Note, the full title of this chapter was 'Where You Check In, but You Don't Check Out'

We quickly returned to the beach, weapons drawn and ready to crack some skulls if anyone tried to impede us. While we were making our way back, Mash repeatedly tried to hail both Doctor Roman and Jeanne, alternating between the two, but with the same result for each attempt. Static.

"The summoning circle has been established, but communications are still cut off," Mash said, her voice tinged with frustration. A very much mutual sentiment, too. "Once we get to the ship, we should move away from here, perhaps," Mash suggested as we pushed through the final bits of foliage and returned to the beach.

To my immense relief, the ship was still there and in one piece. However, a second later, that relief was replaced with confusion. Why was Jeanne and some of the other Servants, as well as Bombe, on the beach? Why were the sails fully unfurled but yet the ship wasn't moving?

Drake stormed over to Bombe. "What's wrong? What's up?" She demanded, looking a bit frantic for once. Bombe coughed awkwardly, the one-eyed pirate scratching the back of his head nervously, and Drake began frowning.

"Boss," he started to say, gesturing helplessly towards the Golden Hind. "The ship won't move."

"Huh?" Drake responded, looking floored by the comment. Bombe was looking equally flummoxed.

"The ship, Boss! The ship won't budge, not an inch!" Drake released something that I could only describe as being a mixture of a groan and sigh. She pinched the bridge of her nose, taking a few seconds to exhale, before turning towards us.

"Sorry, but could you guys give me five minutes or so? I want to go over and see what the hell he's talking about?" I nodded, walking over to a clearly relieved Jeanne.

"Oh, thank God. When we felt that earthquake, and then couldn't raise you, we started to fear the worst!" The Ruler said. An unimpressed-looking Astolfo coughed slightly from behind.

"And by 'we', Ruler means 'I'," Astolfo added, and Jeanne's cheeks burned a bright red. She spun around, her thick, braided ponytail flying through the air as she glared at the Rider. Marie giggled next to her friends, gently swatting Astolfo's elbow.

"Now, now, Stolfo, we were worried," the Flower of Versailles said. Sensing a 'but' coming, and no doubt containing some sort of teasing, I loudly cleared my throat.

"Well, good news is that we are okay. We encountered a small group of skeletal foes called Dragon Tooth Warriors. They're faster and slightly stronger than the typical skeletal warrior most of you have already dealt with in past singularities, but shouldn't pose to much of a threat to you guys."

"Unfortunately, we are not exactly in the position to make forward progress on solving this one right now," Chiron said a bit dryly, as I saw Drake returning from the becalmed Golden Hind in that rowboat of hers, along with a scowling Medea.

The two woman marched over, and Drake spat off to the side in the sand in disgust. Oh boy, she looked pissed.

"No good, it won't move. On the bright side, I don't think there's anything wrong with the Golden Hind herself. Rather, she's stuck like something's anchoring it real tight. What on earth is happening?" Drake snarled, her eyes shining dangerously. Her ire wasn't directed at us, at least. "Jacob, Ritsuka, this is you guy's specialty, right?"

"Magecraft of some sort?" I suggested, remembering the sensation I had felt just before the earthquake. That wasn't natural by any measures.

"A type of Bonded Field?" Ritsuka suggested, and my eyes widened. I hadn't considered that possibility. Mash nodded though, a thoughtful expression on her face.

"Yes, I also think that is correct, Senpai. It looks like a Bonded Field has been drawn all around. It looks like its rank is low enough for a Demi-Servant like me, or a full-fledged Servant, to escape, but I'm afraid I can't say the same for the ship, Captain Drake."

"Well, this is an unpleasant development," I drawled, perhaps a bit unnecessary. Still, Mash gave another nod, as Drake gestured to the pink-haired girl to continue speaking.

"Quite so, Jacob Senpai. Unless we take down whoever is creating this field, I'm afraid we'll be stuck here. Forever."

"What are we going to do, then?"

"Search and destroy. There is no other means of escape."

"Couldn't Medea try to use her own knowledge of magic to try and take down the entire thing?" Ritsuka asked. I hummed, considering that possibility.

"Well, it wouldn't hurt to ask," I finally said, nodding my head approvingly at my friend. "Nice catch there." I turned to look at Medea. She hummed and lowered her head slightly, and I could feel a surge of magical energy coming off of her as she did whatever it was that she was doing.

Suddenly, the tingling sensation I was getting faded away, and Medea looked up. Her lips were angled downwards in a mixture of a scowl and a soft frown.

"From what I can tell, it's a Bounded Field generated by a Noble Phantasm." I groaned silently. Of course, why wouldn't a Servant be responsible for this? I heard Ritsuka ask the witch if she could remove the barrier.

"If you wanted to wait for a few days, I could," was her reply. "It is doable, but it would be an extremely delicate and time-consuming task." Well, there went another potential easy solution. I exhaled softly.

"Then we're assuming a search and destroy mission setting," I finally said. "Sasaki, Jing Ke, stay here with the ship. I don't want to risk someone destroying her while we are elsewhere."

"Very well."

"No problem."

I grunted softly, before turning to the next Servant I wanted to talk to.

"Astolfo, can you summon your mount?" I asked the eccentric Rider. The paladin cocked his head slightly, before nodding with a look of understanding in his eyes before he closed them. I watched as he seemed to concentrate, before finally his hippogryph appeared.

It was honestly a bit ridiculous looking, truth be told, to see so large a beast perched on the top of a palm tree like some sort of mutant parrot. Still, that was a good sign, and I nodded, pleased. "Excellent. Would you be good with surveying the island from overhead?"

"Not a problem, Master!" Astolfo chirped energetically. Ritsuka tapped my shoulder.

"What about us, Jacob?" My fellow Master inquired, gesturing at Mordred, Mash, Drake, and himself. I pointed at the source of my unease about this island.

"We'll make our way to that mountain over there. Medea, do you mind accompanying us?" I asked, truing to the robed Caster.

"Very well."

"Good. If anyone finds something, mainly Servants or mages, send up some sort of signal. Otherwise, we will meet up at the base of the mountain. Are we all in agreement?"

"Sure."

"Screw it, why not?"

"Not like we have much of a better plan or anything."

"Then it's decided. Those who will be going on foot, pair up with one another. Stay safe, watch each other's backs, and I'll see you all by the mountain in a few hours or so." As our Servants began spreading out, I waited patiently as Drake turned back to Bombe.

"Bombe, you and the others stand your ground. I'm going with Ritsuka and Mash. Behave and stay put. The real fight's gonna be inland. Don't be wasting stuff!"

"Aye, aye, Boss!"

"This island keeps on getting weirder and weirder," Mordred said as I opened the door to the wood and clay house we had come across. We were almost at the base of the mountain, and a sense of dread had been building in my stomach with each step we had taken closer to it.

As we had slowly made our way closer and closer to the center of the island, the more mysterious it became. For example, our present location.

We were inside what appeared to be a small and uninhabited village. The dwellings all appeared to be in good order when we first came across it, and there was no sign of violence or any other kind of upheaval that could have left it abandoned.

Many of the surfaces and items inside the buildings had a light layer of dust coating them. Judging by how light it was, I suspected that they hadn't been here for too long. Possibly another result of the traitor's Grail which we were searching for?

"Agreed," I said, replying to my partner's remark. I was thankful she was nearby. Her presence was helping to keep me calm and focused, despite the building senses of danger and uneasy slipping into my body. "Well, this is another bust. Let's see if the others have had any success," I said with a frustrated sigh, and the two of us walked outside to see that Ritsuka, Mash, and Drake had finished their own buildings.

"Nothing?" A weary-looking Ritsuka said with a heavy sigh. I nodded sadly.

"Just like the others."

"This is rather dull," Drake said irritably, scowling up a storm and with her hands resting angrily on her hips. "That fortress earlier was completely empty, too." And yet another damn mystery right there!

"To begin with, it's mysterious that artificial structures are on the island," Mash observed. I bit back my response. The Demi-Servant, along with the rest of us, were trying our best to solve this latest problem of ours. If anyone deserved to be the subject of my building ire, it was the one responsible for putting up that damn barrier!

"Well, we're almost at the base of the mountain. Let's start looking. Call out if you see anything unusual. Considering how things have been turning out so far on this godforsaken piece of land, it shouldn't take too long," I said, some of the irritation finally spilling out.

Luckily, no one took offense to it for any reason.

There were still a few more houses to search. Even though my gut instinct was telling me that we wouldn't have any more success with those ones as we had with the others, but if there was even a one percent chance of there being something, we couldn't afford to leave a stone unturned.

As I began searching the dwelling I had picked out, my mind slowly wondered to the things bothering me about this island. The Dragon Tooth Warriors. The mountain. All these buildings that appeared to have never been inhabited. It all didn't add up to anything.

Of course, what was bothering me the most was the still-unknown creator of the bounded field trapping us here.

Medea had said that it was the work of another Servant. Who, though, was the question needing answered. I was fairly confidant that Ritsuka's Caster would have told us if she had recognized the one who casted it. Without our normal link with Chaldea, we couldn't ask either Da Vinci or Doctor Roman to see if they could find something.

Damn, I'm really starting to hate these kinds of mysteries!

Suddenly, Drake's voice rang throughout the town.

"Hey guys! Come over here, I found something!"

"Heh, looks like you called it, idiot," Mordred said playfully, using the apparent pet name she had given me for when we were alone. I merely smirked at her as we all hurried over in the direction that Drake's voice had come from.

It was about fifty feet from the outskirts of the village we had been investigating when we saw a Drake idly twirling one of her pistol as she stood in front of the mass of rock that made up the central island dominating the landscape. "Over here," Drake said, gesturing with her weapon.

Huh?" Mash hummed suddenly, staring at the space indicated by Drake at the base of the mountain. "Is that a hole there?"

"A tad bit bigger than just a whole, wouldn't you say?" I said a bit dryly. Far more ornate, too. "It looks like an entrance.

"Gah, underground again?" Mordred groaned, and I couldn't help but smirk softly. I had a similar feeling of displeasure at that. After all, our track record in regards to caves wasn't exactly a shining example of success. Maybe it was just the past memories, but something about the entrance we had apparently discovered filled me with dread.

"Let's take a look," Ritsuka suggested, taking a few steps towards the aperture in the rock. I reached out and gently but firmly grasped the back of his collar, preventing him from actually going in.

"We're sending a signal up first. I'm not going to go down there until at least some of the other Servants know were we are. I don't know about you, but I'd prefer to have Lu Bu nearby if there is a cave-in or something," I stated grimly. Ritsuka's cheeks flushed slightly as I released my grip.

"Ahahaha….yeah, that's probably a good idea," my friend said sheepishly, before pointing his hand skywards and firing a single shot of Gandr. Despite Medea's best efforts, my Gandr was at best subpar, while Ritsuka's was stronger. Therefore, it was he who typically used the curse to draw the attention of nearby allies.

The signal sent, we wait for about fifteen minutes before Astolfo arrived, dismounting from his mythical mount skillfully and waiting for the others. It took another twenty or so minutes, but finally everyone was assembled.

Amadeus flinched. "I hope you're not expecting me to go down there." I grunted, sharing the Caster's concern over being in such an enclosed area with his sensitive ears. Marie nudged with a slight frown on her face when I cleared my throat.

"Actually, I was going to send a small party, consisting of Drake, Ritsuka, Mash, Mordred, Medea, and I. I would like for the rest of you to guard the entrance. As I told Rits a bit ago, I don't want to be trapped down there if there's a cave in or something." Jeanne gently struck her flagpole into the ground, and I nodded at her.

"Master, I wish to protest this decision. This is dangerous—"

"No more than normal, Jeanne. Besides, I said that I would like for you guys to stay out here. That doesn't mean that either Ritsuka or I won't be willing to utilize our Command Seals to have you back us up." Jeanne relaxed only slightly at those words, chewing on her lower lip with frustration, before finally nodding.

"Viceroy, Praetor, be safe," Nero said in a rather subdued tone, as unhappy as the rest of our companions. Still, the choice was made.

"Excellent. See you guys soon," I said, taking a deep breath and facing the uninviting hole in the mountain's side. No point in delaying it, as I squeezed myself into the gap.

We must have gone no more than fifty feet or so before the darkness gave way to light once more. It wasn't sunlight, however. Nor was it a cave or cavern that we had entered, either.

"This is…" Mash tried to say in an awe-struck tone. I didn't know for sure what the Demi-Servant was thinking about what was before us, but I could certainly think of a few myself. Words like impossible.

We stared down a torch-light hallway made out of what appeared to be granite bricks. I couldn't tell if they were cemented in place, but I highly doubt that they could be smashed through. The occasional columns along either side was trimmed with what appeared to be gold at the tops, with intricate shapes imprinted on the malleable metal. Even more noticeable than the ornate columns, however, was the uncanny uniformity the hallway took. Even each brick was the same color.

The hall appeared to stretch on for quite a distance, before suddenly veering off to the side sharply at a ninety-degree angle.

"Is this what you call a dungeon?" Drake said softly, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet excitedly. As always, an adventurous glint had appeared in her bright blue eyes. '"Oh boy, the pirate blood in me is heating up!" She started to walk down the hallway.

"Wait!" Mash called out, looking nervous. "We have no idea what the scope of this place is. I suggest we retreat at once and—"

"The way I see it, retreating's not gonna change a damn thing. We can only go forward, full speed ahead. That's what it means to stay on my ship," Drake said sternly, and Mash seemed to wilt slightly. Then Drake smiled again, swapping back into her more devil-may-cry attitude. "Leave behind that goodie-goodie old self, Mash!" Drake said loudly, sauntering over and wrapping an arm around a startled Mash, pulling the Demi-Servant off-balance while the pink-haired pirate gestured ahead theatrically.

"Now, onwards! Treasure awaits!" She finished, releasing Mash and walking forward at a brisk pace. Ritsuka looked at me, apparently deferring to my judgement once again. I breathed in deeply before exhaling, shrugging while I did so.

"Drake's got a point. Whoever put up that Bounded Field's down here, and without being able to contact the doc, we don't have the equipment to get a rough idea of what this place looks like. So, forward it is," I said.

"Just as long as we get things done," Mordred grunted in agreement. Mash nodded, but with a heavy sigh of her own.

"Very well. I do think, however, that we're rushing it a bit too much," she said reluctantly. I reached over towards her and grasped her shoulder sympathetically, before turning around to see Drake almost at the end of the hallway.

"Noted. Now, come on! I don't want to be left behind in here!"

The pirate captain having taken note of our movement, waved energetically before rounding the corner. A few minutes later, a high-pitched yelp came from the direction she had gone.

"G-Guys, what the hell is that?" Drake gasped, the normally unshakeable and gusty pirate sounding the complete opposite. I hurried over, the others close on my heels, before I skidded to a stop, feeling the blood drain from my face as I saw what it was that had shaken Francis Drake.

A horrific, life-like mural had been painted over the wall. It was a massive humanoid, apparently male, standing over a pile of butchered human bodies. The ground was soaked in red paint. His arms were outstretched, angled downwards. The wrists had shackles with chains trailing down, and in each hand was clutched a long, broad-headed axe. The most eye-catching thing of the grotesque-looking artwork was the head of the depicted…thing.

A bull's head, with long, curved white horns, the tips of each stained with what appeared to be representing blood. Bright red eyes depicted so that it seemed to have fire in them glared down at us. All around the figure was some sort of archaic-looking language. Next to me, Ritsuka let out a shake, audible breath, before turning towards the silent Caster of our little party.

"Medea, you're the one with the most experience with Mysterious and all," he started, and the Caster gave off a small, smug smirk at that as he continued speaking. "Do you think you can tell us what those words are?"

"I can try," she replied smoothly, stepping forward nonchalantly as we all moved to the side to give the Greek Servant room.

Medea crouched down gracefully, before reluctantly lowering her cowl, revealing her elf-like ears and purple hair. Her eyes squinted before she raised a hand and generated a small fire dancing above her palm.

"I recognize this writing. It's Cretan."

"Cretan?" Rits asked quietly, and the Witch of Betrayal nodded solemnly.

"From the Isle of Crete. They used to be quite the feared power in my time. Why, that King Minos had that monstrous child of his to feed…"

I felt my heart stop at those words, as the pieces finally clicked into place.

"This isn't a cave," I said softly, staring at the engraving. A monstrous creature with a horrific bloodlust, and one that had the head of a bull…a subterranean maze…Crete….I turned to my companions, wide-eyed and alert.

"This is the labyrinth, the home of the Minotaur!"

Original Endnotes: And done! What did you guys think? Sorry if it was a little choppy, but the game didn't give me as much as I was hoping for that I felt I could work with. I hope you still enjoyed it? Also, aw, Jeanne being such a caring sweetheart! The next two chapters are going to be fun, though, in my opinion, so don't worry!

Not much else really to say, so on tot he questions of the chapter! First up: Are you guys and gals enjoying this year's Valentine's Day event? I already got the CEs for the 38 female Servants I currently own and having voiced lines was wonderful! A follow-up to that is who are the ones you either enjoyed the most or are looking forward to hearing?

Second question: Overall, how was y'alls first month of 2021? Mine was surprisingly hellish, unfortunately.

As always, thanks for reading. I can't wait to hear back from y'all on your thoughts and what not, and I hoped you enjoyed yet another chapter of the Will to Fight! Stay safe and healthy, have a great day, and see y'all in the next chapter!

Updated Endnotes 10/23/21: As always, you can see the full version of my story on AO3, with Chapter 130 being posted tomorrow morning. Hope you enjoyed, let me know what you though, and see you in a few days.