One With Nature

Sword Keeper: 3

The whole throne room was quiet. Arthur's emotionless facade was actually broken and she looked surprised, Merlin's carefree smile was gone, and the two knights - Bedivere and Gawain - looked angry.

"What do you mean Camelot will not last until the end of my reign?" Arthur asked, probably worried she failed my evaluation.

"Are you threatening us?" Gawain asked.

I sighed and shook my head. "That's not what I meant. With the way you're doing things, it's only a matter of time before this kingdom falls apart on its own."

"How?" Arthur asked, returning to her emotionless persona. "I aspire to build a kingdom for all. How can it-"

"Stop, just stop," I raised my hands, finally having enough. "Drop that whole 'inhuman' act. It's annoying and it absolutely does not work."

"To go on the path of a King, I cannot be human," Arthur replied. She didn't sound emotionless this time as much as prerecorded, like she said this a thousand times now.

"Not being human and not being a person are not the same thing," I said, crossing my arms. "Through this whole day, I've had to see you pretend that you're the 'perfect king' that never wavers and stands tall always, but that will end in failure."

"How would you know? Are you a king yourself to know that?" Arthur was getting agitated.

Good, that means I'm less talking to 'Arthur' and more talking to 'Artoria'.

"I'm not a king. I don't know how it's like to rule over a kingdom. But, I do know one thing," I took a deep breath and gave Arthur a firm stare. "You, Artoria, don't have it in you to be the 'Perfect King'."

That seemed to shake Arthur to the point where she looked genuinely offended. "What... did you say?"

"I'm going to ask you something to determine if you can be the perfect king right now," I ignored her question and kept going. "Hypothetically, let's say I gave you enough power to end all human suffering throughout all of history. Disease, war, hunger, you would have the power to end it all. If I gave you that power, what would you do?"

"Obviously, I'd use that power to reach peace," Artoria answered without a second thought.

"I see," I sighed, shaking my head. "That, right there, just proved you can't be the perfect king."

"Why?!" Artoria was getting more and more agitated.

"Because this question was asked to the perfect king, and his answer was incredibly different," that statement caused Artoria's agitation to be replaced with shock. "The Perfect King already existed a long time ago. However, his answer to that question was the he would not use that power, period. Be it to harm or help, he chose to role of an observer, and only lead his people as they are."

Artoria took a step back in shock. "Wh-... What? That can't be!? What king would-"

"A king that has no compassion to his people, or humanity and the world in general," I cut her off as I began explaining. "That person... he was a special case even amongst special cases. Unlike you, who was chosen to be king, he was literally born for that role. As such, he lacked compassion. He did not lead his people because he cared for them, but out of duty. He was, in a sense, higher than other humans, but that's exactly why he can never experience the compassion that  comes with being human."

Artoria just look confused, shocked, and lost all at the same time. There was no sign of the emotionless, perfect facade that Arthur puts up.

Which is something I'm grateful for. I can tell Artoria genuinely cares for her people and kingdom, but the 'perfect' image she tries to put up just makes her seem like she doesn't.

"Don't misunderstand. It's a good thing that you don't have it in you to be perfect. In fact, I would have taken Excalibur if you did," I said and that seemed to break her out of her shock while sending the knights and Merlin into shock of their own. "Excalibur is a powerful tool. But, essentially, it is a weapon meant to defend the world, a crystallisation of humanity's dreams. Something like that does not belong in the hands of a perfect king that feels no compassion. It belongs in the hands of someone who truly loves their people, and wishes to protect them," I pointed a finger at Artoria's chest. "It's that heart of yours, the one filled with love for her people and her land, that is the reason I see you worthy to hold that sword. If you try to lock that heart away or force it down, then you'll truly be unworthy of the sword," Turning around, I began to leave. "You can listen to what I said, or not. Honestly, the only difference it makes to me is how soon I'll get to return Excalibur."

Of course, I may have exaggerated on a few things, but I really did mean what I said about her being worthy because she truly cares. Weapons made for defending can only be truly wielded by those who wish to defend.

I really do hope she actually listens to my advice. I'm annoyed, but not to the point where I'd just watch a kingdom burn while standing and doing nothing.

(A/N: ATTENTION! Wattpad only allows 200 chapters per story, so the next update will be posted as a "different" story.)