. He likes to sleep beneath the stars more anyway. I think he might actually thank you." The man said.
"Thank him for what?" A deep voice said, drawing the attention of both men.
The two turned and saw a large man approaching them, his helmet held underneath one arm.
He wore gold and black armor, and had a massive hammer that's head was shaped like a goat on his back.
His shoulder pauldrons were themed as goats as well, their horns reaching to the sky.
The man's helmet had two large horns on it, and it's face had two lines cut in it, making it look as if it were crying.
"L-Lord Anthrax, I'm terribly sorry, but I've seemed to have misplaced your tent sir." The man said, bowing deeply.
The large man just grunted before his face broke into a smile.
"Well. What my Lovely Noel doesn't know won't hurt her." He said before looking around.
"We move on! To Dozmary Pool!" He said, placing his helmet onto his head once more before walking away.
===Godrick===
The Juggernaut sat on the beach, watching the water before him still bubbling and bursting.
"How long will she be in there?" He asked Vivian who sat next to him.
"I'm not sure. Could be a couple more minutes, hours, or even days." She said, looking at him.
"Are you sure you don't have any questions?" She asked for what felt like the hundredth time.
After Godrick had finished preparing things for Jeanne, he had sat on the shore of the lake with his elbows on his knees and began waiting for her.
Vivian had tried to make conversation with him about what she had told him earlier, but he wasn't very receptive.
"Lady," He said, tilting his head to look down at her.
"I mean no offense, but you aren't MY mother. Only my Alter's I do have questions, but they are for my timelines Vivian." He said.
"I can understand that. But I believe that our timelines are very similar." She said.
Godrick thought for a moment before he responded, choosing to indulge her a bit.
"Alright, who is my father?" He asked.
Vivian's face turned sour at the question before spitting a name.
"Merlin."
Godrick's jaw almost hit the sand beneath him as he took in the information, unable to respond.
"Don't look at me like that. He's not all that he's made himself out to be." She said, holding her fingers close together as if measuring something.
"That doesn't make any sense? I grew up with him around the castle, and he never once said anything about it? Why did you give me up? Artoria told me she found me in a village, enslaved when I was hardly a toddler." He asked.
Her sour smile bled away from her face as she looked over to him before answering.
"You were a few days old. I had just given birth, and was still recovering when I was sleeping with you in my arms." She said, her voice trembling a bit as she spoke.
"I woke up a while later, and you were missing. I couldn't find you, so I panicked. I did everything I could before Merlin showed back up, raving on and on about something to do with Artoria Pendragon. He said that you would help her push Britain to new heights. I demanded to know where you were, but he refused to tell me." She said, bringing her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them before resting her head on them, her face towards Godrick.
"I didn't know what to do. So I did nothing in my grief, being unable to leave the lake." She said solemnly.
Godrick just sighed before bowing his head, not knowing what to say.
"I'm… I'm sorry you had to deal with that. I wonder if that's the experience that my Vivian had as well." He said before raising his head and looking at the woman sitting next to him.
"You know, I'm sure my Alter, no matter how messed up he is, wouldn't blame you." He said before turning back to watch the water, not knowing that's exactly what his Alter did when he tried to come take the power in the lake.
"You are very foolish." Vivian said endearingly.
Suddenly, a massive blue light shot from the lake, sending water high into the sky before it came crashing down once more.
Godrick got to his feet and waited as the water became calm once more.
Jeanne slowly walked from the water calmly, taking deep but steady breaths as she emerged from its surface as the water cascaded down her body.
She was completely naked, but Godrick only stared at her eyes which were a clear crystal blue, and looked like the roaring waters from just a moment before.
She steadily walked out of the water before coming to a stop just before Godrick, looking him in the eyes.
The end of her long hair was still in the water, but she made no move to remove it. As she looked into Godrick's eyes she was like a goddess, standing naked in all her glory. She was taller, standing just below his chest now, and her muscles were more defined. She was so beautiful that her companion couldn't help but kneel to her.
"Lady," He began to speak but stopped, his eyes never left hers as he drank in her majesty before he broke the stare to look down and grab some furs he had stolen before looking back into her eyes.
He finally stood back up and draped the large brown bear skin around her shoulders, hiding her from the world.
He ever so gently led her towards the tent he had set up for her, taking her left hand in his, while he wrapped his right arm around her body, gingerly leading her towards the tent's opening.
When they neared it, he let go of her hand, and used his own to widen the tent's opening.
He was able to grab a lot of things from the group that had been marching. The tent itself, some furs for a bed, as well as some candles for light.
The tent was bright with the candles across the floor as Godrick led Jeanne to the furs.
"For you, Lady." He said before letting her go.
She said nothing as she looked at the furs and candles around her.
"Where will you stay?" She finally asked, understanding the situation she was in.
"Outside Lady, I will watch over you from outside." He replied.
"And if I wish for you to stay here with me?" She asked, turning her head from the furs to look at him over her shoulder.
He said nothing, not trusting himself to give her his honest answer.
She turned, still clutching the furs to her wet body and walked to stand in front of him.
"Kneel to me." She said quietly.
Godrick looked down at her before slowly taking a knee, still staring into her bright beautiful blue eyes.
She let the furs drop from her body, seeing his eyes go wide as if he had just now remembered she was naked.
He broke eye contact to stare down at the floor, not wanting to disgrace his Lady by staring at her body.
"Look at me." She said, reaching down and lifting his head with her right hand.
Their eyes once again met before she bent over ever so slightly and kissed him.
Their lips stayed locked together for a long moment before she broke it, and pushed him back onto the furs.
===
If you enjoyed this chapter, maybe consider leaving me with some of your power stones? I promise I'll take good care of them :)
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