CHAPTER LXXXI:Queen Artura.

Artura had short cut chestnut brown hair and fiery orange eyes. She moved her foot back and got her sword ready. Artura had an unnerving look in her eyes as she tightened the grip on her.

"I am the Queen of England, the wielder of Excalibur, first protector of The Grail and The Holy Lance, and the killer of demons and men! I will end your life like the mere mortal you are!" Artura yelled.

"There's nothing mere about me bitch!" I yelled back, gripping my sword and dagger.

I dashed forward and was met by Excalibur, "Right!" A male's voice shouted.

Artura moved her sword right and blocked my dagger. She quickly kicked me away and got her sword ready again. Was that Hecate? No, that was a male voice. Was that Excalibur? I continued the fight and kept hearing directions followed by Artura moving Excalibur to block attacks.

I remembered the true tale of Excalibur as my hopeless fight continued. The real story was that a mysterious stranger, who introduced himself as Merlin, gifted Arthur (or Artura) the sword saying that it was from the gods. Merlin meant Hephaestus, Vulcan at the time, who was Artura's father. When she died Artura tossed her sword into a river where it was taken away by a Naiad to the mysterious Merlin.

Artura went on the offensive, and I dodged or blocked every hit. This fight was going nowhere, Excalibur was guiding its master and I was too quick for Artura. One thing that I wondered while our fight was at a stalemate was, who was Merlin? According to legend, Merlin was a powerful wizard who could speak to serpents and mythical creatures of all types. They also had to know the gods, and blend in with mortals. My thoughts were interrupted by a blade almost slashing my face. I moved back and observed Artura for weaknesses.

I came to a realization that Artura probably didn't have any weak points, Any blindspots we're armored heavily, and Excalibur provided full frontal defense. I went back on the offensive to see if I was correct and, as expected, I was. Wherever I could slip my blades through, I felt thick metal armor that was impossible to stab through.

"Give up mortal!" Artura yelled.

I backed up quickly, "Never!"

Artura's eyes seemed to glow brighter at my response, "Then perish, heathen."

Artura shot a blast of white fire at me, I barely had enough time to dodge. I felt the heat on my back and on my head. It felt like a thousand furnaces were lit at once. I looked up to see Artura holding Excalibur close, with the edge of the blade in my stomach. I felt no pain from it, but blood soaked my clothes.

"Any last concerns you need settled?" Artura asked kneeling next to me.

"Who….was….Merlin?" I asked struggling to speak.

There was still no pain, but I knew I was dying. Wounds from Excalibur never healed unless you had his sheath. Blood colored my jacket with a beautiful crimson color, almost like royal dye.

"You mean the mechanical wizard? His real name was Icarus, he was a wondrous man of many talents. Come to find out that he was more machine than man, he would've loved a woman of your spirit. I never did get your name, foe, tell me the name of the worthy warrior I had slain," Artura said.

"Mary…Riley," I answered as my vision darkened.

In a last ditch effort I squeezed my fists and stabbed Queen Artura through her weakened breastplate. My mouth started to feel dry, I fell back and welcomed darkness as it engulfed me whole.

I came to in a small cave where a man in black and red wizards robes awaited me. The man looked young, in his early twenties maybe, and was talking to someone else. The man had black hair and yellow eyes, followed by a lighthearted voice.

"So I'm supposed to give this to your daughter, Queen Artura?" The man, who I presumed was Merlin, asked.

"Yes Daedalus, do this for me and this millennia will be good for you. Be careful though, that sword is an Automaton that's currently sleeping. I have named him Excalibur, but he shall be called Vulcan's sword." Hephaestus, or Vulcan, said to Merlin, Vulcan wore executioners clothes to hide his deformities, mainly his face, from Daedalus.

Merlin was Daedalus, that made a lot of sense in a way. No wonder Daedalus had a King Arthur patch on his travel bag, I wondered how many lives Daedalus has lived in total. I wonder how many lives Daedalus shaped with the help of the gods.

"Of course, Lord Vulcan." Daedalus answered.

Daedalus stepped out of the cave quickly and the scene changed around me. Daedalus was holding a body in his arms. The boy looked perfect, medium length blonde hair and ocean blue eyes highlighted flawless white skin and pure white clothes. The boy was missing an arm, which had wires and Automaton fuel spilling out from the stump, and bright red stains covering his shirt. Was that Excalibur's true form? A blonde Automaton who was as white as snow.

"Vulcan! Vulcan I need help! Excalibur is hurt!" Daedalus pleaded.

Daedalus set Excalibur down on a table filled with spare parts and extra Automaton fuel. Vulcan appeared next to Daedalus in a flash of light and they began fixing Excalibur. The process was long and was very messy. The red Automaton oil got everywhere and they had to replace half of Excalibur's parts.

Vulcan finished the last bit of wiring and sighed, "He's better now." Vulcan waved his hand over Excalibur turning him back into a sword.

"Queen Artura is dead, Lord Vulcan. What shall I do with Excalibur?" Daedalus asked.

"I made a special resting place for Excalibur, my children will seek him out but only some shall succeed in finding him. I'll leave a guard from my daughter's round table for him and the other artifacts," Vulcan explained.

Daedalus looked confused, "Other artifacts, Lord Vulcan?"

"The Lance of Apollo, The Cup of Vesta, and Excaliburs sheath shall all be left in one of their care." Vulcan answered.

I woke up immediately after to see Hecate directly over me in the stands of the arena. I sat up quickly to see Excalibur's sheath at my side, and that my clothes were clean. Artura was nowhere to be found, but Hecate was smiling.

"Welcome back, Mary. You defeated your first opponent, now rest up and get ready to fight Alexander The Great. He will really knock you for a loop. Oh! And don't worry about your wounds, they're all healed and your blood is back where it belongs." Hecate ranted, clearly excited that I won.

Hecate's form seemed to, almost flicker a bit. It looked like someone was switching a light switch on and off. I could see that her form was trying to switch over to Trivia, which was Hecate's Roman appearance. Hecate continued to smile and looked down at the arena, and that's when my next opponent starting rising from the ground. Alexander The Great, the conqueror of Grecia. I stood up and looked at his Athenian and Macedonian armor mix, and saw that his eyes carried the hate of a broken Minerva. I grabbed my weapons from next to me, and watched as Alexander drew a Kopis sword and his helmets plume turned red.

"Those who forsook my mother shall perish, and the rest will burn," Alexander said.

Oh perfect, a fucking mommas boy who's hell bent on killing. And to make it worse, he was the son of the Greek war god. All of my circumstances were lining up to be perfect.