Fate/Stay BERSERK

Ch 35

"It's good to see you guys again."

Guts spoke as he and the others sat around a campfire, Mordred no where to be seen. Merlin had attached herself to Guts's back, burying her face into the crook of his neck and hasn't uttered a single word at all.

"Yeah, good to see ya too." Lancelot smiled as he set down his bowl of soup. The purple haired knight had seen better days that was for sure. Ector bowed his head with a small smirk, but Kay refused to look Guts in the eyes. "Thanks for helping us move camp, and saving our hides."

"Hey, Guts...." Guts turned to Kay, who was twirling his thumbs. "......I'm sorry for how I acted back then........I was........"

"I know you didn't mean it Kay. I spent ten years with you, don't you think I know when your drunk?" Guts smirked at his friend. Kay slowly nodded and laughed before Guts looked towards the fire.

".....I stayed with a teacher and a blacksmith for over a year in Scotland. One day someone came in and ordered some weapons so he and his group could hunt down a false king's army." Guts looked up at the others, noticing that they avoided looking at him. "What happened? And where's Arthur?"

"We were betrayed." Ector answered before taking a sip from his mug. Guts tilted his head as Ector finished his drink.
"By Morgan Le Fay."

"What?" Gut's questioned, his eyes widened. He began thinking of why Morgan would betray Arthur that he couldn't feel Merlin slip off his back to sit beside him. "But he was her brother....."

"THAT TRAITOR BITCH!" Kay shouted as he clenched his fists. "I'LL KILL HER FOR WHAT SHE DID TO ARTORIA! I'LL—"

".....Artoria?"

Kay stopped, his eyes widening as he looked down at Guts. He wasn't the only one shocked apparently because Guts noticed the others all turned to Kay with a gasp. Kay quickly composed himself and began to speak.

"I...I...I mean Arthur..." Kay scratched the back off his head.

"No need to lie Kay." Ector spoke up, taking another sip from his mug. Guts watched as Kay sat back down with a heavy sigh. "He deserves to know the truth."

"What truth?" Guts asked as he looked around. All the knights looked at the ground as Ector sighed and finished his drink.

"Arthur is a woman."

".........huh?" Guts felt like his ears weren't working for a minute. This might have just been a joke, but looking around to the other knights and seeing their faces was enough to make him stop thinking. ".....Arthur—the man I lost to, and fought beside for ten years—is a......woman?"

"Her real name is Artoria Pendragon." Merlin spoke up. Guts could only listen as he tried......connecting any dots he could. Merlin gave a light chuckle as she watched his face change expressions.

"Does it really matter that much to you Guts?" Lancelot asked the man. Guts looked up at the knight across from him with a raised eyebrow. "She told me a month after I joined. Why she didn't tell you is...."

"She was scared." Ector told them. Guts looked back at him, curious to why this secret was kept from him. "She was scared how you would react, if you would have shamed her, left her. So she kept you in the dark, hoping you would stay by her side."