Marie stands in shocked silence for a few moments, her face filled with pain. "d'Eon, why…" She trails off, gazing mournfully at Berserk Saber. Then, with a huff, she steels her expression, drawing up to her full height and crossing her arms over her chest. "-Chevalier d'Eon, thou findest thyself in our deepest ire. This despoiling of our lands, the butchery of our people, the treasonous alliance with those who would see our Nation destroyed! For crimes against God and the Crown - answer for thyself, immediately!"
"...Your majesty is truly too kind. To ask for an explanation first - but you wouldn't be Marie Anoinette without such forgiveness in your heart, no?" Berserk Saber gives a wet chuckle, blood leaking from her mouth. "-But, majesty, didn't you realize? I haven't betrayed you in the least. Because I love you. And because I love you, I can do what your kindness, your forgiveness won't allow you to."
What the hell is she-?
"Because, they deserve it!" d'Eon spits. "This ungrateful nation, of oathbreakers and scoundrels, who killed her Majesty and her children without a regret, deserves to perish! Don't you see, your Majesty? Kindness can only go so far! The people of France-!"
"-don't deserve this, d'Eon. I forgive them, for all of it." Marie interrupts, a bright smile filling her face. "After all, it can't be helped right? The world changes. That can't be stopped. And if France moves beyond even Louis and myself, it's still 'Vive la France', right?"
Marie continues to explain her point of view, and pink energy starts to flow out of her and into the Saber - I guess that's her Charm skill. But my attention on her words is broken by someone else's words.
["-Say, between Jeanne, Marie, and Gareth, we sure have got a lot of forgiving people in this group, huh Subaru~?"] The voice of Prelati echoes in my mind - right, we've got a contract now, haven't we? ["Come to think of it, which type are you? Personally, I'd bet you're a pretty vengeful guy - that's right, isn't it?"]
["...No, I think I'm pretty forgiving, all things considered."] I reply. I'd still be having trouble with half of the Emilia camp if I wasn't, after all.
["Haha! Well, I'll look forward to seeing it!"] He laughs. Tch, this guy…
["-That aside, keep your damn voice out of my head. It's making my brain feel oily, having you in here."] I grumble.
"-Enough!" d'Eon roars, interrupting our conversation as she blows the charm away with a sweep of her hand. "You can't say that! You can't call the Revolution 'moving on', or 'progress'! You died too soon, so you don't understand! You weren't there, so you can't possibly comprehend the hell that the French people created!"
"Ooh, here it comes." Prelati giggles. "To be honest, I'd really been wondering just how much willful blindness Marie had to the deeds of Robespierre's ilk."
"Everything! They corrupted absolutely everything! The days of the week, the names of the months, the calendar, the dates of holidays - everything they could do to erase the lives that people had lived up to that point. They abolished courtesy, abolished beauty, abolished elegance, abolished doubt, abolished faith, and then abolished the rights of all who wouldn't consent, be they man, woman, or child!" The Saber raves, blood foaming out of her mouth. With every word, Marie cringes, shrinking back more and more as the words carve themselves into her heart. "That was all the love the French people had for the White Lily of Chivalry, that they would grind it into the mud without a second thought at the mere prompting of a mad lawyer! They deserve to die! They all deserve-!"
"-Big words, from someone who didn't raise a finger against it." Mozart interrupts, and the d'Eon freezes mid-sentence. "Unless Maria has mistaken your identity, and you are in fact Cathelineau or some such?"
"-Th-that's! I had no choice in the matter! Do you not know the power those people held?" She protests. "They would have taken everything from me!"
"Which is exactly what they did in the end, no? You lost your money, your properties, and every single family heirloom, surviving only off dueling money and dying flat broke in some London gutter." The composer chuckles. "And where do you get off, trying to act like Maria's friend, you who volunteered to lead troops against her family on behalf of her killers? Really, there's not one thing that's elegant about you."
Fury fills Chevalier d'Eon's face, as her sword flashes free of its sheath and-
Suddenly, the sun goes dark.
No, that's not it - something has blotted it out. A colossal shadow, large enough to cast every person present into darkness.
An instant later, sound catches up and the sonic boom knocks me off my feet.
Suddenly, impossibly, at the worst possible time, the Evil Dragon Fafnir appears in the air above Lyon.
***
I, Charlotte-Geneviève-Louise-Augusta-Andréa-Timothéa d'Éon de Beaumont, have known humiliation. In some sense, my entire life had been a seesawing of honor and dishonor, humiliation and elegance. From a spy in the kings good graces, to a disgraced noble in banishment. From a friend of the Queen to a penniless exile. From a champion duelist to an impoverished cripple.
I have known humiliation, but that does not mean I shall stand for it. He must die. Those who mar my elegance must die. Be they France, be they Siegfried, be they even the friends of the Queen I swore allegiance to once upon a time.
Thus, I have no choice but to slay this cur in her company - Mozart, I suppose? He matches the description. In any case, I have no choice but to kill him. Even though my next blow is certain to be my last. But, Your Majesty, please watch me - I'll make it truly beautiful!
As my blade leaps free of its sheath, a dragon appears. By far the largest of those summoned, by far the most powerful, enough to perhaps overwhelm this lot, since Siegfried is dead. An ally has arrived - if I don't push myself, I might yet survive these wounds.
But, her Majesty will die.
Of course, holding back is not an option. My sword has been drawn, and I must slay this man.
But, my Queen will die if I do.
I could even use a personal skill to draw their attention to me and prevent them from blocking the flames - and in doing so seize victory for my master.
But, Marie Antoinette will die.
A devilish voice presents itself - honor, or duty? Beauty, or love? I made my choice in life - shall I change my course in death?
The dragon opens its jaws, blue flame licking forth from therein. Before I realize it, my body is moving on its own.
My Noble Phantasm, [Fleur de Lys], can be invoked in three possible ways. The first is an anti-unit attack, which both lowers the target's parameters and deals damage to them. The second is an anti-army attack, which deals no damage, but does decrease the parameters of up to fifty targets, and potentially stuns them. The third…
The third is also an anti-army attack, but its effect spreads over everything, no matter how many spectators. Even a dragon, or fire itself will be mesmerized.
It will come at the cost of my life, dissipating all of the magical energy in my body. Lasting only an instant, simply a brief respite during which Her Majesty's allies might ready their defenses. But that instant will engrave itself upon their memory, and not a single soul who beholds that moment of beauty shall forget.
"Please, keep your eyes upon me - [Profuse Blooming of Fluttering Lilies (Fleur de Lys)]!"
I bloom magnificently.