Mordred's reaction to actually walking the streets of Camelot was... kind of expected.

She looked around with wide, fascinated eyes full of wonder at everything she was seeing. The people, buildings, and atmosphere really got to her.

Mordred stayed close to me, though. She would even hide behind me whenever anyone got close. I guess the amount of people around spooked her as much as it fascinated her.

Seeing her like this... brought some fond memories that made me kind of sad. But I kept my face straight. No reason to make Mordred more uncomfortable than she already is.

"Where do you want to go first?" I asked.

Mordred looked around. "I... I don't know... I want to see the walls...?"

Once again, she made it sound like a question, not sure if it was allowed. "Alright, let's go."

I held Mordred's hand as we began walking towards the walls. Through the walk there, Mordred's head didn't stop moving once to take in all the sights and people. I was actually a bit worried for her neck.

Once we reached the wall, I looked around to make sure no one was looking before pulling out Baraka. Turning the sword to air element, I picked up Mordred Aith my other hand and flew off the ground.

Mordred yelped and clung to me tightly as we flew upwards quickly and made it to the top of Camelot's walls. When we reached the top, I slowly landed and put away Baraka, but Mordred was still clinging to me.

"It's okay. We're here," I whispered.

Slowly, she opened her eyes and looked down to see that we're actually standing on the wall. She then looked back towards the city... and her eyes exploded with colors.

She looked at Camelot's beautiful buildings with Artoria's castle at the center. Her eyes were so wide and she was in so much awe that I was really worried for her for a moment.

I haven't seen someone react like this since... Yang tried playing in the beach for the first time.

... Sigh.

Anyway, we stayed for a while at the wall. Mordred just wanted to look at the majestic sight of Camelot. When she calmed down a bit, we went down to explore the city.

Throughout the entire time, Mordred didn't get far from me. She really loved the sights, but was cautious of the people around. It wasn't outright malice. She just really didn't know what to do.

We went to the barracks because I wanted her to see the horses. Once we were inside, Mordred immediately let go to start running around. I guess children across all history liked horses.

"Woah," Mordred mumbled as she looked at each horse in each stable. She then stopped and looked at the very end of the place.

Slowly, she began walking towards the last room of the place and looked inside. The room had a pure white horse that was a bit bigger than the rest.

"It's... beautiful..." Mordred mumbled as the horse noticed her and lowered its head to look at her.

"Huh, isn't that Dun Stallion?" I mumbled, realising it was Artoria's horse.

I don't think Mordred heard me. A part of me wanted to tell her, but I felt like it was more touching that she didn't know and was drawn to it naturally.

Dun Stallion tilted its head at Mordred with its nostrils flaring. I guess it saw, and smelled, the resemblance between Mordred and Artoria. When it lowered its head further to reach her, Mordred jumped back and ran over to my side again.

"Hey, it's okay, he's not going to hurt you," I assured her as I walked closer and placed my hand on Dun Stallion's head, petting him. "See? He's pretty friendly."

Mordred still looked uncertain, but she slowly walked closer and raised her hand. She was trembling when Dun Stallion got closer again, but didn't back off this time when it got close enough to touch.

When her hand landed on Dun Stallion's snout, she raised it higher and became more comfortable with petting it. A big smile threatened to tear her face as she began enthusiastically petting the steed.

We stayed with Dun Stallion in the barracks for a while. A few knights and guards came around to see what was that noise, which was Mordred's laughter, but they all went away when I told them I had things covered.

At sundown, I decided it was about time to head back. Mordred reluctantly agreed, while saying goodbye to the 'pretty horse' as she kept calling Dun Stallion.

Once we got back to the castle, I asked Mordred to wash up and stay in her room until she's called for dinner. When I made sure she was okay, I left to find Artoria.

I found the King of Camelot talking to Gawain and one of the guard captains. "Artoria, can we talk?"

"I'm a bit busy, Zack, is it important?" Artoria replied professionally.

"It is important, yeah," I immediately replied while taking a glance at Gawain and the captain. "Also rather private. It's related to your sword."

Artoria's eyes widened for a moment before she steeled her expression and nodded. She looked back at the two she was talking to. "Sir Gawain, Captain Eric, we shall continue this later," they both nodded at her command and left without a fuss. When we were alone, she turned towards me. "What is it?"

I decided to be straight and blunt. "My job here is done with Excalibur. I don't have to be here anymore."

Artoria blinked and expression became confused. "Your job is... done?"

"The World doesn't need to keep watch over you anymore. I have no reason to be here," I explained further.

"You're leaving?" Artoria looked conflicted. "Right now? With the child still being here?"

"Artoria, this is something YOU have to do, and no, I can't stay just to babysit Mordred," I immediately declined the offer she was gonna make judging by her expression.

"Why not?" Artoria asked.

"Because... !" I almost lashed out before taking a deep breath. "I'm... I'm not ready to watch over a child again, Artoria. I can't do that again. At least not yet. So, I'm sorry, but I'm leaving."

Artoria now looked hurt. "Do you really... hate it here that much?"

"Oh, no, this place is great!" I immediately replied motioning to the castle around us. "Heck, just because I don't need to be here, doesn't mean I'll NEVER be here. I'll come visit every now and then. The reason I'm leaving is because I hate... this," I now motioned to myself, specifically the puppet body. "I loathe taking a human form, Artoria. It feels so uncomfortable to me that I can't express it enough with words. And, before you ask, no, I can't bring my real body here, either."

I honestly meant that. I really did think Camelot was a good place. I even enjoyed my time with Mordred. My problem was the fact that, on top of being confined here, I have to stay in my puppet body the ENTIRE time.

It still feels wrong in so many ways to look human.

"I see," Artoria nodded, accepting the answer. "I'll try my best to handle things on my own from now on... even with the child."

"I'm sure you'll do well," I replied before finally turning around to leave.

Honestly, if Artoria doesn't do so badly with Mordred... then maybe taking in another child isn't so bad.

But definitely not now.