A GHOST IN A STRANGE LAND
CHAPTER 41
Even as soft as the ground was from the pounding rain, digging the coffin up was exhausting, tedious work. Wet mud was continually sliding into the hole, forcing them, in the end, to do almost double the work it would have normally required.
So it was, when their shovels finally hit something solid, that the majority of them looked ready to cheer (none more so than a muddy, messy El-Melloi).
They did not bother fully clearing the coffin. Kratos simply sank his hands into the mud, grasped, and pulled it from the slick earth.
Mud, however, splattered everywhere as he wrenched it from the ground, a fact that made none of the onlookers happy.
"Should we open it here?" asked the El-Melloi, wiping muck from his face. "Or take it back to the tavern, in case whatever is inside would not react well to the rainfall?"
"It could be some form of a trap," muttered Kratos, still holding the coffin above his head. Truly, it seemed a rather circuitous way to set up a trap, but the possibility always existed. As Tanya often put it 'It wasn't paranoia when they were actively out to get you'.
"I can do a suite of tests inside - and we can make sure Fujimaru is safely behind Mash's shield when we open it," replied the El-Melloi. "There's risk either way, but we would regret it greatly if our caution caused us to lose a valuable piece of intel, or some other boon."
Kratos grunted. The man's words largely matched his thinking, but caution was always warranted. "We shall bring it in." If nothing else, it would allow everyone to get out of the rain.
Just because he could tolerate the wet, did not necessarily mean he liked it.
Other than a bit of difficulty in fitting something as large and unwieldy as a coffin through the narrow, hidden gate, they encountered no difficulties. Thankfully, the door to the tavern was larger, meant to accommodate large parties of rowdy sailors, either entering, or being ejected, so it was simple to carry the coffin in.
Avenger and Fujimaru had already cleared a space for them to set it down in.
"Metal?" asked Avenger, rapping her knuckles on the surface of the coffin. "Aren't coffins usually wood?"
"You usually didn't even get one for a burial at sea back then….or I guess it's now, I suppose. Time travel…." said Fujimaru, with a shrug. "Best case, you'd get your body washed, wrapped, and you'd be tipped into the sea after a service of some kind. Assuming your death wasn't due to any of the number of diseases that could happen on a ship. Or you didn't die in a battle, which could leave your ship with too few people to manage even that little. Can't have a mound of rotting bodies on a ship, so….." She shrugged. "But this is kind of odd. I'd have expected this more for a sea burial for someone like Drake, to make sure the thing went to the bottom, and to keep the fish from disfiguring their captain."
She paused. "Who I guess is a woman? After Nero, and what you told me about King Arthur, it's not as much of a surprise anymore."
"It does seem to be becoming something of a trend," said Romani, from over on the table where a communicator had been set, to give him a good view of the coffin's opening. "So, how are we doing this?"
"Stand back," rumbled Kratos. The metal bands sealing the lid of the coffin shut proved unable to withstand his strength, and were easily snapped by his hands, and tossed aside. In a few moments, he was done.
"Doing a quick scan, now that those bands are out of the way. Probably won't change anything, but better safe than sorry," muttered Romani. "And yeah, still no sign of a body inside. But no signs of any signals or signatures, either. Magical, electrical, or otherwise." He held his hands up. "It looks safe to open, if nothing else."
Kratos seized the lid of the coffin and pulled.
Sealed. And more strongly than he had anticipated.
With a grunt of effort, he tore the coffin lid open, and shoved it aside, sending it crashing to the tavern floor. His arm tensed, his shield ready to slide into place.
Stale air wafted out of the coffin, but otherwise, the metal box was silent. Kratos peered into it.
Empty - at least of that thing that coffins were constructed to hold. No body, not of the woman supposed to be Francis Drake, or anyone else. Nothing inside, save a simple leather-bound volume.
He picked it, and turned it over in his hands. By all appearances, nothing more than a book. He could at least read what was written on the front - 'Ship's Log' - but the contents inside quickly outstripped his ability to read English.
Wordlessly, he held it out to the Caster.
The El-Melloi nodded as he took it. "Yes, something like this is probably beyond you, if you're still learning English." He frowned as he flipped through it. "And logs were sometimes coded as well - though that was a more common practice with the rutters - the navigational logs - rather than the more simple notations of the day-to-day shipboard activity. It looks like these, at least, aren't encrypted."
"So, what do we have there, Lord?" asked Fujimaru.
He held up a finger. "One moment." His eyes moved furiously as he flipped through the pages. "If this is genuine, it purports to be the ship's log for the Golden Hind herself, written by none other than Francis Drake." His eyes narrowed as he read. "Supposedly, they drifted into this area approximately two weeks ago, upon which they were unable to leave."
His eyes widened, and he flipped back a handful of pages. "......correction. They drifted into this area while they were fleeing a ruined city that had been heaved up from the depths." He nearly choked on the words as he continued. "A ruined city they plundered, and apparently a ruined city that was inhabited by Poseiden, who Drake defeated, and took a Holy Grail from."
Kratos felt his blood turn to ice, spreading out from Medusa's string in his mind, then, through the rest of his body. Despite the distance of time between them, he felt her shock as though it was his own - and his own was not inconsiderable.
Poseidon.
"Impossible." And there, the woman herself, appearing on what was likely Da Vinci's screen. "Gods cannot exist here - the Mysteries won't support it. Even with a Grail, the best state he could have been in would have been a shade of some sort."
She was as agitated as Kratos could ever recall seeing her. "He can't be here. He just….can't."
"The log claims the city sank behind them as they fled, so hopefully whatever it is she took the Grail from went down with it." He reached up and adjusted his glasses. "More relevantly, do we think this Grail is the cause of the distortion in History?"
"I don't think so," said Romani. "In both the previous Singularities, the Grail came directly from Lev Lainur - or the organization he belongs to. Giving a Grail to Gilles de Rais, and then him personally having a Grail and agitating against Rome in the last one. Unless somehow Poseidon is working with Lev, but….that just doesn't seem to track. The Greek gods were petty, yes, but not actively malicious - not to the point of wanting to wipe out all of humanity. At least, not the ones here."
Medusa was nodding, and even Kratos could not find it in him to disagree. The gods of Olympus had been monsters, yes, but they had enjoyed their mortal toys too much to destroy all of them in such a manner.
"Well, if we can find this Grail, we can at least see if laying hands on it resolves everything," said Fujimaru. "If Mashie securing it doesn't, then I guess we just give it back to her."
"There's no historical record of any of this, but there's also no historical record of her being a her," said Da Vinci. "So who knows! Uncharted waters, friends, pun very much intended."
"Continue reading," rumbled Kratos.
The man appeared not to hear, his brow furrowed, his lips pursed.
"Did you find something, Lord?" asked Fujimaru.
The El-Melloi blinked, almost seeming to rejoin them. "I don't know. Let me continue with this." A few seconds of quiet, then… "They apparently spent their two weeks exploring the cluster of islands that makes up this place. They describe quite the diverse set of flora and fauna - including an island that is the nesting ground for a rather large flight of wyverns, among other things. But there's a sense of tension that begins to leak into the words here. While they never saw anything, they felt like they were being watched."
He sighed. "Then, a few days later, the writing ends. Or, I should say, is ended." He turned the book around to show them.
A gap, where pages had clearly been torn from the log. And then nothing but blank sheets afterwards.
"Well, that's not ominous or anything," muttered Da Vinci.
"More strangely, they even nearly tore out the last page, the one where they spoke of being certain that there was another ship - or ships, around, dated maybe a week ago, but left it in the log." He grinned. "Easily explainable as a mistake in haste, if I hadn't noticed the scribbles in the corners of other pages."
Almost mechanically, he flipped through the book, tearing select corners from the log, and setting them on the table. "Doctor Romani, do you possibly have the equivalent of satellite for the island we're on?"
"I think so….yes, one second." A few shouts across the room, and then the image changed to a hazy outline of an island. "That's the best we can mock up without a solid leyline connection, but it should be at least mostly accurate."
"It should more than suffice. Now, let me see…." He fiddled with the scraps of paper for a few minutes, moving them around, muttering under his breath. At last, he pushed a pair of scraps aside, and sat back. "Miss Kyrielight, do you happen to have something I could use to magnify this in that shield of yours?"
"Yes!" She reached into the shield, and pulled out a small kit. "It's not standard Chaldean issue, but I packed it myself, just in case." The girl's cheeks were taking on a decidedly pink tone.
The Caster opened the lid, and then, with a smile, pulled out a magnifying glass. "How…..classic. But this serves my needs well enough." He traced his finger over the glass, whispering under his breath, then held the glass over the scraps of paper. The lens glowed, then, an image was projected out, onto the ceiling.
Kratos saw it at once - it was obvious, with what Chaldea was also displaying for them. "A map."
"Clever, for pirates. They even thought to throw in some false scribbles that didn't fit. Without the map from Chaldea to work with, it might have fooled me - or just made it take longer to piece together." He shook his head. "While the myths of buried pirate treasure are largely thought to be just that, myths, this begins to feel like something from Treasure Island."
"So, what are we looking at here?" asked Romani, squinting his eyes to try to make out the image on the ceiling.
The El-Melloi began pointing. "They were nice enough to mark our current position - I assume the cross here is the coffin. The only other thing of note would be, well, the 'x marks the spot', there."
"It's probably not a buried chest of doubloons." Despite her words, Fujimaru's eyes were sparkling. "That's along the coast, too. What's the land like there?"
"From our scans, a bunch of cliffs and bluffs," said Romani. "Some real jagged terrain. That side of the island is a good bit above sea level compared to where you landed."
"Which would make it a good place to hide something….or someone," said Da Vinci. "This was clearly meant for someone to find, possibly members of her crew that were separated when whatever hit this town scattered them. That X there might be their regroup point, or have more coded directions to it."
"It's more than we had a few minutes ago," said Fujimaru. "Should we go now, or wait for the rain to stop?"
Avenger had poked her head out the door, and was frowning. "Red, it don't look like it's even thinking about stopping anytime in the next freakin' decade."
"We go now," said Kratos, rising. "The Singularity is unstable, and we have little time to waste. And the creatures that fled may return, in greater numbers."
"Or tell whomever summoned them - and made that hybrid - about us," muttered the El-Melloi. "All excellent reasons to not be here should they return."
"Yay. Back into the ugly yellow raincoat," whined Avenger, though she still donned the thing - likely happy for the heat it provided.
"We were able to scan the map you put together, Lord, so we should be able to guide you from here," said Romani, eyes flickering between screens. "It is going to be a bit of a hike until you get there, unfortunately."
"And we do not know what it is we seek," rumbled Kratos.
"Guess we'll just have to keep our eyes open, then," said Fujimaru.
NORTHEASTERN CLIFFS OF NASSAU ISLAND
ONE HOUR LATER
Ritsuka Fujimaru was bent over double, hands on her knees, desperately drawing breath into her lungs. "That……was a bit more than just a 'bit of a hike', Roman!" She groaned. "Oh, my poor thighs are going to HATE me tonight!"
Somehow, despite being a Servant, the Clock Tower Lord looked almost as weary as his Master. "If nothing else, we're here." He glanced about. "Whatever is here won't be so obvious that it could be easily spotted - and certainly not if they're letting those Sea Devils loose over the islands. They'd want to remain well-hidden."
"And from the other ships they thought were in these waters," said Mash, her eyes darting about, almost as if she expected a crew of buccaneers to appear at any moment.
"Could be a hidden cove," said Fujimaru, finally getting her wind back. "Cliffs like this would be perfect for something like that. You have to stow a ship somewhere, after all."
"It's what I was thinking once Doctor Romani described the terrain here," said the El-Melloi. "Though, whoever left the note showed they were clever enough to attempt blinds and double-blinds. The obvious answer may, in this case, be incorrect."
"Yeah, yeah," muttered Avenger. "I'll still keep my eye out for cave entrances, all the same."
They began to slowly pick their way across the edges of the cliffs, eyes open and alert for anything unusual. A task that was made more difficult by the continued downpour, the rain having, if anything, intensified since they set out from the wrecked town.
"Nothing," said Avenger, two hours later. "And it's starting to get dark. Or darker, really. Should we head back to town and try to let Red have a roof over her head for the night, then try this again tomorrow?"
Kratos frowned, considering. A cave would suffice for himself and the Servants, but he still had concerns for Fujimaru in that area. There would be greater security in a cave, as their location would be unknown, should the creatures return. But that was balanced against keeping the sole human in their ranks healthy.
Before he could complete his thoughts, the decision was taken from him, as Fou sniffed the air, then began to wiggle in Mash's arms. "Fou, what are you…?" Mash never got to finish her question, as Fou squirmed free from her arms, and darted off into the deepening gloom.
"Control the creature!" barked Kratos, his temper frayed from the long, fruitless search, and the miserable weather.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Kratos!" stuttered Mash. "He doesn't usually do this! Fou, come BACK here!" Mash darted after him, calling out to Fou all the way.
"He's heading back for that cave we just checked," said Fujimaru, rushing after her Shielder. "What could he possibly want there? That thing wasn't even big enough for us to make camp in, not without everyone getting way too close to each other."
Growling low in his throat, Kratos trudged after them. The animal had behaved itself on the past two Singularities, true, but it should never have been allowed to come along in the first place. It was only a matter of time before it did something like this, or, worse yet, got itself hurt. He should have put his foot down sooner.
(Really, it was his son and the wolves all over again. And every other creature the boy had tried to aid - and then adopt, during Fimbulwinter. And he had been too indulgent there, as well. At least the wolves had largely been useful and well-behaved.)
Mash was still calling out to the creature, though her cries had turned from gentle requests to 'dire' promises of withholding scraps from her plate if Fou did not get back to her right now, when Kratos ducked into the cave, just in time to see Fou running straight at a wall.
A wall he appeared to pass straight through.
Mash stuttered to a halt, with Fujimaru running face-first into her. She pushed herself off her Shielder's back, and glanced over her shoulder at the rest of them. "Did…..did I just see that?"
"I don't feel anything like illusion magics," said the Clock Tower Lord. He slowly edged towards the wall, hand outstretched. His palm flattened on the wall, and he began to carefully run it across the rock face. Then, he stopped, as his hand slipped forward. "It's….an optical illusion of some kind, I think." He tilted his head this way and that. "It makes it appear like it's a solid wall, but in actuality…." He strode forward, and seemed to vanish into the rock.
A second later, his voice came from behind the wall. "You can just stride straight through. I think we'd have needed to be deeper in the cave to see through it - which perfectly works in its favor to help conceal it. Most, like we did, would only give a shallow cave like this a cursory glance, and move on, since you can see from the entrance how small it is."
Mash carefully followed in the Caster's footsteps, and almost immediately, there was an exclamation from the girl. "Fou! There you are!"
The rest followed her through, though not without some grumbling about this feeling 'unnatural' from Avenger, a sentiment that Kratos somewhat shared in, though he held his tongue. It was somewhat akin to walking on the bridges of light in the Alfheim temple - vaguely unsettling, to know that a thin sheet of light was all that was keeping you from plummeting to your death.
The chamber behind the hidden passage was large, and sloped downwards. Fujimaru was peering into the darkness. "This looks like it leads down, and in the right direction to the shore." There was an excited gleam in the girl's eye. "Worth checking out, don't you think?"
A grunt. "I will lead. You stay behind Mash." Who was distributing flashlights to the group, though Avenger just summoned a ball of fire in her hand to light her way. "We do not know what is down there. This feels…unlike a trap, but still. Caution is warranted."
"This feels like a shit-ton of trouble to go through for a trap," said Avenger, flicking a tongue of flame down the incline. Nothing but stone as far as any of them could see. "But it'd be a bitch-ass way to go, so yeah, better be careful. You want me watching our flank, Grumps?"
He nodded. "Take care with your flames. Do not block our path out, should we need to retreat."
She rolled her eyes, but nodded back. "Yeah, yeah, I'll be careful. This is my ass on the line here, too, after all."
As one, they descended into the depths of the cave. The only sounds were those of their footfalls, water dripping from the ceiling, and the crackle of Avenger's flames.
"I think I can hear the sound of waves," whispered Mash.
"Starting to smell salt, too," said Fujimaru, just as quietly.
At last, they entered a great chamber. It was still deep enough in the cliffs that they could not see the sky, but they could see the waters of the ocean.
As well as the boat resting there, at anchor.
"A sloop," muttered Fujimaru. "Small, fast, doesn't require much crew." She held her finger up to her lips, her brow furrowed. "Great for getting in and out of places quietly. If the owners aren't here, we can probably figure out how to sail it between the lot of us."
"Kratos," Avenger motioned. "Over here."
Kratos turned from the boat and followed Avenger's pointing finger. There, in the shadow of an overhang, was the remnants of a campfire, the embers still glowing.
"Someone is here," he rumbled, at the exact same time as another voice echoed through the cavern.
".........FREE BIRD!" The shout was accompanied by a deafening crack. Something screamed over their heads, sailing off into the dark. Behind his shield, Kratos froze - what were they aiming at?
His instincts SCREAMED at him, and he was moving before his ears had time to register the sound of a ricochet. Had he waited on that, the shot would have torn straight through his gut.
Instead, it blew through his right knee.
He roared in pain as his leg buckled underneath him, and he crashed to the floor. He attempted to rise, to push himself upright, but his leg was on fire - he felt the familiar sensation of broken bones, and knew it would not hold his weight.
There was another crack, another sound of metal on stone, and then, suddenly, there was a wall of purple and gray in front of him. Something heavy rang off of Mash's shield, and she was pushed back a step, then, with a roar, she swatted the thing aside.
It thudded to the ground next to Kratos. A metallic ball, now with a solid dent in it from the collision with Mash's shield.
"Are you alright, Mr. Kratos?" The girl's eyes were worried as she briefly glanced down at him, before returning her eyes frontward, head darting from side to side as she attempted to locate the next attack.
Kratos probed his knee, none too gently. "My knee is broken. I cannot rise." Gingerly, he adjusted himself so that he was kneeling, a position that would at least afford him some modicum of mobility. "Go, and protect Fujimaru. She is in more danger from this attack, whatever it is, than I am." Unless one of those steel balls managed to hit his head or his heart, he would live. Even then, he might yet survive.
"But…" she began.
"Go on, Squeaks," said Avenger, shoving the girl in the direction of Fujimaru and the El-Melloi. "There isn't just the sniper to worry about, either. There's another one, some tiny bitch that came at me out of the shadows and tried to carve me up. She'd have taken my arm off if she hadn't tried that on the Murder Arm - whatever that crazy woman made it from, she made it tough. She just dented it." Fires flickered around Avenger. "Still pissed as shit, though."
She glanced at him. "You want a hand up? Maybe a shoulder to lean on?"
"Guard yourself," he barked. "They are reflecting shots off of the walls, to strike from unexpected angles."
"Great…." she muttered, sarcastically. "Trick shots and some sort of fucking wannabe assassin. It's fucking Christmas."
They waited, tense, for the next shot, but it never came. Instead, a voice called out from the darkness.
"You're not taking us alive! We're ready to die here, and we will! We'll bite our own tongues off and bleed to death before we lead you back to our camp!" There was the sound of metal scraping over rock. "So wherever that prick summoned you from, get ready to go back there!"
"Parrot One…" Another voice, this one from high up. "I think we might have shot too quickly. The big one, the one we thought was that Berserker…..he's still down." There was the sound of swallowing. "If it was him, he'd have been up already - my Noble Phantasm wouldn't have hurt him that much. And it looks like there's a human down there - and not what the humans have been twisted into, either."
"Why are you still using those stupid names that that damn pervert came up with??" There was a sigh that echoed around them, then the voice called out again. "So, maybe we should have asked first and shot second, but you wouldn't happen to be the Chaldeans, would you?"
"Fuck YES we are!" bellowed Avenger. "Who the exact hell are you, and why are you fucking shooting at us?"
A pause. Then the first voice replied. "Let's just say we might be a little trigger happy after the last few days, and when we felt you coming, we miiiiiight have jumped the gun a little bit. That's the god we shot, right?"
'They know what you are, Grumps,' Avenger's voice sounded in his mind. 'Someone warned them we were coming, it sounds like.'
He sent a feeling of agreement back to her - they were openly referring to him as a god, in stark contrast to the previous Singularities, where the Servants they encountered had been almost unable to believe their eyes once they had gotten their first look at Kratos. "I am Kratos. And I am a god. Who are you?"
Another pause, then the second voice responded, seeming to come from everywhere at once. "If we come out to talk, what kind of promise can we get that you won't just tear us in two?"
"We really are sorry for the mistake! But Parrot One didn't want to take chances, and you kind of do have the same sort of aura as something really, really scary that's been hunting us……" The second voice at least sounded genuine in her regret.
"We will not raise our hands against you, save in defense," called Kratos. "Is that acceptable?"
"Probably will have to be. Give Stork Two a minute to get down from her perch, and we'll come to you."
There was the sound of scrabbling, of someone rapidly descending from on high. As one, Mash, Fujimaru, and a harried Clock Tower Lord made their way over to them.
Fujimaru grimaced as she looked at the mess of Kratos' knee. "Shit. A through and through. Broken bones?" she asked.
At his nod, she held out her hand, dangling it over his knee. "Want a shot of my Mystic Code? I know you heal quick and all, but I also figure you'd rather be standing for this."
Truthfully, he would prefer she reserve her healing magics for another that might need it more - his injury would hinder him, yes, but it was hardly life-threatening. But her words were correct - should this meeting once more turn into a fight, he would need to be able to stand on his own two feet. And while he could muster up some of his own reserves to force the wound to mend, those were a much more limited resource than the magics of her Mystic Code.
At his grunt, she gently laid her hands on his leg, and green energies washed over the wound.
It was different, felt very different than the healing stones that were scattered across the Nine Realms. More precise, or refined - while he could still feel his bones knitting, as with the healing stones, there was a greater sense of numbness while the magics put his body back together. In a few moments, the wound was much less ragged, and he felt as if he could stand again.
"You'll probably want something to replenish the blood you lost, Mr. Kratos," said Mash, already pulling a medical kit from her shield, as well as a flask of some liquid, which she handed to him. "Drink this, and let Senpai and me bandage your leg."
It was unnecessary, his leg would probably be fully healed by the next morning. But he simply let them bind his leg, and merely drank the drink (the same kind of fruit juice that was served at first meal in Chaldea) they had handed him, then pushed himself to his feet once they were done.
His balance was wobbly, at best. But it would be enough to fight, if necessary.
The second voice called out. "We're coming out with our weapons lowered, we'd appreciate it if you did the same!" A few seconds later, two forms shuffled into the light.
Women, both of them - from the voices, it had seemed like that is what their attackers had been, but here there was confirmation. And they were an odd pair.
One was small - as tiny as Nero, who Kratos had towered over. Unlike Nero, this woman was covered almost head to toe in a dark coat, with even her face covered by the jacket's collar. A narrow, and suspicious pair of eyes framed by bone-white hair flicked from Chaldean to Chaldean, weighing each of them one by one. They paused momentarily on Kratos, likely seeing whatever it was in himself that verified his divinity to a Servant - something that had not been fully explained to him by any of the Servants in Chaldea's current employ.
A large, curved sword was in her hands, though it was, as she had said before coming out of the shadows, lowered, but not sheathed.
The other woman had a foot of height on her companion, if not more. And was much more obviously a woman - as her open jacket, and the views it gave them attested to. Blonde hair, tied into two tails, spilled down her back, fluttering in the winds coming in from the sea, in the same manner as the tails of the flowing red coat she wore. She looked far more apologetic than her companion, frowning and wincing as she laid eyes on the bandages around Kratos' knee.
She was obviously the sniper, then, as she carried a weapon - likely some type of primitive (at least compared to the modern examples Da Vinci had shown him) firearm, one that was longer than she was tall. But she made no move to point it at them, so it seemed their truce held.
For now.
The smaller one drew herself up straight, staring up at Kratos. "So, you found the journal, then? I assume that's how you found this place." She gestured around. "We did choose it for how well-hidden it was, so we didn't expect anyone to stumble onto it by accident."
"That's right," said Fujimaru. At a nod from her, Mash pulled the journal out from her shield. "Dug it up, and the Lord here decoded it. You guys were the ones who left it?"
The taller one shook her head. "Not us. Was our captain's idea. We were just sticking around here to see if anyone found it and came looking." She hung her head. "I really am so sorry for shooting you, Mr. god. We just felt something really dangerous approaching, and, well, after the last few days we've had, we got spooked." She clasped her hands in front of her, and bowed her head. "Please please please don't hold it against us - we WERE waiting on you."
"Who told you we were coming?" The El-Melloi's brow was furrowed. "Even we only found this Singularity this morning."
The two women exchanged a glance. "It's honestly a long story," said the shorter one. "And we don't know all the details - most, but not all. And you'd probably have questions, and we'd probably have questions, and then we'd have to do all this again once you met the captain."
She sighed at their expressions. "Yeah, I get it, we're asking you to take a lot on faith here. We can give you a few things - I'm Mary Reade. This is Anne Bonney. We're a Rider-class Servant."
"Wait," interrupted Fujimaru. " 'We'?"
Anne smiled and nodded. "Oh yes. We're two bodies in one Servant container! I know it's a bit unusual and all, but that's just how it worked out for us."
"Actually," began Fujimaru. "We have a Rider back at Chaldea who's in the same situation as you are. So, maybe not that unusual, considering this is the second time in a week I've met a double Servant like that."
"Huh," Mary shrugged. "Well, the less explanations the better, I guess. We're part of what's left of a group that tried to take out the ruler of these seas. It…..didn't go well."
Anne fidgeted. "Which is Mary's way of saying we got our butts kicked. We've been running and hiding ever since."
"The Captain was at least smart enough to prepare some shelters in case things went badly, so we've been ducking from one to another whenever our enemies get close to us. All while we've been waiting for you guys to show up."
She looked up at them, and a pleading note entered her voice. "So, you willing to trust us enough to let us take you to the Captain?"
"Who is the master of these seas, and why do you fear him so?" rumbled Kratos.
"And who's your captain?" asked Fujimaru, a touch eagerly, that same sparkle in her eye as when she had been discussing pirates earlier. There was also an excited grin on her face, one that had been growing ever since the paired Servants had introduced themselves.
Mary was hesitating, but Anne nudged her in the shoulder. "It shouldn't hurt anything to tell them, Mary. At least they can know what they're getting into. And it'll answer at least some of their questions."
Mary sighed, but nodded. "Yeah, you're right. I just hate having to go over things twice." She shook her head, and turned back to them. "Firstly, our Captain - and it's only because of how bad things are that I'm calling him by that title instead of one of a baker's dozen of others, is Blackbeard."
There was a sound akin to the noise the kettle in Da Vinci's workshop made when the water inside was boiling. All eyes turned to Fujimaru, who turned a bright red as she realized she was the source of the odd sound. "Sorry! But……you mean Edward Teach? THE pirate of pirates, right?"
There was a look of long-standing suffering on Mary's face. And even Anne was frowning. "Unfortunately, yes. Just, please don't get your hopes up about him. Even if he's been….different the last few days, he's still….." She struggled for words, then threw her hands up in the air. "You'll see it when you meet him. Just don't say we didn't warn you."
Anne continued. "For your other question, we're fighting the Argonauts, or at least some of them. It's Jason, Medea, and Herakles - I know, it doesn't SOUND like much, but…."
Kratos heard little else of the woman's words after that.
Herakles. His half-brother.
He came back to himself, as he felt Avenger's elbow dig itself none too gently into his side, and her worried eyes met his.
"Is he a slave?" He didn't care that he had interrupted them, he had to know.
Mary snapped her fingers. "That's right, you're a Greek god, aren't you? You must have known him or something back in your world, didn't you?" She shook her head. "No, Herakles has always been super loyal to Jason - and in the little blonde bastard's meager defense, he's always been the big guy's biggest fan, too." Her voice suddenly pitched lower, though taking on a whiny tone. " 'Herakles is the strongest!' And other things like that, nothing short of complete confidence in the big monster. No, there's no slavery here, Herakles is just honestly totally devoted to Jason, for some reason."
Mash was frowning. "We fought Herakles once before, in the first Singularity. But there, he was barely a Servant anymore….the Saber there had killed them all and brought them back wrong."
Fujimaru had gone pale. "She's not wrong. I got an up-close and personal view of one of them when he tried to possess me, even after Kratos killed him." She swallowed heavily. "Not some of my favorite memories."
Mash was staring up at him. "Did….did you know him, Mr. Kratos?"
He took a deep breath. "He….was my half-brother."
Communicators activated, and a plethora of faces appeared. "Wait, does that mean your father was….." Romani eyes were as wide as dinner plates. And Da Vinci had a similar expression on her face. And Medusa and Chiron's faces were both crowding into the views.
"....Zeus," his voice was barely above a whisper. "Though I did not know this until I was a man grown….and had sat in Ares' throne for many years."
"Explains why you didn't want to fight him in Fuyuki," came Cu's muttered voice. "You never want to fight family, if you can help it. I tried like the devil to avoid having to fight Ferdiad and Uncle Fergus. He was at least reasonable about it, but Ferdiad…." The man shook his head bitterly. "Worst part of a stupid war. Fucking Medb." There was the sound of him spitting.
Mary had a worried look on her face. "Is this going to be a problem? There's not a lot of point taking you to the Captain if you're not going to help us fight this."
"No," Kratos shook his head. "If Jason is the cause of this Singularity, and Herakles chooses to defend him…..then I will fight him. He leaves us no choice." Much as the ragged shade in the burning city had not left him any choice - and much as his true half-brother had not, the day he had stormed Olympus, too blind to see how the gods were using him as a pawn against Kratos, much as they had used Kratos as a pawn against Ares.
(Kratos knew he had been a bad choice to sit in the throne of the God of War. But Herakles would have been far, far worse.)
"Ok," said Mary, mollified. "Then we should probably head out immediately. Night's about to fall, and it'll be a ton easier to slip away from here and to the current hideout in the dark." She grimaced. "Not much moonlight OR starlight of late to reveal us, thankfully, though it makes navigating the reefs a real joy."
"At least we'll have more people to push with the poles, Mary," said Anne. "It was hard when it was just me doing it, with you on the rudder."
Romani waved his hand, grabbing their attention. "So, is it safe to assume you're going with them?"
Both Kratos and Fujimaru nodded. "It's our best lead," said the El-Melloi. "And it gets us off this island, too. Which is doubly beneficial, since there might be a leyline near their hideout, and lets us NOT be here if those things return."
Mary and Anne stiffened. "Those things were here?"
"They were all over that town, what was it called, 'Nassau'?" Avenger sniffed. "We ran them off, and killed some fucking hybrid thing, but some of them got away." She jerked a thumb at Kratos. "Grumps there figured they were probably coming back later, with friends."
"That's exactly what they're going to do," said Mary. "Anne…"
"Already on it, Mary!" said the taller woman, darting off to the ship.
"Get on board," said Mary, untying the ship from where it had been bound to a stalagmite. "Depending on where the Argo is right now, those things might have already reported back to their mistress, and the God of Strength could be bearing down on us right now. We need to be gone."
In no time at all, they were all on board, and the two women were rapidly getting the ship ready to sail. "Grab a pole, all of you - except the girl. We'll need you to help shove us through the reefs that surround this little cove. Thankfully the current's enough to get us out of here."
The ship began to slowly edge out of the cave as the two women finished preparing the ship. There was a groan from both Fujimaru and Avenger as the rain once again began falling on them, but Mary quickly began barking orders, directing each person to a spot along the railing - and Fujimaru to stand beside Mary, out of the way of everyone else, as she put it. "If you won't go below deck where it's dry, then here's the best place for you," she snapped, eyes watching the waterline like a hawk. "Portside, front! I should be able to steer us around the first patch, but be on your toes just in case!"
To the women's credit, they had guided them through the reef perfectly, and into the open seas. The frantic energy that had seized them had slowly drained away as they had put the island behind him, and now, they were more relaxed. Anne was shifting the sails at Mary's cues, neither of them speaking, their rapport wordless.
Then again, they were two Servants combined into one. It was possible they shared a mental link in the same manner as a Master did with their Servants, and simply did not need to speak to one another.
Mash had joined Fujimaru by the wheel, and both were speaking to Mary - Fujimaru more than Mash, though Mash was far from silent. Matching Fujimaru's enthusiasm would have been difficult for anyone, though. The El-Melloi had willingly retreated below decks, happy to get out of the rain.
And Kratos found himself without anything to do. Even were he more well versed in seamanship (the ship given to him by the gods had largely piloted itself - taking him where they wanted him, when they wanted him there), the paired Servants ran this ship like it was an extension of their own bodies. So, as with the other times he had traveled by ship, there was little else for him to do but wait until they arrived at their destination.
"So, Zeus was your daddy?" Avenger settled next to him on the rails. "Did you know that before or after you'd started on your rampage?"
She slowly, deliberately rolled her eyes at the glare he leveled at her. "Fucking humor me a little bit here, you big lug, I'm not asking JUST to be a pain in your ass, I've got my reasons."
Amazingly, through all the sarcasm and disdain, the woman actually sounded sincere. "I had no father, growing up, and my mother did not speak of him - whether she would not, or could not, I do not know." His hands tightened on the rails. "In all my time serving the gods, whether it was as Ares' dog, or as one besworn to all of them, he never spoke of our connection. Nor did that change when I walked the halls of Olympus. It was only after he had stripped me of my powers, cast me from Olympus, and took my life that I learned he was my father, and even then, it was not from his lips."
"Athena told me, as she died, that Zeus was my father."
Avenger was tapping her metal fingers on the railing. "She one of the ones you offed?"
"It….was not my intent to kill her. She threw herself between Zeus and I, to try to stop us from fighting, and lost her life in the process." Avenger was opening her mouth to say something, but Kratos shook her head. "Do not think well of her. That sacrifice, my every action, even the death of the gods of Olympus was all her plot to establish her own rule over Greece. Even her dying words, I suspect, were chosen to drive me into the actions I took."
"So then, you finished the job, even knowing he was your father?" He nodded, and Avenger sighed. "Probably a stupid question, but I assume you regret it? All that stuff you told me about 'revenge bad' and 'I have walked the path you are on' is starting to sound like you weren't blowing smoke up my ass, after hearing you talk about all this shit."
"The gods were….corrupted. Opening Pandora's Box, which gave me the power to defeat Ares also infected them with the evils sealed in the box. But, even before that, they were cruel, and cared little for the lives of the mortals in Greece." He growled, low in his throat. "I knew the consequences my actions could have, and I took them, regardless. So, yes. I do regret what I did."
"Did you really have another fucking choice, though?" There wasn't a trace of sarcasm in her voice. Avenger, for once, sounded deadly serious. "I mean, yeah, you said you could have walked away, but what does that leave the people of your Greece? Yeah, you killed it by killing the gods, but that doesn't stop people from someday rebuilding. If you'd have just left things as they were, how bad would those fucksticks of gods have gotten, in the end? For all you know they'd have ended up wiping everyone out anyways, except anyone who tried to start over would have had them still squatting up in their little mountain to deal with."
She rolled her eyes. "And there's no guarantee that they'd have left you alone, either. Maybe after they wiped out all their worshippers, they need a scapegoat to keep them from turning on each other. And who's name would come up but their old buddy Kratos? And you can bet your ass they wouldn't give two shits about collateral damage when they came knocking, either."
Kratos blinked, surprised. That was, truthfully, more insightful than he would have expected from the woman. His thoughts must have shown on his face, as she scoffed. "Come on. I'm not JUST a bundle of rage and revenge fantasies at the end of the day. I have been paying at least a LITTLE attention to you and what you've said, even if I still don't know if I agree with you. I still think you were completely justified in what you did back then. Sometimes, the only way to make people stop pushing you is to push back, HARD." Her eyes smoldered.
"Anyways, you can probably guess why I asked about your dad." He could not, but the woman continued talking regardless. "No secret I have some complicated feelings regarding 'me'. You know, the real Jeanne."
Avenger loudly snorted, and spat out into the waters of the sea. "What the fuck am I? A copy of her, yeah, but I ain't her, either. We're more like fucked up sisters or something - and if you EVER tell anyone I called her that I'll tear your throat out with my teeth!" She glared at him. He remained impassive. "But when I finally tracked down that traitorous bitch Carmilla, and saw 'me' getting the shit kicked out of her by d'Eon, I was sorely fucking tempted to wait just a little longer in case the little weenie lost. But then Carmilla started winding up her Noble Phantasm, so I knew I had to make my move then, or deal with her when she was all hopped up on blood, which let me tell you would have been a fucking hassle."
"But even when we were working together, there was times I wanted to just stab the self-righteous little cheerleader, even when she was being so fucking genuine about it all. True fucking believers." She shook her head in disgust. "Now…..I dunno. If she gave me a free shot, I don't know if I'd take it. I don't LIKE her, but I don't hate her as much as I did. And then there's Gilles, who……is kind of my dad, as fucked up as that is to think. But I ain't ready to try to unravel that knotted hell yet, or talk about it with ANYONE. But I thought maybe hearing about what you were thinking with regards to your unwanted family might help me straighten some things out in my head."
"And did it?"
She shrugged. "Fuck if I know. I'll tell you when and if I figure anything out." She bumped her shoulder into his. "Thanks, at least, for humoring me and answering my question. You didn't have to - I know you don't care much for me. Not that I've given you much reason to."
Her response from him was a simple grunt. She was not the only one with 'complicated feelings' - Avenger was more tolerable in recent days, but he still saw far too much of his younger self in the woman, at times. For all that her foolish behavior hid it, she was still a Servant ruled by revenge, by the very nature of the class she found herself in.
Maybe she was learning to overcome that, would avoid the mistakes he had once made. Maybe not.
A call from the back of the ship had them moving again. "We're coming up on another reef, get to the poles you lubbers! Same positions as last time!"
"That was a pretty tiny cove," said Fujimaru. "No way the Queen Anne's Revenge could fit there, that thing was a 40-cannon frigate. Do you have it stowed somewhere else?"
They were making their way inland - the cove they had docked in was far smaller, and less hidden than the one they had departed from. The two pirates had thrown netting, woven with plants and rubble over their ship to conceal it - it would not fool a close inspection, but from a distance, it would likely suffice.
That they had these things already prepared spoke of how they had already considered these issues.
"No. Teach can summon it when he needs it." Mary was leading the way, picking her way through the thick jungle, and did not look back at them as she answered. "He says there aren't a whole lot of coves that could keep a ship like her hidden, in any event. But this lets us use any beach as an escape point in a rush. Problem is, it needs a TON of time to get up to speed, so without a lot of warning, we're pretty much dead."
"It's why we're trying to lay as low as possible, and why he has the two of us doing most of the group's movements since everything blew up." Anne was trailing just behind her partner, her larger frame parting some of the thick underbrush for the smaller and slighter members of the group - mainly Fujimaru, Mash, and the El-Melloi. (Kratos was large enough to not care about it, and Avenger simply followed in his wake - she'd have cut, or burnt her way through, but their guides had been firm about leaving as few signs of their passing as possible.)
"So what happens if you do get taken by surprise?" asked Mash.
The two women's shoulders slumped. "Someone has to delay Herakles, then. At least until the ship's up to speed. Then, they hope they can break off and join us. But….."
Mary picked up where Anne had left off. "It's almost certainly a suicide mission. We don't have any real heavy hitters left. Holding off Herakles? That's pretty much a fever dream at this point. Whoever volunteers for that is selling their life so the rest of us can get away, IF they can even hold out that long." She glanced back, her eyes playing across Kratos' form. "At least, it was. Might be that there's some reason to hope, now."
They reached a small clearing, and Mary began stamping her feet, listening carefully, until there was an echoing sound. She knelt down, and unearthed a hidden rope that she tossed to Anne. Together, the two of them pulled, and dirt shifted, as a wooden hatch shifted open.
"Oh!" said Fujimaru. "Is this an old rum-runner's stash?"
"Same idea," said Mary, settling the hatch onto the ground. "But a bit larger. We dug it out some, since people are supposed to live here for some period of time."
"It's still pretty cramped," said Anne, with a frown. "It's one reason we didn't mind being the ones chosen for the scouting missions. Even with the danger of moving about on the seas, it got us out of there. Everyone did what they could, but there's pretty much no privacy down there."
"And this is one of our larger shelters, too," muttered Mary, leading them below. "The first one we used, after we lost, everyone was stacked like cordwood. It was……pretty bad." She sighed. "And tempers were short enough then anyways, after the drubbing we took." Anne nodded in agreement, pulling the hatch closed behind them.
As he descended the ladder, Kratos began to get an inkling of what the woman was speaking of. The air down here was stale, and while not rank yet, it had a stuffiness and weight to it that spoke of too many bodies in an enclosed space, for far too long - akin to their cabin for some periods of Fimbulwinter, when blizzards had raged strongly enough to make venturing out for long too risky a proposition, even for him.
The ground sloped down, gradually, in a short hall, before coming to a crude, wooden door, both of which showed signs of recent construction. A man, dressed in a green tunic and white leggings that put Kratos in mind of a military uniform, was standing before the door, a spear pointed at the approaching party - though when he saw Mary and Anne, he gave a sigh of relief, and lowered his weapon.
"This them, then?" The man's eyes were tired, but still very, very alert. His right arm, encased in a metal gauntlet, reached up to scratch at his greasy brown hair. "Please tell me this is them. We could do with some good news."
Anne gave the man a bright smile. "Yep! Hektor, meet the people from Chaldea!"
Kratos blinked. That name……
Hektor groaned, though it was a happy noise. "You people are a sight for sore eyes. When I heard someone opening the hatch, I was worried it might be Herakles - though I suppose he wouldn't have done it so delicately." He offered a hand. "Hektor, of Troy, and I suppose the door guard and last line of defense for our ragtag little band right now." He gave a lopsided grin to them, as he noticed Kratos' stare. "You're Greek, right? Please tell me you didn't kill me in your world, and this is going to be all awkward now."
Kratos clasped the man's wrist. "No. I fought against Troy in my world, but you fell to Achilles, there, the same as this world." A grunt. "On the battlefield, our paths never crossed."
Hektor looked Kratos up and down. "I have to say, from the size of you, I think my counterpart is probably happy about that. I was fairly tall for my day, but you……was everything bigger and scarier in your world, or was it just you? 'Cause you're a pretty big guy."
"You can talk about the good old days later, Hektor," said Mary, interrupting. "We don't think we were spotted, but better we get these guys inside and they meet the Captain, sooner rather than later." She glanced over her shoulder, at the ladder, and the sealed hatch. "Just in case."
Hektor sighed. "Yeah, you're probably right." He pushed the door open, and waved them in. "Though, if you could bring me some coffee or something, I'd appreciate it. I could use a pick-me-up or something after being on watch so long. And my back's aching, too from leaning against this wall."
Anne patted him on the shoulder. "I'll see what I can scrounge up. If nothing else, the people from Chaldea might have some better fare than the dirt grounds we've been surviving on for the past few days."
"I do have some packed - though none of us really drinks it," said Mash. "Neither Senpai or I like the taste, and Kratos….well, it was kind of mutually decided that stimulants might not agree with him. But I can certainly let you have some of our stock."
Hektor gave her a weary, but grateful smile. "Little lady, you are a godsend." His wave followed them into the main area of the underground hideout.
Inside was, as Mary had said, cramped. Kratos' head was not scraping the ceiling, but it was a near thing. A small table, and a handful of rickety chairs dominated the space - with bedrolls strewn about the floor, and hollows carved into the walls to hold hammocks, it appeared as if this carried dual purposes as both the eating and sleeping area. Three passageways led off into other areas.
"That way's to the infirmary, or what's passing for it," said Mary, pointing to the right passage. Her face grew grim. "We've got someone who's pretty badly hurt in there, so you're not going in there until the Captain gives the ok. The other way is where we store what few supplies we have left - and it doubles as the kitchen, since we bored some holes to let smoke out." She glanced at Mash. "If you want to give that coffee to Anne, she can probably get something going."
Mash reached into her shield and pulled out the can of coffee grounds, and handed it over to Anne. Fou also stuck his head out, and quickly hopped free while the girl was distracted. The animal sniffed the air, then let out a very displeased noise.
"Fou, don't wander," chided Mash, reaching down and picking the animal up. "We're guests here, and have to behave ourselves."
"Fou!" chirped the creature, but it allowed itself to be placed on Mash's shoulder, where, to its credit, it stayed.
Mary was staring at the curtains covering the pathway to the center passage. "That's the Captain's area, but……" She sighed. "Well, I told you not to get your hopes up. Just don't say I didn't warn you."
She pushed through the curtains, and they followed behind.
If the main area had been cramped, this room was positively tiny. There was barely enough space for them to all stand in it (though, Kratos noticed that the ceiling in here was much higher, something he appreciated). The walls were covered in papers that had been nailed in place - maps of the surroundings, and more detailed ones of the individual islands, scrawled pictures of what Kratos took to be Jason and his crew (only two other people, and he recognized Herakles - the other he could only assume was Medea, though it bore only a passing resemblance to the woman he had met in the previous Singularity), with copious notes pinned below them, and various other pages, crammed with text. Some had thread linking one to another, while for others, the threads had been cut, and hung limply in the stale air.
And the walls weren't the only thing covered in papers. They were strewn about the floor in a chaotic mess. And squatting in the middle of them was a man who could only be this 'Blackbeard'.
If nothing else, his hair, and yes, his beard, were as black as reputed. More wiry of build than bulky, but even seated, he looked to be of a sizeable frame - Kratos judged that, when standing, he would tower over everyone in the room. For such a legendary pirate, he was dressed simply - wearing only a simple pair of pants, and otherwise bare from the waist up save for some strips of metal that protected his shoulders. There was little about him that spoke of the wealth or fearsome reputation that Fujimaru had said this man had been famous for.
Though the strange glasses he wore, green lenses, and then only a single lens that covered both his eyes, were….unusual.
The man raised his hand in greetings, and, in a voice that both rumbled deeply, but was slightly higher pitched than his appearance would have led one to expect, he spoke.
"Hoi, chummers."
Silence.
Blackbeard frowned. "What, no fans of the Sixth World here?" His frown turned into what could only be called a pout. "And here I thought you'd get it, being from a near-future where you've blended science and magic. Oh well."
He reached up, removed the glasses, and tossed them over his shoulder. "So much for that bit."
Then, placing his hands on his knees, he pushed himself up from the ground.
Kratos had been correct - the man did tower over all of them.
"Edward Teach, or Blackbeard, I'll answer to both," said the man, looking over all of them. "You must be the bunch from Chaldea that we heard about. And my god!" His gaze had stopped on Mash and Fujimaru. "Just look at the two of you! Just my types, too - oh, if things weren't so dire, I'd be perving the hell out of you lovelies. But, sadly, love can die on the battlefield just as soon as it can bloom - particularly when there's a big, nasty Berserker breathing down all our necks, so there's no time for that." He shook his head. "Damn shame."
Fujimaru blinked. Then blinked again. Then forced her mind to process what she'd heard. Then she rubbed her eyes, just to make sure she was seeing right. A glance over at her Kohai proved that, yes, she'd heard all of that correctly.
This was Blackbeard. The most feared pirate ever. The man, the myth, the legend.
Her mouth opened, but the only thing that came out was one of Gordy's favorite sayings, used when life itself seemed to be conspiring to confound the man.
"Wat."
Mary gave what was possibly the most long-suffering sigh anyone in the room had ever heard. "Yep. That's our Captain. In all his horrific glory." She glared at the man. "I'd threaten to hit you if you don't behave yourself, but you'd enjoy that too much."
"The abuse is just one of the many reasons I keep you around, Mary!" said Blackbeard, with a grin. Then his face fell. "But as much as I'd like to keep fooling around, it just isn't the time and place for that these days." He looked down at Kratos. "Going by the way the hairs on the back of my neck are standing at attention, and trying to be anywhere but here, I'm going to assume you're Kratos - the god?"
At Kratos' nod, and grunt, he continued. "And these, then, are your Servants - and the other Master, though details were light about the rest of you. Either because they didn't know, or they were just keeping mum on it. Ok, how much have the Yuri Pirates told you?"
Yuri….pirates? Wait, did that mean…..no, don't think about it, Fujimaru. Focus. "Very little. Mary didn't want to have to go over details twice, all she told us that Jason, and the Argonauts were the cause of the distortion here?"
The pirate looked to Mary, who nodded. "She's technically right, but that explanation's missing a ton of details….but it works for what she was going for." He waved his arm around. "This whole endless ocean is here because Francis Drake got her hands on a Grail. This place is kind of her dream playground - adventure everywhere, uncharted islands to explore, and loot aplenty. A pirate's paradise - or a privateer's paradise, in her case."
He put his hands on his hips. "So, enter into that equation myself and the Yuri Pirates. I had a Grail of my own, and was putting together some tentative plans of trying to get my hands on the hag's Grail, when this actual antique suddenly appears off our stern. Normally, I'd have shot first, shot second, and shot third, and blasted that thing to the bottom of the sea - the intimidation game I played as a human doesn't really work on Servants - but before I could even give the orders, this aura just washes over us, and I see this big thing hunched right at the bow of the ship slowly heading our way, and those orders die in my throat."
"It was huge, it was gray, had skin like concrete, and I swear it was all but DARING me to take a shot - God's blood, to fire every cannon I had. So I stood down." He grimaced. "Because I just needed one look at that thing to know any cannonballs I send over there are going to be returned to me, and I'm going to have to eat them. Possibly backwards."
"So we sit and wait like the whipped dogs we are, until this cocky blonde bastard struts over the boarding plank and introduces himself as Jason, captain of the Argo, and informs us all that we're now working for him."
Mash's hand poked into the air, and Blackbeard blinked. "Question - and can I possibly get your name? Otherwise I'm going to keep calling you 'Lovely Eggplant-chan' like I am in my head."
Mash's expression twisted into something very complicated, and VERY conflicted. "It's…..Mash Kyrielight, Mr. Blackbeard. And, you said something about having a Grail?"
"Mash? Oh, fate is just robbing me of the nicknames I could come up with for you….." The man groaned. "But to answer your question, when I was first summoned, there was a Grail just laying there in front of me. Being, well, a scurvy pirate with a lust for treasure, I snatched it up. Wasn't until later that I figured out what was going on, but that's skipping ahead. Let me finish the story, and that should answer at least some of your questions, Mashuuuuuu….." His voice took on a singsong quality as he drew out Mash's name.
The girl's eyes narrowed, but Blackbeard continued. "To get back to where we were, Jason informs us all that we're working for him, now, and if there were any complaints, to direct them to his good friend Herakles - the aforementioned giant slab of meat that had been giving all of us death glares, both across the ocean, and now, up close and personal. Us being rather fond of being alive, or at least manifested as Servants, we keep quiet and nod at the appropriate times."
"At this point, Jason tells me that he's 'generously' " Blackbeard's index and middle fingers wiggled up and down. "Allowing me to keep the Grail I had, but he's sending one of his men to keep an eye on me, in the spirit of cooperation. You met Hektor at the door - that's who was riding herd on me."
"Anyways, that's when Jason starts outlining his big plan." Blackbeard raised one of his fingers. "Firstly, he tells us, there's a goddess somewhere on these islands. If possible, we're to capture her, and bring her back to him." A second finger raised. "Because apparently, there's some artifact also around here that he's going to sacrifice this goddess to, which will make him king shit of all these oceans." Blackbeard shrugged. "He wasn't the most clear on this part - probably keeping it need-to-know so we didn't get any ideas once we'd grabbed this goddess he was having us search for. It's what I would have done, anyways."
A third finger was raised. "And then, here came the real kicker. There were two problems that were going to get in our way. Francis Drake, who also had a Grail, and was already causing issues. Not something that should be too much trouble, even with a Grail, a human isn't any match for a Servant, much less three, or four of them, however you're counting Mary and Anne."
The curtain parted, and Anne ducked into the room. Wordlessly, she handed a chipped cup to Blackbeard, who noisily slurped down the coffee. "Ah, that's the stuff. Yuri Pirate #2, I am once again offering you the reward of stepping on me in reward for your leal service."
"Denied. Don't make me regret not dying to Herakles, Teach," said Anne.
"You'll say yes someday, I just know it!" Blackbeard threw back the rest of the coffee, then belched. "Just as I'm starting to feel, well, not good, but less bad about this whole collab that's being forced on us, Jason's little waifu drops the bomb. The OTHER thing we have to worry about is a group of Servants coming from the future, led by an actual freakin' god. And not a Divine Spirit, she's clear as a glass-bottomed ship on this, but a full on god, who's out to stop them, and by association, us. And joy of joys, that means it's us who gets to be the first line of defense when they get there. And if we can't find that little goddess he's after, well then, we're to bring him the physical god instead. Or else. Then he marches back to his ship, tells us 'happy hunting', and sails off, without a care in the world."
Blackbeard rolled his eyes. "As you can imagine, no one's happy about this. It's even a surprise to Hektor - apparently they never bothered to tell him about any of this before offloading him to us. And he seems about as thrilled about the possibility of having to fight a god as the rest of us are."
He cracked his knuckles. "So, I stewed in my cabin for the better part of a day, letting the Yuri Pirates run the ship - like they did for old Calico Jack. I spent that time thinking. Looking at this problem from every angle. And, I won't lie, at least some of it was spent rolling around on the floor with the realization of just how utterly fucking screwed we all were. Some manly crying might have been involved, but I can neither confirm nor deny. And at the end of it, I kicked the door open, and strode out to the deck of my ship, with a plan."
"First thing was to have a conference with the Yuri Pirates - without Hektor around. Thankfully, they come in a pair, so I was able to chat up one of them while the other kept Hektor distracted. Unsurprisingly, they were of a mind with me - they didn't like this job we'd been handed, not one bit. So, using the excuse of having them scout out the islands, so to double the amount of boots on the ground we could throw at this problem, I had them take their sloop and split off from us."
Another hand went up, this time Fujimaru's. "Ok, and I'm going to need a name for you too, otherwise you're going to get the same course of nicknaming as Mashuu there, you soulless ginger." His grin widened. "Not that I'm adverse to that lack of a soul."
Fujimaru's expression was bleak. "Ritsuka Fujimaru, and you are just RUINING my image of the Golden Age of Piracy. RUINING IT!" She took a deep breath, and got herself back under control. "But, two men to run the Queen Anne's Revenge? I could see it with three, or four, if they're Servants, but, two?"
"Oh," Blackbeard waved his hand dismissively. "My ship comes with a crew when I summon it. They're not real people, but they aren't exactly ghosts, either. Partly memories, partly real, but they keep it running, and with enough juice, I can keep replenishing the numbers endlessly. Why I wasn't really afraid of running into Drake. I'd win a war of attrition against humans, but anything stronger than that, like Servant, and it's a hard-counter to my main trick." He shrugged. "I could have thrown bodies at Herakles until he was drowning in them, but they couldn't have done so much as scratched his skin. No, I knew when I was beat."
His grin turned calculating. "So I had to change the rules of the game."
"Once my ship was a bastion of masculinity again, I started feeling out Hektor. Seeing which way he felt the wind was blowing, what with him just finding out that he'd probably have to fight a god - and asking him if he had any tips to share, since he ended his life fighting a demigod in the form of Achilles." Blackbeard blew out a long breath. "It was a LOT more subtle than I'm used to being - I've always rolled with the big flashy displays, the better to get a ship or town to strike their colors and avoid an ugly fight. But I worked Hektor with the slow game, always making sure I was there to lend him an ear if he wanted one, sitting with him at meal times, the works. And eventually, I wore him down enough that he admitted that he was in the same boat as the rest of us - Jason had his big Berserker bestie hanging over his head just like it was Damoclesing above ours. And that he'd only signed on with them to avoid having to fight Herkales."
"And now, he finds out either way, he's still going to probably have to fight a god," said the El-Melloi.
Blackbeard snapped his fingers, and pointed at the Clock Tower Lord. "Got it in one………you? Sorry, we really haven't done a round of introductions yet, and my nicknaming neurons are mostly occupied with the ladies. Apologies for not being on my game."
Kratos' patience with the strange man was rapidly thinning. "El-Melloi," said Kratos, pointing at the Caster. "Avenger." The Servant thumped her chest with her mechanical arm, smug.
"And you're Kratos," said Blackbeard, interrupting. "That was the one name they knew, seemed like the only one they cared about. And they made sure we knew it, too, along with a description of you, so we'd know it when we saw you - as if our Servant lizard brains wouldn't be screaming 'GOD!' the second we locked eyes on you."
He turned to Avenger. "Also, an Avenger? And you're dressing in black, and you have a pointy metal arm? Going for first place in the annual Liefeld Edge-lypics? Because if you are, you need some more unnecessary pouches. Still, if you can do a rocket punch with that thing, all's forgiven."
Avenger's eyes narrowed. "No, but I can burn dumbasses until they're ash. Want a demonstration?"
Blackbeard gave a mock shiver. "Oooooo, scary. Hurt me more, dommy mommy. But I think I'll pass on that. You want to melt me, save it until after we've won. Might not even be that bad of a way to go out - better than how I died in real life, if nothing else."
Avenger's mouth was moving, but no words were coming out. Unable to figure out what to do next, she just turned and stared at Kratos, her expression asking an obvious question, but one that Kratos did not have an answer to, as he could not make sense of this strange man any more than she could.
(He had known his fair share of…..unique personalities in his time. Brok was blunt, rude, and crude - but honest to a fault. Sindri, before he had changed, had been fussy almost to the point of parody. Mimir, for all that he was like a brother to Kratos, was in love with the sound of his voice - at times, it would do the Smartest Head Alive good to learn to shut up and listen, rather than fill the air with speech. A quality Da Vinci shared with Kratos' brother. And those were a very small sample of recent acquaintance - his life had been long, and filled with many, many experiences. But Blackbeard…….)
(Despite the man's antics, he had yet to have at least one hand within a few spaces of a weapon - either one of the ones on his belt, or the handful scattered around the room - on the walls, or carelessly lying across the ground or one of the tables - in all the time he'd been speaking to them.)
"Anyways, once I'd wormed my way into Hektor's confidence, it wasn't hard to get him turned around to our side. Helps that he was as creeped out by Jason's yandere little waifu as I was. Something is really, REALLY not right with that one. But we put our heads together and started to scheme. Killing Herakles wasn't on the table, so we had to work around that……and I see we've got another question."
"I have fought, and killed this Herakles before," stated Kratos. "He was powerful, but no more than other Servants."
"So why can't we, who have numbers on him, manage it?" Not quite how Kratos would have worded but, but the essentials were there.
The communicator on their wrists activated, and Da Vinci's face winked into existence. "Hi, everyone. To prevent myself from getting some sort of degenerate nickname, I'm going to go ahead and introduce myself first, this is Leonardo Da Vinci, the Uomo Universale. And I'll mention, for the record, that I designed that metal arm of Avenger's, and may or may not be able to control it remotely. And that the crushing grip strength of it is enough to shatter an iron bar - much less the throat of someone who gets on my bad side." She gave a sunny grin. "But to answer your question, Kratos, the Servants you fought in Fuyuki were barely Servants any more. Whatever Saber did to bring them back, it stripped most of them of a good number of their skills and abilities - as well as a good amount of their intelligence, to hear Cu talk."
"For Herakles, that made him incapable of using his Noble Phantasm, and why you were able to defeat him so easily - or comparatively easily." Her lips thinned. "It's called God Hand, and essentially, it lets him revive 12 times, once for each of his labors."
"And he gains some amount of resistance to whatever has killed him already," muttered Blackbeard. "So no one-tricking him, either. And he's already got pretty high resistance to damage to start with, which means you're going to need A-ranked Noble Phantasms, at least, to take a life off of him. Something that's in short supply in the crew I had put together. So you can see why fighting him straight up was a pipe dream, at best."
"So what'd you do?" Avenger's arms were crossed over her chest. "Clearly you tried something, even if it didn't work."
Blackbeard sighed, his face falling. "Yeah, it didn't work, you aren't wrong about that." Another sigh. "First thing I did, since I had a Grail, was summon some help. A buddy of mine from the Throne, Eric Bloodaxe, the Bloodaxe King. A good listener, and good in a fight. He'd probably be able to hang with Herakles for at least a little - give us time to do what we needed to do."
The El-Melloi was nodding. "I think I see. If you cannot kill the soldiers, kill the general. You were looking to take out Jason."
"Exactly," said Blackbeard. "The HOPE was, if we take him out, the Argo goes with him, as does its crew. Which means bye-bye Medea, and good riddance Herakles. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see if that theory held."
"With Hektor on board with the plan, it meant we didn't have to skulk around as much. And it was about this time that Drake drifted into the seas. I pointed my bow straight at her, and made a BIG show of antagonizing her - not hard, since the two of us get along like cats and dogs. But while all eyes were on the two of us exchanging pleasantries, Hektor snuck over to her ship and hid. Then, after I threw the fight and retreated, shaking my fist about 'next time, Joes, next time!', he gave her the downlow on what was going on in this messed up patch of ocean, and made my pitch for me."
He rolled his eyes. "Needless to say, she was game for fighting a god, since she'd apparently just gotten done throwing hands with Poseidon. But she was willing to try it my way. So, while the Yuri Pirates kept searching the islands, she and I put on a show. Exchanging wins and losses, narrow misses, and epic battles so that Jason would think I'm trying to live up to my end of the bargain. And it looked like it was working, since he had nothing but praise for me in how I'd divided my forces whenever he sailed up to get a status report from me. Thank every god of the sea that he was arrogant enough that he didn't feel any rush, and was content to just sit back and watch the fireworks."
"That boy….." A face replaced Da Vinci's in the image. Chiron. "He always did his poorest whenever he felt like he had the upper hand. All his worst traits surfaced, and more than once I saw him snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, when by all odds he should have won, easily." His expression turned grim. "Master, if I may make a request, I would like to be on the field when we encounter them. I have a few choice words for my students."
Blackbeard's eyes were wide. "Wait, students? Plural?" His head swung about to stare directly at Fujimaru. "Ginger Girl, please, please, PLEASE tell me that's Chiron there." At her nod, he whooped. "Ok, we'd already put all our hopes on you guys from the future, but having Chiron in tow? That's the gatcha pull of gatcha pulls, when you're down to your last drop of paid currency. We might actually have a chance of pulling this thing off."
Then he groaned. "If I'd have only waited a few days…….well, hindsight and that jazz." He began moving for the curtained door. "Walk with me, you'll want to see the rest of this."
Slowly, they shuffled along behind him. "It was about this time Mary and Anne returned with some additional help - turns out they'd found exactly the goddess we'd been tasked to find. And, she didn't come alone."
He paused before the passage to what they had been told was the medical area. "Fair warning, it's not a pretty sight in there." Then he ducked his head through the curtain.
It was larger than the room Blackbeard had claimed for his own personal use, but only just. And even then, it felt far more cramped than that cluttered room had.
The reason why was lying on a few simple blankets on the floor.
A massive man - if it was a man at all. Standing upright, he might have been taller than Tyr - and at a glance, he looked to have the bulk and width of Thor, without any of the extra weight the God of Thunder had carried, either. A mane of wild, unkempt white hair completely surrounded his head - and, more interestingly, a pair of bull's horns poked out from that mass of snowy hair.
The man did not stir at their entrance, and Kratos did not believe he would be waking anytime soon, for the man seemed to be at death's door.
Bandages wrapped around nearly every inch of his skin, and both legs and arms were sheathed in crude casts. What little flesh they could see was covered in ugly bruises and livid weals, as well as more than a few scratches and gouges that still wept blood. The stink of infection and pus was thick in the air - merely entering the room was like taking a blow to the face.
Mash gagged, and stumbled back out of the room. Dimly, they heard her retching, and mumbled words from Anne.
"Asterios, the Minotaur," said Blackbeard, very, very quietly. "Or what's left of him, after Herakles got done with him."
Carefully, the man began to kneel down, and Kratos realized there was another person in the room. A small woman - their head resting across the Minotaur's (THIS was the Minotaur of this world? He looked almost human - then again, Chiron held little in common with the brutish centaurs that Kratos had known, and battled, in his time.) broad chest. Gently, almost gingerly, he touched her shoulder. "Euryale…..I hate to have to wake you, since this is probably the first sleep you've gotten in days, but you'll need to see this."
Slowly, the woman began to stir, lifting her head as though it weighed a ton, and groggily blinking her eyes. "Teach……are we under attack?" She groped about, and a bow formed in her hands. "Do….do I need to fight?"
She was the splitting image of Stheno. But Blackbeard had called her….
Kratos' communicator activated, and Medusa's face filled the screen. "Sister! Is…..what happened?"
Wearily, sleep still clinging to her, Euryale blinked slowly. "Is…..is that my giant little sister? Have you come to save me, or am I still dreaming?" A single tear began to streak down her face. "Please…..if I'm dreaming, don't let me wake up. There's no hope in the waking world these days……I don't….I don't want to watch him die….."
"Sister….I'm here. WE'RE here. I won't let anything else happen to you….." Medusa was reaching for her sister, despite the distance of ages between them.
"Maybe we should let them talk," said Blackbeard, his expression solemn. "They can fill each other in on what's happened while we do the same."
Wordlessly, Kratos nodded. Detaching the communicator from his wrist, he handed it to Euryale, who barely seemed to see him, or anyone else in the room - she had eyes only for her sister, her once-protector.
Moments later, they were gathered in the main area. Blackbeard sank into a chair, one that seemed ill-suited to holding a man of his size. "So, the plan was to have the two Berserkers tie up Herakles, while everyone else rushed Jason. And with Euryale, we'd hoped that her Noble Phantasm would be able to help with that - it's supposed to be able to bewitch men, so we hoped it would buy us time." He shook his head. "It did all of nothing. But Erik and Asterios were holding him back, barely, and we were already committed by that point, so we went for Jason. One Saber, and one Caster, against two Riders, a Lancer, an Archer, and a Grail-toting Drake - it should have been an overwhelming victory."
"You underestimated Medea, didn't you?" asked Da Vinci. "She was briefly a part of our team in the last Singularity, and she was impressive, to say the least. But at the end of the day, she's a Caster from the Age of the Gods."
"It burns my ass to admit it, but you're right. She had all of us fooled - between all that devotion to Jason, and how tiny and young she looked, it just slipped our minds that she learned magic from Circe herself." He groaned. "Right up until she started throwing us around effortlessly, while Jason sat back and made snide remarks."
Fujimaru blinked. "Wait, devoted to Jason? The Medea we met hated him - Kratos had to promise her a memory of the Jason of his world dying to get her to help us out." She frowned. "Is this an imposter or something?"
"It might be a younger version of her," said Da Vinci, who had moved over to Romani's station, having been displaced from her own station by Medusa. "Recorded before their falling out - while the one you met in Rome was quite obviously from after."
"It's possible," came Cu's voice, from somewhere off-screen. "I mean, I was never a druid in my lifetime, yet here I am as a stupid Caster. And I've said, more than once, if there's a Saber of me recorded on the Throne, it's probably when I was still a runt." There was the sound of a knife running over something. "Quick way to clear this up would be to show the pirate a capture of the Medea we met."
"Just about to do that," said Da Vinci. "One second…..there." An image of Medea, standing in the doorway of her cottage, appeared on the screen. "Is this her?"
Blackbeard shook his head, something that was mirrored by both Anne and Mary. "No. I mean, it is her, but you're right, this one's older. The one with Jason's younger, more petite, and has a crazier look in her eyes." He shuddered. "Normally, she'd tick EVERY one of my boxes - my wife was much shorter than me, after all. But there is something about her that puts goosebumps on my goosebumps."
"So, by that point, we all pretty much knew we were screwed. Our Berserkers were getting thrashed, we couldn't even get close to Jason, and my brilliant plan was falling apart around us. We were making an attempt at a fighting retreat when Herakles finally dropped our brute squad, and charged right for us. We all thought we were dead."
He hung his head. "So Drake charged him." His grin was rueful. "Yeah, I know, human being, even with a Grail, charging Herakles himself. It was never going to work, but that's how the hag lived her life, zero regrets, full-tilt. He snatched her up before she could even get close to him, and she fired every pistol she had right down his throat - it was a defiant gesture, and nothing more. But it gave our two Berserkers time to pick themselves up off the deck, and bull rush Herakles, and Drake with him, though the railing and off into the sea. And Jason wasn't about to chase us without his big stick, so it let us run, and live to fight another day."
He laid his head on his arms. "We were in our first shelter when Asterios washed up on the beach - I don't know if it was pure luck, or the red string that connects those two - he was protecting her in his Labyrinth when the Yuri Pirates stumbled on it, and therefore, the two of them. They managed to coax them out of there, and we had them hidden below decks when we sprang our surprise attack on Jason. Best I can tell, Eric's probably dead. He'd have found his way back to me, otherwise. He's a bro like that."
"And Drake?" asked Fujimaru.
"Still alive. She's probably locked up in the brig of the Argo - since this whole ocean is hers, sort of, it can't exist without her. So Jason's keeping her alive until he gets his hand on Euryale, or Kratos, so the whole thing doesn't fall apart around his ears."
Romani's face nudged Da Vinci's out of the screen. "And her Grail?"
Blackbeard reached into a pocket and pulled out a golden cup - a familiar one. "Right here. She and I swapped Grails before the fight, just in case. This way, if I went down, she'd still be around to sustain the Singularity, and they'd get their hands on a Grail that wasn't much use to them. And if she went down, I'd have her Grail, and it would let me act as a placeholder, hopefully until you arrived. It's why Nassau's there, sitting on top of what was just a base camp that Drake made when she first arrived here. Some parts of my life are mixing into this endless ocean."
Avenger frowned. "Not to be a bitch about this, but if the whole point is to resolve this Singularity, couldn't you just have shot Drake or something?"
Blackbeard laughed. "Oh, believe you me, we discussed that very thing. But somehow, neither of us figured it would be that easy. The difference between the history that happened and this place didn't start with her finding the Grail, it started when she drifted into here. Whatever this strip of ocean is, it's not JUST her that made it - something else at least helped cause it. And neither of us thought they'd let it end with her death, either."
He settled back into his chair. "So that's the whole story, Chadleans. Blackbeard's grand failure - that cost me the life of my buddy, and has had us ducking and hiding and praying for the past few days." He looked at each of them in turn. "So, what say you? Think we can work together to turn this thing around?"
Kratos exchanged a glance with Fujimaru, who nodded. It was what they were here for, in the end - to recover the Holy Grail, and to set history back onto its proper course. And while some of these allies were…unusual, they were allies.
And they seemed to have more than enough motivation to fight.
Kratos held out his hand. "Yes."
Blackbeard reached out and seized Kratos' hand, so quickly that his movements were a blur. His hand still squeezing Kratos', he sprang to his feet. "Then, I hereby declare the Alliance to End Herkamania a go!"
There were popping sounds from all around them, and shredded bits of paper shot out from every direction. A banner fell from the ceiling, one depicting an illustration of Herakles, with a circle drawn over him, and a line cutting through both the circle and the god.
There was a long, long pause. Then, Fujimaru.
"Wat."
AUTHOR'S NOTES: He would have punched straight through the lid of the coffin, but didn't want to risk damaging the contents, or triggering a possible trap.
Deadly serious (mostly) Blackbeard? Deadly serious (mostly) Blackbeard.
