(FGO TF, F to Wyvern)

All she knew was pain. There was a name she had, a history. She was sure of it. But those were nothing compared to the torment of existence. It wasn’t physical pain. She didn’t have a body, not anymore. Not after…

History. Lost to her. Pain distracted her again, a knot inside her existence. Humiliation, defeat. Anger.

Anger.

She focused on it, concentrated on her rage. She had a reason for being this upset. She had a reason. Her history.

She remembered flashes, of nearly triumphing over those… She wasn’t sure who. Pink hair, blue eyes. A version of her… There. That.

She focused harder. That reflection… Blonde hair. A braid. A name. Jeanne. Her name, but ever so slightly different. She wasn’t Jeanne D’Arc. She was no saint.

Jeanne Alter sucked in a deep, greedy breath and smiled.

She was breathing. It hurt, but that meant she had a body again. As a Heroic Spirit, that wasn’t a guarantee. Normally, she’d have to form a contract with a Mage to remain physical in this world.

But she was hardly normal. Jeanne Alter was born from a wish upon a Holy Grail: to create an evil version of the saint Jeanne D’Arc, one who would conquer France properly. One who wouldn’t allow herself to be burned at the stake.

… One who’d lost to the Chaldean Stargazers, and who’d been expunged from reality.

“AAAAGH!” She wailed to a blue sky that knew nothing of her existence. The world, this world, was rejecting her. Now that she’d been defeated, there was no need for her failed history. And that was something she couldn’t abide.

“I will not be conquered like that dimwitted blonde! I am Jeanne Alter!” She cried out, but the world wouldn’t listen to her call. After all, someone couldn’t verify their own existence.

Now that she had a body again, she could feel the world trying to erase her, trying to dissipate her existence. She looked down to her hand, seeing the underfoot grass beneath herself. Was this some joke? Did she rematerialize just to feel her end?

“No! I refuse! I will not quietly disappear!” The words sounded hollow in her throat, but they felt good to say.

And, in response to her defiance, she felt a thin spark. It was nearby, just behind her.

She turned, unsure of what to expect, and was rewarded with the sight of a Holy Grail.

It was impossible. There was no way she could be so lucky to rematerialize in front of the one thing that would save her. But she didn’t care. Her luck be damned, this was a chance, and she was going to take it.

Her fingertips met its smoother surface, and she burned.

Her eyes snapped open, armor clanking as she rapidly pawed at herself. There wasn’t even a single singe on her. All the same, the memory of the pyre was fresh, too fresh.

Her gaze rose from the grail to find a dark, purple sky. It was as though it was tainted. The sun looked as though something had eclipsed it, and a sickly mud fell from the void like rain.

“So, you heeded my call after all,” the eclipse spoke to her.

“You’re… The Grail?” Jeanne Alter blinked in surprise. It was almost comical. To think that Mages had named such a relic after what should be a sacred treasure. No, it wasn’t almost comical. It was hilarious.

She threw her head back and laughed riotously. The Grail remained silent until her breath was spent.

“Are you finished?”

She didn’t think an omnipotent and apparently evil entity could sound petulant, but this was a day of many surprises. “Yeah, sure. Sorry,” she added the last bit in an attempt to be respectful. “I just didn’t expect this to be the last thing I saw before dying.”

The eclipse flickered. Jeanne Alter wondered if that was its equivalent to a laugh of its own. “And who said you had to die?”

Something strange flickered in Jeanne Alter’s chest. It took her a few seconds to recognize the emotion as ‘hope.’

“Anything you desire can be yours. You need only make a simple wish.”

“W-well, then it’s obvious, isn’t it? I wish for a body! I want to be reincarnated, so I can claim my revenge on those damn Chaldeans!” Jeanne Alter pressed a hand against her breastplate, as though that could help her closer feel her burning need for revenge.

“Is that all?” The eclipse flickered again but said no more. It moved to clear the sun once more, returning light to Jeanne Alter’s world.

Jeanne Alter blinked, a gnawing sense of unease forming as the world around her restored itself. She looked down to the grail by her hand and watched as it slowly faded with the coming dawn. At the same time, her own hand seemed to solidify, and the pull of the world around her faded.

“I… I did it.” She flexed her fingers, a cautious smile coming to her face. “I did it!”

A soft, mocking laugh echoed within her head, echoed by a loud creak from within her gauntlets. She shivered and looked down to her hands. Her fingers spasmed in response to this new pressure.

“What’s going on?” She didn’t mean for the question to sound so panicked, but she couldn’t help it.

“Precisely what you wished for. A new body,” the Grail’s voice echoed inside her skull.

For a moment, it felt like something was crushing her fingers, trapping them in a vise. Then the pressure vanished, and a second later her gauntlets buckled. Through the growing cracks in her plate, Jeanne Alter saw dark scales where there should have been skin.

“Such a shame you didn’t specify you wanted a human body.”

“Not human?” She trailed off as dark, sharp talons pierced the tips of her fingers. A series of pops like cannon fire, accompanied them. Now free of her gauntlets, her fingers merged together. She could feel each digit slip into the last, until she was left with a single talon at the end of each of her wrists.

Strangest of all, it looked familiar, but not so familiar that she could recognize it immediately. Her mind raced, but just as she was about to recall more pops marked the demise of her greaves. Her feet had bulged and swollen, to the point where she risked losing her balance. She looked down to them even as she windmilled her changed arms.

A pair of ugly, draconic talons dug into the earth, powerful muscles letting her toes curl her toes deep into the soil. They looked so familiar still, and she nearly placed the body they belonged to. But again, her changing body distracted her.

It was like the Grail was toying with her, playing with the woman’s form at precisely the wrong moment. She could hear its mocking laughter in her ears, and she snarled in an undignified fashion.

This change was a sharp tug at the base of her spine, one that somehow bent her forward, shifting her posture. At the same time, it was easier to balance now. Her thighs bulged as she craned her neck behind herself, finding a sharp-looking tail whipping behind herself.

It was a wyvern’s tail. Of course. She’d seen enough of them, having summoned hundreds in her attempt to conquer France.

“Are you serious?” She literally roared, her throat stretching as her voice deepened in pitch. Tears dewed at the corners of her eyes from the discomfort. Her sinuses ached, and her nostrils flared as they grew too.

“Deadly serious. You never asked to be reincarnated into a human form.” The voice was smug, but Jeanne Alter didn’t have a chance to retort. Her chest was growing now, torso barreling out into a draconic form.

As though it could sense that she wasn’t able to reply, the Grail continued, “and besides, what more fitting form is there for the ‘Dragon Witch’ than to become one of the beasts she’d normally command? Honestly, it’s almost as funny as you mistaking wyverns for dragons.”

Jeanne Alter gasped as her clothes tightened around her body. It felt like she was being stuffed into a tin can, compressed into her old form-fitting armor. Then, an oddly cool and slick feeling washed over her skin, numbing her from the pinch of metal around flesh.

She hazarded a look down and found dark scales, smooth and slightly glossy. These new scales didn’t so much as bruise, even when shearing through her magical armor. However, this was in its own way another humiliation. It was like her new body was trying to shield her from any discomfort, like it thought that she couldn’t take it.

Jeanne Alter snorted angrily, heat building in her chest and flowing from her nostrils. A small patch of grass burst into flames before her.

“See? Look at that, you can breathe fire.” The Grail chirped. “I’ve given you a kindness.”

“I could already use fire magic, ass!” Jeanne Alter choked on her next roar as her throat and tail stretched further.

It was like some invisible giant had grabbed her at either end and started to pull, stretching her out. Paradoxically, instead of thinning herself in the middle, she only proceeded to grow and grow. The seams of her dress tore, letting her warm her newly scaled belly in the sunlight.

“Everrryone can see me like this! Don’t leave me naked, damn it!” She snarled, grimacing as her face stretched too.

“Another wish? My, someone’s greedy. But, I’ll humor you while I can.”

Some of the tightness around her throat let up, and Jeanne Alter let out a sigh of relief… That lasted for all of a heartbeat before she realized the only thing still on her was her cape. Its furred shoulders had grown alongside her body, somehow making her look even more naked due to the lack of any other clothing.

She wanted to snap at the Grail for what it had done, but paused as she recognized something in its word. “While you can?” Her voice came across as a mix of a hiss and a roar, even though this time she’d spoken as normally as she could.

“Well, of course. I’m only here to have some fun with this change. After that, you can enjoy your new life as you see fit.”

Jeanne Alter glowered, but it wasn’t like there was anything she could do about it. Unless… Was there a way she could threaten it, or bend it to her will?

As if the Grail had noticed she was trying to turn on it, a magical force grabbed hold of her arms, pinning them to her sides. This time, the change was sudden enough to make her lose her balance, and she fell forward onto her breasts—breasts?

Her long neck curled to get a look at her chest. Sure enough, she still had an impressive chest, even if instead of skin she now sported a set of scales. She wondered what it might be like to lose those too, and was surprised to find that it upset her. Funny, she hadn’t pictured herself to be vain before.

Nonetheless…

“Stop it!” She roared, feeling the powerful sound reverberate through her stretched neck. Every bit of her tried to resist what was happening, to revert herself back to normal. She’d do anything to avoid turning into some common beast. “I am not some common wyverrrn, I am Jeanne D’Arc Alterrr!”

Her arms came unstuck from her sides, one at a time. But as she pulled them away, a curtain of leathery skin echoed the motion. Thick wings now connected her wrists to her underarms. She flapped them experimentally, unable to repress a shudder from how alien the new skin felt.

She spread her scaled thighs wider, planting a claw on the ground and lifting herself awkwardly up. “So what? I’m guh-grrro-ing to be some kind of wyverrrn with tits?”

The voice in her head didn’t reply, and she pursed her lips. Was the change done? Had it really listened to her? In a way, that was its own form of comedy. She looked just like one of her old summons now, except with massive breasts and her old hair. The Grail had left just enough of her to be recognizable.

Her tongue played along her new jaw, and she quietly marveled at how thick her fangs felt. At least there was some benefit to this… Though it didn’t change the fact that her wish had been twisted as much as her body.

Jeanne Alter glowered, golden eyes narrowing. She needed to prioritize. First, she’d find a way to get her revenge on France. That would draw Chaldea right into her new talons… And from there, she’d learn everything about The Holy Grail from them, and repay it for this ‘kindness.’