Hey, uh, I blame Baldur's Gate 3 for this, but I've decided to make a new SI fic starring a King Arthur SI brought into the world of the Forgotten Realms! It's like a bloody tadpole that keeps whispering to me with temptations and promises to write that idea out! And with some other fics doing the same, I couldn't resist it any longer, and thus, this fic was born.

And yes, this is a Fate and Baldur's Gate crossover with SI elements because that's what I appear to be good at. So yeah, I hope you enjoy this start of a new fic, and if you want to see more, do favourite and follow this story! And while you're at it, do leave a review on it!

Also, this story is partially based on my first blind gameplay of the game, with some parts edited to make it flow better, I hope. One more thing. There will be significant spoilers for Baldur's Gate 3! I strongly recommend that you play the game first, alright?

And with that done, let us begin!

As with all my other stories, I do not own any of the content from the Fate series, nor do anything from Baldur's Gate. They all belonged to their respective owners, except for my OCS present.


Act 1: Chapter 1

The Beginning of a New Adventure.

I felt my consciousness return to me after I last passed out as my eyes blinked again and again after waking up from a brutal headache, and it fucking hurts, that I can tell you. Eh… That's what I get for going out late and getting wasted after attending an anime convention till the evening. I can't remember all the details, but I do remember passing out on the couch with my cosplay still on.

"What the hell? Where am I?" I found myself groaning once I was finally awake, and I began taking everything in before I realised one thing. I was in some sort of pod. And feel my hands are bound tight by something. I… don't even know what to say about my surroundings. They scream of a nightmare must be what I'm undergoing because what else could explain where I am?

I could see numerous other pods, with something in the middle of this room. Furthermore, I don't even know what that thing is. As if to scream alien, the overall architecture was a massive hint, and so was what I could tell was organic matter. Did I just get kidnapped by Tyranids? Because last I checked, those bugs prefer eating people.

No, I have to be in a nightmare from drinking so much.

What else could explain such a weird environment and the insanity I found myself in?

As if this dream could get even weirder, I found myself unable to tilt my head all the way down, but that was barely enough to allow me to see that I was still wearing my proto-Saber cosplay from Fate. Yeah. I decided I wanted to cosplay as Arthur. What took me from my home and how? Even stranger, when I clenched my fists, I could hear the gauntlets clanking and the leather creaking.

But how is that possible? I use cheap cloth and aluminium to make the gauntlets. How could they sound almost like the real deal?

Bringing my attention elsewhere with even more confusion brewing in my head, I could only glance around for answers before something opened up, and the shadow silhouette of something could be seen on the ground before it started to float off the ground.

"What the fuck is that?"

I ended up whispering about how cold I felt upon seeing that thing. It's wearing some sort of bio-like clothing and has greyish skin, and it has three fingers and a thumb on each hand with inches-long claws on every one of them. But the most shocking thing to me was its head. It looks like a squid and even has tentacles on its face! What in the ever-loving fuck is that?! Even more so when it made some sort of hand gesture, and I finally noticed that I was not alone.

The pod to my right, while hard to see thanks to this pod, has an occupant in the form of a green-skinned alien with pointy ears, a flat nose and black war paint? Is that what they are? Okay, I definitely had too much from last night. There's no way this can get even weirder than it is right now. I still don't know where or why I am experiencing this dream…

And so, with my inability to do anything at all, I silently watched that tentacle face alien-thing make that centre thing in the middle of this room open and as it reached in to grab something? The next thing I knew, it made its way to that alien on my right as it glanced at me as it went by. And its eyes. Dear god, the look it gave to me. It was as if they saw me as prey or something.

Even more, was that subtle chittering I picked up just barely. What was that? Whatever it was, that squid alien brought its hand to that green-skin alien's face and left it here. Then I heard a horrified gasp and panicked grunting from it. Even more so, all that noise allowed me to defer that that alien to my right was a female.

Wait.

"Did it just infect her with something?" Terror spread like a highly infectious plague throughout my body when I turned my head to see that squid alien picking up a larva-like thing and floating towards me. And that's when I went into full panic mode! But no matter how hard I struggled, I found myself pinned into place as that squid calmly floated towards me, and I could see it in its claws.

"Fuck fuck fuck…" I began cursing before I did the only thing I could: I turned my head away from that thing! But despite that, that squid calmly gestured his hand, and I felt some sort of force grabbing my face and straightening it so I would be looking at that alien squid!

Oh! Fuck me!

If this is a dream, I want to wake up now! Do you hear me?! Wake me up now, damn it!

I could only pant with absolute terror while that squid brought that worm thing closer to my face, and it began chittering ever louder. And to my horror, that little thing began to react to my presence and grew tiny tentacles and, worse of all, fangs! Bloody fangs! What in the ever-living fuck! If I could scream, I would have what I believed was going to happen to me! But I was so stone-cold afraid that I ended up passing out as that thing latched into my face just outside my left eye.

And my last thoughts were me begging myself to wake up from this unrealistically absolute nightmare.


Too bad it was all for nought.

I don't know how long I was unconscious. Minutes? Hours? I don't know. But what I do know was that I was awake when I heard the hissing sound of something, which is likely the pod holding me, followed by an agonising throbbing originating deep in my skull. And I feel absolutely sick to the core.

Even more so was the sheer utter disbelief and mental crisis that I was not back in my room on the couch but still in this bloody alien spaceship! "What is even going on here? All this was not a dream? I really was kidnapped by aliens! I… I need to get out of here and find someone to get that thing out of me." I mumbled with my hands clutching my head before another revelation hit me as I began to push myself off the pod and heard the clacking of my armour.

They have weight on them. And because of that, now it feels like I have several kilos on me instead of none when I made them out of light metals and cloth. Even then, what confused me even more was that I was okay with that weight on me. I can't explain, but it was as if my body got even fitter than usual, even more so when I tugged my hair to realise that it's not a wig anymore! I now have blond hair compared to my original black hair!

The main problem is I don't even have a weapon to defend myself with!

And it appears that was too much for me before I felt bile rising from my throat before I turned and puked behind the pod that held me for who knows how long. Ok. Bad thing, I still feel like shit after emptying my stomach. Good thing. I can think clearly now. If not, by not much. Even then, that brought my senses back, and the first thing I smelt was ash and fire. Even more, there was something foul in the air that made me gag in response.

Thank God I puked just now. If not, I'll probably be doing it again.

Anyway, the main room I was held in was much different from what I remembered when I first woke up. Firstly, there's fire everywhere and dead squids on the floor. Another major thing was that the green-skinned woman was not in her pod, and the others in the room were empty. She must have broken free earlier and taken the opportunity to leave this place, not that I blamed her.

Another thing was that pool in the middle of the room that housed those worms. Taking a peek in it reveals hundreds of those things swimming around and minding their own business. Oh, what the fucking hell! Why do they have hundreds of those things all swimming in there, and why is there now one inside me? And the thing was how awful it smelled, and I had to pinch my nose.

"Bleh. Smells like shit." I gagged a bit from the smell before I brought myself back to the main issue despite the hundreds of questions in my head, like who are those squid things and why did they put one of those worms in my head, or what's happening to me? But right now, getting out of this hellhole is more important right now. Glancing around, I could see more pods, and at the end of the room, it looked like a door and some sort of biological thing giving off a blue hue.

As I made my way towards what I believe was the exit out of this room, I brought my hood up to hide my face and took a glance at that strange thing giving off the blue hue, and I felt my head throb again before information seemingly flowed directly into my mind from somewhere. This device restores anyone who gets near those blue tentacles. How exactly, I do not know. Nevertheless, I found myself walking underneath the blue light and trusting my gut instincts, and that information implanted into my head.

And it did as advertise, much to my surprise! I felt str- no. Reinvigorated underneath it, I felt my mind clearing up a bit, and so did my strength as the device deactivated. "Wow." I chuckled at what just happened. "That worked! I can't believe that worked! I feel better now." And now that I was feeling much better, it was time I made my leave. And so, I approached what I think is a door, and it opened once I got near to reveal an even bigger room behind it.

And when I entered the next room, I heard a voice echoing into my ears. The creepiest thing about it was that it sounded like an innocent child, and not too far away was another creature lying dead on a table and some sort of elegant yet alien-looking tablet near its body.

I think I'll address that child's voice later… Where did I even find myself in? But I have to move fast! I still need to get out of this place.

"Help us." The voice whispered while I made my way towards the corpse. And when I did, I gently brushed my hand over the tablet, and I saw it. I don't know what happened, but entire histories, cultures, habits. All the information about Goblins flowed into my mind.

But Goblins?

Aren't those more common in the fantasy genre? Did I find myself in some sort of mixture of sci-fi and fantasy somehow? And the Goblins I'm more familiar with are those from Warhammer Fantasy. Not these goblins that look brown-skinned. Shaking my head, I spot something shiny near its body, and it reveals to be a handful of gold coins! I don't think I had any money with me, so I ended up taking them alongside a coin sack, which I hung around my waist.

I may need them in the future if I am to find a way back home.

"Free Us." The child-like voice calls out again. Seriously, where is that coming from? And as if it read my mind, it spoke. "Up here…" There it is again! It's coming from the platform above! Glancing around, I found more tablets, and without hesitation, I ran over quickly and brushed my hand over them. And more memories flowed straight into my mind. The things of interest were that I was on a ship called the Nautiloid and its inner workings. There is also another that comments about an anomaly.

Is it talking about me or that green-skinned woman? And these squid things seem to have an obsession with brains for some reason. Not creepy at all…

But the last tablet that told me so much, I thought I would get overwhelmed by all of it! A thousand years of humanoid history of elves, dwarves, humans and many others, all flashing behind my eyes! Okay, with this, I now know that I'm definitely in some sort of Fantasy world! The only question is, how did I end up here with my armour and hair now permanently blond?

What happened to me?

With everything looked through, I walked straight to the middle of the room and onto a platform that I'm sure is a lift of some sort. And once on it, I press the glowing orange thing that turns out to be a button. I also heard that voice calling out again before I could only grumble to myself as the platform I was on slowly went up, "Why am I going up here and not finding a way out of this place? I should be doing that instead of following that voice."

And when the platform reached the top. I froze at the sight. Because there was a man with pointy ears (Probably an elf) lying on the seat while twitching, and in addition, the top part of his skull was gone, and that left his brain exposed! Even more so was that the voices were coming from the brain itself!

I… I think I won't be eating anything for a while, at least until I can get that memory scrubbed from my head.

Taking a gulp, I made my way towards the body while ignoring the sight of brains in jars against the wall. It's almost as if they're keeping it for later. What they keep it for, I do not want to know.

"Yes, you've come to save Us from this place!" The voice coming from the brain spoke with enthusiasm as to my presence. Even more so when I realise something, its voice comes through my head as if it's talking to me via telepathy. How strange seeing its setting, but I'll play with it, I suppose. Though it is still a miracle I'm not flipping shit from this sight.

I am still feeling quite queasy from seeing this, though.

"Quick, free Us. Before they return!" It begged. How strange. It appears to be scared of something, but the idea of this thing being afraid makes me wonder what terrifies it this much. At the same time, this serves as an excellent point to probe it for information.

"Ok. But firstly, what the hell are you? Are you the brain or the man?" I asked while the body continued to twitch uncannily.

"A newborn. Born new from this husk." The brain answered while I rolled my eyes. Oh, wonderful. It is an entity of its own. Fuck knows what happened to the original dude on the seat and his memories. Staring back at the brain, I decided to ask a question.

"I can tell from your voice that something's got you spooked. Who or what are these things you appear to be scared of?" I asked with my arms folded. I can't believe I'm talking to a brain at the moment, and I doubt if I somehow find a way back home on Earth, no one would believe any of this.

"Enemies!" The brain cried out as it convulsed again. Ugh. Brains should not be moving that much… "There's many of them! We must flee!" It cried out. That makes sense in hindsight, with all the fire and ash in the air. Something has gone horribly wrong.

And I do not want to know what went wrong besides my plans to escape from this place.

"Can you tell me more about you?" I asked again, right as the whole place shuddered, followed by an explosion in the distance. Ok, I should stop wasting my time here and get out of here…

"Free Us! Then we answer your questions!" It cried out even more fear than before, as I could simply nod and have a closer look at how I am supposed to get this brain out. And from the looks of it, the brain appears to be swelling against the skull… I don't know the medical term for it, but if I could slot my hands between the brain and the skull, I should, in theory, be able to extract it cleanly without damaging it.

As a clean freak back at home, this was my worst nightmare. I'm getting my hand dirty with whatever fluids it leaks, probably blood too. But I need its help. I'll worry about the consequences later. Gulping air, I gently pushed my fingers between the gaps of the skull, and I could feel brain matter on my fingers. It's squishy and gross… And once I had a good grip on the brain, I gently tugged it out.

And it's working! I could feel my hands shifting the brain out, and with a final tug, I managed to yank the brain out with a splatter of blood and the man's body ceasing to move. Gods, I think I got blood on my armour, and I now stand awkwardly still with a living brain in my hands.

I should have thought about it. What the hell am I supposed to do with a brain? I found myself staring at the brain for a moment before it began convulsing at a fast pace, and much to my shock, and I kid you not, it bounced off my hands and landed on the floor. And the next second, tentacles began sprouting out of the brain, as did a set of double-jointed bony legs with three stubby talons on each foot!

What. The. Fuck!

What the hell am I even looking at?! The brain thing, however, was beyond ecstatic by my efforts. "We are free. Our freedom is ours. You are friend." It happily chirps before it pauses as if it is listening to something. At that moment, I felt something in my head suddenly take hold and information floods in. And because of it, I now know what these things are.

These… things… They are Intellect devourers… Servants of Mindflayers. Those squid-like species that kidnapped me earlier. They call themselves Illithids in their mother tongue. Good to know… The control on me faded as fast as it came, and I was back into reality. "We must go to the helm. At the helm we are needed." The Intellect devourer explained.

Who needed us? Actually, I'll ask that on the way. We need to leave this place now.

"Right. But what should I call you?" I asked with haste, and it gave me its name.

"Us… We are Us." Us, huh? I suppose that only makes sense with how it addresses itself in a plural term.

"Alright, let's go." I said before I did a brisk walk back to the platform, and I could see Us following after me like a puppy if said puppy was made out of brain matter and could probably shred me to bits if it so wanted to. And as I hit the big orange button, I quickly turned to Us to ask another question.

I felt something in my head squirming right as I brought my finger up to the temple on the left side of my head. Right… That Mindflayer probably inserted that worm into my left eye… As I unconsciously rubbed it, Us spoke. "Friend. You have more questions?" It asked childishly.

'Y-Yeah. I-I remember a Mindflayer putting a worm into my eye. For what reason?" I asked, and what Us explained scared me.

"A gift." It explains. "A gift to make you as we are. Soon you will be so beautiful. So powerful." Am I slowly turning into that thing? Like, what happened to that man? H-how would that make me beautiful? I… I need to get that worm out of my head immediately. I felt sick to the stomach as I turned my head away from Us, and I ran ahead of the little brain as it followed after me.

Up ahead, I saw a massive hole in the side of the ship, and when I got closer to the edge, I couldn't help but grind to a halt once I saw massive tentacles wiggling around within view. The skies were red and filled with ash. Hundreds of thousands of tiny creatures with bat wings flew in the skies, purple energy blasts shot out of the ship and at anything, and I just saw a red dragon fly past me! Holy! Okay! I'm definitely in a fantasy world, somehow!

But the bat creatures and red sky filled the brim with ash. Did I somehow find myself in hell?!

I must have done something to deserve this…


I found myself at a loss as I continued staring out at the sheer chaos when someone else dropped right in front of me, and I quickly recognised it as that woman I saw earlier in that pod! And now that I have a better look at her facial features, those black markings are definitely a type of war paint and her hair was tied up with numerous tiny braids. Another thing was that her eyes were slitted like the eyes of a cat. And she has scars all over her face and probably had experience fighting.

With what I could guess was a Longsword in her hands, she spoke coldly, "Abomination! This is your end," Hearing her words made me step back as I digested what I heard. On the plus side, we can somehow understand one another. On the other hand… her intentions were clear, and she wanted me dead for whatever reason. And as a guy without weapons, I'm fucked, am I?

But before I could do anything or ask Us to protect me, my head started to throb in pain, and I felt that worm wriggling again. Instinctively, I shut my eyes, but what I saw instead were visions that did not belong to me. Visions of a sword, a large red wing from a dragon, and, surprisingly, my face! I could see myself with my hood up through a third-person view!

I do look like Arthur… My facial features were handsome, even by Earth's standards, and my eyes were green despite initial difficulty seeing them underneath my hood. I still don't understand the details or what exactly happened to me. I don't know how, but it was as if my and her mind formed a link for a moment.

Is this another effect of the worm in my head?

Did it make our minds link together for a moment?

"My head, what is this?" I heard the woman of this unknown species ask before groaning as she regained her thoughts, and so did I.

"It must be those worms those Mindflayers infected us with." I quickly explain while recovering, and silently hoping she doesn't decide to stab me. "I can say we're both victims of them, and both want out of this ship. Yes?" I explained as Us was by my leg.

Uh, Us, do you want us to die? I don't think exposing yourself to her is the wisest of ideas.

Yet she must not have seen Us because she appears to be happy that I was not an Thrall, whatever those are… "Tsk'va. You are no thrall - Vlaakith blesses me to this day. Together, we might survive." She says before sheathing her longsword.

"Might? Really?" I internally frowned before I asked another question. What does she mean when she calls me a thrall?

"If I may ask, why did you call me a thrall?" Clearly, she knows more than me. I better ask her what she meant. And I regretted that instantly when I heard her answers.

"Because we carry Mindflayer parasites. Unless we escape, unless we are cleansed, our bodies and minds will be tainted and twisted. Within days, we will be ghaik. Mindflayers."

Within days, I'll turn into a Mindflayer?! Was that what Us meant by me receiving a gift to make me beautiful and strong? Me becoming a tentacled freak? Fuck that! There has to be a way to stop the process before we mutate into them!

I visibly gulped. "We're becoming Mindflayers?" I couldn't help but point at myself before continuing. "Then there must be a way to remove them from our heads!" I felt my blood run cold again as she answered me.

"We can do nothing until we escape, that must be our priority." She then turned and gazed behind her, curious about what she was looking at. I peeked around her to see what I believed were Imps feasting on the dead.

As if I needed more madness right now.

They are feasting like predators on their caught prey.

"First, we exterminate the imps. Then we find the helm and take control of the ship." Her eyes soon fell upon Us while I did the same and looked at the Intellect devourer. "As for that thing, it will remain tame as long as it believes we are thralls. It may be of use in the fight to come."

Oh good. I guess Us will be by our side for who knows how long, and we'll fight more to the helm. But I don't even know how to swing a sword! I'm a businessman, not a warrior!

"Wait, do you-" I tried to call her out if she had a spare weapon, but that woman ignored me and ran ahead and alerted those Imps to our presence. Blood dripped down their lips as the Imps noticed our company. I watched as they got into their threatening pose and began flying. One of them even drew out a crossbow and aimed it at us!

Chasing after that green-skinned woman, I heard her let out a battle cry in her species' tongue. "Htak'a!" And with that, she dashed in and one-shot the closest Imp with a single slash, splitting the demon into two! With no choice, I charged in a while, calling our Intellect devourer ally to assist.

"Us! Deal with the farthest Imp!"

"We shall kill." How can it say that so calmly?!

As for me, I dash in towards the other Imp to our right and for a moment, much to my initial confusion, time slowed down, and something in my head screamed at me to twist my body left! I have no idea what that was, but I felt my body doing it, and once I did move out of the way, a crossbow bolt flew past me as I turned my head towards where that bolt went before looking back at the Imp reloading.

"I have no weapon with me, but I guess my fists will do…" I thought as I charged again while the Imp brought its crossbow up. But I was close enough that I managed to grab onto it before sending a haymaker onto the Imp's torso, and that made it let go of the crossbow and fell to the floor. In less than a second, I held it like I thought it should be used and fired a bolt straight into its skull point blank with a shriek of death coming out of it.

Holy shit. I killed a demon via execution style! I should have felt sick performing such actions, but I must not be processing all this just for the sake of my sanity at this point. Without even realising it, I tossed the empty crossbow aside to see that woman walking towards me and Us following close by. Taking a glance at the Imp I asked Us to deal with, I could see large lacerations all over the Imp's face. Did Us just claw it off? Good lord…

Who knew these minions of the Mindflayers could do this much damage?

"You prove to be surprisingly adequate in battle even without a weapon. Impressive." I heard that woman say with a hint of admiration before she became stern again. "Now, to the helm." And then she sheathed her sword and began walking off.

"Give me a moment. If we are going to go to the helm, I need a weapon." I said as my eyes jumped through numerous corpses on the floor. I'm not sure if those people were thralls or innocent people finding themselves in this situation.

"Be quick about it." She said impatiently, and I can't fault her at the moment. The whole ship's coming apart. It took only seconds before I spotted a suitable weapon in the form of a longsword by one of the corpses nearby. I do not know why, but I felt some familiarity with longswords despite never using them before. And so, I rushed over to pick it up in its sheath despite my disgust over the amount of dead here.

Interestingly enough, it looks similar to what that green-skinned woman had. It must be the standard weaponry, from what I could guess. I wear its sheath on my back and place the longsword in it, and I turn to see my companion glaring at Us with disdain and unrestrained hate in her eyes. I wonder what her kind's relationship with the Mindflayers is. From the looks of it, it's not cordial for sure.

With a weapon now on my back, we moved on and through the piles of corpses onto an opening and another Illithid restoration device. But since none of us were harmed in our fight against the Imps earlier, we chose to ignore it and move on. And as we did, the whole ship rumbled again and made us stumble before a red dragon zipped by us!

"Damn! We've got to move fast! I don't think this ship can take any more beatings if this continues!" I cursed loudly while I ran toward what looked like giant blood vessels. Am I supposed to climb up these?

"Cease your hesitation and move!" My green-skin companion yells at me from behind before she begins climbing up those vein-like things. Um… Right. Thanks for the heads up, I suppose. With a shrug of my shoulders, I followed after my companion and began climbing up with Us following after us before we were back inside the ship and stumbled across another room.

I'm so glad I learned how to rock climb. That and my body is unusually healthier and stronger than what I remember…


Anyways, after we went through another bio-door, we stumbled into another room. However, this one was different from the ones I've been to just now since this one had an alien-like console in the middle of the room, as did the ominous pillar at the centre surrounded by chairs that had people on them and another restorative device on the right of the room. And those people wearing fantasy clothes on the chairs appear to be unconscious from what I could tell.

Even more so when my ally has something to say. "Istik, back! Touch nothing without knowing its purpose." She basically ordered me while I gave a subtle eye roll. I'm no fool to touch things I have info on. Also, what's an Istik? Is it some kind of native slur or something?

Besides that, glancing all over the room, I, as did my companion and Us, walked into the room cautiously before I heard thumping from a nearby pod and picked up another voice cursing out loud.

"Damn it!"

"There's a survivor in here!" I said before rushing over, and when I got closer, I could see a woman wearing an intriguingly uniquely designed armour. Even more so was the symbol in the middle of her chest plate. And once I was within view, her eyes widened before she called out to me.

"You! Don't leave me behind! Open the damn thing!"

But before I could do anything, my companion disliked my sudden distraction. "We have no time for stragglers." She argues. And while she does have a point that we should get to the helm as quickly as possible. Leaving others behind who are infected like us doesn't sit right with me.

Giving her a disapproving look, I shook my head. "We need allies if we are to get to the helm in one piece. Who knows who or what could be waiting for us over there? For all we know, there could be a high-ranking demon there." I explained, and it appears that I have managed to convince her.

Though reluctantly from her only response.

"Chk. Fine."

Bringing my attention back to the pod that held another woman, I took a glance all over the pod, but I didn't think there was any switch to open it up directly. I could try and force her out, but I honestly doubt that will work. "Unless…" My eyes soon found their way to a nearby console.

"Jackpot." I smirked and made my way over to it to find… something. I don't even know what any of these even mean… There are no visible switches or buttons from what I could tell… I found myself analysing the Illithid console for a quarter of a minute before my companion got impatient with my lack of actions.

"Are you satisfied? We need to move." She grumbled before I noticed something. There appears to be an empty socket on it. If that is the case, I need to find a key for it.

"Yeah, it needs a key. I think one of the nearby rooms should have it." I explained to my ally, who grunted impatiently.

"Make it quick then."

Wow. Someone's impatient.

"Just hang on! We'll get you out of there!" I call the woman inside the pod, and she quickly affirms me. And with that, my companion and I began exploring the area, and I took time to loot some shiny stuff and gold. However, the brain in the tank on the table is quite unnerving. There was also a chest that seemed to be locked and, lastly, another Illithid manuscript.

When I 'read' it, faint images of several things appeared in my head. A brain, another green-skinned man similar to the woman next to me, and they are called Githyanki or Gith for short. So that's what they are called. Good to know. The last vision confused me because all I saw was darkness. So that didn't say much.

And like always, those visions fade as soon as they come and with all we can find here. Though not what I was looking for, they were at least helpful in understanding that I have an ally from the Gith race. With that, she and I made our way through another door and to my surprise, another intellect devourer came scuttling out, though wholly ignoring our presence as we entered the next room.

And what she and I saw sent shivers down my spine. While there was a pod in the middle of the room holding another woman who appeared to be dazed, it was what was in the background that scared me. Hundreds. Hundreds of the same pods that had me and that Gith woman in. (Come to think about it, I should ask for her name when we get out of this place.)

And she utters my very thoughts on the situation. "Tsk Hava! How many hosts have these ghaik infected?"

"Hundreds… Probably thousands on this ship… A nightmare for everyone that, I'm sure." I gulped before noticing that the dead body near us was clutching a key tightly. And while she walked on, I quickly snatched the key from the dead body and followed after her. And up head was another corpse as well as some sort of chest. Even more so was another console with a sigil and a button near it.

Neither of us wanted to find out what pressing that button does, even more so when she managed to decipher the sigil, which translated to 'Perfect'. I won't lie; I was about to interact with it when I remembered what Us said about how we are to be made beautiful by their gift. Yeah no.

I am not touching that as much as I want to help her off the ship. And so, I avoided touching that button as we looted the body as well as the chest for anything we could find to free that woman. And what I found in the dead body's pocket was some sort of rune that I think is needed if we are to free that lady, and even more so when we checked the chest and found two bottles filled with some red substance though my gith ally says that they are potions of healing.

Sounds good to take along, for all I know. We're going to need it if we are to get off this ship alive and well enough to seek treatment for our infection before we become them. I could only pray we find a cure for this fast. I don't want to become that. Making our way back to the pod, I quickly reached the console and placed the rune into the socket, and it worked! It began glowing red and humming with life!

"You did it! Now get me out of this thing!" I heard her as I gave a nod back.

"Alright… how am I to operate this machine?" I thought to myself for a second before I did the only thing I could do.

I took my hand and placed it on the console.

The instant I rested my hand over it, the worm in my head began to squirm, and the pain was back worse than before. But the pain and discomfort faded as fast as it came, and I felt my mind controlling the mechanism. No, I felt power over the entire system linked to it. It feels bizarre to feel my mind part of it, but I think I got it and gave the command for the pod to open.

And it yielded, followed by another feeling washing over me. I felt satisfied over controlling this thing to my will.

A hiss was all I heard before I turned to see her fall out of the pod and onto the floor, looking somewhat dazed about the whole experience. Welcome to the party. We have worms in our heads and demons to deal with. Despite her confused state, it didn't last long before she was back on her feet as I approached her with my gith ally and Us behind me.

"I thought that damn thing was going to be my coffin, thank you-" Her thanks for saving her were quickly interrupted when I felt my mind and her connecting just as it had done earlier for my Githyanki ally a while back. But instead of seeing glimpses into her memories, I felt her emotions. I feel her gratitude for saving her from the pod, but also wariness over my company with a gith. How strange… no race earns such caution unless they've done something horrible.

It's a thing to look out for later.

It was also there that I spotted her ears. Huh. I can't believe I just noticed it, but she's not an elf since her ears were not as pointy as that other guy was while I was extracting Us from his skull, which I'm sure is an elf. Could it be that she's a half-elf? I remember reading them up in Tolkien's Middle-earth… However, that's not the world I found myself in since I'm sure they don't have parasitic squids that use others to make more of themselves.

By the time I felt our connection severed, the half-elf immediately called me out. "You keep dangerous company." She said with her eyes glancing at my gith ally with suspicion. I've got to admit I do not know what she finds suspicious over giths. Perhaps I can ask her later. Assuming we make it out of this alive. Even more so when I turned and saw how my gith ally obviously did not appreciate that comment by folding her arms and glaring at her.

"I may not know why you call her that, but what I do know is that we need all available hands if we are to get off this ship alive. Survival matters more right now with the addition of demons attacking." I explained, and she agreed with my words.

"Fair point. Looks like there's plenty of fighting ahead. Let me come with you. We can get off this ship and watch each other's backs along the way." I felt a smirk growing on my lips.

"Wonderful. Exactly what I was thinking." I said before I thought for a split second how am I to introduce myself. I guess I shouldn't use my real name for now; I might as well use his name for the time being. "I'm Arthur Pendragon. A pleasure to meet you." I introduced myself, and I was rewarded with a curious eye raise from my new companion.

"A noble? Here? How curious. Call me Shadowheart." She greets herself before she pauses. "One moment." She then says before returning to her pod and retrieving something from it. And from its looks, it reminds me of a d20 dice. It must be pretty important to take that with her wherever she goes.

I wonder, what makes it so special?

"Pardon me, but what's that you picked up?" I couldn't help but indulge in my curiosity, but to my surprise, Shadowheart gave me a relatively firm reply as if she didn't want anyone to know what that was.

"It's nothing. Trust me." Sure… Sure… Totally will not draw suspicion with that kind of response. But I can address that another time, and I raised a hand only for my Githyanki ally to butt in restlessly.

"Enough of this chatter. We need to get to the helm. Now." And Shadowheart agrees.

"She's right. Lead on."

"But what about those two unconscious people still on the bench?" I know there's another woman in that other pod, but we cannot free her without turning her into a squid, so what about those other two guys? "Shouldn't we get more help by freeing them?"

And to my surprise, I heard my Githyanki ally mutter something to herself. "Shaketh, Istik." What the hell is that supposed to mean?

"I wouldn't recommend doing that, Arthur." Shadowheart shook her head as she grabbed her mace and shield, which were beside her pod for some reason. "Those two have been rather willing to follow the Mindflayer's orders. Unlike myself. They'll likely attack us should we free them."

Oh. I should have thought about that.

Feeling a hint of embarrassment on my cheeks, I simply coughed into my hand as we made our way to the helm right after I unlocked a fancy-looking chest from earlier and found some gold and a gemstone, much to the Githyanki's annoyance and Shadowheart's humour. And so all three of us plus Us made our way towards the helm, and it was relatively quiet between us for about less than a minute.


Because by the time we finally reached the entrance of the helm, our Githyanki ally decided that now was the time to speak. "We are nearing the Helm. Once inside, do as I say." She ordered us to follow her, and Shadowheart was not having it.

"And who put you in charge? I'll trust my own judgement." That was followed by her saying something in her tongue that is probably a swear or something if I were to judge it from her tone. Shaking my head at their argument, I walked forward before the other two plus Us followed me, and we found ourselves at the helm. And it was in absolute chaos!

Buff demons without shirts and flaming swords were fighting Mindflayers, Imps were fluttering in the air performing hit-and-run attacks, and some sort of hellhound was also there attacking intellect devourers. "I stand corrected," I mutter at the sight of that one buff demon going toe to toe with a Mindflayer. Their corpses littered the field before one of the Mindflayer closer to us blasted the demon guy and killed it with some sort of psychic energy before it noticed us. And once it did, it spoke into our heads with orders.

"Thrall. Connect the nerves of the transponder. We must escape. Now." It orders after pointing at the far end of the room at the blue brain with tentacles connected to it. So, reach the end of the helm to get this ship off hell? Got it, I suppose.

Even more so when our Gith ally reluctantly agrees. "Do it. We will deal with the ghaik after we escape." As did Us, who whispers into our head.

"Connect the nerves! We will connect them!"

And as if responding to our incursion, more demons appear out of thin air, and we draw our blades ready for combat before charging into battle since we will have to cut a path straight for the transponders. I felt my anxiety over this fight fade while I dashed onward at a hellhound creature, and as it leapt at me in attempts to maul me to bits. In response and letting my apparent instincts take over, I danced around the hell beast while grabbing my longsword and plunging it tip-first into it before yanking it out while the hellhound shrieked before dying.

I then turn to see an Imp about to fire its crossbow at me, only for me to hear Shadowheart casting an incantation. "Ignis!" A fire bolt soon slammed into the Imp's face, killing it instantly as it crumpled to the ground. Looking at where it came from, I can see Shadowheart with her hand out. Oh! That's so cool!

Focus.

"I owe you one!" I said as I got a nod from Shadowheart before we resumed pushing in, and another rumble of the vessel told us that we were running out of time fast! And as we dash the brain transponder, a red dragon flies by the helm as the ship rumbles again.

That's not good.

And that sentiment was shared by our Githyanki ally, who I'm sure is cursing about it. "Tsk'va! Hurry before they strike!"

"No questions about that." I said while panting a bit. I am not used to all this bullshit. Something tells me this is going to get even more insane later on. While grimacing about our current situation, the buff demon guy fighting the Mindflayer suddenly yells out.

"Take this ship! Or Zariel will have your head!" And by his command, more demons appeared to block our path towards the transponder. But we will not let them stop here! I have no intention of dying here! As we moved in, our Githyanki ally sliced another Imp in half before she suddenly pulled out her bow, fired an arrow at another and landed a headshot.

As for me, well, I was carving a path through any demons that tried to stop me despite the feeling of bile slowly rising in my throat before I forced it back down. An Imp armed with an axe tried to land a hit on me, but I somehow knew how to parry its attack and disarm it. Literally. It screeched in agony over its lost arm before I ended its misery by slicing its head off. While all this time, Us and Shadowheart supported us from behind through her firebolts and Us watching our backs.

I also did see her crushing an Imp's skull into gibs and paste when it got close to her.

Ew.

But even as we got ever closer to the transponder, the sound of running caught our attention. Far from where we entered the bridge were two buff demons moving in and heading straight for us! "Cambions!" I heard Shadowheart crying out with caution. So those are what those buff guys are called? "We can't beat them. We need to get out of here, now!" No questions about that Shadow.

"Understood! Cover me! I'm going for the transponder!" I yelled before breaking into a full sprint through numerous demons while my allies covered me as I headed straight for the transponder, and I made it! But I have no idea what these tentacles do, nor do I have the time to study them! And with those cambions closing in, I have no choice but to grab two random tentacles and bring them together.

And while they connected, I heard the fluttering of something big, only to see a red dragon landing before peering through the opening. You know, I always wanted to see a dragon in real life when I was a kid, only to be utterly disappointed when I learned they never existed in the first place. If only I knew that day that I would find myself here...

I watched as it inhaled, and that's when it hit me. It's going to breathe fire! "Oh shit!" With my heart rate shooting to the roof, I quickly ducked behind the transponder as a wave of fire washed over where I was! I was thankfully able to be relatively safe before the Nautiloid warped somewhere else, and gravity decided to take a holiday as I found myself in free fall before slamming against the wall!

"Augh! My back…" I could feel the shock of pain rising through my armour and into my spine as I could see that the Nautiloid was going through warp space that reminded me way too much of Warhammer 40k warps. Even then, when I tried to get off the wall, the Nautiloid warped again and nearly sent me off the ship if I hadn't caught the transponder. Yet, glancing, I could see Shadowheart and our Gith ally doing the same and holding on to dear life!

Not sure where Us is, but that's not my problem right now!

"Arthur! Grab the console now!" I heard Shadowheart yell at me while I could only nod and grit my teeth as I slowly climbed up and could barely grab the tentacle to get us out of here and hopefully get this ship back on the correct side. And that worked it did.

I felt gravity reorient back correctly, and I landed back on my feet, but it turned out that the Nautiloid had taken too much damage, and it was going down fast! Because of that, I immediately lost my balance before falling again, and for a moment, I thought that I was going to die. But instead, I found myself slamming against a wall with an opening just to my left!

I could see that we were no longer in hell and now back in real space, as I will call it; for now, it appeared to be night, with the terrain having forests with rocky mountains and near the sea coast, from what I managed to pick up.

Even more surprising was that I noticed a Mindflayer on the other side of the wall, staring directly at me with its orange eyes and tentacles swaying in the winds. "Oh, hello there." I found myself muttering in disbelief at the chaos I had gone through the past hour or so before my instincts kicked in, and time seemed to slow when I turned and saw a fragment of the ship heading straight for me at full force, and I had nowhere to go or move.

"Oh shit."

Those were the last words that left my lips before I felt the full force of whatever material hit my face as I was knocked unconscious. And I knew nothing afterwards.

Little did I know, this would be the start of a new journey as an unofficial leader of a party of a ragtag bunch of misfits, all working together to find a cure for our parasitic infection and, in addition, find the reason for my existence in this new world.


And… Cut! So, what do you think of the prologue so far? Do you like where things are going and want to see more in the future? If so, do leave a follow, favourite and review to show your support for it! And I will be sure to post more in the future!

Now then, yes. All I will say is that our OC friend has picked up more than just Arthur's looks. But I'll not reveal anything just yet till the time comes. And speaking of Baldur's gate, I figured that if in-game, Arthur would be perfect as a paladin/warrior multiclass. Or a paladin/rogue multiclass.

But yeah, I have nothing else to say either. If you want to see more of this, do leave a review, and I will see you in the next chapter whenever I upload again!

RGQC out!