I stared ahead at the open sea, my right hand tightly clutching the hilt of my sword. The atmosphere aboard the Golden Hind was a rather unusual mixture of both excitement and anxiety. The former was over the upcoming chance for to avenge the defeat of yesterday, while the latter was over the chance of being chased off the field for a second time.
Next to me, Mordred was starting to rock slightly rock back and forth on the heels, a savage glint in her eyes. I didn't have to ask the blonde knight to know that Mordred was eager to extract some personal vengeance of her own soon. Namely, against a certain green-clad Lancer.
The thought of him had me frowning ever so slightly. It wasn't because he had come the closest to killing me thus far, though that certainly was something else bothering me. No, rather, it was the fact that we didn't have a clue as to his True Name. I had noticed a faint accent in his voice, but it was one I was unfamiliar with.
"You're very eager to take that Lancer's head, huh?" I said. Mordred stopped her rocking, turning to look at me with an arched eyebrow and one of the flattest looks I have ever seen, from her or anyone else I have thus far met.
"No, what gave you that impression?" She drawled, and I couldn't help but laugh a bit sheepishly. A second later, Mordred dropped the look, becoming rather grim. "Yes, of course I am."
"Just be careful, okay?" Mordred laughed and nudged me, shaking her head with a lopsided smirk.
"Don't worry about me, Master." She paused, raising an eyebrow. "Drake's on her way over." I turned around, and sure enough, our friend and ally was approaching us, hands on her hips. Nearby, Mash and Ritsuka also paused their own conversation, and some of the other servants gathered round.
"We'll be entering unknown waters soon," Drake said rather grimly as she leaned over the railing at the bow next to us. "We won't be able to use the Viking's map anymore."
"You don't sound bothered by that," Ritsuka quipped, and Drake smirked ferally. She threw her head back and released a bark of laughter.
"Ha! It'll be like an adventure, so that's fine!" She paused, and her smile faded slightly. "The real problem is that damn ship of his."
"Even though there are only four Servants on it, at least so far as we know, that still makes them formidable," Mash said solemnly, looking troubled now as well. "If we make a bad approach, their weapons will destroy our ship."
"We're faster, though. Yesterday proved that quite well. Perhaps we should charge in at full speed? Try to ram the bastards?" Drake suggested. Mash shook her head, however, with a contemplative expression on her face.
"These seas don't seem to provide many obstacles. That means we will find them from afar, like last time. If we were to have any chance, it would be if they were chancing someone else," Mash said, starting to sound excited. "They don't notice us, we notice them, and then…" Before she could finish her suggestion, however, Drake raised a hand, cutting off the Demi-Servant.
"That's wishing for too much, really," the pink-haired pirate said sadly. Euryale raised a hand, and Drake nodded towards her.
"How about we shoot arrows before they notice us, to confuse them?" The Archer suggested, her small but surprisingly dangerous bow in one hand, and a cluster of arrows in the other. This time it was I who shook my head.
"That might work, if we were hidden in a fog bank or something. Or if there weren't other Servants with Blackbeard," I stated grimly. "Don't forget, at least one of them has a dangerous range attack of their own."
"Yes," Mash said. "That blonde woman with the musket is going to be especially problematic for us. If it turns into a gunnery duel, I don't think any amount of confusion would truly help." There was another moment of silence as each of us tried to think up a solution to our latest conundrum. Then, Artemis coughed politely, and Rits gestured at the goddess to go ahead and talk.
"What about having someone board their ship and cause some havoc before the ships collide?" I was (pleasantly) surprised at her suggestion. I hummed under my breath, nodding my head slowly as I worked out the potential scenarios if we used Artemis's idea.
On her shoulder, however, Orion didn't appear to be quite as receptive to the proposal. The plush figure scoffed derisively, his arms crossed. "Are you stupid? How would someone board their ship before they can see our ship, and not be noticed at the same time? Dropping out of the sky is obviously a no, so how…oh," Orion said, sounding rather sheepish and quiet at that last part.
"Something wrong?" Mash asked. Artemis shook her head as she giggled softly.
"I am a goddess, but I was technically summoned as Orion. As a result, I have control over his powers," the white-haired Archer said happily. Still, I felt at a bit of a loss, and as I titled my head slightly to look at her, I noticed that I wasn't the only one to feel that way.
"Ah, now I remember," Doctor Roman suddenly said over Mash's commlink, coming to our rescue in his own unique way. "Orion can walk on water.' Euryale made a soft sound of understanding, and I turned to look at her next.
"That's right! Orion's one of Lord Poseidon's sons, which is why you can walk on water," she elaborated. Euryale then paused, crinkling her eyebrows as she stared rather critically at the plush in question. "Wait, is that the only other ability you have?"
"Look, even I wish I had slightly cooler powers!" Orion said indignantly, stomping one foot down on Artemis's shoulder, with no effect. "I mean, it's not even a unique ability anymore, anyways! I mean, what am I, a water strider or something?"
I snorted in mild amusement. "Or maybe a Jesus cosplayer," I suggested, earning quite a few snickers at my jab. Based off of his body language, if Orion could emote facial expressions, he'd probably be both glaring and pouting at us.
Artemis, on the other hand, cooed loudly as she plucked her companion off of her shoulder and began hugging Orion tightly. Aaaaaand there went the burgeoning amount of respect Artemis's suggestion had given me. "Aww, you're so cute when you're all sad and gloomy! It just makes me want to squeeze you so tightly!" Trapped in her grasp, Orion managed to turn around, looking at Mash with those unnerving eyes of his.
"Mash, comfort me in your bosom!" My eyebrow began twitching rather violently upon hearing the request, and when I turned to look at my fellow Master, I saw that Ritsuka was having a similar display. Mash stared sternly at the womanizing plush toy.
"I refuse," she said in one of the most bluntest and unamused tones I had ever heard. Before Orion could try to repeat his act of harassment towards Jeanne, Artemis's grip tightened even more, and Orion's words came out as little more than a strangled squeak.
"So, it seems our hand has been dealt a new card," Drake said, wisely ignoring the antics of the extremely-dysfunctional couple. "Artemis, Orion, I have something I'd like to ask of you two." Artemis's gaze shot towards Drake, completely forgetting about her frustration with Orion and allowing for the plush to fall to the ground.
"Oh? What is it, Captain Drake?"
"Yeah, do tell," Orion added, displaying a rare example of solidarity with the yandere goddess. "I'm excited, but I also got a bad feeling as well."
"I'll leave that up to the two of you to decide on that," Drake said, and then began sharing her plan rapidly.
An hour later, and the final preparations for the upcoming attack had been made. By this point, Drake's lookout reported seeing a ship on the horizon. Just out of sight, but appearing to be flying Blackbeard's flag. I watched as Orion and Artemis slipped over the side of the ship, then looked back ahead as we resumed sailing at a slow but steady course towards the Queen Anne's Revenge. Euryale, Mash, Drake, Ritsuka, and Mordred stood around me.
Artemis and Orion would slip aboard, with the former distracting primarily Blackbeard and his trio of Servants, while Orion would somehow find a way to, at best disable, or failing that, badly damage the Queen Anne's Revenge. Drake had suggested trying to set off a fire in the powder room, and while I would have been skeptical if the enemy ship had been a normal one, but it might be the best idea.
Now, though, it was time to start assigning roles to the other Servants. Namely, the ones who wouldn't be boarding the ship with us. Next to me, Ritsuka was looking up at Chiron.
"Chiron, mind taking Astolfo's place in the crow's nest?" Ritsuka asked his Archer. The famous Greek instructor nodded his head. I was both impressed and proud with the quick thinking of my fellow Master. With having such a high vantage point, Chiron would be able to lay down a withering field of fire, all while having an unobstructed view.
Plus, that poor lookout would finally get a break from my Rider. Speaking of Astolfo, I turned towards him. "Astolfo."
"Yes, Master?"
"Can you use your mount and fly around the battlefield?" The paladin shrugged with a curious look.
"Should be easy enough. Any particular reason why?"
"Try to establish some sort of a perimeter. I don't want any opportunists to interlude on us. At best, they would get in the way. At worst, though, they might be allies of Blackbeard. I don't want to deal with a Queen Anne's Revenge carrying five or more enemy Servants." Astolfo nodded in understanding.
"Okie dokie. Just leave it to me, Master!"
"Amadeus, Medea, and Marie. Mind staying back with Lu Bu, Asterios, and Euryale?" The two Casters nodded, while Ritsuka's Rider pouted at me. Before she could ask why, however, I continued speaking, addressing Marie. "Along with Medea, you're essentially the team's healer. I'd rather you keep back and maintain your strength to better heal the injured once we finish the battle."
Marie's look of disappoint morphed into one of understanding. "Oui, Master Jacob. I suppose that a horse made of glass would be a bit of a hindrance, too," she said with a light laugh, which Ritsuka and I both joined in.
"Jing Ke, do you mind trying to see fi you can get below decks and find Blackbeard's Grail?" Ritsuka asked the semi-sober Assassin. She nodded silently, her right hand gently stroking her sheathed knife. I turned to my own Assassin.
"Sasaki, you will guard the boarding ramps." The purple-haired swordsman nodded solemnly.
"And me?" Jeanne said, a rather sharp look in her eyes. I swallowed nervously before I continued speaking.
"You will accompany Mordred and I as we handle the bow section of the ship." Jeanne nodded serenely, quite pleased with my answer.
"As you wish, Master."
"Oi, what about us?" Chulainn interjected, Gàe Bolg resting across his shoulders. Next to him, Vlad stood in a more regal manner, but I could tell he was just as eager to be given his assignment.
"You two, take out as much of the enemy pirates as possible." The two Lancers nodded, one maintaining his calm while the other grinned rather viciously, almost like a hungry dog seeing his first meal in a week.
"Are you within range yet, Miss Euryale?" Mash asked, and I turned to look in that direction, seeing Euryale perched on the bowsprit, an arrow notched. The Archer's nose wrinkled up in distaste.
"Yes. I can see him…unfortunately." Sure enough, I could make the faint outline of Blackbeard waving at us, or more specifically Euryale, manically.
"So, what do your arrows do, exactly?" I asked Euryale as she bowed back the string of her bow. The gorgon stuck her tongue out slightly, perhaps making some last-minute adjustments to accommodate for the wind and distance.
"You'll see," Euryale finally said, reminding me rather eerily of her older sister, Stheno. Then, as I saw Blackbeard waving his arms around wildly by the bow of his own ship, she released the string, and the small arrow was sent arcing through the air.
I watched as the arrow began its terminal descent, hoping that it would somehow break through Blackbeard's skull. Literally.
Unfortunately, it was not to be. I watched a bit despondently as the arrow slammed into the shoulder of a pirate (the non-Servant kind, mind you) that had been standing right next to him. While I couldn't yet hear anything, I saw the injured pirate tug out the arrow and stared at it quizzically with an equally befuddled-looking Blackbeard. Not even a fatal shot, it seems. I turned to the petite Archer nearby with an arched eyebrow.
"You missed," I stated dryly. Euryale nodded glumly.
"Indeed. No, it feels like I missed on purpose, actually. I felt like my arrow would be soiled." I felt my eyebrow twitch once more at the gorgon. Worrying about an arrow getting soiled? As if being coated in blood and entrails or whatnot wouldn't be the same?
Before I could snap at the Archer, Mash intervened, maintaining that level-headed persona of hers. "I'm sorry, but can you try to aim and shoot him down? Your arrows are disposable. If you and Chiron don't get him now, the rest of us will have to face that…'Servant'…in close combat." Euryale pouted.
"I know. However, in all honesty, it's actually better in the long run if I hit someone else that's nearby."
"What do you mean by that, exactly?" I asked, my frustration replaced with curiosity. Euryale smirked rather sinisterly, daintily gesturing for us to look back, just in time to see Blackbeard shoot his subordinate who had been injured by Euryale's arrow.
Now confused, I whipped around. "What the hell was that about?" I demanded, and Euryale giggled.
"My arrows cause whoever I hit to desire me. In this case, it will be to the point that any of Blackbeard's crew who are affected will turn on their companions and even their captain," Euryale exclaimed, before firing another arrow.
I whistled softly, feeling a mix of horror and satisfaction at the gorgon's words. While we already had the plan in place to disable Blackbeard's ship, I couldn't deny that the potential of adding even more to the chaos via the means of an artificial mutiny was rather damn appealing to me.
"I stand corrected, then, Euryale," I said, bowing my head apologetically. "Please, continue to fire away." I ignored the smug look the tiny Archer shot me, and I instead watched as Euryale fired some more of her arrows in rapid succession. Soon, Blackbeard was soon busy fighting and killing the crewmates surrounding him.
"Good luck, Artemis," Ritsuka said as the Greek goddess and her tagalong chose that moment to make their move. I watched anxiously as the odd-looking duo hurried across the waves, all the while remaining undetected thanks to Euryale's own distraction.
I exhaled softly as I saw Artemis and Orion climb aboard the ship from the stern, where the least amount of hostile pirates were currently located, and looked back to the bow, wanting to check on Blackbeard's status.
Instead, I saw that the tall, gun-toting blonde Servant aiming her oversized musket in our direction. While I couldn't be sure if she was aiming directly at me or just the general direction, it was still rather terrifying. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that Mash had summoned that massive shield of hers and was positioning herself next to Euryale, ready to do her best this time to block the shot.
"Come on, Artemis, hurry," I muttered rather frantically, each second feeling like an hour now. Then, our other allied Greek Archer shouted something, gaining the attention of the others, including the blonde. I exhaled loudly, turning to Drake.
"Okay, step two has started. Are we all set for ramming?" I asked. Drake nodded, a savage grin of her own showing.
"You better damn believe it. You might want to hold on to something, though. Never done a proper ramming attack before," Drake said before calling out for full speed ahead. While there wasn't quite the rush and noise that there might have been if the Golden Hind ran on steam, the galleon quickly started to pick up speed, aimed directly for the midsection of the Queen Anne's Revenge.
Once more, there was very little I could do but watch and wait. When we were around the halfway point between where we had started from and Blackbeard's ship, I saw that there was starting to be some more movement.
"It looks like he's about to fire a broadside at us!" Chiron called down, readying an arrow. We couldn't break off, fully committed to our attack, however. Our best bets were for Artemis and Orion to pull off their role in the plan, and I watched with bated breath as the Servant in question apparently announced her presence.
I closed my eyes as we drew closer, unable or unwilling to stare, in case I would see my death coming. Therefore, the explosion a few minutes later caught me completely off-guard.
I was almost thrown off of my feet as a wave of super-heated air slammed into us. There must have been a loud boom, but I couldn't recall hearing anything other than a loud ringing noise in my ears. I pressed a hand to each one, and thankfully discovered that neither of my ear drums had been ruptured by the explosion.
I then looked back at the Queen Anne's Revenge. What I saw brought an admittedly savage grin to my lips.
Blackbeard's ship was still afloat, but barely. The main mast of the ship was gone, along with a good chunk of the two upper decks at the center.
I had the feeling that if it wasn't for the presence of his three subordinate Servants, the Queen Anne's Revenge would be sinking. Still, the ship appeared to be crippled, and Blackbeard and his crew were busy trying to fight the raging firestorm that was slowly but surely spreading.
Meaning that no one was manning the cannons anymore as we closed in on the stricken vessel.
"Brace for impact!" I roared, even if it might have been a bit pointless. But damn it, I wanted to use that line. For a moment, I could have sworn that Blackbeard had shouted something similar, but then the Golden Hind slammed into the side of the smoldering Queen Anne's Revenge hard. There was a sickening cracking sound as the reinforced wood gave way to the heavy battering ram made of dragon scales.
If it wasn't for Mordred grabbing the back of my new armor, I would have probably ended up flying into the bowsprit, so violent was the resulting shudder that the Hind gave us. Some of the others, though none of the Servants, weren't as lucky, though everyone quickly recovered.
Scrambling back onto my feet properly after being released by Mordred, I drew my sword as I saw a glorious sight. Odd though it might sound, seeing the Hind's ram driven deep into the hull of Blackbeard's ship sent a shiver of exhilaration down my spine. Mordred and the other Servants who were designated as members of our boarding party were assembled behind me. A little further back, Drake and her crew were also getting ready to leap aboard the Queen Anne's Revenge. Oh, how the tables have turned in roughly twenty-four hours.
"Well, Senpai, can't keep Blackbeard waiting," Mash quipped at Ritsuka, who nodded, a fiery glint in his eyes matching the one everyone else seemed to now have.
"Let's do it, Mash!" He said energetically.
"Prepare to board, my filthy scoundrels!" Drake called out at the same time to her own followers, waving one of her pistols wildly in the air. Drake's pirates, especially the ones she had picked to accompany us, started cheering and jeering wildly. "Let the plundering begin!"
"Orders, Master?" Mordred asked, before her helmet reassembled itself around her face. The last thing I saw was the eager glint in her eyes and the hungry smirk on her lips. Looking back ahead, I waved my sword forward.
"All hands, board that ship!"
Original endnotes: Ugh, not my best chapter tbh in my opinion. But the scene was going to be choppy anyway, I suppose, so at least it's done with, right? Next two chapters will have plenty of fighting, I promise you that! Got plans in terms of POVs. Might be another four days before the next chapter, but I have finished all my papers for the moment! I hope you all enjoyed it somewhat though, the chapter!
Question of the chapter: What do you guys and gals who play FGO think of the BB event overall? I hate it now by this point.
Thanks for reading, and hope you enjoyed it! See you in the next chapter!
Updated Endnotes 11/26/21: I hope everyone had a good and safe Thanksgiving yesterday. As always, you can find the more updated version on Archive of Our Own.