Author Note
Hello there and welcome to another chapter of Avalon Bond.
Avalon Bond
Part II – Fate Grand Order
Chapter 26 – Okeanos Part II
Beta: Axel Emiya
(Chapter now beta-revised)
The group from Chaldea just stared for a while as they got to meet the famous British explorer Francis Drake.
Though, most were having trouble assimilating the person to the legend, or rather the woman behind the story. Frankly, at this point, one Emiya Shirou wouldn't be surprised if every male character in history turned out to be in fact female. Aside from that and the historical figure of this singularity's, let's say, advantageous assets, the image of a pirate captain was quite evident. Most of all, were the woman's frugal mannerisms and even the way she posed herself, as if she was one of the crew. Arturia had even recollected some of the foul languages she was used to hearing from her own army back in her days, which was surprisingly nostalgic to hear.
Mash and Ritsuka, for their part, were caught whispering about the revelation of Francis Drake being a woman, while the person herself was caught arguing with her henchmen named Bombe.
"Ok now step aside, Bombe, let me do the talking here". Ushering her henchmen to step aside, Drake took a couple of wonky steps forward and everyone could see how tipsy she was.
"Great, she is a drunk as well." Ritsuka looked at Mash's sneer.
Ever since they landed in this singularity, the shielder servant was in a foul mood, so Ritsuka wisely took a step back and joined with Archer and Shirou. Arturia then joined Mash as Drake approached the two females, stumbling in her step along the way. Drake once more looked at Arturia from head to toe suggestively, earning a snarl from the King of Knights, before Drake's eyes landed on Mash.
"So tell me little girl…who on earth are you?" Mash cleared her throat and held her shield with honor.
"Well, you must be Francis Drake…my name is Mash Kyrielite and I'm a part of the Chaldea Security Organization!"
From the look on Drake's face, though, it didn't look like she was half interested.
"Chaldea!? What do the 'stargazers' want with us…does it appear that we are into stars and constellations, missy?"
From the very same organization, Romani, Da Vinci and Olga were surprised to hear the drunken woman pirate knowing about the origins of the organization's name. Not even Ritsuka and the other servants knew much about it, though none were curious about it. Mash, being the resident homunculus and bookworm, knew though and was surprised as well. Come to think about it, despite being a good for nothing drunk, Francis Drake was known for navigating throughout the entire planet. So, of course, she would have exceeded knowledge on different lands and different people's mannerisms.
"Well, spill it out girl already, what does Chaldea wants with me, anyway?"
Mash frowned at the rudeness as she was starting to know something about herself: a clear dislike for pirates.
"…Right, ah, we were sent here to fix all the anomalies in this era." If possible, the woman pirate was even more bored out of her mind right now. "Captain Francis Drake, since you're so great, you've probably already noticed. Something is wrong with this era, with this World. The ocean you've spent your days in, and the ocean we see before us, are not the same." Drake, then, released a sigh in dismay, removing the strand of her disheveled pink hair from her forehead. Her eyes looked bored to those inexperienced, but that was only the surface.
"Yeah, something does feel strange, indeed. I don't care about era or the World, but the ocean is another matter." Mash nodded, enthused that she appeared to come across, but Drake just smiled and continued. "When I say strange, though, I don't mean it as a bad thing…There's no other World that's as fun as this one!" Everyone from Chaldea blinked, looking at her for clarification, when Drake then turned to her crewmates. "Isn't that right, scumbags!?" One by one, the pirates cheered from their captain, yelling things like 'never-ending booze and food for them. Though, one or two tried calling on to Arturia's assets, before wisely shutting up as an invisible sword stopped just inches from his jugular.
To Mash's look of surprise, Drake elaborated.
"You see, little girl, we pirates long for the freedom to do whatever the hell we want, even if it entails evil deeds! Though, if you insist on keeping this conversation, you all must pass some tests first. I thus issue a challenge against you, little girl. Defeat me in a fight and then we can talk…" The sudden narrowing of Drake's eyes and the vicious grin reminded Arturia, Shirou and Archer of Cu Chullain. The eagerness to get into a fight was quite visible for everyone to see and the crew around them were getting angsty as well, eager to join in the fray. Ritsuka looked around, first believing that this would be a peaceful transaction, but then again this was his first time dealing with pirates.
So, what would he know about it? A silent conversation began between Archer, Shirou and Arturia as Drake's focus remained on Mash and vice-versa.
"Come on little girl, let us see what you got…I'm as drunk as skunk right now, but let's see if you have what it takes to sober me up!"
That appeared to be the last straw as the pirates all screamed and advanced at the same time, when Shirou summoned four Japanese wooden swords, one for him, one for Arturia and two for Archer. The white-haired servant looked at the projected weapons in his hands and snorted in derision, while looking at his other-self.
"Huh, still to this day, you still remain an idealist…I guess you did choose a different path than me. Though, I can't say it was for the best."
Shirou and Arturia just wisely chose to ignore Archer's need to criticize Shirou every possible time and stood their ground against the pirates and protecting Ritsuka. A gigantic beatdown with the three sword users slamming their wooden swords on every possible muscle join, stomach, shoulder, kneecap, and chest courtesy of Arturia's frontal sword tip assault and all of Drake's crew were on the ground, filled with bruises and making pain noises. Everything lasted than a minute. Well, not like they had much of an advantage to begin with, as the only fight worth seeing was between Drake and Mash. It was clear that Drake was not a servant, however they could all feel magical energy coming from her in spades. Her sword added by her two long pistols proved to be quite the challenge for Mash's shield to block.
Still, they could see the look of elation coming from the pirate, before Mash dashed and slammed the shield on the ground where Drake was stood on.
When Mash was about to prolong the battle, Drake then abandoned her fighting pose and guarded her weapons.
"Ahhh man, that hits the spot perfectly! Booze is all fine and good, but nothing tops a good piece of action!"
Drake then placed both hands on her waist as she addressed Mash, the other contenders and even her crew, who were down on the ground, in deep pain.
"And it seems your companions are also quite skilled…it would be quite the joy to wrestle against you there, blondie..." Drake even licked her lips for good measure and Shirou truly felt that he would have to restrain his fiancée. "Though now, it seems I'm all alone against you all, so it seems I had lost. That being said…you all are granted the spoils of war, so do what you want with me…boil me, fry me, sleep with me, anything you want…so what do you say...you shrimp, still gauging at the ladies here. Wanna a taste?"
Ritsuka right now was a mix between aroused and scared for his life. And this only served to make her grin even more.
"Ah...Francis Drake...sir…I mean, ma'am…I think I'll pass." Drake, then, laughed at the kid's heavy blushing and walked towards the downed Bombe, who was busy nursing his possibly broken kneecap. She even kicked him in the stomach for good measure.
"Get up at once you rascals! All of you, this instant!" the pirate crew then complained loudly, getting up from the ground and tending to each other as best as they could.
"Now, tell me, people from Chaldea, what is it that you need of me, the Francis Drake. Your wish is my command." Drake then eyed with humor as Shirou moved to tend to the downed pirates with Arturia in tow, while Archer was busy rubbing his forehead. It seems Shirou was still an idiot, deep down. But then again, seeing him along with Saber brought a strange sense of relief from the white-haired servant. At least, this way, this Emiya Shirou wouldn't ever lose himself through all the killing that Archer inevitably did in his time as counter-guardian.
Mash and Ritsuka then stepped forward to converse with Drake.
"We need to understand the situation. First, where are we? England, Spain, the Caribbean…where?"
This was the first time that Drake behaved normally, or as normal as possible for a pirate. Drake explained that in terms of location, they were at a complete loss. That the waters and winds are so abnormal that even sailing straight out into the sea is tricky. She related that there was simply no known continent, no England…just water everywhere and island jungles like the one they were settling down for the time being. The talking resumed for a while, until Shirou and Arturia finished tending the pirates, who were actually thankful for the assistance and promised not to bother them anymore.
Drake, then, grabbed a strangely familiar looking cup and filled it with rum, giving it to Ritsuka, practically forcing the gullible little master to drink.
Still, this was the first time he had any alcohol and Mash had to grab him immediately as Ritsuka's knees bent.
This was the sign for Drake to make her big announcement.
"Oh here here, everyone to our little captain…let's all have a toast and celebrate!" The crew all cheered, as Drake then drank it all in one go and the people from Chaldea all got to see the cup get filled as if driven by magic. It was Mash who caught on, immediately, while holding the drunk Ritsuka. Arturia, Shirou and Archer all approached her as Mash pointed.
"Senpai…look. It's the Grail…"
"Wha..are you…talkiiing about, Mash…" Mash managed to slap the inebriated Ritsuka, awakening him.
"Snap out of it, senpai, it's the Holy Grail!" Drake smirked at Mash.
"Ah ha, you got a fine pair of eyes, missy. It's not the never-ending booze from it, it also produces endless meat and fish!" As proof of her statement, Drake placed the cup on a table, and an entire banquet magically appeared out of thin air. "I just happened to find it, you know." What happened next was a full out explanation coming from one of the pirates that Captain Drake didn't actually find it on a whim, saying that she had captured the treasure in their journey to the lost city of Atlantis and that the Captain Drake had earned the treasure after defeating Poseidon. Thus, with Drake winning this battle, she became the rightful possessor of the Holy Grail.
Mash believed that they had hit the jackpot, securing Drake's Holy Grail, however her mood suddenly downed once Romani explained the situation, through the intercom.
"Mash, there is no change as far as I can tell. The bolt of this era is still left unsecured. The Holy Grail is indeed functioning to a certain extent. But, it's not as strong a force as before. Perhaps, it's this era's real Holy Grail. The Grails that Lev Lainur supposedly placed to disrupt the seven foundations of humanity. Quite possibly, the reason behind the turbulent seas is that the opposing forces, the two holy grails, are in contention. I fear that in order to restore the seas, we must retrieve Lev's Holy Grail as well."
Mash released a sigh as she safely placed the still drunk Ritsuka on the ground, while Drake kept the usual smirk.
"So, it appears that we get to have a little adventure of our own, little girl. Now, everyone, let's have a toast for the night and we sail first thing in the morning! Drink up everyone, for there is no guarantee that anyone will return alive from this!" Mash sighed and turned to Shirou and Arturia for help to at least take care of the now unconscious Ritsuka, while Drake and her pirates turned to celebrate with booze, food and pirate songs all throughout the night.
Unfortunately, Francis Drake, in her inebriated state, came on to both Shirou and Arturia and both were rather uncomfortable.
Well, more like Shirou was, while Arturia was thinking of using her sword to slash her in half and it took the sneaky Archer to come behind Drake and gently place her to sleep by slamming that place just below her neck. The crew would have complained, but most were already down for the count from the heavy booze in their livers.
It was the first time that Arturia actually 'thanked' Archer.
After that was taken care of, Shirou and Archer worked quickly to settle a nice bonfire and some quick stew as they observed the pirates' way of life.
One thing was for certain, though, neither Arturia nor Mash could allow themselves to lower their guard around these people.
Come to think about it, Arturia wasn't exactly comfortable either with the idea of the pink-haired pirate taking advantage of a sleeping Shirou.
===Next day===
When everyone awakened the next day, a slightly fuming Drake glared daggers at the white-haired servant for the headache mixed with a hungover.
However, at least, with the woman now sobered up, she was more manageable, at least not looking at Shirou and Arturia like they were a peace of meat. She was specially showing more restraint over Arturia, after the King of Knights had truly introduced herself. Drake was astounded to see that King Arthur of Legends was actually a woman. As Drake responded to England's Royalty, she felt inclined to make a bow to Arturia in reverence, despite Arturia herself saying that it wasn't necessary.
After the introductions, and using Drake's Grail for a nice breakfast serving, the group from Chaldea went along with Drake and her crew aboard her ship, the Golden Hind.
A marvelous vessel in Arturia's eyes as she had researched about England's notorious fame of having conquered the seas in the 15th century. Pride could easily be seen in the King of Knights' face as she eyes the vessel they were aboard right now.
"Alright, we're setting sail! Raise the flag, the Golden Hind is moving out! Everyone to your stations this instant! Move your asses!"
Everyone saw as the crew moved like a coordinated unit, following their captain's orders.
Arturia could at least take pride in knowing that despite Drake being a philandering and irremediable drunk, she had the command and respect of her subjects. As such, she had settled to take a seat on top of one of the barrels, located in the middle of the ship, while Archer and Shirou just stood with their arms crossed on the ship's bow. Arturia could understand that both were attempting to use their visual skills to see anything up ahead. However, that wouldn't likely help, as they were surrounded by nothing but water for the meantime. So, for now, they would have to make do with Drake's navigational skills.
"Ah Arturia-taichou…" the king of knights turned to see Mash approach her from behind, while Ritsuka was enjoying the ocean breeze and the noise of the Golden Hind's sails.
"Yes, Mash…what do you need?" Arturia could see that her focus was on Shirou and Archer's backs and she could hazard a guess about Mash's curiosity.
"What can you tell me about their history? Ah...I never thought to see Shirou-taichou angry at anyone. He usually has this calming aura, it was strange."
The King of Knights then looked towards the paradox between her fiancée and the CG version of him.
"In a nutshell, they are the same person, Mash." The look of surprise wasn't so surprising, as Arturia continued. The Chaldea staff were paying rapid attention as well. "They both are Emiya Shirou. The one I call Archer is because he was a servant of the Archer class in the Grail War Shirou and I participated in, only Archer was our friend Rin's servant. I don't know the specifics of what happened to Archer's timeline to tell you. But both do possess the stubborn quality of helping others, even if at the cost of their lives, if necessary. While I remained with Shirou after our grail war and helped him, in Archer's timeline, he was alone. One day, that Shirou must have come across a situation he couldn't handle by himself and he ended up making a pact with Alaya to help him in exchange for him becoming a Counter-Guardian."
Mash's shock was evident in her face, just like Olga and the other residents in Chaldea, including Boudica and Jeanne, who was watching the singularity as well.
"You were surprised to see Shirou so angry…well, Archer represents a version of Shirou that is full of regrets…a version that did fulfil his ideals of being a hero, but felt hollow afterward. And my Shirou couldn't have that…he couldn't accept what became of himself in Archer." This time, Arturia became introspective and showed a downed disposition as she recalled the pain of Archer's words back then as he described what inevitably became of him after his pact with Alaya. How angry he was at seeing Shirou getting up time and time again, despite facing impossible odds.
In essence, Archer was mad at Shirou for not giving up while Shirou was mad at Archer for giving up.
One of Fate's most profound paradoxes, no doubt.
To this day, her chest ached at the mere thought of her Shirou becoming like Archer. Empty, devoid of purpose…they may have similar appearance and even similar mannerisms, but when she looks at Shirou's eyes, she feels warmth looking back at her. But looking at Archer's, she couldn't feel anything. Right now, Archer was truly devoid of life. He was but a mere eggshell, doing the same thing, over and over again, as if he was programmed to. Avalon may have saved that Shirou back then, but without someone to help him, either herself, Rin or even Sakura, Archer would be the inevitable path of Emiya Shirou.
"A Counter-Guadian…but, then how did he ascend to the Throne of Heroes?"
'…I did become a hero…just as the man Emiya Shirou had always wished, I became a true hero of justice…inevitably, though, killing one to save thousands was what I ended up doing in the end. Defenders don't protect humans, Saber. What defenders do is simply clean up messes. They're beings that use their power to negate events that had already transpired. Disasters of humanity's own making. Butchers who kill anyone who threatens to harm the human world, without distinction between good or evil. Tell me, how is that any different from when I was powerless?'
It may have been a long time since she had heard those words, but they still echo inside her mind now and then. She can`t help but wonder if her Shirou would inevitably follow Archer's path if she wasn't there to help stir him away.
Turning to Mash, she explained.
"To this day, I don't understand the workings of this world, Mash. Archer considered himself a hero, but if you ask him, he despises the title. I have met plenty of servants that committed wrongdoings when alive and still became heroic spirits." Both Casters in the Fourth and Fifth Grail War came to mind. "As such, I don't know how to answer your question, Mash." For a moment, no one bothered to say a word as the calming sounds of waves crashing the Golden Hind's wood and the gentle wind shifting the sails. Even the seagulls flying above the ship, keeping them company as Mash looked at the redhead Emiya Shirou's back in sadness.
Devoid of purpose, seeking for something all his life and finally finding it, only to feel nothing but regret afterward.
Mash instantly found herself feeling empathy towards her superior servant, Emiya Shirou.
She longed to find her own sense of self…her wishes…her desires…her purpose.
"But, please don't feel bad for Shirou, Mash." This time, she saw the King of Knights showing a serene smile. "For as long as I'm breathing and kicking, I won't ever allow him to walk through that path and I happen to know two other women who won't as well. So, for now, let's enjoy this peace and quiet, shall we?" The shielder servant smiled, sharing the King`s high spirits just as Drake approached them with a smile on her face.
"My my...such complex character for you to choose as a partner, my king. Though, now I can attest that he is far more interesting than he already was in my eyes."
Drake stated, seemingly hearing everything about Shirou's story.
"Once more, there is no need to call me that, Captain Francis Drake and while I can truly attest to the honorable man that he is, Shirou is still my fiancée, so I'd appreciate it if you stopped ogling him as well." Quite frankly, Arturia was getting sick and tired of having to exert this level of possessiveness over Shirou. Rin was right that Shirou had many of the qualities that the female world look to in a partner and that Arturia would have to learn how to better control herself, but it was hard not to. Drake, for her part, just bowed once more in reverence and turned to her own station.
"Worry not, my king. I shall learn to control my urges and not think of thy fiancée having his way with me in my cabin!"
Mash couldn't help but blush and Arturia frowned at the woman's direct attempt at getting a rise out of her. The conversation was brought to a halt after that as Drake was by Bombe's side, who was controlling the ship's rudder. Then, they all looked upward as her navigation expert yelled, while using his binocle.
"Boss, it seems an island is in sight. East-northeast of our position!" Mash and Ritsuka then contacted Romani, who informed that he was detecting servants on that island.
"Captain Drake, it appears that we need to check that island…but there are servants there, so only us are equipped to handle them." Drake nodded and screamed the orders.
"Okay rascals, lower my boat and the anchor, I shall go explore the island with my friends, here."
The crew yelled in unison as they took care of everything. In no time, Drake and the group from Chaldea were on the Golden Hind's small boats as Shirou and Archer were ordered by Drake to use the rows, earning an irritated growl from Archer.
===At the Island===
After getting off the boat and reaching the island beach, the group of Chaldea with Drake marched towards the island to explore their surroundings.
So far, nothing appeared out of the ordinary as this place appeared to be devoid of any sort of presence, at least of any sort of human presence that is, as the group had encountered what appeared to be an untouched miasma of different flora and fauna. It is something to be appreciated, in the end, to see the beauty of nature in its finest, without any sort of human destruction. Arturia, especially, was taking her time to admire the land at its finest. Shirou and Archer, though, were busy just rolling their eyes at the heavy discussion between Mash and Drake about the drunken pirate's mannerism and her greed for treasures.
Arturia would have made an effort to criticize her fellow Britain figure, but she was far too entertained by the land's beauty to care at the moment.
However, the King of Knights stooped her musings when the group appeared to have found some sort of inscription on the ground, though no one was able to read it. Drake, being the explorer, took the initiative to read it, but couldn't.
"What on earth is this? Do you fellow Chaldeans understand what`s written?" Mash attempted to read it, only to show off, but she too couldn't read it.
"Ah Doctor, can you help us read this…it appears to be runes of some sort."
Drake was surprised when she heard a new voice through this strange communication apparatus, this time, a female.
"Oh let's see here…" Mash and Ritsuka were surprised to hear Da Vinci's voice, as it's usually Romani who speaks with them. A sudden sweat drop appeared at the back of their heads, as before Da Vinci could follow through with her analysis, they began to hear Romani complaining to Da Vinci about the servant stealing his job and then Olga using her authority to shut Romani up. "Okay, now that that's settled, Romani, let's continue, shall we?...okay, yes, it says Bloodaxe King, once laid to rest, shall awaken once more. Yes, that`s the gist of it, but Bloodaxe King…why does that name sound familiar…" Back in Chaldea, Da Vinci was placing a thinking finger in front of her lips in wondering, while Romani was busy researching the name on his computer.
"Th-the bloodaxe King…is the name of the Viking King that ruled Norway in the 9th Century!" As soon as Romani finished talking, the system went haywire. "Everyone, get ready. I'm getting readings of opposition approaching and one servant in the midst."
At this point, the entire group stood at attention for a while, before they began to hear a faint sound of screaming.
From within the heavy forest, an entire ordeal of what appeared to be pirates came descending upon them, swinging swords like crazy people. The long distance fighters in Shirou, Archer and even Drake, though, took quick care of them. Shirou and Archer with their bows and arrows, while Drake removed her pistols from the holsters and fired at will. What was odd about these enemies was that instead of bleeding after receiving the projectiles, they would simply vanish. To the group of Chaldea, it wasn't entirely new, since they faced conceptual beings in other singularities before, but for Drake, she was actually looking at her pistol to see if it was dysfunctional.
"Ah, did we hit them…I don't know if those rascals forgot to load my pistol with enough gunpowder?"
Drake's question mark was evident on her forehead and Mash enlightened the famous explorer.
"Don't worry...we hit them, sure. The so called conceptual beings are created by this singularity. The Age of Exploration replicates their image…think of them as ghosts, but with actual bodies. I get the feeling that we will be encountering them as we proceed, until we fix the singularity, right Doctor?" From Chaldea, Romani finished the explanation with a smile as he remembered the times he kept Mash company when he first arrived in Chaldea.
"Right on the money, Mash…a type of spiritual body etched in the memories of the Age of Exploration. They can only act to fulfill their roles. They have their own will, but are models of an idea. Call them an infinite copy of the average pirate."
Drake was more relieved to see that her pistols weren't defective and placed it back into the holsters.
"Oh okay then, shall we move forward?" Before the group could advance, however, Romani's out of a sudden scream was only heard by Mash as she readied her shield to stop a gigantic axe, aimed at Ritsuka.
"Take cover, senpai!" The noise caused by the shield reflecting the axe made everyone alert as the servants vanished and appeared in front of the attacker. A heavy muscular fellow, with black trousers, black spiked arm guards, brown beard and hair. Two horns adorned his head and the eyes…the maddened eyes courtesy of a berserker servant. Its giant axe hanged over his shoulder as the servant snarled at them. Any attempts from both Mash and Ritsuka to follow up a conversation with the servant was unsuccessful as Eric Bloodaxe, the viking king, saw nothing but red at this point.
However, before Arturia and Shirou could come up with a suitable strategy to face this foe, Archer had immediately advanced with Kanshou and Bakuya in hand.
"Archer…!" Arturia openly complained, as Mash and Shirou just watched. The white-haired servant used his supreme agility against the brute of a servant.
Archer quickly and ruthlessly used Kanshou to divert Eric's axe and with Bakuya, performed a quick slash on the enemy's torso, drawing first blood. The enemy servant snarled at the pain and like all Berserker servants, paid little mind to it. He advanced on Archer, who once more did the same strategy, only this time only evaded the axe and used both Kanshou and Bakuya to make even more injuries on Eric.
At this point, it was evident on both Mash and Ritsuka the differences between Shirou and Archer.
The aggression, the lack of any sort of respect to the adversary…but only Mash caught on what Arturia-taichou was saying earlier. The eyes…Archer's eyes just lacked that liveness that everyone could see in Shirou's. It made her shudder to believe that this is what he could have become, if not for Arturia-taichou.
Francis Drake, for her part, didn't care much for this white-haired servant's way of doing things.
A pirate would always seek enjoyment and fulfillment in whatever choice…in whatever movement.
This man, however, was the exact opposite and it irked her to see it in action. When Archer dealt the final blow to Eric Bloodaxe, though, the servant vanished from their location, which strung as odd to Mash, since normally, a defeated servant would turn into sands of prana. Still, her focus was on Archer, who had simply snorted and released his weapons, before returning to the group. Arturia and Shirou were frowning at the fellow servant, but Archer apparently couldn't care less about what they thought about him.
"Archer…" Arturia crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at him. "Even if this was only one servant and apparently a weak one, attacking by yourself is ill-advised. A suitable battle strategy is always advisable."
Archer, though, snorted in derision and looked at her.
"So, the King of Knights has chosen herself as the one in charge, I take it?" Shirou and Arturia were looking at Archer and remembering his old behavior in the Fifth Grail War. Shirou even remembered how irritated Rin was, having to deal with Archer. Arturia, for her part, was getting irritated at the comment, when Archer continued. "Do remember that I have independent action, Saber. It may appease to the idiot to work as a team, but I fight alone…always have and always will." The white-haired servant even turned his eyes to both Mash and Ritsuka, as if daring them to argue to the contrary.
Ritsuka may have the command seals, but differently from Rin, Ritsuka had other servants to boss around.
Arturia, though, was indeed intending on arguing against said logic, when Shirou placed a hand on her shoulder.
"It's fine Arturia, we can work around this. It's not like we expected him to be any different, right?" Arturia kept on frowning, however, but merely acquiesced to her fiancée.
Archer just kept looking at his past self for a while, before shrugging it off.
Mash and Ritsuka looked at one another and both threw their arms in the air, neither knowing much how to proceed, while at the same time trusting that the other servants could handle this matter on their own.
"Okay, while you all settle things, I'll go right ahead…I do have a treasure to find, after all."
Drake then started walking, until they had reached the other side of the island. Once there, they had found what appeared to be a ship. Romani ran the computer system analysis on the ship and found many traces of the Norway Viking ship that existed in the 9th century. The look on Drake's face, however, was the equivalent of them finding a chest full of gold.
"Wait right here…I'll be right back!"
The pirate, then, quickly jumped aboard the viking ship and went immediately to the commanding room and found what she was looking for.
Fifteen minutes later, she had returned to the Chaldean group, with a book in hand.
"Found the treasure!" Mash, though, looked at the object in hand and then looked upward, when Ritsuka openly questioned.
"A book?" Drake, though, only nodded as she explained.
"When sailing, vikings record everything from starting point to destination using pictures and glyphs. Coasts shapes, shoal spots, current traits and paths." Arturia smiled, seeing where the pirate was going.
"So, we can use this book chart to know our next destination, then." Drake, then, turned to the King of Knights.
"Precisely, my king…now let us return to the Golden Hind and return to our adventure throughout the high seas! Oh, I'm getting excited by the minute!"
Drake then turned towards where the small boat was, before everyone followed. One thing was for sure…despite being a drunken, no good philander pirate, Mash and Ritsuka couldn't help but share the pink-haired explorer's excitement.
Author Note
Yeah, for now, Okeanos singularity seemingly lacks much action in the beginning, as it's the age of exploration.
Aside from that, not much to comment.
Thanks for reading and thanks to everyone who added this story to his/her follow/favorite.
Please tell me your thoughts.
Next update: Nidaime no Sairin
