The Archer-class Servant stared out into the horizon on the deck of the massive trireme on which she and her fellow Servants sailed on. She couldn't deny that there was a certain sense of nostalgia, being on the famed vessel once more. The crew, a motley mixture of enhanced men, were hard at work below their feet, rowing the oars at a fast but steady rate even as the large sail jutting skywards from the center of the ship caught a strong breeze to propel her forward. A few yards behind her, towards the stern of their ship, was a small, tent-like structure made of a soft, red velvety material, inside of which resided her…'Master'.
"Excuse me," a gentle, elfin-like voice had the Archer's ears twitching slightly. The Servant turned around, watching her two old adventurers while barely managing to hide her own distaste. "I'm coning in, Master." Bah, to think that of all the people that could have been her Master, the fact that it was that arrogant blonde was stomach-churning, to say the least.
There was the sound of rustling inside before a familiar (and what an unfortunate fact that was, if you asked the Archer) blonde head poked out of the entrance. His sea-green eyes widened as he smiled like a loon.
"Hey, what's going on, my beloved?"
"Lord Hector contacted us. He reports that he's captured Euryale, and is on his way back to us," reported the young princess dutifully. Archer's Master's eyes widened, and his smile somehow managed to widen.
"I see!" He exclaimed excitedly, and the Archer rolled her eyes slightly. She knew she should have listened to her hunter's instincts and decline the call sent out in the Throne of Heroes. At least that blasted Ruler hadn't shown up again. "I see, I see, I see! Alright, that's great news, my beloved wife! We've already recovered the Ark, and now we're just moments away from having the second key ingredient. Soon, I'll be more powerful than anyone. No, I'll be invincible, with you by my side! Isn't that amazing?" The Archer's sole female companion shot the blonde a beautiful and innocent smile.
"Yes, very. I think that would be extremely amazing, Master." The blonde chuckled, a rich, genial sound that had always caused the Archer's stomach to roil. Thankfully, she didn't visibly gag at that. She was a follower of Artemis, after all. She was made of far sterner stuff than that.
"I like your smile. It's like the sun. It never fails to enrich my heart. You do seem a little tired, however. Are you all right, my dear? You've been the ship's power source for so long, you know. I want you to tell me when it gets too hard."
"T-Thank you very much! But it's fine. Your words and your love alone are more than enough for me to go on." The Archer watched with a concealed scowl as her Master nodded slowly, as if he were a king, or even divine. Apparently, time had made him even worse than she remembered the man."
"Perfect, yes. That's how you should be. The woman who will become my lovely wife. Come, let's get ready, shall we?"
"Indeed, my Master. It seems that Lord Hector has some pursuers, too, who we need to greet. Fear not, though. We members of the Argonautai are undefeatable heroes. There is no way a ragtag group the likes of which Hector informed me about could possibly win."
"Yes, you're right. We are the strongest! There is no mistake. Our strength is unparalleled! We have the world's greatest, strongest hero, swiftest archer, and most versed witch on our side! Let's go get our ultimate treasure, then!"
Someone, end her, please, and save her ears from any more of his worthless dribble…
Euryale struggled once more against her restraints, vainly hoping that the rain had somehow weaken the rope tying her to the mast of the ship. Once more, nothing gave way. The gorgon cursed her luck, stuck in soaking wet clothing thanks to that stupid rainstorm that Hector decided to sail through. Stupid E Rank strength stat! Stupid Grail summoning! And stupid male Lancers!
"Now, the others should be here any second now," the latter of the stupids in question said in a conversational tone as he stood beside her. Hector was leaning against that spear of his, one hand idly scratching his head.
"Why me?" Euryale glowered. If she couldn't break free, then maybe she could use her charisma and luck to achieve liberation. "Please tell me that your actual Master doesn't have the same tastes as Blackbeard." Because, if so, then Zeus giver her the strength to slap the daylights out of him!
Hector shook his head, chuckling softly. "Oh, no, thank goodness. While my boss is a useless womanizer, he's not brave enough to hit on a goddess like you. Let's just say that your existence is what matters to him the most. Even if you have fallen to the levels of a Servant, it doesn't change the fact that Divine Spirits rarely appear in this world. So now that you've appeared, it'd be a waste to not use you, right?" Euryale felt a pit forming in the bottom of her stomach, and she tilted her head slightly to the side.
"Use me? You do know that, as a Divine Spirit, I'm rather low-tier, right?" Hector shrugged with hat annoying, carefree attitude of his.
"They're probably not expecting any combat skills from a goddess like you," Hector said, his agreement further confounding the middle Gorgon Sister. The confusion swiftly melted into alarm with his next set of words. "'Offer a god as a sacrifice', That's the only thing we really expect from you, Lady Euryale."
"To whom?"
"To the world. We can't tolerate being part of an endless spiral. Even though it might be a bit risky, we have to blow this world to pieces." Euryale pursed her lips at Hector's response. She tried a different tact. If she couldn't convince the Trojan Lancer from releasing her, maybe she could try to do so with this Master he spoke of. In order to do so, though, meant that she had to find out as much information about this apparent womanizer as she could.
"Who do you serve, exactly?" To her irritation, Hector only laughed.
"That's a good question. Who do you think this old man is serving?" Euryale fought down the urge to scowl at him, even though it was getting her nowhere.
"Regardless, asserting principals of anarchy is sure to meet interference in the end. Honestly, whether or not the others will come is like, fifty-fifty." Looking ahead, Euryale started smirking rather viciously as she saw some familiar objects rapidly closing in on Hector's stationary ship. "Hmm, must have been because Asterios was there."
This time it was Hector whose head tilted to the side. He stared at Euryale with narrowed eyes. "What are you talking about?" Instead of responding with words, the Archer gestured with her head for Hector to look behind him, and after a second's hesitation, Hector did so. While she wasn't able to see his expression, she had a pretty damn good idea of what it would have looked like based on his verbal response alone.
"What?! Damn it! It's the Golden Hind! Men, get ready! Blast it, Master, can't you ever in your life arrive on time!" Euryale basked in her captor's frustration. Oh, how swift vengeance was, and on her side to boot!
"Well, it's been nice knowing you, Hector. Oh wait," Euryale said mockingly with a smug smile. Said smile then faltered for a moment when Hector gave a smaller one of his own to her.
"Oh, don't count this old man out just yet."
"Are you sure about this?" Drake asked, for once sounding a tad uncharacteristically wary. I grunted softly, nodding my head. The plan was one of those rushed, last-minute jobs, but under the circumstances, I felt (and hoped) that it was the best one out of a crop of unappealing options.
"Hector's planning something, no doubt about it. However, we don't exactly have much of a choice. Captain Drake."
"And you want my lads and I to hang back and leave the fighting to you?"
"Unless you want to risk your crewmates, then you are correct. That's not to say that you will be staying out of the fight. If Hector is waiting for reinforcements, you'll be able to tear into them with your cannons and keep them off us while we recover Euryale, the Grail, and hopefully defeat Hector once and for all." Drake remained silent for a few more seconds, before reluctantly nodding.
"I guess you have a point. Damn disappointing though, that I won't get a chance to knock that turncoat around. Traitor or not, that man was still following Blackbeard's commands. Thus, he committed a form of mutiny. I despise mutineers," Drake said darkly. I tilted my head towards her in an understanding manner.
"Don't worry too much about that. I'm absolutely positive none of us will mind delivering some of your own sentiments soon," I said, noting the way that Mordred seemed to be bouncing up and down ever so slightly on the back of her heels. That feral, almost bloodthirsty smirk of hers was showing.
"Okay, men, prepare to ram that ship!" Drake said in a louder tone, having been at least somewhat mollified by my offer. Facing her crew, the scarred pirate placed her hands on her hips, jutting out her chest. "Are you ready guys?!"
"Hell yeah!" Bombe, ever the loyal sycophant, instantly replied. I was so glad that none of my Servants even approached the level of suck-up displayed by the one-eyed first mate. Though, in his defense, he wasn't entirely useless in a fight, as Mordred had once remarked lazily. The rest of Drake's followers quickly voice their own support and eagerness.
"Good! Let's show Chaldea why we're the best damn pirates to ever sail the Seven Seas!"
Tuning out Drake and her merry band of miscreants and hooligans as they ran about, finishing their final preparations, I gazed at the other Servants. Or rather, at the Greek Berserker amongst us.
Asterios's expression was both bloodthirsty and angry, and I honestly wouldn't have been surprised to see small clouds of hot air drifting out of his nostrils with each heavy breath he took. Artemis had her arms wrapped around the Minotaur's waist, clearly doing her best to restrain the Greek Servant. Meanwhile, Orion had leapt from Artemis's shoulder at some point while I had been conversing with Drake and was now clutching one of the Berserker's horns as he tried to vainly plead with the infuriated Minotaur.
"Hey, Asterios! Calm down, calm down! Relax, please!" But the Berserker's focus and attention was on one thing, and one thing only.
"Euryale!" He roared, his muscular body shaking in anticipation and anger. I had a feeling that if it wasn't for Artemis's reinforced grip, Asterios would have long since leapt off of the deck of the Golden Hind and swim towards Hector's vessel. Even so, the Archer in question was clearly struggling to keep that from happening.
"Nope, no good!" She said sadly. "Can I let him go?"
"Letting him go now is like painting a target on Asterios for that spear," Orion replied, for once not berating the Greek goddess. Huh, maybe the womanizing bugger had a redeemable quality to him after all. The plush continued his attempts to subdue Asterios's wrath meanwhile. "Come, there, there. Now, there, there."
Unfortunately, it was clearly a losing fight. I eyed the distance as the Golden Hind quickly closed the gap between the two warships. "Come on, Artemis, just a few more seconds," Ritsuka said in a soft, nervous voice.
"Uhh!" Asterios roared again, flailing his axes around mindlessly. Thankfully, no one was injured by the act, but it was still a clear indicator that Asterios's 'patience' was now gone, and that soon he will become essentially a liability to us. I glanced back at the galley dead ahead, biting my lower lip nervously as my mind ran at top speed. It looked like we had roughly twenty-five seconds until impact, an observation Orion had also noted.
"Fine!" Orion shouted in frustration, standing up. "I got it! Wait ten seconds. Ten, nine, eight, five, one, zero!" And with that, the plush familiar leapt back onto Artemis's shoulder as his 'partner' released her fellow Greek Servant.
"You cut corners, Darling!" Artemis scolded sternly, glaring at her supposed lover. Orion shrugged unrepentantly, as the other Servants all jumped out of the way as Asterios started to charge forward.
"Thinking rationally, there was no way a plush toy could actually stop a Berserker. Particularly an extremely enraged one!" Artemis didn't buy the admittedly reasonable defense Orion had presented, however.
"Then why didn't you realize that sooner?!" Artemis roared, drowning out Asterios briefly. At that moment, with just seconds until impact, the Berserker in question leapt off of the bow of the Golden Hind, slamming into the deck as he started exuding an aura of menace that felt surprisingly similar to the one that Medea had been emitting throughout the afternoon.
"Asterios?!" Mash cried out in alarm, as good old Murphy departed, satisfied no doubt with delivering his little gesture of greetings.
"Brace for impact!" Drake called out, and we all grabbed the closest solid object. This time, I was better prepared to experience the recoil of the Golden Hind slamming into essentially a wooden wall. Once I felt the main jarring sensation subside, I released my grip on the railing, and look over my shoulder to see that Mordred and the other combat-oriented Servants were also ready and eager.
"Let's go!" I roared, pushing my feet down on the railing and propelling myself forward, almost like I was in a scene from some sort of action movie. Unlike a movie, however, my landing was neither graceful nor spectacular. I actually slammed into a rather burly sailor, and knocked the enemy off of his feet with my momentum.
Shaking my head, I jump to my feet, lashing out with my right foot and slamming the heel of my reinforced combat boot into the crook of another sailor's neck. I felt a faint jarring sensation as a rather sickening crack echoed across the deck, but I didn't have time to see if I had killed or merely injured the enemy in question.
"I swear, Master, sometimes you're crazier than me!" Mordred roared, sounding rather approving as opposed to reproachful. Then again, she was one of those whose life approach was of a more hands-on type. Much like myself, truth be told.
The Knight of Rebellion landed next to me, swinging Clarent in a half-circle and cutting not one but three enemy sailors in half in one clean strike. "I learned from the best," I quipped snidely, parrying a cutlass with my own sword, before swinging out with my vambrace-protected wrist and slamming it into the wielder's face.
I hadn't noticed it at first, but Mordred had ordered the vambrace to be made in a way not unlike her own, in the terms of having three extended and jagged-end dragon scales pointing downwards. Each was about two inches long and were rather reminiscent of shark fins in my opinion. More importantly, though, was the fact that it served as a way to further increase the damage I could deal in hand-to-hand combat.
I couldn't help but wince as I saw fragments of yellowed teeth flying out of my attacker's mouth, my vambrace having caught him in the jaw. Thrown off balance by the impact while still charging, the sailor tripped over his own feet and started to slide backwards…
Just as Lu Bu landed on top of him, and I quickly looked away, not wishing to see the sight of impact, though the wet squishing noise would haunt me for decades, if not longer.
The Chinese Berserker roared out an unintelligible challenge, and immediately drawing the attention of a dozen and a half sailors. The first six were cut down in a single sweeping stroke of Lu Bu's halberd, the crescent moon-shaped edges creating a crimson trail through the air as the former general began tearing through his opponents like the near-unstoppable force of nature a Berserker-class Servant was.
Other Servants quickly landed around us, each one taking on their own small group of enemy sailors. Incidentally, that quickly left me without any more opponents, an outcome that in all honesty, I was rather okay with. Whether or not these were actual humans or simply animated fragments of a long-dead era, it still felt unnatural to cut them down or watch my friends and comrades dispatching them.
"Master, permission to take Hector's head now?" Mordred asked eagerly, clearly indicating that though I couldn't visually confirm the presence under her imposing helmet, she was still smirking like a feral beast. My heart yearned to give the one I loved the permission she dearly desired, but thankfully my head was still in the mindset of the present.
"Unfortunately, that's denied." I heard Mordred stiffen under her armor, and I quickly continued talking. "Asterios and Mash are closer, and the last thing I need is for you and him to get in one another's way. Give him a chance to either takedown that bastard or free Euryale."
"And then?"
"And then, if you have the chance, split him in two."
"That's better. Fine, Master. I'll wait…for now."
"Thanks. In the meantime, let's clear the deck, yeah?"
Mash was doing her best to keep up with Asterios, ducking and weaving through the occasional sailor. For all the difficulty Asterios's impatience was now causing, the Demi-Servant wouldn't deny that at the same time, he was clearing a path for her to follow. Ritsuka was close behind, along with Artemis and Medea of all people.
Mash was starting to develop a suspicion over just who owned the emblem of a golden fleece but had kept quiet. The Caster's earlier outburst in the storm had further reinforced the desire to not reveal or confront the possible answer everyone had been wondering since Hector's betrayal of Mistah Blackbeard.
Anyways, that was little more than a problem to be dealt with at a later date, anyways. Blinking her eyes rapidly, Mash saw that Asterios had cut his way past the last sailor that had been standing between them and Hector. Behind the lackadaisical-looking Lancer was a bounded Euryale. Even from this distance, Mash could tell that the Archer's eyes were glimmering with hope and excitement over what should be an imminent rescue.
Hector shook his head, just as unphased by being charged by Asterios as the last time. "Geeze, what a pain in the ass. Oh, bother." It seemed that Hector's words merely infuriated an enraged Asterios further, somehow.
"Give….Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!" Asterios roared, raising one of his axes high into the air, clearly intent on cleaving the enemy Servant in half. Mash heard Hector scoff loudly as he shook his head once more.
"Fine, I'll give her back!" The Trojan hero replied, twirling his spear and slicing through the thick rope that had been tied around Euryale. Without pausing for a second, Mash watched, wide-eyed, as Hector picked up the small Servant as the Archer kicked and shouted indignantly, and tossed her towards Asterios.
The Minotaur slowed down, dismissing the raised axe to instead catch Euryale, skidding to a halt and taking his burning red eyes off of the Lancer. "Eu.." Asterios started to say, just as Mash realized just why Hector had done something so seemingly bizarre and counterproductive.
"Ha! Nothing like the predictability of a Berserker!" He said tauntingly, before shooting forward, intent on impaling the Berserker in question with his spear. This time, with the intent to kill the Greek Servant once and for all. And considering how Asterios had yet to fully heal from the last time Hector struck him, any solid blow from the forerunner of Durandal was sure to be fatal. Behind her, she heard her beloved Senpai call out in alarm.
There was only one thing Mash could think of. She jumped as far as she could, bringing her shield in front of her as she braced her feet moments before the metal boots clacked against the wooden planks of the deck of the ship once more.
"I won't let you!" She cried out resolutely, slamming her shield down hard enough to cause several thin splinters of woods to shoot out of the wooden planking.
Just in time too, if the fact that she felt a heavy impact against her shield a split-second before flinching sounds of metal scraping against metal, and the wind was almost knocked out of her. However, Mash still stood, and Asterios and Euryale were unharmed.
"Well done, Mash!" The compliment from her Senpai made her heart quicken for a brief moment, before she fought it down. She could bask in praises later. Preferably, when there wasn't a rather powerful enemy Servant before her. Speaking of…
Risking a quick peek from behind the obscuring safety of her shield, Mash saw that Hector was looking at her with a mixture of caution and maybe even awe. "A Demi-Servant," Hector said, crouching down slightly, like a tiger stalking its prey.
"Hero Hector," Mash said, keeping her voice calm but firm. "Who do you serve, and what are you after? I'll have you tell me!" The Lancer said nothing for a long second, still regarding both Mash and her words. Then the corners of his lips quirked upwards, and he began chuckling softly.
"Huh. You're pretty interesting, young girl. There is no denying that. This old man would rather not take a young life, not again. The world is cruel like that, however. Let me show you what that truly means!"
Before Mash could even up a response to his words, Hector was already in a blur of motion, his long spear jabbing forward like a bolt of lightning. Something in the back of Mash's mind took over, and for a moment, it felt like someone else was in control of her body at the same time as she was. She couldn't quite figure out the words to properly describe what it felt like.
Perhaps the Heroic Spirit who had been lending her their strength?
Either way, it did leave her with little regarding finding out their True Name. Mash felt her arms and upper torso move in response to each blow, her mind feeling hyper-focused throughout the duration of the next few minutes. Not one of Hector's blows managed to break through her guard. However, neither had Mash managed to land a counterblow of her own on the cunning Lancer, quickly leading to a rather uncomfortable stalemate between the two.
"Tch! You're surprisingly tough, I'll give you that," Hector remarked. Mash could only nod her head slightly, sweat dripping down her forehead and stinging her eyes as she breathed in deeply. "This is why I can't stand fighting heroes with shields!"
"Haa!" Mash cried out, darting forward and swinging her shield as hard as she could. Hector merely leapt backwards a few feet, apparently not wanting to re-engage in combat. Mash eyed him warily, refusing to let her guard down around the tricky Lancer.
"Well, this old man won through persistence. Dear me, I'm tired. So tired," Hector said. Mash's brow furrowed as she narrowed her eyes at him. What exactly did he mean with those words?
Mash didn't have to wait long for the answer to that question.
"Sails on the horizon!" Drake's lookout shouted at the top of his lungs, managing to make his voice heard over the screams and shouting and other noises of battle. Hector took another half step back, as Mash watched his dour expression morph into a more relaxed and cheerful one.
"Finally! My current 'superior' has arrived with the others. Now, it's the time for the counterattack. This old man's gonna be serious about it now, yeah?" Hector said, as his reinforcement drew closer, and a now-nervous Mash readied her shield.
Once more, it seems the tide of battle had turned. The question now, though, was in who's favor?
Original Endnotes: And done! So, as you've probably noted by now, there have been some changes! Boosted the numbers of the Argonauti, and a certain green-haired Archer has been dispatched. I'll wait until the next chapter or two to discuss it in more detail, but in the meantime, what did y'all think? Enjoy it, hated it, meh? I forget that Orion actually tried to be helpful, even if he did fail in the end, of course. Still, I guess even womanizing scum can be redeemable...maybe...
Now, for the question(s) of the day: Who is more redeemable as a character, Blackbeard, Orion, or Jason? Second question: Who would you rather have as your Berserker, Hercules or Asterios?
As always, thanks for reading another chapter! I hope you enjoyed it, and feel free to leave any kind of feedback! Can't wait to read your thoughts and question responses, and I hope you have a great day! See y'all in the next chapter!
Updated Endnotes 12/28/21: As always, The Will to Fight can be read on AO3 for those of you who want to skip the wait of me catching this version up with the original. Hope you enjoyed it and catch you all later.