Hello everyone and welcome back to the start of chapter 38 of the story! The fact that we are already at the end of April is crazy. Time is flying pretty fast.

And with that said, let's delve into the chapter!

DISCLAIMER: All the Nasuverse characters belong to Nasu and are property of Type-Moon, with the exception of the OC's that belong to me, the author.


"Royalty eh?"

Peko murmured to himself as he would stare to the wodden ceilling above him in one of the bedrooms of Drake's ship. It was night by the time Peko was having these thoughts. A whole day had passed. Even if hours had went by, the boy still couldn't get the image of his and Nala's tattoo out of his head. To think he and his sister always had it but only now they discovered it was truly shocking for both of them.

Peko once again touched his back with the hand, rubbing slightly on what he presumed to be the area of the crown. That was what confused Peko the most. Out of all things his and Nala's mysterious tattoo could be, it had to be of a circular crest with a crown in it. His and Nala's tattoo were identical. There was no distinguishable difference between the two. Same shape,format and colour. Shortly after making the tremendous discovery, Ritsuka, Mash, Romani and Da Vinci started to theorize what such tattoo or crest could mean and search about it. If it had historical background or not. Because of such discovery, the group decided to remain a little longer on the Singularity while Romani and Da Vinci would work themselves out in Chaldea to try and find out any source about the tattoo.

So many questions erupted in those moments for the twins. So they were royalty? Prince and princess? King and queen? Governors? Rulers? Leaders of any kind of nation or kingdom? All that wondering and pondering was taking the sleep out of Peko's brain and eyes. For him, this was a possible clue in who he and Nala were and from where they came from.

But the crest wasn't the only thing that was keeping Peko await. The dreamy vision he had before falling unconscious unto the sea was also poking on his mind. The possibility and realization of having a mother.

"That lady...was she my mom?" Peko would constantly think about that. Before, he only thought about his father's existence, never stopping for a second to consider the possibility of also having a maternal figure since there was no recollection of such. For what Peko previously knew, he and Nala had a dad, and that was about it of the siblings lives. Everything else was just empty blank.

"And then there was also that voice." Peko said to himself as he remembered the voice of that man that was also in the dream of his mother. Just thinking about the identity of this certain man was making Peko more restless. "This is too much to process now!"

Not being able to afford some sleep, Peko eventualy got bored of waiting for it in his bed and decided to get up and walk out of the room. He had decided to go sleep earlier than anyone else that night but it seemed that wouldn't result. Sighing as he opened the door, Peko stepped out of the room and looked at nocturne sky above the ship. Like every time before, the sky was full of stars. That was when Peko's mind went back on the dream, or rather, memory, the boy had with his dad. If what he told Peko was true, then his own star would be out there, among the countless others. Possibly drifting alone or alongside Nala's star in the vast outer space as the two celestial bodies were seeking for their own wishes right now: finding their origins.

As Peko walked into the deck of the ship, he looked to his right side and caught Nala sitting on its border, also staring to the sky. It was only him and her on the deck. Everyone else was either on other divisions of the ship or still on the island. Seeing that his sister was with her back turned on him and no one else was on the deck, Peko saw this as golden opportunity. The boy couldn't help but let out a sly smirk as he gazed at Nala. "Payback time!".

Peko carefuly and slowly walked torwards his sister, trying to be as silent as possible. As he was within a meter of her, Peko put his arms in position, ready to prank Nala in the best way possible.

"Yah!" Nala quickly turned around and delivered a knifehand strike on Peko's forhead, resulting on the boy to fall on the ground. "Too predictable. Try better next time." She smiled to her brother.

Peko rubbed his forhead, trying to reduce the pain. "H-How did you knew I was behind you?"

"I heard your footsteps silly." Nala laughed. "If there is one thing you don't know is how to be sneaky."

"The ship's floor is just that creaking. Or else I would've got you." Peko tried to blame the floor of the ship.

"Hey, watch your tongue now. If Drake finds you saying that about her ship you will be left behind." Nala told her brother with a smile.

Not responding, Peko instead sit on the ship's border right next to Nala. The motive she was out here couln't be much different from his.

"Are you also having the same questions as I?" Peko asked Nala.

"Yep." She responded to Peko, swinging her legs while looking at her own reflection in the water. "Tattoos of a crown in our backs. That can give us some answers."

"And more questions unfortunately." Peko added.

"Unfortunately." Nala sighed, agreeing with her brother. "But hey, this means we are possibly royalty. How it feels like to be rulers of a kingdom of our own?" She said with a smile, feeling fascinated by such possibility.

"It's...I don't know quite well how to answer that." Peko responded. "I never considered that. In my mind we were just ordinary kids. Not some noble or royal or that type of stuff."

"I wouldn't thought of us to be THAT ordinary." Nala told him. "I mean, we can do magic, fight and other type of things. I bet normal kids wouldn't be able to do that."

"Then...are we servants perhaps?" Peko brought it up. "Like, we already had our lives in the past and now have been brought here to the future to help Chaldea and all that?"

"Hmmm, that wouldn't be so far fetched. But doctor and Da Vinci already discarted that possibility by saying that we don't have a Spirit Core or Saint Graph, two things that every servant has." Nala explained to Peko.

"I know, but...I'm also not quite sure about it. What we are just a different type of servant?" Peko put that in question, before also looking to the sea. "Besides, that isn't the only thing that has been bugging my head."

Nala's curiosity reacted. "Hm? What is it then Peko?" She asked.

The boy stood silent from some seconds, thinking about on how he would deliver this information to his sister. "Nala, as I had fallen unconscious earlier this day, I kinda had a dream at the same time. Or a memory perhaps." He told her. "I was in the top of a rock in what looked like a shore. And I was afraid to dive into the sea of that memory."

"Just like you were moments before falling unconscious." Nala said, finding the similarity beetween what happened today with Peko's dream or memory.

"And then, there was this woman who appeard and calmed me down, willing to dive together with me." Peko said. "Her voice and hair...It all looked familiar to me." He then slowly turned his head to look at his sister. "Nala, I think that lady may have been our-"

"Our mother?" Nala said, cutting Peko short.

"You knew about that?" Peko asked his sister, a bit surprised.

"It was something I was already thinking about for quite a while." Nala revealed to her brother.

"I see." Peko slowly turned his head away. "So we might have a dad AND mom."

"And if this tattoo crest thing on our backs mean we are royalty, then our parents must be king and queen from the land we came from!" Nala exclaimed happily. But her smile diminuished and dissapeard as she saw how Peko wouldn't react the same way as her. Rather, he was looking sad and unresponsive. "Hey, aren't you happy to have a possible clue now?" Nala touched her brother's shoulder.

"I-I am. But..." Peko didn't know how to put into words what he wanted to say.

"But what? You don't want to find our parents now? That we have a mother? A land to call home?" Nala questioned Peko. "Answer me Peko!"

"It ain't that!" Peko responded, almost yelling to his sister. "I'm just frustrated alright!?"

"Frustrated? From what?"

"We may have a clue, but it didn't gave us an exact answer. Instead only more questions!" Peko told Nala. "We have a tattoo of a crown. Nice! But what does it mean? Are we royalty or not? Do we have parents? If so why aren't we with them? We are from a kingdom, but wich kingdom? Where is it located? What happened there? Why do we have amnesia? Who are we Nala?! Are we from the past, present or future? Are we really twelve? We ain't getting any answers fot those questions! Not a single one Nala! Discovering we have a tattoo didn't gave us anything but speculation!" After such angry runt, Peko calmed down, breathing deeply and slowly.

Nala just stared at him, completely speechless and in shock after listening to her brother's runt. She stared at him with sorrow before turning her head into another direction, now sadly looking at the waters below them. What Peko speaked was true. Unpleasent but true. They hadn't got a clear answer yet. "Y-Yeah. I think you are right in a sense..."

"I'm scared..."

"Huh?"

Peko's voice trembled a bit as Nala stared at him. "Not being able to discover who I am. Living without knowing my identity, my life. Forgetting about any possible friends or family I had." Peko's silently let some tears fall from his eyes. "Doesn't that frightens you too?" He asked to Nala.

"..." Nala stood silent as she watched the tears fall from her brother's eyes. Those thoughts really seemed intimidating when thinking about them.

"S-So, what if we never rediscover our past? Having to live the rest of our lives as a no-"

Without saying anything, Nala immediatly hugged Peko as tight as possibly, surpising the boy completely. "It won't." She told him. "I'll guarantee that won't happen. But, if that happens to be the outcome, you will never be truly alone. You will always have me. And I'll always have you." Nala smiled to Peko, trying to comfort him. "Also, we have Chaldea remember? Ritsuka and Mash as well. They are our friends. Good ones."

Hearing that, Peko hugged his sister in return, letting himself cry in her chest. She was right. They didn't had much, but that didn't meant they had nothing. They weren't alone in all of this. Ritsuka, Mash and Chaldea was there for the two.

"Until that doesn't come true, keep hopeful, alright? Let's find dad and mom together. We will never change that, understood?" Nala told Peko, kindly rising his head until their eyes met one another.

Peko nodded to her. "Understood. We will find our parents. And help Ritsuka and Mash save humanity!"

Nala giggled. "Of course. We are in this together after all!"

Peko cleaned his tears. "You're right sis." He finally let out a smile on his face. "I guess hearing that was what I needed."

Nala's smile widened. "Come here you silly!" She went to pull Peko for a hug again, laughing alongside him. "No matter what, don't worry. I'm always here for you."


Hiding right behind the corner of the deck, Ritsuka, Mash and Fou all listened to the twins coversation from afar. Both Ritsuka and Mash were smilling at seeing the two siblings together.

"Having a sibling must be nice." Mash commented.

"Yeah. I kinda wished I had one." Ritsuka told to the shielder. Altough inside he already viewed Peko and Nala has his siblings.

"Fou fou!" Fou also said something that the two couldn't understand.

"So now they also may have a mother. It's nice to hear that they may have had both their parents present in their life." Mash said, now with the information of Peko's dream about the mysterious woman.

"But like Peko said Mash, we really don't have any real answer yet. They might have parents, but we don't know if they still have it." Ritsuka said in a sad tone. "If you know what I mean."

Mash understood what Ritsuka wanted to say with that. "True. Peko's frustration is justifiable. The current state of their parents is unknown, so we can't be quite sure if they are alive or not." She frowned. "It must be an horrible sensation."

"But it also keeps the hopes of a person alive." Ritsuka told Mash.

"Yes master. And Nala seems to be thinking on that perspective." Mash smiled for a bit before going back to look sad.

"Something's troubling you Mash?" Ritsuka asked her, not finding Mash's behaviour normal.

"Perhaps I was too rude on them for opposing to the idea of going for a swim. I failed to see they are still kids in a situation no child should be. Having fun to aliviate the stress from time to time is needed. But I instead was too focused on our mission." Mash explained to Ritsuka. "I hope they don't think ill of me because of that."

Ritsuka tried to make Mash feel better. "Of course they won't think that Mash. Believe me. Peko and Nala like you and are understanding. They can get your point of view as well."

"I think so." Mash stared at her own hand. "I also wish to help them find their parents the same way they're helping us saving humanity."

"Same here." Ritsuka smiled. "Wanna go talk with them?"

"Sure senpai." Mash responded and the two alongside Fou exited from their hidden spot, walking torwards Peko and Nala.

"You two are looking quite chummy. Mind telling us what is it about." Ritsuka asked to the twins, pretending he and Mash hadn't heard their conversation.

"Well, we were discussing about the tattoos on our backs and all." Nala responded. "I thought you two were still on the beach."

"And by staying on the same topic, did Romani and Da Vinci came back with any information about the tattoos?" Peko asked to both Ritsuka and Mash.

"They are still researching." Mash told him. "Are you thinking a lot about it?"

"Yeah. A lot really." Nala said. "Being possible royals of a kingdom is a no small thing to process in your brain all of a sudden."

"Then allow us to be the royal guards of the prince and princess." Ritsuka bowed as a joke making both kids smile.

"That's kind of you Ritsuka but we reject." Peko told him. "Royals or not, we don't want to be treated higher than you or Mash."

Nala nodded. "You are our friends, not vassals."

"Then we can still call you Peko and Nala I presume." Mash said to the twins who both agreed.

"Hey, since you know more about history than us, do you know anyone from royalty that were also twins?" Peko pondered to Ritsuka and Mash, with the master of humanity looking to Mash, as beetween the two, she was the one who had more history knowledge.

"Hmmm, unfortunatelty there isn't many royal twins registered in history, less so if the twins were brother and sister. So it's really hard to think of any possible candidate that could fit you two." Mash told to the siblings.

"I see..." Peko said dryly, lowering his head.

"Fou fu!" Fou went torward Peko's lap, trying to comfort him.

"At least we know your names." Ritsuka said, looking to the positive sides. "And that's definetly better than having nothing at all to remember."

"You're right Ritsuka. At least that." Peko smiled to him. "It ain't much but is something."

"True. As long as we have our names, it means we are somebody." Nala added.

"And that tattoo was just the start." Mash told them. "Sooner or later, I'm sure you will get your memories back." She smiled to the two kids.

Entering in the middle of their conversation, the hologram of Romani accompained by Da Vinci appeard in front of them. Everyone immediatly shifted their attention to them.

"Doctor. Da Vinci. Have you ended doing your research about the tattoo on Peko and Nala's back?" Mash asked.

"Yes we did." Romani answered, making Peko get a bit anxious.

"Then tell us please. Were you able of finding a clue or something about me and Nala? Anything about the crown we have?" Peko asked to the two.

Not responding immediatly, Romani and Da Vinci stared at each other and then stared back at Peko, their expressions not seeming very amusing. That was enough to tell the boy what the result was.

"We weren't able to find a clue sadly." Da Vinci informed them. "Documents, images, books, articles, videos, types of magecraft, command seals. There was nothing about the crest of the crown you have on your backs. No register of it."

"Wich means that the crest, or tattoo if you prefer it that way, is something that neither humanity nor mages knew about." Romani said. "This is the first time we are seeing it."

"Do you have any speculation of what it may be doc?" Ritsuka asked to Romani, seeing if he and Da Vinci at least had a clue or theory about it.

"By the nature of it, I say that is no normal tattoo or crest. My sensors detect a great mana coming from it. So in other words, I think the crest on Peko and Nala's back are much likely their magic crests." Romani said what he thought the tattoo's on the two kids back were.

"Magic crests? Ritsuka said confused. "Are they like the mana circles?"

"Not exactly but they are correlated." Mash said.

"How so?" Nala asked with curiosity.

"Magic Crests are a series of mana circuits that are engraved in one's body. They are typically more notorious and stronger on mage people than ordinary humans." Da Vinci went to explain to Nala, Peko and Ritsuka. "The Magic Crests are a way to store the magecraft of the mana circuits in one's body as well as engrave it. They can come from all shapes and forms, having many spells in storage. Therefore, we deduce that the mana from Peko and Nala comes abudantly from those Magic Crests."

"So the tatt- I mean Magic Crests on our backs are the place where we store mostly our mana?" Peko asked her.

"Yes. They are majority of the time, the source of your magic as well as the density of mana circuits. A person can also have one if there's at least mana circuits on the body." Romani told him.

"Well, now that explains our magic." Nala said. "It comes from this crests then..."

"Crests and mana circuits." Mash corrected Nala. "You don't have one without the other."

"Wait! Does that mean I can also have a Magic Crest?" Ritsuka asked, feeling hopeful at the possibility he may had one too.

"In your case, it's difficult Fujimaru. Your mana circuits are so weak that its almost non-existent. So for they to have enough power and magic to form into an actual Magic Crest is hard." Romani told him, before giving a reassuring smile. "But is still within the realm of possibilities so who knows? It ain't one hundred percent impossible."

"Somehow that doesn't make me feel better." Ritsuka said, dissapointed.

"I'm a doctor, not a therapist." Romani responded.

"The fact that we didn't saw any particular Magic Crest of a crown in magecraft records can tell us something about it." Da Vinci said. "To never being mentioned, referenced or illustrated, means that it can be unique. So there can be more than meets the eye on your specifics Magic Crests." The italian inventor smiled with intrigue.

"That does sound intresting. But if there is no register of it, then it can mean that there also isn't any historical register of me and Nala." Peko said, feeling that altough progress was being made, it was slow. Still, better than nothing. And it was better thinking that way.

Stepping into the ship and entering the deck, Drake announced herself to the people of Chaldea. "Ahoy people! How did the whole research of that crown tattoo thing went?" Drake asked as she approached them, carrying the Holy Grail in her hand.

"No result yet Drake-san." Mash replied to the pirate woman.

"Well, that's a bummer. Normally, as pirates me and my crew would hold you captive as ransom since the kids appear to be royals. But there's only islands in the ocean now, so I doubt of an existence of a kingdom out there in this Singularity." She told to the group.

"So you were planning on backstabbing us?!" Nala exclaimed with indignation.

"Nah. You people deserved my respect and trust the moment ya beat me in the duel. And even if I was, it would be pointless in the situation we are in." Drake smiled. "So calm down yerselves, I have no intention of betraying."

"Thanks for reassuring that to us captain." Rituska told her, showing his gratitude for Drake's words.

"Also I think it's time to give you this." Drake said, looking to the Holy Grail. "Wich makes me think, who exactly are you and your purpose here? It's clear that you people aren't from this age. More so, why do you want this grail so much apart from its magical abilities?"

"Oh, I guess we do owe you an explanation before we leave." Peko said.

"You see Drake-san, we are from the future. A place called Chaldea to be more exact. It's an organization that has the purpose to make sure humanity exists for many centuries and defend it from external or magical threats." Mash started to explain it to Drake who just rubbed her head.

"Okay. That's crazy but I think I'm still following ya." She said, thinking on the sheer absurdity she had heard right now.

"Unfortunatly the time we came from has been destroyed by an enemy of ours by altering humanity's history across seven points in time and space. This Singularity being one of those points, created by the existence of that very Holy Grail that you have in hand now Captain Drake." Romani told her.

"And the only way to bring humanity back is to restore this Singularities by recovering the grails that our enemy threw into it." Ritsuka said. "The moment you hand us the grail, the Singularity dissapears and the ocean that you knew comes back to normal."

"Aye, I'm connecting the dots now." Drake said, seeing how it was all making sense in her vision. "Is the kids tattoos related to this as well?" She asked.

"We don't know. That might be another whole subject." Peko said to Drake.

"At least we hope that by clearing this problem and saving humanity can give us some answers about that." Nala speaked.

"As of now, we cleared two Singularities out of seven, this being our third." Da Vinci continued the explanation. "If the captain gives us the grail this will be the quickest Singularity we have cleared yet and that'd be saving us lots of time. So this is-"

"Then here you have it." Drake interrupted Da Vinci, throwing the grail to Ritsuka's hands. "If it's a situation we all come out winning then I have no problem with it. And while I'm not from the same age as you, I can tell that this is of a serious matter to all of ya."

Ritsuka and the rest were impressed by the sudden action of the pirate woman. "Drake..."

In return, she gave a smile. "Surprised? I know, I know. It isn't every day you see a pirate being generous. But I can tell that your goals are something way beyond my understanding. So for all I can do now to help ya is to do this. And well, I know our meeting was short lived but I wish good luck for the rest of your journey nontheless!"

"Thanks Drake! Even if short, we wont forget you!" Ritsuka thanked the pirate.

"It was nice meeting a pirate like you. So long Drake-san!" Mash said.

"Hope you can navigate again on the seas you once knew!" Peko told her.

"You and your crew were funny! Hope we can meet again for a second and longer time!" Nala also gave her goodbyes to Drake.

"Alright! The Singularity must start to clear itself right now!" Romani said as he went to type on his keyboard. "I'll check the Rayshift in the meantime.

Seeing that there wasn't much time left, Drake gave them the thumbs up. "Whoever that enemy is, kick their ass will ya?" She said with a wide smile.

Seconds passed. The Chaldea group was prepared to go away. Anytime now. More seconds passed. The Rayshift was probably taking more time than usual, but still, nothing to worry about. Then another seconds passed and the group now was starting to question what was taking so long for them to comeback.

"Fou?" Fou said in a oblivious tone, being as confused as his group.

Even Drake stopped doing her smile and thumbs up, getting tired for staying like that for a whole minute. "Hummm, does it normally takes that long or I'm just not accostumated?"

"No. The Rayshift is really taking more time than usual." Mash said.

"But we already have the grail." Nala told to the shielder. "Shouldn't we be levitating and going back to the base by now?"

"Yeah. It's really strange." Peko put a finger on his chin. "Something doesn't add up here."

"Doc? Da Vinci? What's happening?" Ritsuka asked to the two.

"We are as perplexed as you. Truly, this Singularity should be cleared by now like the previous two." Da Vinci said, trying to think of a reason for why it wasn't happening with this Singularity.

"What if..." Romani started to think, processing his thougths inside his own mind. "Excuse me this question but, when did you got the grail Captain Drake?" He asked to the pirate woman.

"Humm, if I remember correctly, a month and a half ago?" Drake responded.

"And when did you started to notice the weirdness of the sea? When you realized something had changed?" Romani made another question.

"For about, two weeks ago." Drake said. "That's when the compasses started to fail and we stopped hearing news from mainland."

That was when Romani's suspicions were confirmed. He then looked at Da Vinci. "You were thinking on the same weren't you?"

"Yeah. It seems the grail here isn't the one we weren't looking for after all." She told him.

"W-What do you mean by that?" Peko asked, not understanding what Da Vinci was trying to say.

"Are you saying that there is more than one grail in this Singularity?" Nala asked if that was the thing Da Vinci and Romani were thinking.

"Correct! It's exactly that! If what Drake has just answered is true, then it means there was a grail here before Lev- or rather Flauros planted its own grail in this era to cause a Singularity." Romani explained. "The grail we have now belongs to this age itself and its competition with the invading grail may be the reason for why this seas are in the way they are now."

"So in other words, we aren't going home sooner." Ritsuka said, understanding that this Singularity wouldn't be so easy after all.

"Back to square one it seems." Nala sighed.

"But now we have Drake's ship, so traveling from island to island shouldn't be as difficult now." Mash said, seeing this as a great positive for them that now had a vassel to travel the seas.

"Shouldn't we ask Drake first?" Peko said to Mash, wanting to know if Drake was willing to help them for more than just today.

"You're right. We should definetly ask her for permission." Mash replied.

"Then leave that to us." Da Vinci said as she and Romani, both in hologram forms approached Drake.

"It looks like there has been a change of plans here Captain." Da Vinci said to the pirate woman.

"Seems like it. So there is a second grail from what I've heard?" Drake said.

"Yep. And so this Singularity won't be restored until we find the actual grail that has been sent here." Romani told her. "It's probably on one of the many islands and it could take us forever to find it without a ship. Now, I know that we shouldn't abuse of a pirate's genorisity but could you help us search the grail by sailing aboard your ship? We really need it. In return you can maintain the grail that is rightfully yours in the first place. What do you think about that eh? It sounds fair bussiness to me." Romani tried to convince Drake.

"Hmm, is it true?" Drake questioned them.

"As true as my paintings and creations." Da Vinci said. "You want to have the seas back to normal don't you? So if you help us find the other grail you'll have your seas back."

"That motive is indeed good enough. But as a pirate, there must be gold at the end of it don't you think?" Drake said, making clear that there nedded to be more at the end of the line for her to join in. "I ain't risking my men's life if we don't get a reward for all the risky stuff we do."

"That's intresting coming from you. You had the grail for this long but never wished for anything. You could have wished for large amounts of richness but instead you used its power involuntarely to give limitless supply to you and your crew. Does that means you have no wish captain?" Da Vinci said, trying to deduce Drake's mind about the Holy Grail.

"Getting a treasure that easily is no fun at all ya know? Adventure and danger is what makes it a treasure worth it." Drake responded to the inventor. "Hence why I hope there is one for me and my crew to help you."

Romani quickly thinked of something. "Alright look. There is a potential reward of treasure for you and your men. Why? Because I believe the appearence of other pirate's and ships here are manifestarions of the grail in this Singularity. It is pratically calling you for an adventure, fuelling you to find the artefact. So it's clear that there must be a treasure for you and the crew once the Singularity is restored."

Not saying anything but rather judging Romani and Da Vinci's words in silence, Drake thought about the subject for some seconds. She then has decided. "Okay. You convinced me. I'm willing to aid you on your journey."

The Chaldea group smiled at hearing that.

"Thank you Drake-san!" Mash said.

"Now we have a vehicle to help us explore this Singularity quicker." Peko commented.

"But with a condition." Drake told them, calming down their spirits. "The ship and crew are still mine as well as I'm the captain here. So until we find the grail and restore this Singularity, all of you are now part of my crew, savvy?"

"Understood Captain!" Ritsuka said immediatly.

"Same here Captain!" Nala followed.

"It will be a pleasure serving you Captain Drake!" Mash joined in.

"We'll make sure to be of a great addition to your crew!" Peko speaked by last.

"Fu!" Fou also exclaimed.

"Well, I think is only fair then." Romani sighed, rubbing his neck.

"At least we now have a kind of 'alliance' here." Da Vinci told him.

Drake smiled upon hearing the words of the group as her crewmen. "Good to hear! Now how about another round of drinks to celebrate eh?" Drake said, happily going on her way to grab a bottle of rum.

The reaction of Chaldea was of a nervous smile and dismay

"Does she never stops drinking?" Mash said what everyone was thinking.


Becoming a new day, the Chaldea group, now aboard Drake's ship and part of her crew, were sailing the open sea, in search of a new island to anchor the vessel. At the deck, Peko and Nala were tasked with mopping the floor as their function of new members of the crew while Ritsuka and Mash would try to catch sight of a new location at the top of the mast.

Nala seemed dissatisfied with her position. "Really now? Drake knows what we are capable of but decides to gives us orders like this instead." She protested, using the mop to clean the floor angrily.

"Do you think it was because of what I said about the ship's floor?" Peko asked, wondering if Drake somehow heard his comment about the floor of the Golden Hind being creak.

"By the looks of it...A lesson for you and your big mouth!" Nala passively scolded her brother, blaming him for the two now being here cleaning the deck.

Bombe, Drake's second in command, approached the two kids. "Whatya complainin' about? When I was the same age as ya two moppets I had to clean whole dishes of a tabbern I worked in to gain some change. I guarantee ya this is better than that."

"Yeah, but we aren't even being paid to do the cleaning here." Peko muttered to Bombe's small backstory while continuing to mop the floor.

Bombe however was able to hear it. "Well, this is a pirate ship matey. Not whatever the palace you and your sis used to live."

"Like we can remember what was like." Nala hissed, trying to not pay attention to the pirate's words.

"Exactly hahahaha!" Bombe laughed before calming down. "But now for real, hope ya two kids do find where you came from as well as your parents. It ain't every kid who has the luck of having a good childhood ya know?"

Those words were rather unexpected to hear from Bombe's mouth.

"Y-Yeah. We are hoping the same." Nala said, trying to get back with her mundane task.

"Thanks for saying that Bombe." Peko gave a little smile to the pirate before continuing to clean the floor.

At the top of the main mast, Ritsuka and Mash were trying to see anything in the horizon around them.

"Anything on the left?" Ritsuka asked to Mash.

"Nothing master. And to the right?" She asked him in return.

"A sea of emptiness as well." Ritsuka responded as he decided to move his vision. Then he caught something way upfront in the horizon. "Holy-! An island! I found an island Mash!"

Mash went immediatly to his side. "Let me see." The shielder took out a telescope given by Drake and pointed at the direction Ritsuka's finger was pointing. He was right. There was an island on the horizon. "I see it too!"

On the deck below, Drake looked up to Ritsuka and Mash at the top of the mast. By their reaction, they must've had some news. "Did ya find something?" She shoute the question to the two so they could hear it.

"Yes captain! An island up ahead!" Ritsuka shouted to Drake, delivering her the information.

"Good! You can go down here then!" Drake told to Ritsuka and Mash, before walking torwards Bombe. "Tell the rest of the crew to prepare the anchor and stay here guarding the ship. I'll go to the island with the rookies."

"Aye aye cap'n!" Bombe said, going on his way to pass the orders to the rest of the crew.

Drake then passed through Peko and Nala who heard the conversation and went up to restart cleaning the floor as soon as Drake approached them. However, that would be no longer necessary. "Stop mopping the deck. You two will also be coming with me." Drake said to the twins.

A smile appear in both kids faces.

"R-Really?! Thank you captain!" Peko said happily.

"Hell yeah!" Nala excitedly threw the mop on the ground, glad to have her boring chore interrupted.


Landing on the beach, the Chaldea group alongside Drake were about to enter the forest and explore the interior of the new island.

"Do you think the second grail, the one we actually need, is here?" Ritsuka asked to the rest.

"I doubt we will have that much luck twice." Peko told him.

"Heh. Grail or not, a treasure chest is already a good finding." Drake said as she started to step torwards the forest. That was until the hologram of Romani appeard.

"Before you proceed, I just want to warn you that my sensors are detecting Servant signals in the island. Be careful guys." Romani said, putting all of the Chaldea group on alert.

"Roger that doctor." Mash said. "We shall proceed with caution then."

Saying that, they all then entered into the forest.

Some minutes inside, Drake was leading the group, cutting down the bushes, branches and other types of vegestation in front of them. "Man, the florest is really dense in here."

"At least we didn't encounter anything hostile yet." Nala said. "As long as we manage to avoid a servant, we must be-"

Deciding to act fast, Drake quickly draw her pistol and fired a bullet into the trees just to her right, surprising everyone behind her. "I felt some presence nearby." Drake said seriously, making everyone go tense and on defensive, feeling now a certain anxiety in the air.

"Now who has a big mouth?" Peko said to Nala, damning her for speaking too early.

"Just stay close to one another, okay?" Ritsuka told them, making sure they were all together as they slowly followed Drake who was now cautiously taking her steps.

Brushing some branches aside, Drake and the rest were now in an open area within the forest, seeing something that appeard to be a stone tablet in the middle. Curious, the group went torwards the tablet to see what was written in it.

"This island is territory of the great Bloodaxe King. Any trespassers will be met with death."

"Inviting." Drake scoffed of at the threat of the stone tablet.

"Bloodaxe King? Who is that?" Peko asked.

Mash was sure se had heard about it before. "I think it was a title. A title to a viking king of 9th century Norway if I'm not mistaken."

"Never heard of him." Ritsuka said.

"I don't blame you master." Mash told to Ritsuka. "He isn't exactly the most well known-" Mash eyes suddenly widened up. "Behind you!" Mash quickly went behind Ritsuka and put her shield on the front, protecting him from a flying arrow.

"Intruders! Alert! We have intruders! We shall dispose of them for the glory of our King Eric!"

In no time, a bunch of pirates appeard from the trees, cornering the group.

"It's an ambush!" Nala exclaimed, summoning her sword.

"They seem to be at least a dozen!" Mash said, trying to analyze the enemy's numbers.

"Should have brought more people if they think only that is enough to bring us down." Drake said confidently, preparing her hatchets and guns for the battle. "Bring it!"

"Mash! Peko! Nala!" Ritsuka called the three out.

"Ready for battle Ritsuka!" Peko said, summoning his sword.

"Same here!" Nala confirmed.

"Preparing for battle engagement! Stay behind us master!" Mash told Ritsuka.

With their battle stances on, the trio alongside Drake charged torwards the enemies.

To be continued...


And that's it for chapter 38!

A chapter with more talking, discussing and bonding. But hey, I like many readers of fanfiction, am a sucker for angst and comfort. It's rare to find someone who usually does not enjoy it. Like, it's the default setting of a fanfiction writer/reader.

Now about the chapter...I dont have much things to say. Peko and Nala are possibly royals, but royals in history there is a plenty as well as kingdoms. So we have a tiny clue into their possible past, that altough it isn't much, is still a clue.

Also a little backstory to everyone's favourite character Bombe! Now jokes aside I decided to give him a little bit of backstory because meh, why not? But don't expect too much of him besides that lol. Like he is just an npc character of the game and I intend to keep at that. So no, there won't be a chapter where it's revealed the guy is actually the reincarnated spirit of Davy Jones fused with a god or deity of the sea as well as the onwer of the Flying Dutchman. (Altough that would be a cool idea)

Anyways, that's all I wanted to say and see you next time on chapter 39! Peace!

P.S: Alright, I admit, the Arcade collab event seems promising and the fact we can now summon a servant from the Beast Class is crazy on itself. Like holy crap does that summoning animation of Draco gives me goosebumps! Now I just hope Lasangle as more things planned beetween this collab event and the 8th anniversary of FGO instead of pulling more dead weeks on us.

But Setanta is here wich means his and Peko's broship can finally start and that's all that matters!