-Jeannes PoV-
-Present Day-
Jeanne took in a shuddering breath, determined not to let herself cry, as she relived the memory and felt everything she did for Micheal all over again. A few seconds later she heard Micheal groan and she opened her eyes to watch his face scrunch a bit before he opened his own as he blinked a few times. She sighed with relief as he quickly ate the chocolate and then she locked eyes with him. She glanced down at where he was, remembered how the memory she had used to wake him had ended, and practically shot to the side causing Micheal's head to fall onto the mattress as she felt her face burn as she rubbed her sleeve on her face to wipe away any tears. She swallowed with difficulty and found she couldn't look Micheal in the eyes so she did the next best thing and stared at the wall.
"You know you didn't have to move away from of me like I was something dangerous," he said dryly as he sat up and stretched a bit. They sat in silence for a few seconds then he got up, beginning out of her room but paused with a hand on the doorframe as he looked at her and smiled in a way that made butterflies fill her chest,
"Thanks for bringing me back Jeanne. I knew I could trust you."
Then he left her alone in her room as she hugged her knees to her chest and buried her face into her thighs as she finally felt her nerves start to calm down.
He'll never love you.
Just leave me alone….
Who could ever love a tool.
Jeanne groaned and fell sideways onto the bed as she felt the Other slowly vanish into her mind. Its not like it didn't have a point. She even said as much to her Master when he had first summoned her. That she was a tool to win the war and nothing else. She wasn't meant…..
to be cared for.
...or to Love.
She laid there for a few minutes before uncurling herself and getting off the bed. As she walked over to her dresser she saw the rest of the chocolate still sitting on top of it. She stared at it, remembering the thought she had had as a way to hold it in Micheals mouth, and then slapped her cheeks a bit as she focused on getting changed out of her pajamas. She pulled a t-shirt over her head and ran some fingers through her hair before putting on some shorts as well as some thighhigh socks. As she did so she heard music start up from somewhere in the house and once she was done she left her room to follow the sound which lead her to the kitchen where she saw Micheal making breakfast and…. moving in time with the music. She wouldn't call what he was doing dancing by any stretch of the word but the longer she watched the more she felt the corners of her mouth turn up. Shaking her head at her dork of a Master she walked into the kitchen to look at what he was making.
"Oh! Morning Jeanne! Figured I'd make you breakfast as thanks for earlier," He paused and glanced at the clock to see it was almost noon, "Or lunch rather, also ….I just realized. I've made you meals but I never asked what you like to eat."
"I feel like I'm a broken record but I'd like to remind you that Servants don't need to eat." Jeanne said, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms, "I've liked almost everything you've made me."
"So its 'almost everything'?" Micheal said arching an eyebrow as Jeanne mentally slapped herself, "What didn't you like then?"
"Does it matter? I don't need to-"
"I would be a bad chef and a jackass if I made someone eat something they didn't like." Micheal interrupted as he reached over to turn the volume knob on the radio down. He lowered the heat on the stove and turned to look at Jeanne who blinked when she saw the apron he was wearing. It was the same navy blue apron he had been wearing when he had made her breakfast the first time all those months ago only now she knew that the squiggles were words. She read the apron which said "Calm down ladies. I cook as good as I look.", snorted with laughter a bit, and then shook her head she walked over to the stove to see what he was making,
"If you must know what I didn't like that you have made, it was that meal you made where you practically boiled the meat in its own fat. I've never liked fatty or really greasy foods." She turned her head a bit to watch out of the corner of her eye as Micheal leaned his head back at an angle thinking back.
...He's kind of cute when he does stuff like this….
Jeanne blinked at the thought she just had and felt her face heat as she averted her gaze and went to the fridge right as Micheal had his "aha!" moment,
"Ah okay. Yeah," Micheal said rubbing the back of his neck in another mannerism that she had picked up on as one of his embarrassed responses, "That one wasn't my favorite either."
Jeanne frowned as she went from looking at Micheal to staring into the fridge as she felt her heart flutter a bit,
I don't know whats more annoying, that I'm noticing his subconscious mannerisms or that seeing them is affecting me to this degree…
Jeanne shook her head and went back to the fridge asking what Micheal needed for lunch.
#####
"How the hell is something with basically four ingredients this good?" Jeanne asked as she stabbed her fork into another pancake carving off a piece. She dragged it through some maple syrup, tucked some of her hair behind her ear, and ate it one bite savoring the texture and sweetness. Micheal chuckled a bit and sipped his coffee as he put down his book.
"I take it the Lady Avenger enjoys my cooking then~?" He teased causing her to give him a look. She flipped him off and cut off another piece of pancake as she eyed the rest of the stack, "If you're thinking I made too much don't worry. I have a plan for the rest of what I've made. But~ I want it to be a surprise."
Jeanne rolled her eyes tempted to snark at him but he had made her good tasting food so she decided to let it go. The doorbell rang and Micheal started to get up to get it only for Jeanne to glare at him
"No I can get it. Sit your ass down. You made food but I haven't seen you eat anything." She pointed her fork at him and furthered her glare as he held up his hands in surrender, "As a human you still need food. That plate of pancakes better be half empty by the time I get back."
She got up and left the kitchen as she heard Micheal grumble followed by the sound of the pancake plate being dragged across the table. She smiled and padded through the house eventually reaching the front door. She slipped on some sandals and opened the front door to see a Japanese kid standing there. His jaw dropped open upon seeing her and she saw him look her up and down. She coughed into her fist and looking pointedly at his bag which was stuffed full of rolled newspapers.
"Ah right. Apologies. I normally see a foreign gentleman with grey eyes when I deliver the mail." the kid said. Jeanne arched an eyebrow,
"Well as his….. girlfriend, thank you for delivering it."
The kid bowed and she watched as he biked away. Stepping back inside the house she flicked open the paper and froze mid-step as any feelings of fluster at how she had automatically referred to herself as his girlfriend vanished instantly as she read the article. She reread the page several times to make sure she wasn't misreading or seeing things, glanced at the photo and then ran back into the kitchen. She clearly caught Micheal at an awkward moment as he choked on his food seeing her run in. She waited as he drank his water, blinked a few times, and then looked at her,
"What happened."
Jeanne folded the paper so that the article was on top and put it on the table for Micheal to read. He reached over and grabbed it, read the headline, and then swore, his own eyes flicking up to the photo before he tossed the paper back onto the table where Jeanne could see the title of the article again,
Body of notorious serial killer found split in two at remains of castle.
That wasn't the part that got both hers and her Masters attention. It was the photo of the upper half of the man covered by a tarp but with the end of his arm extended out from under it. It was, specifically, the severed joint on his right arm where his right hand would have been, that did that. Jeanne sat down at her earlier spot and rested her chin in her palm as she thought through this.
"Do we read the article or ask at the cafe?"
Jeanne asked turning her head in her palm to look at Micheal who reached over and skimmed it. About a minute later he huffed and tossed it back, "Well all they found out was that it was the serial killer thats been at large, he was cut in half from shoulder the hip, and his right hand is missing. Aside from that nothing else."
"What I'm surprised about is that whole "remains of castle" thing. There weren't any ruins outside of Fuyuki when we explored were there?"
Micheal grunted and ate part of his breakfast, chewing and swallowing before answering, "Not that we found, no. There was that one castle in the….mountains nearby…." Jeanne watched as a look of realization passed over his face. He grabbed the paper and looked at it more carefully before narrowing his eyes. Curious, Jeanne got up from her seat to stand behind him as she felt lightly pulse off of him as he traced the outer edges of the image with a finger and then pressed his fingers and thumb onto the edges of the image. He pulled his fingers off the paper and Jeannes eyes widened as the image came with it. She watched as Micheal took the copy, got up from the table, walked over to a blank wall, and gently placed the water copy onto it. Then he placed the finger of his other hand lower right corner and dragged the image expanding it.
"Where….do you learn half this crap…" Jeanne asked as she stared at the image Micheal had transplanted onto the wall. She looked at him as he shrugged and gave her a lopsided smile, "One summer I got bored and decided to just live in the family library." He tapped a finger on the image, "I won't bore you with the details on this but I'm basically using the water in the air and the ink from the paper to make a copy of anything in print."
Jeanne walked forward a bit and poked one of the lines. She rubbed the finger against her thumb as she saw a small amount of discolored water on her finger.
"Okay then. Lets see if you can spot what I spotted then my Lady Avenger."
"You can stop with the nicknames." Jeanne said rolling her eyes and staring at the transposed image and then-
"….Wait. There in the background of the image. Where its just barely visible...thats the shopping district isn't it?"
"Ding, ding, ding!" Micheal said smiling at her, "Follow me. If you remember the castle was a few kilometers to the southwest of that part of the city. We need to scout this out ourselves before we go to the cafe. We can ask questions then."
He waved for her to follow him and he led her out the back door towards the workshop. As he led her she felt herself pass through at least five bounded fields that she could detect although she didn't feel anything from them. "You've already keyed me into your workshops bounded fields?" She asked arching an eyebrow. Micheal nodded and placed his thumb against the deadbolt for the door. She felt a brief amount of mana come from him followed by a small zapping sound and then the deadbolt unlocked with a click.
"You've even keyed the lock to your mana? Why would you-" Jeanne began as Micheal opened the door and so much mana came out of the workshop that it blew her hair back a bit. She stared at the door and then at Micheal who just stepped aside to let her walk by him,
"Come on in."
________
Micheals workshop behind the house was, in a word, varied and yet the same. Everyplace Jeanne looked there was something similar or identical to his workshop back in France. She found a gemcraft station where there was a sapphire in the middle of being carved, off in another corner was a straw dummy human with what looked like an armor mystic code covering its head and chest, in the middle of the room was a forge that wasn't being used on either side of which was a weapon and armor station, and to top it all off partially dissembled and floating over a workbench against the back wall was Blessed Hellfire.
Jeanne explored the workshop before eventually noticing Micheal looking at her with a bemused expression. She glared at him and motioned for him to get on with it which led to him walking over to a set of stairs she had missed during her original look through and go upstairs. After about a minute passed Jeanne took a step towards the stairs when she heard him walking back down alongside what sounded like animal noises. Her mouth fell open as she watched Micheal come down the stairs with a falcon on one arm. It clearly wasn't some magic beast but,
"When the hell did you have time to do this?" She asked Micheal who grimaced, "We've only been here a month and a half when did you-"
"Do you remember who this house, and by extension this workshop, belonged to?" Micheal asked, reaching up and gently stroking the plumage around the birds neck with a finger as he smiled fondly at the animal.
"Turns out one of the branches of magic Desmond was good at was Beast Magic. Of course he didn't learn it until my biological father taught him. Its what allowed him to tame, train, and even teach a few spells or two to this guy here." Micheal said reaching up and gently stroking the plumage around the birds neck with a finger again. Jeanne had to quickly school her expression into a neutral one at the jealousy she felt seeing the care he showed the bird. The animal seemed to look right at her and then leaned into his finger a bit cooing as it did so. Jeanne narrowed her eyes as she could have sworn the feathered bastard was smirking at her.
"So you have an overgrown chicken living in the top of your workshop. How does that help with the ruins of the castl-" Jeannes eyes widened as it clicked into place and Micheal nodded at her smirking a bit,
"Herodotus here is going to be our eyes and ears for long range scouting for the duration of the war."
"...His name is Herodotus?" Jeanne asked, incredulous, as the bird squawked indignantly and looked at her. Immediately Micheal was brushing his finger through the birds plumage and Jeanne knew that the bird was smirking at her and she narrowed her eyes in response, letting a bit of mana roll off of her and over the bird as she activated one of her skills. It immediately gave her its full attention and before Micheal could stop it, it had flown right at her. She stood there unmoving as the bird flew right by her head and landed on one of the rafters overhead. She looked up at it and smirked as she partially summoned her armor around her arm and held it out. Immediately Herodotus flew down to land on her outstretched gauntlet to stare at her.
She matched its gaze and after a minute Herodotus dipped its head as though it was bowing. Jeanne smirked and turned to look at her master who just stared at her with his mouth open in disbelief,
"It took me three weeks to just get him to hop onto my arm with Desmonds help….and you just tamed him outright. Do you know how many times I almost lost a finger?"
Jeanne reached up with a finger and brushed Herodotus' neck plumage causing him to make a cooing sound. She looked from the bird to Micheal and smirked, "I simply...informed him of the natural order around here. Anyway, you don't have any other animals up there do you?"
Micheal glared at Herodotus, clearly annoyed, and then refocused on the task at hand, "No, no more animals. Normally he just does his own thing. There's a bounded field over one of the windows on the upper floor that he uses when he goes out for food."
"...Wait. How have I never seen him before? Look at him! How the hell do you miss a falcon flying in and out of the damn house?!"
Micheal rubbed his temple and gave both her and Herodotus a look, "He can turn invisible and do a bunch else when he wears his collar and he knows how to put on said collar on his own. The collar has spells loaded into it that he can trigger, one of which is a spell to conjure a bounded field that refracts light around to make him functionall invisible."
Jeanne felt her finger catch on something in the depths of Herodotus's plumage and gently moved some of his feathers aside to see a leather harness. Embedded in the leather were several gems of various sizes, cuts, and types. She briefly activated her mana sense and saw that each gem was had mana inside it. She let his plumage fall back down as she sensed Micheal come closer. Herodotus and her looked at him at the same time causing him to flinch,
"We placed a gem into the code that when activated that takes a "photo" of anything under him. To then get the photo we put the gem into a different mystic code that transfers the data of the photo into a physical format. Its better quality and more secure than a camera."
Jeanne noticed that Herodotus proudly puffed himself up as Micheal explained and she brushed a finger through his feathers some more smiling as she did so. She eventually turned her attention back to Micheal,
"So the idea is that we send him overhead, way above the range of most familiars and-" Jeanne blinked as she realized something, "Wait. Is Herodotus the same familiar that got the overhead photos that we were looking at in the diner where I met Waver?"
"Yep. For every clear photo he gets he is awarded teriyaki beef jerky."
Jeanne glanced at Herodotus who was looking at her with one eye. She arched an eyebrow and then looked back at Micheal.
"So the plan is that while we are out at the cafe at our little strategy meeting, Herodotus is going to be getting as many photos of where the mansion was as possible. That about right?"
"Yep. I need to get the mystic code prepared for him so if you want to-" Herodotus launched himself off of Jeannes arm, flew up stairs, and as Jeanne walked over to look out a window she caught right as he turned invisible. She looked to look back at Micheal, hereyebrows raised,
"You have a magic UAV bird that can turn invisible and he is fed teriyaki beef jerky for doing a good job." She said flatly as her Master shrugged and winked at her.
"He'll be back in a bit," he said while glancing at his watch, "Alright its almost 1pm so...anything else you want to see before we have to leave?"
Not even hesitating Jeanne walked over to the station where Blessed Hellfire was being worked on.
-Micheals Pov-
Micheal watched as Jeanne walked over to where he had disassembled Blessed Hellfire. As he walked over the level of mana in the air grew more and more thick and concentrated. He walked up next to her as she reached out and poked a piece of the pistol causing it to move a bit in mid air. He reached over and grabbed the handle of the pistol causing all the various pieces to vibrate in the air slightly before it assembled itself in his hand. He racked the slide and locked it open as Jeanne looked between him and the pistol. She reached out to take it and he rolled his eyes as he handed it to her. Almost immediately she put her mana into it causing it to turn into her version as he had begun to think of it.
She glanced over at the target dummy and then aimed the pistol at it in a one handed grip.
"You do know there's no amm-"
BANG.
Micheal stared at the smoking hole in the torso armor he had rigged up. He looked at Jeanne who seemed just as surprised as he was as she looked at the gun and the smoke drifting out of the barrel. She flipped the pistol upside down and both of them saw an empty magazine well.
"...Whatever you did. Do it again." Micheal said as his activated his mana vision. He watched as Jeanne's mana silhouette raised the pistol into a one handed firing position and then saw her mana flowing up her arm, through her hand, and into the pistol where it seemed to collect and condense itself into a mass.
BANG.
Micheal turned off his mana vision and leaned back onto the work bench his brain a hurricane of thoughts as Jeanne looked at the weapon in her hand. He looked at the weapon and then at his servant, He narrowed his eyes,
"How do you feel right now?"
"Perfectly fine. Why?"
"Because Blessed Hellfire took your mana, condensed it down, and fired that instead of a round."
Jeanne's eyes widened and she looked at the gun more critically before saying, "When it was being...made...it took your mana too right?"
Micheal nodded, "Almost drained me of every last drop before our Mystery Man came in and saved us. Why?"
"...Try firing it. I wanna see what it does when you shoot it."
Jeanne flipped the pistol around and handed it to him. It felt weightless in his hand whereas it should have been extremely front heavy given the amount of metal at the front of the gun on top of being unloaded. Right as he was about to open his gate Jeanne spoke up
"Turn it back to neutral and fire that first. We should make sure that we can fire it in that state before we try your version."
"Good idea," Micheal said and focused on it returning to its normal state watching it return to its normal shape and coloration. He walked to where Jeanne had been standing and held it out to fire. Jeanne had put two holes centermass of the target but he wanted to show off a bit so he flicked the barrel up to the helmet and pulled the trigger only for a clicking sound to be heard. He pulled his hand back and looked at it.
"Maybe in its neutral form it uses physical ammunition?" Jeanne offered as she stood nearby watching closely.
"That would make the most sense…" Micheal muttered as he prepared to channel the same amount of holy energy he had before only to stop when Blessed Hellfire changed in a flash of silver feathers as soon as his energy touched it. He raised his eyebrows and looked it over turning it in his hand, "That was with the first gate too…"
"Gate?" Jeanne asked curious.
"Ah right. I imagine my holy energy a lot like a series of gates. Each "Gate" is basically a barrier to stop me from using the crap by accident. I have to manually and intentionally open each one in order. In order to change Blessed Hellfire into my version the first time I had to open up to the fourth gate before. This time I just barely put any energy into it and it changed…."
"Sounds like it likes me more~" Jeanne teased as Micheal rolled his eyes and aimed down the sights at the helmet again. As he pulled back on the trigger he felt for the briefest of moments both his mana and his holy energy alongside something else being pulled into the gun right before a beam of light shot out and pierced the helmet clean through like a needle through paper. Micheal blinked and lowered the weapon,
"How come you get a beam!? I want a beam!" Jeanne shouted as she glared at the pistol, "Stupid gun thinks it can play favorites does it?"
"Before you try to blow it up lets go look at what our shots di-"
BOOM.
Micheal instinctively ducked and covered his head as the target dummies chest exploded sending metal all over the floor. He slowly looked up and saw that Jeanne had summoned her sword out of instinct only to then look at where the target dummy had been,
"...I think you got explosive rounds tied to either your anger or mana." Micheal said staring at the smoking post standing in place of the dummy. To his right he politely ignored the Avenger Servant doing a fist pump and congratulating herself as he had an idea. He imagined Blessed Hellfire going into an "inventory" similar to how the inventories in some of the games he had played worked. He watched as the pistol vanished into silver feathers.
"Wait- Where'd it go?" Jeanne said looking first at his hand and then around workshop.
"Imagine it coming into your hand." Micheal said as he grinned. He watched as Jeanne frowned and then her version of Blessed Hellfire appeared in her hand causing her eyes to go wide, "Now imagine it going into an "Inventory" like in-"
"Like in Final Fantasy…" Jeanne muttered as she frowned again and the weapon vanished leaving blackened embers behind that quickly vanished, "I wonder… Micheal? ...What would happen if we both tried to pull it out of our 'inventory' at the same time?"
Micheal thought about this for a few seconds and then looked at his servant, "Lets try it. On 3 or at 3?"
"On 3."
"Okay…" Micheal focused,
"1..." Jeanne said her voice tinged with nervousness.
"2…" Micheal said feeling a bead of sweat go down his back.
"3!" Jeanne said and he felt her mana at the same time he activated his.
After a few seconds they both lowered their mana output and Jeanne glared at her hand, "I was kind of hoping we'd… each pull out our own version." She grumbled as Micheal chuckled a bit, "I think even for us that would be a bit too much. I fire beams that pierce through mystic codes like week old tofu and you fire explosive rounds that detonate, it seems, in response to your anger and/or mana. I think we should be grateful for that much and stop trying to fuck with it."
"I still want a beam dammit…" He heard Jeanne mutter to herself as he checked his watch.
"Alright. We need to get ready to go to the cafe. We have some time before hand if you wanna shower or anything."
"I think I'll take you up on that." Jeanne nodded and walked out of the workshop. Micheal stared after her and then summoned Blessed Hellfire into his hand. It appeared in the version associated with him. He narrowed his eyes at it. He had an idea but he didn't know if he should test it….
He briefly pulsed the gun with the intent to try and summon Jeannes version only for nothing to happen. He stared at the weapon before shaking his head and putting Blessed Hellfire away.
"I shouldn't be fucking with a divine construct." He muttered to himself as he looked around the workshop one last time and then closed the door behind him as he left.
Where he didn't see a few silver feathers and blackened embers gently float down to dissipate on the ground where he had been standing moments before.
#####
"Okay. I don't even need to use our bond to tell you're annoyed. Is it something I did?" Micheal asked looking over at Jeanne as she glared at him from the corner of her eye. He sighed and went back to his food as Jeanne idly stirred her coffee. They were sitting in the cafe a little bit before the appointed meeting time, he had made sure to set up both a privacy and illusion bounded fields but after they left the house Micheal had noticed that Jeanne had gotten more and more annoyed the closer they got to the cafe. Which lead to this. He didn't even know what he did wrong assuming he did do something in the first place and it didn't seem like she was willing to tell him. He sighed as he sliced more cake with his fork about to lift it to his mouth as he felt Jeannes mana right before it exploded on his fork, warping the tines, and covering him in cake dough and icing. He glared at the woman next to him as she gave him an annoyed look and sipped her coffee,
"Okay so I know its something I did now." He said flatly as he cast a spell to clean himself causing the icing and cake to fly off of him into a small ball that he let fall into his palm. He popped it into his mouth and then turned a bit in his chair to look at her. He decided to stow his annoyance at her pettiness, "Look. I want this to go well but I can't focus on this meeting if I'm worried you're pissed at me. So please just...tell me what I did wrong."
Jeanne sighed and took another sip of her coffee as she looked around the cafe. It was a Parisian style cafe so lots of dark oak, wire frame furniture, tile floors, and everything else that screamed "stereotypical french cafe". Normally it would have annoyed Micheal but he was willing to tolerate it as he found that over last month and a half he had started to miss some French qualities of life. He turned back towards the table and waited for Jeanne to speak as he picked up his own coffee,
"I wanted it to be a place just for us…" She said quietly causing Micheal to choke on his own drink. Jeanne looked over at him, clearly annoyed but then just sighed and rested her chin in her palm staring at the wall as Micheal collected himself. After a bit he finally looked at Jeanne about to ask what she meant when,
"Saber's here...along with her master." Jeanne said sighing and looking over at him meaningfully.
(Look. I'll...explain what I meant….at some point. I'm not good at- ...expressing myself. You know this.)
Micheal heard from her across their bond and he sensed the unspoken apology and a sense of nervousness coming from her. Not giving anything away as he looked at Saber and her Master he thought back,
[I do and I'm sorry for whatever I did. I'll make it up to you. I promise]
Micheal felt acceptance from Jeannes end of their bond as Saber saw them and had to almost drag the white haired woman along behind her,
(I'll hold you to that then.)
"Hello again, Saber." Jeanne said lazily as she leaned back in her chair and smiled evilly up at the blonde servant who stiffened in response. Micheal watched the two servants interact and then noticed that Sabers Master was sweating bullets and seemed like she was trying to hide behind the smaller blonde despite being at least twenty centimeters taller than her.
"Would you like to have a seat? I can make some recommendations for the menu." Micheal said helpfully as he nudged Jeannes leg under the table. She rolled her eyes and took another sip from her coffee as she smirked at the other servant. At the same time they all heard a growling sound and Micheal looked at Saber with raised eyebrows as she robotically pulled out a chair and sat down at their table. He could tell Jeanne was trying not to laugh but it was a close thing.
"I am….not familiar with French Cuisine," The blonde said slowly as she picked up a menu as the white haired woman sat down in front of Micheal and tried to hide behind her menu. Saber sighed and looked at her Master. "Irisveil. You promised to try did you not? At least introduce yourself."
Slowly two red eyes peeked above the menu and in a quiet, faltering voice,
"Hello. My name is Irisveil. I- I'm sabers Master."
Micheal arched an eyebrow at the evident fear in the womans eyes and looked at Jeanne who seemed to be more interested in staring down Saber.
"Lancer-"
"She is not a lancer." Saber said flatly as she glared at Jeanne who's own smile just widened in response, "and as one of the three knight classes I would appreciate if we didn't pretend she was. I already know her part of her name thanks to Riders Master so I would prefer to use that."
Micheal raised an eyebrow at this and glanced at Jeanne who rolled her eyes and sliced off a piece of her own food to eat as he watched Sabers eyes track the fork the entire time.
"...Maybe we should get some food first. What do you both like to eat. I can make some recommendations based off of that." He offered neutrally, "I find that good food tends to take the tension out of people."
After he had waved over a waitress and everyone had placed their order, including Saber who's order made the waitresses eye brows seem to rise into her hairline, they had been given a cup of coffee each. Saber took a sip of the drink and made a face as Irisveil put three sugar cubes and a healthy dose of crème into her own. Micheal watched the woman take a sip and seem to calm down.
"Do we want to wait for Waver and Rider?" Micheal offered only for Saber to shake her head.
"I would like proof of your claim with them present so to not have to see or hear the same thing twice. However," Saber looked pointedly at her Master who winced at something Saber must have said through their bond, "Irisveil would like to ask Jeanne some questions."
At this Jeanne perked up and looked at Irisveil who swallowed nervously and nodded shakily,
"Oh?" Jeanne said leaning forward a bit, "And what would you like to know? If its anything like my true name or class forget it."
"Thats- I mean-," Irisveil seemed to visibly shake as Jeanne looked at her causing Jeanne to arch an eyebrow. Saber reached over and placed her hand on Irisveils shoulder making the woman look at her. Saber nodded and Irisveil nodded seeming to take confidence in her Servant, "I….When you first appeared….I didn't...see you as you are now. You didn't look human to me nor did you look like a servant would."
Micheal looked at Irisveil intrigued as Jeanne focused her attention on the woman,
"When I saw you...I saw fire. So much fire that it could burn the world...alongside hatred. Hatred so powerful and pure that I felt as though just being there would lead to my death." Irisveil said quietly, "So I ran. It was the only thing I could do in the face of your presence. I knew if I stayed...I would die. Everything else, every concern I had-….I just-"
Irisveil finally looked Jeanne in the eyes as she whispered,
"Jeanne….what are you really?"
Irisveil started to shake as Jeanne went from looking intrigued to wearing a neutral face. Saber reached over and started to rub the womans back as she curled in on herself,
"She's been like this ever since the fight at the dock. The only reason she managed to come out on her own is...due to personal reasons." Saber said carefully, "She said that you...represented the end of Humanity in its entirety."
Silence surrounded them at the table as Micheal tried to reconcile this with what he knew of his servant. He idly wondered if this was due to her Avenger class but then he felt Jeanne on the edges of his mind and he let her in,
(I'll tell you later. Just- ...It has to do with how I was created. I know what she saw. It wasn't me.)
Micheal let out a sigh of relief and then gently got Irisveils attention. He held up his command seals and pulsed them with mana so they glowed,
"Sabers Master. I swear on my command seals that my servant will be peaceful during this meeting and, if everything goes well, our quest to cleanse the grail. If you don't believe her, then believe in me."
He watched as Irisveil looked from his command seals to his eyes and he smiled confidently at her. He noticed that Saber snapped her head to look at him when he activated his mana but waved off any concern as Irisveil seemed to relax, not much but enough to be noticeable, and nodded
"I'll..hold you to that then." She said glancing at Jeanne who was looking at him her own eyebrows raised, "I know its the second time meeting one of you but I'd like to properly introduce myself. My name is Irisveil von Einzbern and in this war I am Sabers Master."
Micheal nodded and smiled, "My name is Micheal Lafaire and I am the Master of...Jeanne here."
Jeanne scoffed and flicked his shoulder with a finger, "I know we're keeping my class a secret but you could at least try to introduce me with some flare you know."
Irisveil snorted a laugh and then broke out laughing causing the other three people at the table to look at her, "Sorry- Sorry its just- " She said still laughing a bit, "You remind me of how I tease my husband."
Irisveil smiled as Jeannes face turned red and she turned away from the group to drink her coffee. Shaking his head Micheal looked back at Irisveil about to say something when-
"Micheal. You said your last name was 'Lafaire' correct?" Saber asked neutrally narrowing her eyes at him, "I'm...more than a little curious as to that last name. Are you British?"
Micheal opened his mouth to respond when their food came back. The next few minutes were full of the sounds of eating good food and Micheal watched awestruck as Saber ate her way through enough food that he felt full just watching her. Eventually they were done and sat back each sighing a sigh of contentment. Eventually Micheal answered Sabers Earlier question,
"Half British if you want me to be accurate. My mother is British but my Father was French."
Irisveil perked up at this and leaned in clearly interested,
"Thats not something you hear everyday. I'd love to meet them."
"Her." Micheal corrected, "I'm told my father died protecting me from the Lafaires enemies when I was 3. Even then I don't have any memories from before I was 12 due to being in a coma."
Irisveil's mouth fell open and she tried to say something in response to that only for Saber to speak,
"I...am sorry to hear you went through such tragedy Micheal," she said looking at him, "I..did not mean to invite bad memories." She bowed her head a bit in apology as Micheal waved it away,
"Thats fine. Again I don't remember anything from before I woke up from my coma so the only memories I have are what my mom told me afterwards. Although I am curious as why you ask Saber?"
Saber froze momentarily then refocused on Micheal, "When you activated your mana I thought… It felt familiar to an… enemy that I knew intimately well while I was alive."
He arched an eyebrow at this,
"and I'm guessing this enemy ties into your true name then."
Saber nodded as Jeanne looked between the two of them before looking at Saber, "You do know that I know your true name right? I saw your sword while we were fighting Berserker. It'd be kind of hard to not figure it out."
Saber winced as Irisveil groaned and held her head in her hands
"What? Subtlety's never been my strong suit." Jeanne said matter-of-factly as she ate another bite of her food and practically melted at the taste.
Making a mental note to find some pastry recipes to make for Jeanne later, Micheal turned back to look at Saber,
"I won't press you if you don't want to-"
"Except your servant could tell you in my place," Saber sighed and then straightened up in her chair as she exuded a sense of royalty. Micheal raised his eyebrows,
"My name is Artoria Pendragon. My class is Saber. I am also known as King Arthur."
"….Huh." Was all Micheal said as he looked more carefully at Artoria who seemed taken aback by his lack of response, "Wouldn't be the first woman to dress as a man then. ...What."
Artoria stared at him as Irisveil opened her mouth to explain, "When I- When my husband and I summoned her we...were expecting a man. It took my husband completely off guard."
"I mean," Micheal smiled at Artoria as he thought of his own servant sitting beside him, "While she died a terrible and awful death, France has her own Man-turned-woman right?"
Irisveil's eyes widened and she smiled brightly, "Saint Jeanne D'Arc! Right...I forgot about her. She's...I wish I had half her strength. Honestly I do."
Artoria looked between Micheal and Irisveil, "I'm… confused. Based you your reactions it seems that she's thought of positively if not outright praised. If she was a woman disguised as a man that…. doesn't seem possible."
"Because it wasn't." Came Jeanne Alters voice softly as she stared into her coffee causing them all to look at her, "She claimed to have been led by God to lead an army against the English invasion during the 100 Years War. She led that army to victory after victory...only to be found out as a woman and be captured by the British. She was tried, convicted as a witch...and burned at the stake."
Micheal tried not to wince at the bitterness in her voice and had to resist reaching over to take her hand and comfort her. He watched as she knocked back the rest of her coffee,
"It was only after she died that her sentence was removed...and even then it still took several hundred years for her to be thought of positively. Sure, she's considered a saint now...but what good does that do when the last thing you feel is your flesh boiling as you scream your-"
Micheal reached over and gently touched Jeannes shoulder causing her to freeze and shake her head clear of the memories that weren't even her own that he knew she was flashing back to. He felt her thanks through their bond and then looked at Artoria and Irisveil who both were looking at her.
"….The reason I asked about your last name and mentioned your mana Micheal...is because it feels like my sisters." Artoria said refocusing on their earlier conversation and glaring at her plate with an anger he didn't think was possible.
"Your sister…." Micheal said slowly trying to think only to shake his head, "Sorry but the details of your legend never really came up much in my schooling. I'm guessing you and her… were enemies?"
Artoria nodded grimly and the sighed, letting the tension and anger out of herself leaving her looking only tired, "Yes. My sister, the child of Igraine and Britain itself. Morgan Le Fay."