Author Note
Hello there and welcome to another chapter of Avalon Bond. Not much to comment on, so let us proceed.
Here is the chapter.
Avalon Bond
Part II – Fate Grand Order
Chapter 29 – Okeanos Part IV
Beta: Axel Emiya
Based on another ship, far away from the oceanic battle that has surfaced, a man was seen graciously taking a seat inside the ship's cabin. He had straight blond hair, shorter than shoulder-length and had a superiority complex air on his visage. He was wearing a white tunic overshirt and two golden ornaments held by a golden fabric strapped on his waist, which happened to carry a sword with golden and blue handle. Two golden wrist bracelets finished the outfit of Argo master, named Jason. A man whose desire was to possess power…power to oppose even the gods. His choice of wardrobe even shows the man's desire for another utopia…above the need to have more power, Jason longed to have all the gold in the world, solely for him.
Soon, though, he would have it all.
"Master, I'm coming in."
Jason looked from his sitting point when a petite woman of slender beauty, with long silk purple hair tied in a ponytail emerged from the door, wearing a nice light blue dress with almost transparent sleeves.
"Ah Medea, my beloved princess, I hope you bring good news to me." An exuberant smile appeared from her visage at being called beloved by this man. The gods had whispered in her ears and truly brought her fortune by being in his presence and serving the man of her dreams. Though, the news she was bringing wasn't exactly the good news her beloved was expecting.
"Lord Hector has contacted us. He managed to take the Grail back from Teach and it's on the way right now." Jason had only frowned at that, though.
"Only the grail is insufficient, Medea, you know this. What about Euryale?" She knew about that, but…hence she appeared apprehensive at the next part of the report.
"Unfortunately, he has run into strong opposition on the way. Teach's servants got into collation with another group of servants. They managed to keep him from taking Euryale."
"Damn it!" Medea flinched at Jason's outburst as he got up from his chair. The Greek magus then stepped back, once Jason approached her with his temper and held her firmly by her shoulders. "Don't you see, Medea…the grail by itself is insufficient. We were told, if we offer up Euryale, then we can obtain even more power! Me! I'll be even more powerful…more powerful than anyone…I will be invincible." Jason had this strange effect on Medea. She just couldn't fight him, despite being a strong magus on her own. Every time some speck of doubt appears in her mind, another thought would come barging in and overrule her decision making. When this happened, it was like this man became her entire World.
"There is hope, yet, master. Lord Hector also reported that this group is after the Grail and it's chasing him here at this moment." This time, the Greek man smiled and backed off a bit.
"So, in a way, Hector is bringing Euryale here, then. Excellent! Excellent, then we shall welcome this entourage of servants with open arms, Medea. Make the arrangements." She nodded and excused herself from Jason's chambers.
"Oh and Medea…" She stopped, however, just before reaching the door handle. "I worry…you seem a little tired. Are you alright?" Medea blushed at the apparent concern.
"Ah…no, I'm alright, thanks for asking, Master." Jason smiled, at first, showing care to her.
"You've been the ship's power source for so long…I want you to tell me when it gets too hard." This time, a more sinister smile as he finished. "If you wish to rest a bit, I can think about letting you rest."
Normally, she would skewer any man who believed he owned her like this, but then another whisper in her mind and most of her will powers gets subsided, until only a weak blush remained instead.
"T-thank you very much, master, but it's fine…your words alone are enough for me to go on." Jason hummed in acknowledgment.
"Perfect, then, that's how you should be…the woman who will become my lovely wife." Medea's entire body just trembled at those words, as she excused herself, leaving Jason to gloat. "Now, after we capture Euryale, we shall search for the Ark. With the Grail and the Ark in hand, I shall reign as King of Okeanos!"
===At the Golden Hind===
"Full speed ahead, damn it!" Drake screamed at her inmates. "Unless a miracle happens, we won't be able to catch up to that cheating bastard!"
The members from Chaldea were now merely observers as their means of transportation was limited at the moment and in Drake's more than capable hands. Still, Hector's body was smaller and faster than hers, hence why the captain's frustration was quite visible. It felt kind of powerless for everyone involved that they couldn't do anything. As much as Shirou and Archer could hurl arrows at long distances, Hector's body was quite far from their reach, albeit barely.
"He seems to be getting away." Ritsuka commented as he looked towards Drake, who could only snarl at losing this chase battle.
"Hm, if you manage to bring us a few meters closer, I can hit him." Everyone looked at Archer, who was casually just crossing his arms. The memory then hit both Shirou and Arturia when they remembered the time when Archer attacked Heracles from a long distance at the Fifth Grail War.
"That's all fine and dandy there, but how do you suggest we do that? We are already pushing the Golden Hind at full speed. Can you produce wind by any chance?" Archer only hmmed as he kept his eyes on Hector's boat.
"He cannot, but I can, Captain Drake!" Arturia proclaimed, before marching towards Drake's position as she focused enough prana on her sword. "Archer, be prepared!"
The white-haired servant only smirked at the King of Knights, before everyone saw an oversized black longbow morph in his hand. It was similar in appearance to the one that Emiya Shirou used. Drake, Mash, Ritsuka and the pirate crew just observed as both servants, Arturia and Archer, prepared whatever it was. Arturia's sword glowed blue right when from Archer's hand, a strange spiral looking sword appeared, hovering in mid-air. Shirou observed the show with a smile, all too knowledgeable of the damage that Archer could do with this attack.
"Wind, howl!"
From Arturia's Excalibur, a torrent of potent wind swirled until the proud King of Knights hurled the typhoon towards the Golden Hind's sails. Everyone felt the immediate shift in speed from the vessel as the sails were being pushed to the limit and beyond. Drake almost had an orgasm right there upon seeing her King's ability. Ritsuka was at the ground immediately, just like some of the pirate crew. Mash helped him get up, but the master's focus was solely on Arturia's sword and her powerful wind attack with a look of awe. Euryale was by Archer's side, as the man's eyes kept a sole focus on Hector's boat. His eyes and momentum weren't bothered by the Golden Hind's increase in speed. Grabbing the spiral sword and placing it in between the bow's string, Archer began his incantation.
The awe-inspiring show was visible through Ritsuka's intercom, which meant that the people from Chaldea were also observing.
"I am the bone of my sword…" Waves of prana emitted from his position as he focused on the target, now within his reach. "Cadalbulg!"
The blue meteor soared towards Hector's boat in extreme velocity, going as far as to carve a fissure in the open ocean at the supreme speed. The nonchalant looking Trojan hero was calmly navigating his fast boat, without a care in the world. However, the noise of Cadalbulg fast approaching quickly caught his ears. The old man had only seconds to turn his neck, before the arrow missile slammed on the boat's mainsail, stopping Hector's boat completely. Of course, the inertia of Archer's attack proved too much and a big piece of the boat's deck exploded along with the main sail. Back in Drake's ship, Arturia had released her wind propulsion, while the pirates were cheering upon approaching Hector's position.
"You know, my king…" Arturia then turned to see Drake, only to see that look once more, as the pirate started drooling and licking her lips. "...that was quite the turn-on." A sigh in dismay was evident on her face.
"I will choose to ignore that comment." Drake, though, only smirked lewdly for a while, before vomiting orders once more, while Arturia returned towards Shirou's position.
Within minutes, the Golden Hind approached Hector's boat's position and Drake looked smug for a second, knowing that, even if not through her nor her crew, she managed to win this chase. However, that win was short lived as another ship arrived, close to Hector's location. The Golden Hind released a horde of cannonballs at the new arrival, though like Teach's, all projectiles were easily reflected as if there was a invisible shield around the elusive ship. So, once more, Drake's mood soured.
"Ugh, not another one! When will this nightmare end?"
The group from Chaldea observed as Hector immediately jumped aboard the new ship and even waved to everyone, with a smile. He landed next to another person, a blond servant from the looks of things and Arturia visibly snarled at the striking similarity. Hell, even the narcissistic and that arrogant smile were the same. This Gilgamesh lookalike smiled at the arrival, happy to receive the Grail from Hector, as his eyes focused on Euryale, sitting close to the man with the red coat.
"Well, well, it seems we arrived at the nick of time. Say, Heracles, why don't we provide a suitable greeting for our esteemed guests."
Jason calmly stated as the huge Greek legend snarled behind him and grabbed a huge boulder straight at the Golden Hind. Those who were able to see just was going on, namely Shirou and Archer, flinched at the appearance of the servant who caused them a great headache throughout the Grail War.
"Mash…!" Shirou screamed, alerting the shielder servant. Arturia was looking at her fiancée, wondering what was going on, but Shirou and Archer didn't waste time. Both reality marble users projected a great number of swords that hovered in the air, while Mash approached Shirou. "Prepare your noble phantasm…we won't be able to stop the projectile from smashing Drake's ship." The giant boulder then finally appeared on their common sight vision. However, by this point, Archer and Shirou's swords already met Heracles's boulder and carved considerable chunks of the small meteor. Mash turned to Ritsuka, who just nodded and used the command seal. Mash's body received the excessive energy and focused on her shield.
"Let's go…Lord Chaldea!"
Mash jumped to meet the rest of the boulder up in the air and used her incomplete noble phantasm, lifting the brick barrier to reflect the rest of the enemy's boulder. Still, the girl had to exert a lot of strength to keep up, before redirecting the boulder towards the water, before landing on the ship once more. Arturia and the others were still at a loss, as she turned to Shirou, while Archer commented.
"Of all Greek servants, it had to be him, huh. Guess our luck remains the same."
"What is it, Shirou?" The redhead looked to his beloved and then towards the enemy ship.
"It's Heracles." Arturia gasped, but so did Chaldea's as the servant's stats appeared on his screen.
"Oh dear, now that's quite the pickle. Heracles, the immortal great hero of Greece. The one who finished the twelve labors assigned by the Gods." Romani's comment fell on deaf ears as everyone's eyes were on the enemy ship, since only Shirou and Archer had the advanced eyesight to spot the monster. Still, Arturia and Shirou were having a quick discussion about their odds here. Arturia normally was pensive before a battle. Having already faced this honorable legend in battle before, she could attest that today, their fight would be quite different.
"Shirou, we can face him now. Back then, you didn't have much prana to provide me with, but now, that's not the issue anymore."
"That may be true, Arturia, but back then, it took many of Gilgamesh's A-ranked weapons to even carve a dent at his body. And we are on top of a ship right now."
Hearing the conversation, Mash approached, quite in awe at what her senior were talking about.
"Arturia-taichou, you have already faced the almighty Heracles before?" Arturia nodded and turned to the shielder servant.
"He was one of the servants in our Grail War, Mash. I remembered that in our fight I managed to obliterate his body with my sword, but he was somehow able to come back to life." Archer also remembered that fight, well.
Back to the enemy ship, Jason only smiled at the group's achievement of stopping the boulder, just as Medea appeared next to him.
"Well, it seems they were able to avoid destruction for now. Well, Hector, at least you brought me what I needed. I appreciate your services. Now, we shall capture Euryale and be gone for here." As Jason's ship approached the Golden Hind, Chaldea's opposition team now became visible as everyone could plainly see the monstrosity that became the Greek warrior. Hector was lined up as well and next to the blond servant with a never-ending smile on his face, was a purple-haired woman, with her hair tied in a ponytail and carrying a familiar looking staff. Arturia was eyeing the woman with keen eye and trying to remember just where she had seen this person before. It took some time, before the image of herself still as Shirou's servant, captured and harassed by that damned which.
"It's Caster…it's her, Medea of Colchis." Shirou turned to Arturia. "It's her, she looks younger, but I suffered way too much by her hand and command seals torture to know!"
Archer and Shirou then focused on the woman and both exhaled.
"Great, what's next? Will Rider show up as well and join the party?"
Mash was looking at the three Chaldea servants having a conversation of their own and then reached for her intercom.
"Doctor, can you give us a resume about our opposition?" Back in Chaldea, Romani's screen showed the stats and history of the four servants that right now opposed Chaldea, while Da Vinci and Olga calmly drank their coffee.
"Right, okay, hang on a second…yes, well, I can't say I have good news to share, Mash. Well, first we shall begin with Hector, a Lancer servant. Well, counting on the fact that he had given the great Achilles a lot of trouble at the Trojan War, we can safely state that above his obvious physical skills, the man is quite knowledgeable in the game of war. That spear that he carries is legendary, Mash. Next is Medea of Colchis, master of witchcraft, with a history of betrayal by her fiancée Jason, whom I suspect is the blond one by her side, the leader of the Argonauts. Though, by her appearance, I'm led to believe that she is still due to suffer the betrayal that marked her history. As to Heracles, truly, I believe that Shirou, Arturia and Archer are better suited to tell you about him."
Mash then turned to Ritsuka and Drake who stood at the back of the ship, just observing.
"I guess we will have to fight them…" The shielder servant then approached the Chaldea servants. "Arturia-taichou, what's the plan here?" The king of knights turned to Mash briefly and then at the other boat.
"Shirou's right that facing Heracles will only endanger the ship…unfortunately, we can't risk endangering the Golden Hind."
A nervous sweat instantly formed at Mash's forehead as she turned to Drake and the pirate crew.
"I don't believe they will worry about this setback, though."
Arturia nodded, concurring. Shirou and Archer looked at one another and appeared to have come up with a strategy, before Archer relayed it to everyone.
"The idiot and I shall take care of Heracles." Arturia looked at Archer in surprise. Shirou would have chosen another word for himself, but now was not the time. "I'd take a wild guess that you want Medea for yourself, Saber." At that, the King of Knights reluctantly nodded, knowing that she couldn't hide her partiality in this battle planning. "So, that leaves Hector to you, girl." Mash looked at the Archer servant and acknowledged that this was the first time that this man had addressed her. Mash, though, only looked at Arturia for confirmation.
"As much as I hate to admit it, Archer is right, Mash. His plan has merit. Plus, as a Saber servant, I have an advantage against Medea's magic."
Shirou then turned towards Drake.
"Captain Drake, we can't endanger your ship, having a full-out fight right now. So, prepare your crew for an strategic escape the moment we say so."
That plan had a bad taste in the pirate's mouth.
"Running with a tail in between our legs is not a pirate's cup of tea."
At this point, Shirou could at least understand it, since Drake didn't know just how much destruction Heracles was capable of.
"Yeah, well, you haven't witnessed what Heracles can do with but a swing of his axe sword and the Golden Hind is our main line of transportation."
Jason, back in his ship, was eyeing the opposition with a smug attitude, sure that his goals would soon to be by hand's reach. Eyeing each and every one of the opposition, Jason smiled and turned to his troops of servants.
"Medea! My beloved Medea!" The teenage witch just turned into mush at those words and turned to him.
"Yes, master, what's your wish of me?" Jason thrived at having this level of control over powerful individuals. It made him feel as if he could do anything. Well, in his right mind, it was what he deserved.
"You know what I want, right? Gather Hector and Heracles…please bring sweet Euryale to me…oh and please kill them all". Medea nodded and lined up behind the Trojan War participant and the Greek Hero. As soon as Hector and Heracles jumped from their ship to the Golden Hind, Medea used her staff to summon dragon tooth warriors that emerged from the Golden Hind. Arturia remembered them nice enough, though she had never faced this much in one go. Still, getting her sword ready and her mana burst, she was slashing them one by one, while dodging those that attempted to strike her. Mash blocked Hector's lance and engaged in a fierce fight with him, while Shirou and Archer immediately kept Heracles busy.
===Arturia x Medea===
Arturia was quite busy slashing the Dragon Tooth Warriors, left and right.
Though, a couple of the familiar was taken down by long distance bullets, so Arturia turned and saw Drake smiling and winking at her.
Medea, from the Argo, focused on the golden blonde warrior enemy, slaying her familiars like they were nothing. As she saw the sword wielding blonde warrior, images kept appearing in her mind. Visions of another land, another time…visions of this woman, younger looking with similar looking armor and the same sword swing. She saw the same red-head by her side facing Heracles, wearing a black and white jacket and fighting a man wearing an brown suit with glasses. The vision of this man brought chills upon her skin at the warm feeling that suddenly came with the vision.
"Medea, beloved, what's going on?" The teenage Greek mage blinked and turned to see Jason scowling at her.
"Fear not master, I shall deal with her, myself." Arturia watched as Medea started flying from the enemy ship, as the sigils surged around her. Arturia saw another horde of Dragon Tooth Warriors attack her, while the sigils sprung to life, attacking the King of Knights. Though, Arturia blocked the rain of light Magecraft with her sword, while using her agility to slash the Dragon Tooth Warriors with Drake's help from afar. Medea was attacking her relentlessly with her Rain of Light magecraft, while another vision came of this woman dressed in white dress, while held by Medea's invisible magic strings, holding her at bay. Medea blushed crimson at the image of this warrior being held by her mage craft.
Her attack stopped and Medea hovered as Arturia watched from the Golden Hind. The look from the blonde warrior indicated that somehow she knew about who she was and the strange visions were odd.
"You look like you know me…and I have been getting strange images of us in another time and a another land." Arturia frowned at that, not sure if she wanted to live those times of torture.
Though, come to think about it, Cu Chullain had the memories of their time as servants as well.
"Well, no matter, it seems you're quite immune to my magic, golden warrior. I shall let my friends do the fighting from here on out."
"If you think I'll let you escape, you're sadly mistaken, Medea." The teenager witch was surprised upon seeing the warrior use her agility and even reach her position to swing her sword, but all Artruria managed to hit was a bunch of purple petals, before Medea appeared next to Jason once more.
===Shirou and Archer x Heracles===
The first thing that Shirou did upon Heracles's landing on the Golden Hind was to use runecraft and protect the vessel as best as he could. This fight had the potential to sink this ship, so he needed to protect it.
It didn't mean that Archer was less impressed by the ability, though.
"Just how much change did you make after our Grail War?" Shirou smiled as they both eyed the menace.
"A few, though, this is Tohsaka's merit…she taught me a lot." Archer snorted at Rin's mention, remembering his own time with his version of Rin Tohsaka at the Clock Tower, though if he remembered correctly, he was never able to perform anything but projection, no matter how much he tried learning other types of mage craft. "Just how do you propose we deal with him…all twelve lives of him, for that matter." Archer looked at his younger self, surprised at the piece of information.
"Twelve lives…I see, the twelve labors of Heracles. Well, that's going to be tough." Shirou nodded, before Archer looked back at Heracles, who had enough and advanced. Archer went immediately for the elongated versions of Kanshou and Bakuya and crossed swords with the Greek menace. Shirou did the same and projected his twin katana style of fighting. Since he understood from Heracles's fight with Gilgamesh, nothing short of Muramasa's own demon blades, could even make a dent in Heracles's muscles. Still, as Shirou bombarded Heracles with his swings, the damage was not that extensive and Shirou had to evade that giant ax-sword. Though, the moment that he evaded, Archer came and slammed his swords on the Greek warrior.
If memory served him, Archer's arrows did nothing but piss him off, so they were limited to swords and evasion.
Still, Heracles wasn't known for his patience and soon slammed his axe sword on the Golden Hind's floor…Shirou's rune craft worked fast in exercising the equivalent exchange of Heracles's own strength and reflecting it on him.
As such, everyone was surprised when the Greek menace was somersaulted up in the air and then landed on his back.
The ship trembled at the impact, though its structure remained intact.
Shirou wasted no time and focused prana through his fists for one strong prana punch straight on Heracles' face. Still, it did nothing but piss him off.
"That won't do much…we have to project the big guns."
Shirou agreed and kept the giant menace busy with long range arrows, while Archer focused on the swords in their Reality Marble. A burst of prana emitted from Archer's body as he closed his eyes in between his aria.
I am the bone of my sword
Steel is my body and fire is my blood
I have created over a thousand blades
As I pray...Unlimited Blade Works.
Mash and Hector's fight was put on hold as the Trojan War Hero saw the sword that suddenly appeared on the white-haired servant's hand, Durandal.
"But how…that's my spear!" Mash looked at the Peerless Sword Durandal in Archer's hand, wondering that herself…before she had to focus on her own fight as Hector tried to attack her.
Back in Shirou and Archer's fight, as Shirou kept Heracles busy, Archer gripped Durandal and focused as much prana as possible on the legendary sword, hardening its steel, before a glint of blue appeared around the steel. Flipping the sword in throwing motion, Archer then threw it with as much force as possible, just as Shirou sidestepped away from Heracle's wild swinging. The legendary sword then pierced Heracles's chest with as much strength as possible, going out from his back. Archer observed as the eyes lost color and Heracles just fell on the ship's floor dead.
"That was a good move…though, you have to kill him eleven more times." Archer ignored Jason's shout as he saw smoke coming out of Heracles's body, before the beast roared to life once more. This time, Arturia appeared next to Shirou and started focusing prana on her sword. Right now, they couldn't afford to prolong this fight.
"Master Ritsuka, please use a command seal." Ritsuka appeared behind Drake and did as asked, before Arturia's body glowed yellow just as Heracles fully roared to life.
The King of Knights just eyed her opponent for the time being, as she gathered as much prana as possible.
"We face each other once more, though this time is going to be different." She lifted her sword behind her shoulder and prepared this time for a horizontal swing.
EX-CALIBURRRR!
Heracles screamed as Arturia used her noble phantasm on the Greek fighter. Her gigantic yellow sword beam was strong enough to slash him in half and send both body parts towards the ocean in a beautiful show of light. Jason, Medea and Hector were all stupefied at the destructive beam. The Trojan Hero soon realized that he was alone on the Golden Hind and evaded a swing from Mash's shield. The Trojan general then landed next to Jason and quickly gave him the Holy Grail, while the Golden Hind prepared to make evasive actions to escape.
Jason merely observed with a scowl as he held the Grail in his hands.
"I guess it's sufficient for now to be King of this World. Though, I still need Euryale…and the Ark. Then I shall have everything I need." Despite the Golden Hind making a quick turn and escape just as Heracles climbed abord the Argo once more, Jason's words echoed towards the people from Chaldea. Both Mash and Romani back at Chaldea knew about what that meant. As the Golden Hind escaped from the Argo, Jason's squad assembled as Jason turned to Medea, who was still busy processing new visions in her head.
That beam of light…it was so exquisite.
"Medea…" Jason called, but the teenage mage didn't hear him. The image of the man in brown suit and glasses kept appearing in her mind. The image of herself in an older body, being carried in his arms.
"Medea!" The Argo leader screamed, but still Medea was in another world, blushing as this strange man cared for her…treated her kindly.
"Damn it Medea! Focus!" This time, Jason got through and scared Medea into finally responding. Hector just smiled at the scene as he observed the Golden Hind escaping.
"Y-yes, master. Sorry, is there something you need?" Jason snorted at finally getting her attention.
"Can you track that ship?" Focusing on the mission at hand for now, she nodded.
"Yes, I analyzed their magical circuits on contact. I can find them as long as they are somewhere in this world." Jason was placated at least and relaxed.
"Excellent and the Ark…can you find its location?" She smiled at the question, as her staff glowed, indicating their path.
"Yes, master, even without searching for it. They will find it for us." Jason's look told her to clarify. "That captain, Francis Drake, was a hero who greatly expanded this world at some point. Since she pioneers this world, she is sure to work miracles. We can capture Euryale at any time. We have the Grail and they will help us search what we need, master." Jason at this point smirked, seeing that he will get what he deserves soon enough. So, with that settled, he just turned his back on his squad and marched towards his chambers, leaving Hector alone with Medea. They only watched Jason's back leaving for a while. Then, the old Trojan hero, this time, looked straight at Medea's eyes and frowned, before opening his mouth.
"Hey princess, when are you planning on telling him the truth?" This time, Medea released a sigh in dismay.
"Must I, Hector? This world is going to end soon anyway." Hector only nodded, knowing that as well. "For these seas to last forever…that's something that HE would never allow. If so, it's not a bad thing to let him bask in blissful thoughts until the end, is it?"
"Hm…" Hector concurred. "If you say so…then I shall keep quiet. I shall retire for now." Medea was then left alone as the sun began to settle down in the horizon.
Once alone, the Greek mage embraced herself and closed her eyes at the warmth feeling caused by the memory of herself being bedded by this hero from a faraway land.
Author Note
Ok, that's it for now and a quick apology for the somewhat short chapter this time.
At first, I thought about going to the end of this singularity, but then I figured that I could do it next chapter as well as some casual scenes of them in Chaldea.
So, this shall be my last FSN update of 2021, so I wish everyone happy holidays.
I appreciate everyone who helped me write my stories, giving me helpful criticism and ideas. I wish everyone, above all, a healthy and prosperous 2022.
Please tell me your thoughts.
Next update: Cursed Eyes (yep, for those who are a fan of this story, it's coming).
