Tristan

It Begins with Loss

Narration: These are the things I let go of...the things I lost.

Narration: I reach out, but the distance is infinite, which only compounds my melancholy.

Narration: And so I surrender, I stop my vain efforts, and return to my own tasks.

Narration: Ah...that is probably the beginning of my mistakes. This hand is, truly...

Mash: Is that a harp...? It must be Tristan.


Fujimaru 1: Somehow sounds even more sad than usual.


Fujimaru 2: He's playing something different, isn't he?


Mash: Yes.

Mash: The music that he usually plays combines both cold vibrations and warm rhythms. But this...

Mash: I can sense a heavy sadness, like someone is lost at the bottom of the sea all alone...

Bedivere: Oh? It appears Sir Tristan is thinking of something sad.

Mash: Bedivere...


Fujimaru 1: Something sad?


Bedivere: The music that the knight plays usually reflects his present mood.

Bedivere: If he's happy, he plays a happy tune. When he's sad, a sad song. He can express even the most complex of emotions with his harp.

Mordred: Aww, Bird Boy is sad again? That's a switch.

Mash: Mordred!

Bedivere: Mordred, do you have any idea why Sir Tristan is so melancholy today?

Mordred: 'Course not. ...Ehh...maaaybe...

Mordred: If that dork, a guy so dense he could sleep through a parade, is sad...

Mordred: It's gotta be because of our king or some girl.

Mordred: Either one of those'll set him off real fast.

Bedivere: That's true...


Fujimaru 1: He slept through a parade?


Bedivere: Yes...

Bedivere: After a victorious expedition, we returned home in triumph with our king.

Bedivere: We received a joyous reception from the citizenry.

Bedivere: But...while we were riding through the fanfare... Sir Tristan was asleep on his horse.

Bedivere: Sir Lancelot obvious reprimanded him, but he may even have been sleeping through the lecture.

Mordred: Eh, looking at that guy you can't hardly tell if he's asleep or awake anyway!

Mordred: Unless something is REALLY serious, he's always got his eyes closed. Somehow he's still aware of his surroundings, though.

Bedivere: I read somewhere that animals like bats and whales possess an ability called echolocation.

Bedivere: Perhaps Sir Tristan is like that.

Mash: That is...certainly a theory.

Mordred: Well then, he's got to be a bat! We're already not sure whether he's a bird or a human anyway!

Bedivere: Well, that is quite rude, Sir Mordred. But Sir Tristan's nerves are truly mystifying.

Bedivere: He possesses sensitivity, impudence, transience, and incorrigibility...

Bedivere: An animal that is tranquil, unreadable, but is said to shed tears at times...indeed, I suppose comparing him to a whale is appropriate.

Tristan: ...Sir Bedivere. Sir Mordred.

Mordred: Ack!

Mash: Oh, Tristan.

Tristan: I have come, Master.

Tristan: I've heard my name bandied about with some unkind words.


Fujimaru 1: It's those two.


Fujimaru 2: Something about a bat or whale...


Tristan: That is...hmmm. A bat is out of the question because they are lacking in eloquence, but I suppose a whale isn't so bad.

Mordred: Eh? Seriously!?

Bedivere: See what I mean? That's what this whale-man is like.

Mordred: What the heck!? Bats fly and they suck blood! They are SO much cooler than whales! They're freakin' badass!

Tristan: ...Ah, I am suddenly stricken with sadness. So, a bad man is what you see as beautiful...

Tristan: As knights, I believe we must change that perspective. The same goes for the heartless Sir Bedivere.

Tristan: Haha...my fingers are itching to play music. It's been a while, but shall I play some battle songs?

Mordred: Um...it's time for my training! See ya!

Bedivere: And I remembered I need to return the books I borrowed from the library. I'm thrice overdue, so I must be sure to return them today!

Tristan: ...(Sigh)

Mash: Tristan, are you mad?

Tristan: No, not at all.

Tristan: It's hardly news that Mordred is so...lively, nor that Bedivere is so strict with me.

Tristan: But I am not known as Tristan, the Child of Sadness for nothing.

Tristan: The sadness that I bear in my heart does not simply disappear so easily.

Tristan: So during our next battle simulation, I shall stand against him and focus my attention on my target!

Mash: (He's so angry!)

Tristan: Though I have to admit...I am at least a little angry after hearing that conversation.

Tristan: (Sigh)... Sir Bedivere really knows how to push my buttons...


Fujimaru 1: By the way, that harp...

Tristan: Ah, I see you've noticed. ...I was remembering the past.


Fujimaru 2: Did something sad happen?

Tristan: How direct of you. Yes...I was remembering something very sad from very long ago.


Tristan: I was thinking of Iseult.

Mash: Isn't Iseult your...

Tristan: There were, in fact, two Iseults in my lifetime.

Tristan: One was the Iseult I loved. The other was the Iseult with white hands who loved me.

Tristan: ...Most people get the wrong idea about this story if I tell it.

Tristan: They think of it as a story of an immoral two-timer, figuring that makes sense for a handsome man like me.


Fujimaru 1: Well...

Tristan: It's fine. No need to sugarcoat your words.


Fujimaru 2: Didn't you love them both?

Tristan: Yes. And that is the problem.


Tristan: Ultimately, did I really love someone?

Mash: Eh...!?

Tristan: According to legend, my falling in love was the work of a love potion.

Tristan: That mad, passionate feeling...I never once felt it with the Iseult with the white hands.

Tristan: But that was just the effects of the potion. Could it have been a mistake...a fleeting dream one night?

Tristan: Yes. And all this seems to come from the fact that I was never loved once, not from the moment I was born.

Tristan: As I never knew love during my childhood, perhaps I never learned to love others.

Tristan: Thinking on such things immediately drags me down, and the next thing I knew, I was playing this music.

Mash: No, I don't think that is true.

Mash: Tristan, you're the sort who would never think twice about sacrificing his life for others.

Tristan: Ah, that is simply how a knight should be.

But...ah, however...

Tristan: As Sir Bedivere mentioned, maybe I do fail as a human being?

Tristan: As a melancholy dragon who never knew love, I can't help but to think I may well end up crushed under Martha's foot!


Fujimaru 1: STOP!

Tristan: But I'm not moving.


Fujimaru 2: Calm down!!!

Tristan: I am calm. My heart is beating at a normal rate.

Tristan: I can check my pulse if you would like.


Gawain: Haha, Tristan's up to his old tricks. Once he gets started on a self-loathing rant, there's really no stopping him. He'll be at this for a while.

Mash: Gawain!

Tristan: Sir Gawain...

Tristan: But...I'm sure even you would not understand my suffering.

Gawain: Of course I wouldn't understand. Not so much your sadness as WHY you are always getting so sad.

Gawain: Nobody can best you when it comes to loving someone...at least that's what I think.

Gawain: Love is a shapeless thing to begin with. Even loyalty is a type of love, wouldn't you agree?

Gawain: It has nothing to do with physical lust. The intensity of passion is also meaningless.

Gawain: For example, let's say that there is a man who was weak and mild-mannered. He then took a woman to be his wife...

Gawain: But then, a powerful entity threatened his life, unless he would trade it for his wife. And the man, sadly, complied.

Gawain: Would you say that he did not love his wife?

Gawain: Who are we, who are much better able to fight such a being, to say that such a man did not love his wife?

Tristan: Well...

Gawain: Love is not just about not wanting to let go. It's not that you don't know love...

Tristan: I...

Gawain: ...My apologies. I may have overstepped my bounds... I got too aggressive, just as I do in battle.

Gawain: Master. Please do not trouble yourself about Tristan's lamentations.

Gawain: This cloud of sadness can simply be blown away by force. Working up a sweat in the simulator should distract him.


Fujimaru 1: You're right.


Fujimaru 2: Care to try, Tristan?


Tristan: ...I suppose.

Tristan: It feels a touch impulsive and perhaps even brutish, but I suppose I should try Sir Gawain's idea.

Tristan: Very well, then, Master, please give me your orders.

Tristan: In my present wavering state, it's best if I ask you to make the decisions here.

Gawain: Then use a simulation of me for his opponent. Please make him as strong as possible.

Gawain: After all, the intention here is to distract Sir Tristan from his perpetual melancholy.

Gawain: His opponent should be a knight with all the force and power of the sun!


Fujimaru 1: A full-power Gawain!?

Mash: ...I'm having trauma flashbacks, too, Senpai!

Mash: For Tristan's sake, let's give him all our support!


Fujimaru 2: Good luck Tristan!

Tristan: Yes, I am well aware of how terrifying a full-powered Sir Gawain can be.

Tristan: I shall set aside my inner anguish for now and concentrate on fighting!


--BATTLE--:

Mash: Good work, Senpai.

Mash: ...He was strong.

Tristan: What a brute. So much so that I nearly lost the melody that has been in my head this whole time.

Tristan: Fortunately, that let me concentrate on the battle.

Tristan: Still, I can hardly believe the pain that even a Servant can feel!

Tristan: No wonder others call this a second life.


Fujimaru 1: Don't get too hung up on it.

Tristan: I will try.

Tristan: I cannot forget that if I become a burden to my Master, I am a failure as a knight.

Tristan: I shall set my sadness aside.


Fujimaru 2: If you want to talk...

Tristan: Yes, I know I can come to you, Master. I have no intention of keeping secrets from you.


Tristan: My song has a certain bounce to it now. It seems tonight I will be playing a pleasant tune.

Tristan: Good night, Master. May we both have pleasant dreams.

Narration: ...I dreamt I became a bird and flew through the air.

Narration: I've always felt that dreams of this sort are philosophical in a way.

Narration: Something about seeking freedom. Or something like a bird is dreaming about you.

Narration: But that is not possible.

Narration: My name is Tristan. A Knight of the Round Table... No, I am a Heroic Spirit. A Servant. An Archer.

Narration: I open my eyes with conviction. I know Master is before me.

Narration: Master does not look bewildered. [♂ He /♀️ She} looks straight at me.

Narration: [♂ He /♀️ She} is not strict like my king, but also not gentle like a saint.

Narration: I was captivated by those intensely human eyes.

Narration: Master, am I dreaming?

Narration: In response, [♂ he /♀️ she} nodded.

Tristan: I see. So we're in my dream.


Fujimaru 1: That's how this usually goes, yeah...


Tristan: I see.

Tristan: In brief, this is more the inside of a Servant's mental world than it is a dream.

Tristan: I had no idea that you fought for any purpose other than restoring humanity, whether in or outside Servants' dreams.

Tristan: You work so much, Master. So hard and so tirelessly.


Fujimaru 1: Not really.

Tristan: Is that so?

Tristan: But when you do awaken, please use me as you would a manservant.


Fujimaru 2: This is actually fun.

Tristan: ...What? Your mental fortitude is enough to cause even me to open my eyes in shock.

Tristan: No...could it be that after so many harsh battles, you are simply always mentally prepared for more?

Tristan: That is impressive all on its own. I should like to be so strong, but that is a difficult thing to be...


Tristan: So this grassy plain is my mental world? It's peaceful, but boring.

Tristan: ...No, I'm being too harsh.

Tristan: If there is some entity lurking in my psyche, then danger is sure to be nearby.

Tristan: We must cautious, even of something so small as a rabbit. After all, even a tiny, innocent rabbit may turn out to be the dreaded vorpal bunny.

Tristan: Its got sharp...well, it bites HARD! Even the eleventh of our number, Sir Bors, was decapitated by a single attack from the dreaded vorpal bunny.

Tristan: Under the light of the sun, Sir Gawain was forced to use all his strength to hold the rabbit down while Sir Lancelot beat it with Arondight!

Tristan: And then Sir Mordred darted in and kicked it viciously! And Merlin just...kept talking about the king like a broken record.

Tristan: And, finally, we defeated this greatest of foes!


Fujimaru 1: That's...really a thing?


Tristan: ...

Tristan: My apologies, Master. I may have embellished a bit. I was just trying to lighten the mood.


Fujimaru 1: Keep your day job, Tristan.

Tristan: How odd... Sir Bedivere always found that story hilarious.

Tristan: Could it be...that he was faking it?


Fujimaru 2: I-is that so...?

Tristan: During our next Round Table discussion, I will definitely try to make Master laugh.


Tristan: Ah, it seems the real beast has come upon us while we were japing.

Tristan: Is that a beast within my heart, or is it my malicious thoughts given form?

Tristan: Either way, Master. Let's fight together.

--BATTLE--:

Tristan: They were not so tough.

Tristan: If that is the evil that dwells in my heart, it is...unimpressive.

Tristan: But I thought all would be resolved when we defeated those enemies...


Fujimaru 1: We're not waking up, though...


Tristan: I'm terribly sorry. It's almost nightfall.

Tristan: How odd for night to come even in my dreams.

Tristan: You must be tired. Let's find an inn so you can rest.

Narration: But to be honest, I'm not sure where we are in the first place.

Narration: We have no choice but to wander aimlessly. Aside from the beast we encountered, we haven't come across a single living being.

Narration: Troubling.

Narration: I asked Master whether a ritual of some sort was needed to wake us up, but [♂ he /♀️ she} did not have a definitive answer.

Narration: Rather, [♂ he /♀️ she} asked if anything rang a bell to me.

Narration: I was asked, so I thought. Something necessary to wake up...

Narration: I thought of two options. First was suicide.

Narration: In other words, if I slit my own throat, I would probably wake up. However, I doubt that was the answer to our troubles.

Narration: If this was, by chance, an illusion established by the enemy, I would be a fool who abandoned my master.

Narration: The second option: find my true enemy.

Narration: It was hard to believe that that beast was the enemy who dwelled within my heart. There must be an entity...a source...that had given life to that beast.

Tristan: ...Hm?


Fujimaru 1: Is that...a city?


Tristan: Let's check it out, Master. That may at least spare us having to camp outside for the night.

Tristan: It's...empty... And this city is...

Narration: A faint memory seems to be stirring...

Narration: My instincts were screaming, warning me not to set foot in this place.

Tristan: Master. Let's get out of here immediately. This city is dangerous.


Fujimaru 1: But...


Tristan: You are right in thinking this place is deserted, but that is precisely why it is so dangerous.


Fujimaru 1: Isn't this Camelot?


Tristan: ...!!!

Tristan: How...do you know the name of this city? No, I guess it's obvious.

Tristan: We are in the Singularity...Camelot. It should have been restored already...

Tristan: ...But that person is not here!

Tristan: Even if they were here, I would...


Fujimaru 1: Choose.


Tristan: ...Master?

Narration: It is surprising how much can be learned from the sound of breathing alone.

Narration: It can tell us whether someone is calm, angry, or sad...whether they are lying, happy, or even waiting for a chance to strike and kill.

Narration: But the breath that you, Master, just drew when you spoke, was not that of a human being.

Tristan: You are not Master. If you are not Master...

Tristan: YOU were the one who was dwelling within me!

Gawain?: Hahaha. You, sir, get overeager and make a terrible mistake at the crucial moment.

Tristan: !?

Gawain?: See, this is what happens when you abandon your attack to simply wait and see what happens.

Gawain?: You wouldn't be in this mess had you already taken down the unknown entity disguised as Master.

Tristan: You are...no, not Sir Gawain.

Tristan: To take his form disgraces us all. You must disappear immediately.

Lancelot?: Ah, Sir Tristan. What led you to that conclusion?

Lancelot?: You have no basis for saying so. We are mere Servants who are not even Heroic Spirits.

Lancelot?: We are degraded imitations that manage to establish our existence with Master acting as an anchor.

Enforcement Knight?: ...But that is not the case for you.

Enforcement Knight?: You are the Knight of the Round Table himself. You have sworn your loyalty to a certain individual.

Tristan: Shut up.

Bedivere?: No, I will not.

Bedivere?: The more you wish to silence us, the more we must speak.

Tristan: ...Nnngh!

Tristan: Do not talk of our brotherhood! Do not slander our loyalty!

Tristan: Every time you change forms, you besmirch the honor of the Knights of the Round Table!

Agravain?: Then tell us your name.

Tristan: Tristan. Tristan of Sadness. What of it?

Mordred?: Yeah, that's right. But you're missing something, dumbass. You're a Knight of the Round Table.

Tristan: That's right. A Knight of the Round Table. Though in the end, I relinquished that seat...

???: And by relinquishing that seat, you must have renewed that vow of yours. Vowed that you would offer your everything to THAT person...

Tristan: That's...

Narration: It was like opening up an old wound.

Narration: Every accusations they throw at me reminded me I was back in that Singularity.

Enforcement Knight?: Why do you quarrel, sir? Didn't that massacre feel good to you?

Tristan: Quiet!

Gawain?: “Nightless.”

Lancelot?: “Fierce.”

Mordred?: “Rampage.”

Narration: I'm dizzy. I feel like throwing up.

Narration: Don't remember...remember... You should have forgotten. No, a partial image must still be burned into your mind.

Narration: “Reversal.”

Narration: Irrevocable massacre. Devastation beyond hope of repair. Crime beyond hope of redemption...

F:???: You want to have another taste of it. Look, you're laughing.

Tristan: ...!

Narration: I unconsciously covered my mouth after hearing those words. And at that moment, I was crushed by a darkness of great pressure and intensity.

Tristan: ...ter...

Tristan: ...ster...

Tristan: ...Master...

Tristan: How many times...must...I commit this...mistake...? How can I...atone...for these...sins...?

--BATTLE--:

Gawain: We heard this was an emergency, so we came as fast as we could!

Lancelot: Hm, I'm second? Lancelot, reporting for duty.

Bedivere: Did you call for us, Master? ...This is...

Mordred: Hey, what's going on? Did you call the whole Round Table?

Mash: Okay, let me explain the situation!

Mash: Tristan...Rayshifted somewhere and has disappeared.

Mordred: Huh? Without Master!?

Gawain: Wait, we can Rayshift without permission?

Gawain: I thought we could only Rayshift when accompanied by Master?

Da Vinci: Well, there are few tricks you can pull, but nothing like whatever's been done here.

Da Vinci: It was as if he was kidnapped... Tristan's Spirit Origin just disappeared...

Da Vinci: And next thing we know, there's a weird new Singularity.

Da Vinci: Well, it's not exactly a Singularity. It would hardly show up as even a tiny stain on the tapestry of history.

Da Vinci: It's more like a little piece of lint. Even the faintest breeze would blow it off of the fabric of history.

Da Vinci: On the flip side...

Da Vinci: It means that Tristan is in the most dire of all situations because he's in a place that could disappear at any moment.

Everyone: ...


Fujimaru 1: Want to come with me?


Gawain: Obviously.

Lancelot: Leave it to us, Master.

Bedivere: I'll accompany you.

Mordred: ...

Mordred: Pass. You've got plenty of help. Should be fine.

Gawain: Mordred...I see...you're not quite in top form because you...ate something strange...

Gawain: No matter how wild and strange of an animal you may be, you are still a member of the nobility...and so I can understand why you've responded as you have.

Lancelot: By God!

Lancelot: Sir Mordred. Are you not feeling well? Did you eat too much ice cream this summer?

Bedivere: Or are you still angry at Sir Tristan for accidently shooting you the other day?

Bedivere: That was an unfortunate accident. You know Tristan makes foolish mistakes like that sometimes.

Mordred: You're all wrong! Shut-up, tri-fold-man!

Mordred: And Bedivere! Is THAT what happened the other day!?

Mordred: I knew something was funky when I felt like something was cutting into my back...

Mash: So she didn't even notice...

Bedivere: (Ack, I put my foot in my mouth...!)

Mordred: Actually, I have a bad feeling about this.

Gawain: Hm. Sir Mordred's animalistic instinct has never led us astray...which means this will be difficult.

Gawain: Remember how you were lucky enough to run into me while I was in terrible shape because I hadn't fully healed after Lancelot?

Gawain: I'd normally beat you without even breaking a sweat, even at night. That defeat was due entirely to my own bad luck.

Mash: ...!

Mordred: That wasn't bad luck. You're just a freakin' idiot. You were the one who let the king go without even arguing the point.

Mordred: If you had two brain cells to rub together under all that muscle, I might not've had such an easy time defeating you.

Gawain: Oh?

Gawain: Oh, so you say that might've made it harder, hm? Tell me this: Would you have a harder time fighting me without your head!?

Mash: U-um...excuse me...!

Mordred: ...Calm down, Mash.

Mordred: We're not gonna fight... We're all just messing around! Round Table jests!


Fujimaru 1: Jokes at the Round Table are not for the faint of heart...


Da Vinci: Yeah, fighting and holding grudges doesn't work so well for a team dynamic.

Da Vinci: Just accept them as jokes that KILL.

Mordred: Anyway, I'm still giving this one a pass.

Mordred: I got this feeling that I need to stay right where I am.

Gawain: ...I see.

Lancelot: Then we three shall go...

Bedivere: Yes.

Bedivere: We shall save Sir Tristan and remove this piece of lint from history!

Da Vinci: The lint thing is just a metaphor!


Fujimaru 1: Anyway, let's go.

Mordred: Yeah, have fun everyone! I'll be by to pick up your corpses later!

Da Vinci: If Fujimaru ends up dead, the world will be in real trouble.

Da Vinci: Anyway, get in your Coffins. The Knights of the Round Table, go rescue Tristan!


Fujimaru 2: Let's go save Tristan.

Da Vinci: ...I knew you'd say that. I went ahead and prepared the Rayshift for you.

Lancelot: You're amazing, Miss Da Vinci.

Da Vinci: It's all good as long as I can still do whatever the heck I want! Okay, time to head out!


Gawain: This is...!

Bedivere: ...

Lancelot: Yes...it's Camelot, the holy city. But it's empty.

Mash: I'm not detecting any enemies nearby.

Mash: I am getting a Servant reading up ahead, though.

Gawain: Wouldn't that be Sir Tristan?

Mash: Actually, the Spirit Origin values are fluctuating. Whatever it is, it's not stable.

Mash: Please be careful, everyone. You too, Master.

Lancelot: No point standing around. Let's go see if we can talk to him.

Lancelot: Let's go...!

Gawain: !?

Lancelot: Ugh...!

Bedivere: What!?

Tristan: ...I have been waiting for you all.

Mash: Tristan...!


Fujimaru 1: This aura...


Fujimaru 2: Something's...different about him.


Tristan: Master. I...I'm no longer just.

Tristan: The moment I deemed that killing innocent citizens was fine, I should have ceased to exist as a Heroic Spirit.

Tristan: The gift of Inversion is simply an excuse.

Mash: Tristan, are you saying that your memories from the Sixth Singularity have...!?


Fujimaru 1: That wasn't you!

Tristan: No, THAT was the real me!


Fujimaru 2: But you were reversed!

Tristan: What of it if I was reversed!?

Tristan: It was still me!


Bedivere: I don't quite understand the situation...

Bedivere: But Sir Tristan, open your eyes. No matter how terrible your actions, there is no sin that cannot be redeemed.

Bedivere: So long as you are truly remorseful...even if you are never forgiven, you still have a chance at atonement.

Tristan: Sir Bedivere, my comrade. You do not know.

Tristan: Moments ago, I experienced the reversed version of myself.

Lancelot: ...!

Gawain: What!?

Tristan: I now understand why I know nothing of love.

Tristan: A monster so evil as me should never be loved.

Tristan: I should be killed. Please, destroy me!

Tristan: A fool like me deserves no more than having his comrades lop his head off.

Gawain: That is absolute nonsense, Sir Tristan! That is no reason for us to draw our swords against you!

Tristan: Then I shall kill Master.

All Three: !!!

Tristan: There's no cause for surprise here.

Tristan: As I said before... The inverted me is my true self. It is only natural that I should drown myself in malice.

Lancelot: ...!

Lancelot: Master.

Lancelot: I don't understand what's happened, but we need to stop Tristan first!

Gawain: That's right. Sir Tristan, we may be at least partially the cause of your madness...

Bedivere: Honestly...

Bedivere: Master, please get behind us. This...may turn into an astonishingly violent battle.

Bedivere: My Airgetlám knows no mercy. I shall destroy that sinister harp's sadness at its source!

--BATTLE--:

Lancelot: Ungh!

Gawain: Even after the beating we've given you, you're still standing! Where are you getting this endurance?

Tristan: In addition to my Gift of Inversion, I have also been given the Gifts of Nightless and Rampage.

Mash: Who gave them to you!?

Mash: It certainly shouldn't be the Lion King. She should already have disappeared!

Tristan: I do not know myself. It must be some cruel and unfathomable being.

Tristan: But even that bit of ridiculousness made me realize something: I am truly a monster.

Tristan: And I never even realized it, all while I lamented over my own origin, crying about my own inability to understand human emotion!

Tristan: That's why...I could never be loved.

Mash: That's not true! Tristan, you're...


Fujimaru 1: Mash, it's no use.

Mash: ...Tristan, I believe in you.


Fujimaru 2: You're wrong, Tristan.

Tristan: Then in order to prove my villainy...

Tristan: I shall...I shall lop your head off...Master!!!

Bedivere: Tristan!!!


Mordred: What the hell are you whinging about, Bird Boy?

Tristan: !?

Mash: Mordred!?

Mordred: Yo, Tristan.

Tristan: I see you did not come with the party. How unlike you, wild dog that you are, to cower in fear.

Mordred: Okay, everyone, STOP CALLING ME A DOG!

Mordred: Ugh. Fine. If I'm a dog, what's that make you? A little bug?

Mordred: A tiny bug buzzing about... A pissant that doesn't know what love is?

Tristan: As ever, your provocations are the most grating of insults.

Mordred: Oh, I got plenty more for you when you get back.

Mordred: You're given all those gifts, then you bitch and bitch and bitch, then fall into some desperate madness!? What a damn wimp! Pathetic!

Tristan: What would you know?

Mordred: Hell if I know.

Mordred: But now I know the reason why I didn't tag along.

Tristan: ...?

Mordred: The real expert in self-flagellation is the damn king.

Mordred: Your quibbling and all that whining would REALLY piss her off!

Mordred: And if SHE's going to put in an appearance, all I could do is stay the hell away, or we might all end up killing each other.

Tristan: What are you saying... No...impossible...

Tristan: It can't be!!!

F:???: I have come in answer to a call from afar.

F:???: Sir, I see you are lost.

Tristan: ...King of the sacred lance!

Tristan: Even for you, I will not compromise!

Altria: Then as your king, I will have your submission, even if I must beat it into you.

Altria: I am a king, but also a member of the Knights of the Round Table.

Altria: Should my knights disagree, I am fully prepared to handle their quarrel.

Altria: Sir Tristan, show me your bow and its infinite arrows. With my sacred lance, I shall annihilate the source of your melancholy.

Tristan: ...Very well.

Tristan: Sing, my Failnaught. Sound the melody of my lament!

Altria: Sacred lance, removing restraints.

Altria: Master of Chaldea, I ask of you: please take temporary command.

Altria: I need to give this thickheaded knight a moment of silence and reflection.


Fujimaru 1: Of course!

Altria: I appreciate your willingness to help.

Altria: ...Let's go!


Fujimaru 2: Thanks!

Altria: No need to thank me.

Altria: After all, this is my duty. Now, let's go!


--BATTLE--:

B:Tristan: Ungh! My King! You do not understand me!

Altria: No, it is you who does not understand yourself.

Altria: No... It's not that you don't understand, but that you refuse to.

Altria: The light of Rhongomyniad will pierce through your blessings. And then...

Altria: Master will destroy your hesitation.

Altria: Master of Chaldea. Do you know of Tristan's legend?

Altria: While he did learn what love is, deep in his heart, he averted his gaze from it.


Fujimaru 1: Tristan...


B:Tristan: I...


Fujimaru 1: Love and guilt are two different things.


Fujimaru 2: Didn't you want to love?


B:Tristan: !

B:Tristan: I...I...

???: It's a black sail, Sir Tristan.

Narration: Even as my eyes grew dim from poison, my hearing did not fail me.

Narration: I heard a trembling voice, a whisper like one confessing their crimes.

Narration: Regret, sorrow, hatred. And yet another pure emotion remained, untainted by them.

B:Tristan: Ah, I see. It was inevitable.

Narration: I was truly very sorry.

Narration: I must have hurt her so much...enough that it compelled her to say those words.

Narration: Iseult. My Iseult with the white hands...the one who was by my side as I died.

Narration: As my wife, you were loyal even while I was not. And now the only thing I can do is believe.

Narration: Yes. The black sail must have come.

Narration: There was gratitude. There was compassion.

Narration: There was atonement. Was there...ever love?

Narration: My thoughts grow calmer. Is an inconstant man like me truly worthy and able to love such a good woman?

Narration: No. I realized that at the moment of my death.

Narration: That wild, passionate love I felt was the product of a love potion, not something within me.

Narration: But I believed that was love. I believed it, and so continued to betray my Iseult of the white hands.

Narration: I am truly a monster that does not know love.

Narration: I was only ever loved by others, never able to love another myself.

B:Tristan: ...No. That can't be true. I remember. At the time, I was thinking...

B:Tristan: “It would be my greatest regret if I died right here...”

B:Tristan: “While leaving the most gentle woman I know to be so lonely and sad. I want to apologize to her...to talk to her...to tell her...”

B:Tristan: “And I want to ask her: 'May I love you?'”

Narration: And without having a chance to ask that myself, I made her tell me those words.

B:Tristan: That's right...I...

B:Tristan: I should have asked my question. Even if the only answer would have been a curse or insult.

B:Tristan: Even had it led to me losing my love, I would have accepted that as just...

Altria: (...The evil Gift has disappeared. But...the fairy princess, my older sister...does this mean she has manifested somewhere...?)

Altria: Sir Tristan. I ask of you: Do you still think you have never loved anyone?

Tristan: ...No.

Tristan: What I lacked in life was not love, but courage.

Tristan: I was constantly fearful of losing love, and therefore could not allow myself to love anything.

Tristan: I loved two women. And that is fine. And I will not discuss what that led to.

Tristan: Thank you, Master. And my king.

Tristan: I can finally awaken from my dream.

Altria: Gawain, Lancelot, Tristan...and...

Altria: You must continue to dedicate yourselves to restoring humanity. Never forget to be proud of being Knights of the Round Table!

Mordred: Oh, good, she's gone. Okay, Tristan. I'm gonna give it to you straight:

Mordred: Iseult of white hands and blondie Iseult? I'm pretty sure they'd have kicked a two-timing ass like you to the curb given half a chance.

Mordred: Before you died of that poison, you should've gotten a big damn smack to the face!

Tristan: Ha... I never imagined you of all people would be the one to point out the truth.

Tristan: It's quite vexing, so remember this one thing when we get back:

Tristan: I shall rain limitless arrows upon your unnecessary and demeaning personal attacks!

Mordred: Yeah, firing off a buncha arrows while running away like a bitch is pretty much the definitive Archer move.

Lancelot: Heh. Hold it right there, Sir Mordred. There's still one last thing that Sir Tristan needs to do.

Lancelot: Yes, a very important thing.

Mordred: Huh? What're you...

Tristan: ...?

Gawain: Haha, yes, indeed, hahaha.

Gawain: He was beyond confused...only able to snap to his senses after our king attacked him...he even attacked us with his Gift.

Lancelot: And even the King was so focused on lecturing Sir Tristan, she only glanced toward us at the very end.

Lancelot: No, no... It's not that that made us jealous.

Tristan: Sirs? I mean, guys?

Tristan: Are you...super pissed?

Tristan: Well, okay, this did get out of hand enough that everyone had to get involved...

Tristan: But at least...at least the conclusion was heartwarming, right...?


Fujimaru 1: I understand how they feel...


Bedivere: Indeed. All sins can be atoned for, Tristan. Whether you will be forgiven is another matter.

Tristan: ...

Tristan: Master.


Fujimaru 1: Yeah.


Tristan: Please...see to my funeral...


Fujimaru 1: Is that another Round Table joke!?


Tristan: Not a joke...!

All Three: Brace yourself!

Mordred: Sorry I took over.

Mash: Oh, I don't mind. But do you think Tristan and the others are all right?

Mordred: What do you mean, all right? They're all set to come back whenever.

Mash: Um, I mean...is anyone holding a grudge?

Mordred: Grudge? 'Course not.

Mordred: It'd be different if we went after each other all serious and stuff.

Mordred: But they're just bickering with each other. Just playing around.

Mash: Playing around? Really?

Mordred: Yeah. Wanna bet on it?

Mordred: By tomorrow night, the four of them will be rolling around on the floor like a bunch of morons laughing like this was the funniest damn thing ever.

Mordred: Honestly, the Knights of the Round Table are all complete nutjobs!