Hello everyone and welcome back to the start of chapter 51 of the story! a.k.a Okeanos last chapter. So get in a comfortable position to read and let's start it.
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.
"There it is! The Golden Hind!" Drake exclaimed as she spotted her ship some feet in front of her through the vegitation of the island. She, alongside the chaldeans and the servants rushed to the location.
"Oh! Look mateys! It's cap'n! She's back with everyone!" A pirate from her crew shouted to the rest after noticing Drake and the others on the ground. Just like the Argo, the Golden Hind was stuck between the giant teeth of the Leviathan altough more closer to the floor.
"Are you guys alright?" Ritsuka shouted to the crew on the ship from below.
"Aye! Everyone's breathin' and livin' here!" Bombe responded. "But what in the tarnished sea has happened 'ere?" He asked, with the entire crew bewildered by the changes that had happened to the place the island was now.
"Eeeh, long story! I'll fill ya in later!" Drake responded, prioritizing more the escape of this giant sea serpent's mouth. "Just throw the ladder so that we can climb up there!"
"Aye aye cap'n! You've heard the boss, throw the ladders!" With Bombe passing Drake's orders, the pirates tossed the longest ladders they had to the exterior of the ship until they reached all the way down to Drake and the others.
"Now we can climb up all the way to the ship." Nala said as she and Peko go first with Mash and Ritsuka behind. In a minute everyone was inside the vessel, with Drake being the last one to go up the ladder.
"Welcome back cap'n. What's the situation apart from the place where stuck in?" Bombe asked to her.
"First, our enemies have been dealt with. They're a problem no more." Drake responded. "Second, show them the thing Ritsuka." She instructed to the master of Chaldea.
Ritsuka then revealed the Holy Grail in his hands to every pirate of the crew, resulting in euphoric screams and applause.
"They made it! Cap'n and the rookies are the best!"
"Good one for a couple of cabin boys and girls!"
"Three hoorays for the young lads!"
Nala closed her eyes in amusement as she heard the crew cheering for them "I hope this means we're gonna have a promotion. No more cleaning decks!"
"That won't be possible with us having to leave them eventually." Mash reminded the girl, ruining her happiness.
"I hate that you're right." Nala responded in low-spirit.
"Don't tell me you were thinking about that the whole time." Peko told to his sister.
As the crew was still cheering, Atalanta came in to calm them down. "It's too early to celebrate still. We have to get out from this place first."
"Took the words out of my mouth." Drake told her before looking to Bombe. "Have ya tried to do somethin' about the ship while we were away?"
"We tried cap'n! But the situation is rough." Bombe explained. "Both sides of the ship are completely pressed against these giant things. We used all of our men to make an attempt at pushing the vessel to unstuck it, but to no avail." He then walked torwards one of the two giant teeth on the side of the ship. "We then attempted to slice it but..." Bombe touched the hard material of the dark purple tooth of the Leviathan. "It's as hard as steel."
"Then you couldn't do nothing but to wait for us." David replied. "The problem here is this two teeth that the ship is stuck between. I believe that if we destroy at least one of them, the ship will get free."
Ritsuka walked to the other end of the ship that was sticking out of the Levianthan's mouth. From there, he could see how high and above the sea level they where. "And it seems after that it will be a free fall all the way until we hit the ocean."
"Wouldn't a fall from this height, completely destroy the ship upon impact?" Peko asked, seeing the huge height that they where from the sea.
"Yeah. This as tall as the highest building in the world!" Ritsuka exclaimed. "We will die once we hit the water!"
"Do not worry." David said, coming with a solution. "My magic is able to levitate an entire ship as well. I'll make sure to control the vessel's fall."
"Great thinking David-san! That way, it will lessen the impact of the fall." Mash said to him.
"I hope you can pull that off." The voice of Romani sounded as his hologram appeard. "Everything will be on your hands. A ship weighs more than an ark after all."
"Oh! You're back doc!" Nala exclaimed.
"Do not worry strange man from the future. I'll do my best to make this fall safe for us." David responded with a smile to Romani.
"Doctor! We have a thing to ask for you." Ritsuka gained Romani's attention.
"Is it about the Leviathan?" Romani replied.
"Kinda. We already have the grail to this Singularity but things still look unresolved here." Peko said to Romani. "We wondered if it could be because of this Leviathan that appeard."
"You're assumptions are more than likely correct." Romani confirmed. "We and Da Vinci have detected anomaly signals coming from the Leviathan that is disrupting with the correction process of this Singularity."
"So that means this Singularity won't be resolved until the Leviathan dissapears?" Mash asked the doctor.
"That or you'll have to defeat him." Romani told them with an apprehensive tone. After all, a demonic creature like the Leviathan would be no easy task to defeat.
"Better come with a plan for that." Ritsuka said.
Drake approached them. "So of what I've heard, this creature is our final obstacle."
"And not an easy one by all means." Romani replied.
"Then let's just focus on breaking these teeths for now and escape from its mouth." Euryale speaked to them. "Remember, we may only need to destroy one to get the ship out of here."
"I agree." Peko replied. "The problem is, how are we going to break them?"
"Good question. Those teeth do look very resistant even for a servant." Atalanta stared at it. "And I don't know who from all of us here could be able to blow it up in one attack."
"Indeed. Our normal attacks would just cause minor damage." David replied. "Unless we unleash our-"
"Did you all forgot you have a goddess here on the ship with you?" Orion speaked as he referred to Artemis who was smilling all happily.
"Of course! Despite being a servant, Lady Artemis is still a goddess! Wich means her shots will deal more damage than ours." Atalanta replied with a smile.
"Exactly! No worries everybody! I'll get you all out of here soon enough!" Artemis said as she took out her bow.
"We better find something to hold to before the ship falls then." Nala said.
"Right. Everyone, hold tightly onto something before the ships starts falling!" Drake gave the orders to her crew. The Chaldea group proceeded to do the same.
"Okay! Is everyone ready?" Ritsuka asked to his group as they all put in position for the fall of the ship the moment Artemis blows the tooth.
"Ready!" Peko exclaimed.
"Same here!" Nala responded.
"We're good to go master!" Mash told to Ritsuka who then looked at Drake.
She saw that as the signal. "Alright! Shoot it down Moon Goddess!" She exclaimed to Artemis.
Orion tightly held his body to his lover's hair. "Please don't blow us all up Artemis! I beg you!"
"Relax darling!" Artemis said as she pointed her arrow fully charged up to the tooth in front of her. "We're going to-hurgh!?"
For the shock of Orion and everyone else included, a dark and sharp tail appead out of nowhere, stabbing Artemis in the back and canceling the goddess attack.
"W-What's wrong Artemis!? Are you okay!? Artemis!" Orion asked in worry as he saw his love cough blood and fall to her knees, entirely caught off guard by the piercing attack.
"W-What the hell was that?!" Drake said in total awe.
Peko then noticed a small shadow puddle moving on the ground right next to Artemis. "There! That's the thing that attacked her!"
Moving all the way up to the front end of the ship, the shadow puddle stopped and slightly grew in size. From it a creature with slender limbs, sharp claws and tail came out of it. It was as tall as the average human, with the entire skin as dark as shadow and muddy, as if it was made of paint. From its blank and empty face, a smile was conjured in forms of sharp red teeth, with the demonic looking creature releasing a strident giggle.
"What are you laughing at you damn freak!?" Orion yelled out in rage as he launched himself torwards the creature. "How dare you hurt Artemis?!"
Even with all the rage, Orion was still a teddy bear and so he was easily beaten by a mere swing of the creature's tail, plummeting him on the ground.
"Grgh! C-Crap!"
The creature then prepared to slash his tiny body into pieces with his claws.
Wanting to prevent that, Ritsuka tried to rush torwards him. "No! Orion-"
Thankfully, Artemis had her payback as she fired her arrow at the creature before it could harm Orion, obliterating it completely. "Don't ever...dare to hurt my darling again!"
"Lady Artemis! Are you alright?" Atalanta hurried to Artemis side, helping her getting up .
"Y-yeah...Just got a bit cautionless. That's all." Artemis responded, trying to not pay attention to her wound.
"Don't come at me with those excuses! That damn thing runned through your entire chest!" Orion yelled, seeing how bad inflicted the injury to Artemis was. "J-Just focus on not moving for now, alright dear?"
"I'll see if I can diminuish the gravity of the wound with my magic." David said while approaching Artemis, about to use a healing spell on her.
"What kind of thing was that? It looked so unnatural and scary." Peko talked to the others.
"It surely had a demonic appearence to it." Mash replied. "It wasn't like any enemy we have seen before."
"Could it have been Medea's work?" Ritsuka wondered, remembering that the witch had retreated.
"Very unlikely. They look nothing like the soldier warriors she uses to summon." Euryale responded to Ritsuka hypothesis.
"Or perhaps she is summoning other type of monsters to go after us." Nala said, not discarting that theory completely. "What is your opinion on this doc?"
"Hmmm. That thing was indeed unusual." Romani said, thoughtful. "To appear and attack just like that from the shadows. We'll-...Oh god! Please, you have to be kidding me!" Romani exclaimed in frustration as he was looking at something on his monitor.
"What is the change of reaction all of a sudden doc?" Ritsuka asked confused. However, his question quickly met its answer.
"There! They're appearing from the tooth!" Drake pointed to the giant tooth from where several more of the same type of creature that attacked Artemis burgeoned from its texture and were now falling on the Golden Hind.
"There's many of them now!" Peko exclaimed.
"We'll have to fend these things off the ship!" Nala said, summoning her sword.
"Everyone! Grab ya weapons! Whatever are these creatures beat them at all costs!" Drake exclaimed.
"AYE AYE CAPTAIN!"
With an unexpected battle emerging, David and Atalanta entrusted Artemis protection to the Chaldean group and Euryale as they and Drake would fought the things at the front of the ship with the entire crew. That however didn't prevent some of those creatures to appear near them.
"The enemy is close!" Mash exclaimed.
"Let's fight them then!" Ritsuka replied, with the trio of Mash, Peko and Nala engaging in combat against the enemy.
The battle was proving itself to be rough. Time would pass and no matter how many times it seemed they had defeated one of these creatures, they would always come back, reshaping their body back to normal after being sliced or shot. The number was seeming to grow and many men of Drake's crew were already getting wounded and beaten by these undefeateble enemies.
"No matter what we do, they always come back!" Nala said.
"It's as if our hits weren't dealing any actual damage to them!" Peko speaked as he, Nala and Mash were panting, getting tired and being worn out by the enemies that just couldn't be defeated.
"We have to find a way of defeating these creatures!" Ritsuka said as he watched the situation from behind.
"I have some info about these guys if that is what you want!" Romani said to him. "I doubt however if it will be an helpful one."
"Just say it!" Ritsuka told to Romani.
"It looks like these monsters have the same type of mana as the Leviathan altough much lower. So it could be said that these creatures are of demonic origin as well." Romani informed.
Mash heard the conversation behind her. "Then ghe summoner of these enemies is the Leviathan itself?"
"Could it be some sort of self-defense system? Since it may know we plan to destroy one of its tooth now!" Peko replied.
"And I doubt it will stop from pouring out these things until we are killed by them!" Nala said. "If only there was a way to deal with them."
Continuing to battle with the enemy, Peko fired one of his light bullets into the head of one of the creatures, resulting in that specific enemy to release a painful screech before seemingly dropping dead on the floor. The other creatures nearby slwoly moved away from its fading body. Peko had just successfuly killed one of them.
"I...I-I got one!" Peko exclaimed, feeling both happy and surprise for seeing that the attack he had performed killed what looked to be an unkillable enemy.
"Then it means these creatures are weak to light!" Romani said as he come to the conclusion. "Makes sense if they are deamons after all!"
"Can you finish the rest off Peko?" Ritsuka asked to the boy.
"I don't know. They're everywhere. It would take some time for me to do that." Peko responded.
"Why don'y use your blast then? It would be quicker!" Nala proposed.
"I can't risk it! There would be allies caught in the crossfire if I were to do that!" Peko explained to his sister.
"Plus, I think that wouldn't stop the Leviathan from evoking more!" Mash added as she saw more of the same creature being spawned abundantly in the Leviathan's tooth.
Euryale shot one of them down temporarily. "So we're back to square one it seems." She said, looking at them and unaware of one of the creatures sneaking behind her.
Ritsuka immediatly put himself in front of her. "Euryale! Watch out!" He readied himself for the hit as the demonic creature launched itself torwards him. Luckily for Ritsuka, the creature's tail was grabbed by Drake from behind.
"Don't even think about it!" The pirate woman said as she pulled the tail of the enemy and shot it in the leg, causing the enemy to fall before Drake shot it again in the head. Taking chance of the monster being down for the short time being, Drake lifted its body and threw it off the ship. "And get the hell out of my ship!"
"W-Wow!" Ritsuka reacted. "Thank you captain."
"Don't say that yet! There's more of them to deal with!" Drake replied. "And I don't want to sound pessimist but, we will perish if we don't do something quick!"
"We're trying to figure something out!" Mash said. "These things apparently are weak to light but I doubt that will stop more of them from coming to the ship!"
"What we should do now captain?" Nala asked to Drake, hoping that she might have a solution.
Not having much time to think, Drake released a muttered curse amongst her lips as she thought of something. "We'll have to break one of these two teeth! Right now!"
"That's impossible right now with all this fight happening!" Romani told her.
"I know but we have to! It's either that or dying!" Drake said as she went to fight other monstera around her. "I'll buy you some time to think!"
"I wonder how we're going to do that." Peko said to his group. "David and Atalanta are occupied. Artemis is wounded. And..." Peko hesitated to say something about Euryale. The goddess however understood what he was going to say.
"No need to hide those words. I'm aware I'm not the strongest servant here as well as my Noble Phantasm wouldn't do enough damage to break the tooth." Euryale said, firing an arrow at an incoming enemy. "Hence why I will also give you cover to come up with something. I'm counting on you!" She said, leaving the Chaldea group in order to fight against the surrounding creatures.
"If the tooth is as resilient as it was told to us, it will take forever to break it!" Mash said. "We won't be able to do it in one hit!"
"Does the tooth have any weak spot doc?" Ritsuka asked to Romani.
"I'll try to see that right now!" Romani responded.
"H-hey...Don't worry about it." Artemis said as she tried to walk, still with some pain from the wound. "I'm still doing this-"
"You won't!" Orion said, forcing her back to rest. "In that state you'll die if you release one of your strongest arrows!"
"Orion is right! You need to rest!" Peko told to the goddess. "We're going to find a solution fast enough!" As the boy said that, the ship shakened as it was starting to get overloaded with the never ending quantity of creatures that would land on it.
Drake looked to the Chaldea group as she, Euryale, David, Atalanta and the rest of the crew were starting to get overwhelmed. "Any minute now!" She yelled to them, feeling that they wouldn't be able to hold down the enemy mob for much longer.
"We're trying!" Mash shouted back. "Found the weak spot already doctor?" Mash asked to Romani, starting to feel the dread of the situation.
"I'm trying! I'm trying!" Romani replied, panickly typping on his keyboard to try and find any weakness on the Leviathan's tooth.
"Aaah!"
"They're overpowering us!"
"Hold on a little longer boys!"
"They don't stop coming!"
"We have to do something!"
"Oi! Have you figured it out yet!?"
"We're being surrounded!"
"Someone do something goddamit!"
"..." In the middle of all the chaos, Ritsuka's ears cut off all the sound with his eyes staring at the distressed situation in front of him. The only thing that he could heard was his own mind. "What am I even doing? I'm the leader of this group." Ritsuka said to himself, being so deep in his own toughts that he ignored Peko calling out for him and pushing his arm. "I need to come up with a solution. That's my role after all. To lead us to the best outcome possible. So think of something! Think on something dammit!" As his eyes started to move in search for a possible solution, he laid his gaze upon Nala who seemed to be staring at her own sword.
"We're all going to die here if we don't act fast now! I can't perish here! I can't! I need to find our parents first!" Nala tightened her grip on the sword. "No matter if it takes one or a hundread strokes, I'll do it! I will slash that thing! I've gotten strong, haven't I? Strong enough to make sure that they're safe!" Making a risky decision, Nala took a deep breath and turned around. "Ritsuka! I-"
"Permission granted!" Ritsuka said, putting an hand on her shoulder and looking her in the eye. "Slash that tooth down Nala!"
"WHA-!" Peko exclaimed in shock.
Mash was perplexed as well. "Master, you aren't possibly- Do you have any idea the tons that thing must weight?!" She said to him, incredulous.
"Yes! I'm well aware of it Mash!" Ritsuka responded. "And I won't back down on my decision!"
"R-Ritsuka..." Nala muttered in surprise, seeing how instead of shutting her plan down for sounding ridiculous, Ritsuka instantly approved her decision. Or more like, how he knew exactly what she was thinking.
"Remembered of those slashes you showed me when practicing it?" Ritsuka reminded her of that, smilling. "I believe it's time to show us how much you improved."
Initially speechless, Nala tried to control her incoming happiness from overwheling her as she smiled back to Ritsuka. "Understood Ritsuka!"
Peko and Mash were still trying to process it.
"B-But sis, are you su-"
"Let her do it Peko." Romani told to the boy.
"You are supportive of this decision doctor?" Mash asked to him.
"I do." Romani responded, having full trust on Nala. "This was the leader's and master's decision after all. And it's your duty to support it as well Mash." He told to the Shielder. "Believe in both of them you two."
Nala went up to Peko. "I gave you a vote of confidence back there. So now it's your turn to give me one."
Peko knew that she was right. She trusted him to fight against Jason alone. It was only fair to trust on her now, even if the task seemed more difficult. "Okay. Go with everything then!" He told to Nala.
"Heh! You know it!" Nala replied.
Ritsuka noticed that Mash was still unsure about it. "Don't sweat about it Mash. You know of her potential."
"I-I do Senpai. But-"
"Hey. It will be alright. I promise I won't fail you!" Nala speaked to the older girl. "That's the last thing I want to do now. To dissapoint all of you."
"Nice way of saying it Nala!" Ritsuka told her before looking at Mash. "Believe in her. We're a team after all."
Mash closed her eyes for a second, before reopening them with her mind made up. "I will! Give your best Nala!" She encouraged the girl.
"Thanks Mash!" Nala replied back.
Fate Grand Order OST- Tenacious Resolve
Before she went torwards the tooth, Ritsuka grabbed her by the arm. "Wait a sec! We just need to find a way for you to slash the tooth without having any of the enemies interfering you."
"And how do you plan to do that?" Peko asked him.
"Glad you asked!" Ritsuka replied. "Because it envolves you!"
"Wah!? M-Me?" Peko said surprised.
"Create one of those flashbangs with your magic! They're weak to light so it will work!" Ritsuka instructed to his friend.
"That's a nice strategy master!" Mash replied, thinking that it was a good plan.
"And Nala, once the flashbang happens you immedialty sprint torwards the tooth and slice it!" Ritsuka told to her.
"Your plan has everything to work!" Peko replied, starting to manifest a ball of light in his hand. "Let's do this then!"
"Ready Nala?" Ritsuka asked.
"Ready!" She confirmed.
Ritsuka then shouted to Drake, her crew and the servants in front of them. "Everyone! On the count of three close your eyes!"
"What? Is that the plan you've come up with?" Drake asked as she continued to fought back the enemy.
"Just trust me! Do it and in no time we will be falling to the sea!" Ritsuka shouted.
"Let's do what he says!" Atalanta said. "We can't fight this things for much longer!"
"That human has some dangerous ideas, but also good ones, so I believe in him!" Euryale said.
"Okay! I'll get ready to use my levitation spell the moment we star falling then!" David speaked.
"Just for the love of god, make sure it works Ritsuka!" Drake told him.
"It will!" Ritsuka responded as he watched Peko charging up is light ball. "One...Two...Three! Now!"
Giving the order, Peko launched his ball of light torwards the large group of enemies, with everyone protecting their eyes the moment the ball exploded into a huge flashbang, stunning and affecting all of the demonic creatures who fell to the ground or off the ship.
"It's our chance! Nala!" Mash said as she quickly saw Nala jumping torwards the giant tooth, holding her sword with both hands.
"One hit! I'll do it in one single hit!" Feeling the mana flowing rapidly through her body and the mana circuits at work, Nala begun to transfer it into her weapon. "I will give my everything! What Heracles teached me! What I learned until now! I will use all of it in this blow!" The blade of the sword started to transform into a pure lightsaber, shinning immensily bright, lightning up the entire area. The mana levels of the weapon were consistenly rising. "Here comes! My strongest slash yet!"
Swinging her bright sword, Nala released a big slash from it, making contact with the Leviathan's tooth resulting in entire sparks flying out as consequence of the strong impact and friction. Having to put a lot more strenght into it, Nala used all her energy and burned her mana into the strike, overworking all of her mana circuits.
"GGGGGGGGGGHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
With the entire nerves of her body screaming and muscles aching, Nala did the impossible and managed to slice the enormous tooth of the Leviathan in half. Everyone aboard the Golden Hind watched in astonishment.
"S-She did it. Nala made it!" Peko yelled in euphoria as he saw his sister do an incredible feat.
"Yes! Good one Nala!" Ritsuka cheered as he high fived Peko. "I was right, wasn't I?"
"Haha, completely." Peko responded.
"The way Nala did was just...I can't even describe it!" Mash said, happy as well.
"Phew! That was quite a thing to witness!" Drake said with a smile. "Good job girl."
But before any of them could start to celebrate, the Golden Hind begun to slip down, about to have the highest free fall of its career.
"We almost forgot about the fall!" Atalanta said. "All of us need to hold up to the ship! Quick!"
Ritsuka looked at David. "David!"
"I know! My spell is ready! Now hold on tight! For we are about to faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaall!" David yelled as the ship started its insane descend torwards the ocean below alongside the falling tooth.
Meanwhile, a tired and exhausted Nala unsummoned her sword as she saw her work done. "Hehe...I did it...I rea..lly..." And her body too begun to fall right behind the Golden Hind.
"Fu fou!" Fou called the group's attention on the falling Nala above them.
"We need to catch her!" Ritsuka said.
"Leave it to me master!" Mash replied.
With the ship now being about a thousand meters from the water, David saw it as the perfect opportunity to cast it spell.
"That 'Holy Box' should never be touched.
He who is neither priest, nor bears the name of Levi,
be ready to sacrifice your life.
For that is the Ten Commandments, protected by Cherubim.
The testimony of our faith, bestowed upon us from the peak of Mount Sinai!
Come, Ark of the Covenant!"
And so, the entire ship falling speed got reduced. Reduced enough for the hull to have a save landing on the water after the Leviathan's tooth splashed on it first. The Golden Hind was back to the sea. And immediatly after that, Mash was able to catch Nala's falling body before it crashed on the deck.
"I got her!" Mash said with Nala on her arms.
Peko and Ritsuka quickly went to check on her.
"How is she?" Peko asked a bit worried.
"Hmm, it seems like she passed out from exhaustion." Mash said, looking at Nala's unconscious face.
"Can't blame her. She put everything she had into that one attack." Ritsuka replied.
"She did." Mash said with a warm smile. "You did an amazing job Nala. Rest for now."
"You did well sis." Peko said despite of Nala being unconscious, holding her hand. "We'll make sure that when you wake up this Singularity will be already resolved."
"Now with that resolved, we need to think of the next step." Drake said, approaching them and seeing that the ship had freed itself from thos creatures as well. "Defeat the Leviathan."
"I wonder how will we going to do that." Peko said.
"Yeah. This serpent is incredibly huge." Euryale said as she helped Mash lay Nala's body on the ground. "If taking a tooth down was already hard enough, think about the entire being."
"Any idea to defeat it Doc?" Ritsuka asked to Romani.
"Well, let me see-Hm? What's this?" Romani approached his face to the monitor as it detected a signal. His eyes widened. "Watch out everyone! There's somethin-"
A giant splash occured right next to the Golden hind, with a giant wave soaking all of them by surprise.
"What a..." Ritsuka slowly took his arm out of the front of his face, trying to see what thing had falled to have created this big splash.
And it happened that the answer was non other than another ship. The Argo.
"It's the Argo!" Atalanta exclaimed. "But then that means..."
"Hand over what is mine already! This game has been played long enough and I'm sick of it!" The annoying voice from Jason spokened as the man himself appeard in front of them with Medea.
"It's the two remaining Argonauts!" Euryale exclaimed.
"But how did you managed to get here? Wasn't your ship stuck as well?" Peko questioned, being sure that the last time he saw the Argo it was in the middle of the Leviathan's teeth.
"My Magecraft was able to teleport it to the outside of the creature. It wasn't easy though. Costed a lot of energy." Medea explained with a sweet smile on her face.
"Hahahaha. That is why you're my number one crewmate Medea! What I would do without you." Jason laughed before looking at Atalanta. "Oh oh. And we finally met each other again, Atalanta."
"I was hoping on not having to see your face again in this Singularity. The times I've passed without it have been great." Atalanta responded back, not feeling any happiness in seeing her former captain back. She then stared at Medea. "And to think you went on to do such destructive scheme all this time. I thought you were better than this Medea."
"I don't see the problem here, my former friend. I'm just helping my captain and lover, Lord Jason, to achieve is fantasy." Medea responded innocently to Atalanta. "Is that such a bad thing to do?"
Atalanta stared at the witch with dissapointment. It was like Atalanta couldn't recognize Medea anymore. This wasn't usual of her.
"Now, I'm already at my limit after what happened today. So let's skip the chatting and go straight for the reason you all know I'm here." Jason pointed at the ark and Euryale. "The ark and the goddess. Give me those two and your deaths shall be swift."
"Oh? So you are planning on killing us anyways?" Drake talked.
"No. You killed my two crewmembers. Humiliated me and are giving the hardest time of my life to get to open that damn ark!" Jason shouted. "...But sure. I'd certainly spare you after all that. Of course not you morons! Every single one of you is past my mercy! You will all be sleeping with the fishes at the end of this!"
Atalanta sighed. "Throwing tantrums as always. So typical of you."
"Also, I'm not sure if you know to count or not but it's an entire crew against you two only. And I'm being generous by including you." Drake said with a smirk at Jason, readying her gun as well as her crewmemebers grabbed their weapons again.
David went to speak with Drake. "Before that happens, allow me to make him a question."
"Sure. Go ahead." Drake gave him permission.
"Jason, leader of the Argonauts, are you even aware of what will happen if Euryale is sacrificed to the ark?" David questioned Jason, wanting to talk him about the true danger the relic had.
"I get to become an all powerful being and ruler of the seas. I mean, why do you think I'm after it in the first place?" Jason replied, entirely unaware of the true fact.
"How stupid. He really is convinced of his own delusion." Euryale commented.
"You are but wrong. What will truly happen if you open that ark, will be total chaos and annihilation unleashed on this Singularity. You won't become the king or god of anything, because you'll perish alongside this place if you sacrifice Euryale to the ark." David revealed the real conclusion that would happen if Jason did what he believed that would turn him into an all-mighty ruler.
However, despite with that information being shared with him, Jason choosed to call it a bluff. "Yeah yeah. Nice lie you set up for me, thinking it would make my ambitions dwindle. Guess what? It didn't worked! I still plan to open that damn box!"
Atalanta got infuriated by Jason's insistence and how he pretend the truth was just a lie. "Are you fucking stupid?! Or you became deaf? The ark will kill you if you sacrifice a deity to open it! Why are you going to such extremes for it moron?!"
"...Why?" Jason said quietly, his hair overshadowing his eyes. "Why? Why indeed." He then stared with rageful eyes at Atalanta. "IT'S BECAUSE I WANT FAME AND RECOGNITION! THAT'S WHY!" He shouted.
"Lord Jason, please calm down." Medea advised him, surprised by his violent posture. She could tell he had speaked that one from the bottom of his heart.
Atalanta rised an eyebrow after hearing his answer. "Recognition and fame? What are you even saying?"
Mash also found Jason's response odd. "Aren't you and the Argonauts very famous with your adventurous tales known throughout the entire Greece?"
"And that's exactly the problem." Jason said with an agonizing tone. "Who do you think the people thought of when they thinked of the Argonauts eh? Heracles! Theseus! Orpheus! The Dioscuri! Caenis! Asclepius! Even you dammit!" Jason pointed at Atalanta before pointing at himself. "But what about me? What was I, compared to literal heroes and demigods eh? NOTHING!" Jason shouted. "My name wasn't chanted because I was famous, it was chanted because I stood in the same group as the famous figures! Or, do you think I would have songs and poems dedicated to my crew if the Argonauts were just a bunch of nobodies? The fame I got was never of my own! It had to be shared with the rest of you!"
"Talk about inferiority complex." Ritsuka said as he continued to watch Jason's rant. All that envy was toxic.
"Then that's your reason. Shouldn't have gathered a crew of notorious figures then if you wanted to feel higher than the rest idiot." Atalanta insulted him. "But that would mean you would need to actually break a sweat and do things of your own instead of letting the rest do it for you. At the time I joined you because you proved to be a competent captain despite also being an asshole. Now, you're just an asshole."
"Being like this always helped me reach far and you know it." Jason replied with her with a smug. "And now, by gaining those sealed powers from the ark, I shall finally make a name for myself and only myself! My status will go higher than ever before! The entire world will bow down and praise me!"
"Nice speech Lord Jason! And I'm going to help you on your dreams!" Medea said. "But for that, we need to swipe up all of ou first!" Medea said in a lovely tone despite the murdering intent. The witch started to summon her warriors to face the entire of Drake's crew and the servants.
"Eh!" Drake laughed, pointing her gun at Medea. "You are welcome to try. Men! Attack!" She yelled, firing the bullet as every single memeber of her crew yelled and went to fight with Medea's small army of Dragon Tooth Warriors.
Ritsuka,Mash and Peko stayed close to each other and near the unconscious Nala's body, not letting the enemy do harm to her. The final fight on the ocean ended up picking the Leviathan's curiosity, who moved its giant eye to stare at the two small ship below.
"Mash! Peko! We need to defeat the enemies as quick as they come and then treat of Medea and Jason! They're our priority now!" Ritsuka told to the two.
"Understood!" Mash responded.
"Ready for-huh!? R-Ritsuka! The grail on your hand!" Peko pointed at the grail on Ritsuka's hand. It was somehow getting stenched by some kind of dark mud, to the three's shock.
"Hm!? What is happ-" And then, dark substance of the grail touched Ritsuka's skin.
' Iaj6siMhh_gSuj_ 7I¥-auNkx1'
"AH!" Ritsuka immediatly dropped the grail from his hand after he got jumpscared by the strange distorted visions and sounds he saw. It was like he watched something cursed. Images that would hunt a person in their nightmares. The things Ritsuka witnessed, were too fast and creepie, way beyond his understanding to comprehend what he had saw.
"Master! Are you okay?" Mash rushed torwards him, seeing Ritsuka breathing heavily and sweating.
"What happened Ritsuka? You look awful!" Peko said, noticing the pale skin on his friend.
"I-It's nothing. I'm alright." Ritsuka tried to calm the two down as his heart begun to decrease its accelerated beats. "Just...what was that?"
"Some kind of malicious magic is radiating from that mud." Romani said as he inspected the laying grail. "Whatever it is, it's somewhat corrupting the grail. That's unbelivable."
"But what is causing the grail to be corrupted like that?" Mash asked to the doctor as she then heard someone walking in front of them.
"I'll be taking that." Medea said right before she crouched down and went to pick up the corrupted Holy Grail, not touching in the infected areas. "This will surely be helpful, thank you." Medea begun to retreat with the grail.
"No! You won't!" Peko shouted as he fired a light bullet at Medea who sensed it coming in her way, teleporting her body right before the bullet could hit her.
"They got the grail back!" Mash exclaimed in reaction to the loss. "What she even plans on doing with a corrupted grail?"
"Something bad tells me we are about to find out!" Ritsuka responded.
On the backline of the battle, Medea teleported her body right back to Jason. "Here is the Holy Grail. Back to your hands Lord Jason." She said with a polite voice, showing her captain the grail.
David's eyes widened as he saw the cup right in Medea's hands. "No! It can't be!"
Jason smiled of happiness, seeing the grail back to him. "Ah ah! Good one Medea! I can always trust you to clean the messups!" Jason said. But his smile didn't last as he noticed the appearence of the Holy Grail had slightly changed. "How strange though. I don't remember the grail looking-grghgg!"
Jason's face transformed in one of absolute shock and terror as he saw Medea skewering his chest and shoving the corrupted grail inside his body. "M-Medea...what are you doing...?" Jason demanded as he coughed blood from his mouth, staring at his lover in total bewilderment.
"Protecting you of course. My love." She said swetly to him. "Unfortunately, what our enemies speaked of his true. Your wish cannot be granted, as the ark will indeed destroy the entire world instead of giving what you desire so much. What you have sought my Lord, was nothing but a lie that I fed to you." Medea admitted that all of this search for the ark was nothing more than a scheme of hers to Jason, revealing that her captain's ambitions only existed due to a falsehood.
"W...What..?! Jason replied, dumbfounded. "B-But...you told me...that king person told you-"
"That king told me what I needed to do. Make sure that the fitting subject from this Singularity released the devastating power of the ark, destroying the entire world in the process. And you, my lord, was the subject he referred to." Medea explained to Jason. "Someone so deep and blinded in his own ego to ignore all the possible warnings of offering a deity to the ark. So, it was up to me to protect you as the king's chosened one." Medea unsummoned all of her Dragon Tooth Warriors, making Chaldea, Drake and the servants to stare in shock at what the witch was doing to Jason.
"She just pierced his body with the grail?!" Peko exclaimed.
"What the hell is the meaning of that?" Drake commented.
"Looks like Medea finally showed to Jason her true intentions." Atalanta said, somewhat sad. "I tried to warn you Jason. You damn idiot."
"T-Then...It was all lies?!" Jason asked to Medea as his chest hurted greatly.
"Not all of them. Think for a bit my lord. If there's no world left, that by consequence would make you the most powerful by default." She shoved the grail deeper into Jason's entrails. "That and that I'll always protect you. In fact, I'll make you stronger right now my lord!"
"No! No! Stop that!" Jason yelled as he felt his entire body burning with pain and his skin started to turn dark.
"What's happening?!" Mash asked, terrefied of what she was seeing.
"A powerful signal is appearing within Jason! It isn't good stuff!" Romani warned them. "Get ready to fight!"
"Preparing for that doc!" Ritsuka replied.
Still watching the fight, the Leviathan's eye then shifted its gaze to the agonized Jason. And the monstrous serpent found the greek captain's pain...amusing. Targeting on his suffering.
.
"Fuck! WHY?! Why this is happening to me!?"
"Why I can't have any fame of my own!? Why everyone only thinks of the others?!"
"I'm jealous of them! Every single one of them! The strenght, the speed, the power...I ENVY ALL OF THEM!"
.
"MEDEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" Jason let out a brutal, monstrous scream as his body got entirely modified and changed by the dark substance involving him. His soul had been completely taken by another thing.
Protecting their faces from the huge gush of wind that blew against them, the chaldeans, Drake and the servants proceeded to see the monstrusity that had taken the place of Jason and was now in front of them.
"Transformation complete. Incarnation finished. Demon God Pillar of the Seventy-Two Demon Gods: Forneus. Sea Fiend of the Observatory."
"It's one of those Demon God Pillars again!" Mash exclaimed, seeing another member of the Seventy-Two Demon Gods had appeard.
David was the most surprised out of all of them. "A Demon God Pillar here?! I can't understand it! Haven't they been sealed?"
"You can think of that later! Right now, we need to stop it and Medea!" Romani told David.
Using her magecraft, Medea mutated her mana into a form of butterfly wings, using it to float over the ground. "Now, to all of you, perpetrators of humanity." The witch summoned her magic circles, pointing at them. "Have a swift death." And she fired.
"Master! Peko! Behind me!" Mash yelled as she put her shield in front. Ritsuka quickly picked up Nala before standing behind Mash with Peko. The blast however was too strong, breaking Mash's defense. "Ah!"
"Guys!" Romani yelled in panic.
"Ahahahahahaha! Squirm and whimper like the pathetic worms you are, Chaldea and allies!" Forneus laughed as the dust settled, revealing that all of them had been hitten by Medea's blasts. The Demon God proceeded to invoke its tentacles, ready to attack them.
"Hngh...Is everyone alright?" Ritsuka asked to Peko and Mash.
"Y-Yeah. Just a bit hurt." Mash responded.
Peko checked on Nala to see if her body had takened any damage. Fortunately, it didn't. "Nala is also fine!" As soon as Peko finished his sentence however, Forneus tried to pull a sneak attack on the unconscious Nala.
"First, take care of the most defenseless!" The Demon God exclaimed.
"Peko! Behind!" Ritsuka yelled at the boy.
"Hm?!" Peko turned around, seeing one of Forneus tentacles about to pierce Nala's body. The boy tried to put himself in front of the attack. "NO-"
Nevertheless, Forneus's tentacle was destroyed by an incoming bullet. "Ghg! What?!"
"Jeez. Going after someone who doesn't have a way to defend themselves? Even us pirates don't step that low." Drake told the Demon God with a smirk.
"Drake!" Peko exclaimed happily, seeing the pirate woman in front of him.
"Tsk! Silence human!" Forneus replied angrily, launching other tentacle at Drake. But that one was also destroyed.
"What about me then? Will you dare to silence a goddess?" Artemis said as she had finally recovered from the hit she had suffered back then from that creature at the Leviathan's tooth.
Fate Grand Order OST- Rebellion
"Artemis-san!" Mash exclaimed happily, seeing the moon goddess back on her feet.
"We're back in action and ready to lend you our strenght!" Orion told them.
"Same here!" Atalanta speaked, standing by their side. "One last effort!"
"Here's our help!" David speaked as he Atalanta both casted some supportive spells.
"Crossing Arcadia!"
"Charisma!"
"It's time we put an end to this!" Euryale said, looking at Peko. "Let's not make your sister's effort be in vain!"
Peko nodded with a smile to her. "We won't!"
Finally, Drake offered her hand to Ritsuka. "Now get up! It's time to kill whatever this is!"
"Heh! Couldn't have said better!" Ritsuka grabbed her hand and got up on his feet, seeing that everyone was up and ready to confront Forneus and Medea.
Seeing the opposition and stance of her enemies, Medea sighed. "I see you have choosened to fight till the very end. How stubborn!"
"High-Speed Divine Words!"
She casted a spell on herself.
"Humans can't be helped. They're like that by nature." Forneus told her. "Wich is why they need to be exterminated!" The Demon God yelled, firing lasers from its eyes. Medea also fired her blasts at their enemies.
"To hell with those stupid talks again! I'll sail the entire world and no one will take that freedom away from me or anybody else!" Drake exclaimed, running torwards the two. "Let's go men!"
Charging torwards Forneus and Medea, Drake dodged the tentacles from the Demon God while Mash would give her cover by blocking the beams from Medea.
"You are nothing more than persistent insects! Die!" Fornous screamed as it lunched more tentacles torwards them.
"Euryale!"
"I know!"
Peko and Euryale joined together to destroy the next tentacles of Forneus, working pretty well with one another.
"They don't stop from advancing!" Medea told to Forneus as she saw them getting closer. She summoned more magic circles. "You are but delaying the inevitable!"
Mash rushed torwards her, preventing the witch from releasing her laser beams by swinging her shield torwards the enemy. "We aren't delaying it! We are stopping it!"
Drake continued to progress torwards Flauros as Peko and Euryale helped her advance by slicing and shooting down the tentacles of the Demon God.
"Kkhh! How frustrating!" Forneus screamed. "Die for once already!" The Demon God then evoked three giant tentacles, swinging them down to the ship in order to destroy the Golden Hind.
"The Five Stones: Hamesh Avanim!"
"Complaint Message on the Arrow: Phoebus Catastrophe!"
"Moon Goddess's Arrow of Love and Romance: Tri-Star Amore Mio!"
The tentacles were entirely destroyed as well as Forneus got bombarded by the Noble Phantasm of David, Atalanta and Artemis.
"Ggghhhaaaaaaaaaaa! Impossible! Impossible! You humans shouldn't struggle this hard!" The Demon God yelled furiously.
"That's your mistake! In thinking that a race with dreams and wishes wouldn't fight hard to achieve them!" Drake responded, getting closer to Forneus.
Meanwhile, Medea was getting tired of having Mash holding her off. "Enough! If you want to perish so badly then here you have it!" Medea jumped over the ground, and evoked a magic circle right next to Mash.
"Ngh!" Mash stand her position as she tried to tank the entire blast with her shield.
"Just give up already! Nothing is worth this much effort!" Medea shouted as the beam was slowly overpowering the Shielder, forcing her to take a step back.
"I-I won't fall here!" Mash tried to fight back and endure the power from the blast, her arms holding strongly on the shield.
"Mash!" Ritsuka shouted as he saw his servant having some trouble against Medea. "I have to help her!" Thinking fast, Ritsuka used one of his Command Seals. "Have some aid Mash! By the power of my Command Seals, I'll increase your strenght!"
Feeling more a boost of mana and strenght being injected into her vains, Mash started to push back, gaining territory over the beam, much to Medea's shock.
"H-How?! Why!? Why do you keep on going!?" Medea screamed as she tried to blast Mash away. However, the Shielder just continued to advance more and more.
"Ggh! Because we have something to fighting for! A reason! A meaning for it!" Mash responded as she reached near Medea and with a swing, cancelled her beam and stunned the witch. "Unlike you, I will never trick my group or anyone at Chaldea for evil purposes!" Mash exclaimed as she sliced Medea with the sharp part of her shield, delivering a fatal blow to her.
"No! No! It isn't supposed to go like this!" Forneus said in dispair as it saw Medea being defeated and Drake about to reach him. "We won't accept this!" Forneus tried to hit Drake once more with a tentacle going torwards her direction. For the Demon God's misfortune, Peko destroyed it.
"The pathway is free now! Do it captain!" Peko shouted to Drake.
"Eh! Thanks kiddo!" Drake replied.
"GRRRRRRRRRYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! IT CAN'T BE! IT CAN'T BE!" Flauros screamed in pain. "HUMANS AREN'T SUPPOSED TO WIN! THEY AREN'T SUPPOSED TO OVERCOME US! THEY-"
Drake put a small bomb inside one of her handguns and shoved into one of Forneus countless eyes. "Humans this! Humans that! You just love to underestimate us!" Drake said to the pillar. "Then have this present from a human!" She fired the gun and the bomb went off alongside the bullet, exploding right on top of Forneus, dealing a critical damage. And it was enough to be the final hit.
"nO! InCOnCeivablE! UNThiNkABle! HoW...cAn MERe HumANs..! HOW!?"
"The Demon God Pillar has been defeated!" Mash announced. "We did it Master! Peko!"
Peko cleaned his face from the sweat. "That was intense..."
"But we brought them down in the end." Euryale told him. "With this, all of the Argonauts have been defeated."
"And we hope it stays like that." Ritsuka said.
"Fu!" Fou also had come out to enjoy the victory.
"Good to see everyone is fine." Atalanta speaked. "You as well, Lady Artemis."
"We really showed them, didn't we darling?" Artemis said, hugging Orion happily.
"Not with too much strenght A-Artemis!" Orion told her.
Before David could go celebrate with the others, he noticed something strange on Forneus as the Demon God was about to fade.
"ImPosSibLe! uNfaThOmaBlE! IrRaTIonAL! WE...WE WON'T ALLOW IT!"
"Everyone! Wtach out!" David alerted his allies. "He will go for a last attack!"
In a last attempt to end it all, Forneus used all its energy left to summon several tentacles and launched it aimlessly and wildly at the enemies. One in specific was about to hit Euryale.
"Euryale! Dodge!" Ritsuka yelled at her.
Unfortunately, she didn't had much time to move out of the way and was about to get hit. So instead, Peko put himself in front of the small goddess, taking the hit for her.
"Ugh!" The hit was strong enough that it throw Peko off the ship and fall into the sea.
"NO!"
"PEKO!"
Dark. Dim. Dusky.
That's what could be described of the vast dark and deep void of the ocean that Peko had submerged into. An watery abyss of gloom. One that Peko found himself going lower and lower.
The blow he had received from Forneus damaged him pretty bad, knocking out of the Golden Hind. Now, the boy had no energy or magic left in his body to try and swim back up as he had used it on all the fights he had this day. He was tired. Jaded and weakened. Theres nothing Peko could do except gaze at the empty, shadowy profundity of the sea, where no human would survive under any circumnstances. An uncharted place that few would dare to adventure, lair to many mysterious aquatic beings amongst countless others that remained unknown.
It was scary. Frightful. Terryfing. Dismal.
Yet, Peko wasn't afraid of it. He couldn't feel it. His lungs weren't being crushed by the sheer pressure of the deepness he was in nor his body felt the cold freezing water. It didn't felt any alteration of temprature. However, Peko could tell his time was ending even if he didn't felt any pain. He was about to have a painless death. To die here, alone and in total dark, with the entire body tired, it was certainly frustrating and dreary. But at least, it wouldn't be agonizing. The boy would just close his eyes to have a last, eternal sleep. Death would come for him in a soft and gentle way.
He thought of many things. Nala, Ritsuka, Mash, Chaldea, his parents. The father and mother he couldn't remember. The homeland he couldn't recall. The past he had forgotten. The magic crest in the shape of a crown on his back. The dreams he had with the painter. So many things left to answer. Mysteries that he wouldn't be able to solve. And a family member and friends he would leave behind, without a proper goodbye, never to see them again. Peko would cry and curse silently in the dark void if he still had energy for it. Alas, not even that was possible. All that was left for him, was to close his eyes into a final slumber.
"Sorry everyone...you'll have to go on without me."
And so, the eyes observed nothing more than darkness, with Peko himself falling into it and dissapearing on its black vail.
.
"UOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMM."
Abzu OST- To Know, Water
From below the unobservable abyss, a large aquatic creature showed itself. It was large, majestic, unnatural. Its appearence looked exactly that of a whale, except that it had a skin and glow so alien to that of a normal whale. Almost like it had come from the outer space.
The unique looking whale swimmed up amidst the huge depths of darkness, bringing Peko with it in the top of the head. Gradually, the void started to shine and be filled by other luminescent sea creatures, all swimming in the same direction, showing the way. Were these creatures real? Were they magical? No one knew. The depths of the ocean were by the most part an unfamiliar place, concealing the many things and concepts that inhabited on it. Wether it was just an empty place or a vast area filled with the mystical and strange, it was left to the imagination of common people and even the most of mages. A layer where no human or mage could reach nor live in.
And from that place, the strange whale and the other beings gathered to return the idle boy back to his realm. Back to the light of the surface.
"..Fou...Fou!"
"Mmhm..."
"Peko...Peko!"
"N-Nala?"
"He's waking up! Stand back!"
"Guys..."
Opening his eyes, Peko was greeted by the vision of Fou, Nala, Ritsuka and Mash all staring at him. "W-What happened?" He asked, slowly getting up, feeling his head throbbing a bit. He then gasped, remembering of what they were doing before he was knockout into the ocean. "The Demon God! Medea! The Leviat-" But when he looked around, he saw none of that. Instead he was in a beach of the island, the one Leviathan had grabbed with its mouth. It was now back to normal, at the surface level, much to Peko's surprise.
"You won't have to worry anymore about that Peko." Mash told him with a smile. "They're all gone."
Ritsuka then showed something in his hand. "And the grail is back to us. Totally normal this time."
"And I was knocked out the whole time!" Nala said, a bit sad for not being able to help them in the final battle but still happy to see her brother and everyone else alive. "I literally woke up some minutes before you."
"Fou fou. (Glad to see you back)"
"Then Medea, and Jason as well, are gone?" Peko asked.
"Undoubtedly gone." Drake said, approaching the chaldeans with the other servants. "Body faded and everything."
"But did Medea said something before dissapearing? Did any of them?" Peko asked.
"Yeah! I wanna know too!" Nala said to Ritsuka and Mash.
"Do you want our help to explain it?" David and the other servants offered their help to the two.
Ritsuka accepted. "Sure!"
Moments Ago
"NO!"
"PEKO!"
Both Ritsuka and Mash screamed as they saw their companion falling to the sea at a great speed from the blow he suffered.
"HahHAhAhaAhHA! TaKe THaT chALdEa! OuR wOrK hErE wAsN'T iN VaIN!" Forneus laughed maniacally before being shot by Euryale and Atalanta.
"Shut up and die already!" Euryale exclaimed.
"Your plan to crash this Singularity has failed! You're scum for targetting a child!" Atalanta said furiously before she watched the body of the Demon God Pillar dissapearing, with a dying Jason coming back and falling on the ground.
"D-Don't worry about him..." Medea told to Mash and Ritsuka. "I believe he won't die that easily." She said with a smile as she let go of her staff and covered the wound Mash made to her body with both arms, falling on her knees.
"Why Medea? Why you done all of this?" Atalanta asked, sadly dissapointed with her former friend. "I thought this kind of things were beneath you."
"Heh...I'm sorry Atalanta..." Medea said, smilling sorrowfuly before staring at the dying Jason whose body begun to dissapear. "I'm also sorry...my love...for not being able to protect you correctly." She apologized. "Those memories...the way we spent time together in them...are coming back. I should...have done better..."
Jason stared at Medea with a cold expressionless face, his moribund eyes crying silently and unmoving. "C-Curse you Medea...You useless wench..." A last insult was all that the disconsolate captain of the Argonauts said before vanishing.
Medea sighed, seeing her body starting to dissapear too. "Guess that's what I get for being a scheming witch..."
"Wait! Don't go just yet!" Ritsuka yelled to her. "Your boss! The king you are working for! Who is he?" He demanded, not wanting to let the chance of knowing who might be behind all of this. The one responsible for having burned humanity in the present and create this Singularities. The one guilty for all of this.
Medea however, wasn't willing to share his identity. But she still gave them some information."All that I can tell you now, is that the king is a powerful mage. One that I lost to when I fought him in a duel. It will be one of the two greatest adversaries you have ever faced yet."
"A powerful mage?" Mash whispered.
"What are you talking about? Just tell us who he is!" Ritsuka insisted, not satisfied with the answer. "Also, what do you mean 'the two greatest adversaries'? There's another?"
"The magecraft of that mage was way too high for me. And will be for you as well if you face that man alone. So hurry Chaldea. Hurry up and gather the stars that will help you in battle against the beast that resides within man's heart." Medea warned them, about to dissapear. "But also, be cautious of the other one. The beast that lurks and preys within the void. A man of sin. As told to me by that very mage." Medea smiled to them. "Don't lose hope in this long battle, people of Chaldea. Next time we meet, I'll make sure to help you." And so she dissapeard as well.
"A beast that resides within man's heart and a man of sin?" Ritsuka said those words, confused.
"I too couldn't quite understand what Medea meant by that." Mash told him.
"Hey look!" Orion suddenly called everyone's attention.
"What is it?" Drake asked him.
"It's the Leviathan! It's dissapearing!" Artemis responded as they watched the huge marine serpent go back inside the water, submerging the entire head in it.
"Hold tight everyone!" Drake ordered to her crew and allies as the waves hit the Golden Hind. Altough strong and a bit turbulent, the ship was able to remain stable.
"Cap'n look!" Bombe exclaimed to Drake, pointing forward. "The island! It came back to the ocean!"
"Fou fou!" Fou exclaimed, pointing at something in the shore of the island
"Hm? What's wrong Fou?" Mash said as she looked at the direction Fou was pointing at. Staring at the beach, there was someone washed ashore. Mas look more hardly into it. "Wait, that's...Peko!"
Present
"And that's what happened." Ritsuka said, finishing the explanation of events to Peko and Nala.
"A beast within a man's heart? Man of sin?" Nala said weirdly, rising an eyebrow. "That's...confusing."
"More questions by the looks of it." Peko replied. "Are you sure that you haven't forgot of any detail?"
"Nope! It was everything that we recalled." Orion said. "Or at least of what I could recall."
Peko sighed, looking down on the ground. "I see. Still no answers then."
"Hey! Don't be like that." Euryale said, crouching down to look at his face. "You'll never find what you seek if you keep thinking like that. Also, thanks for saving me...again."
Peko smiled back at her. "Thank you as well for those words. Perhaps I needed to hear that."
"Gosh! My brother had to save you again? For a goddess, you do like to be helpless, don't you?" Nala said, provoking Euryale a bit.
"Hphmf! Says the one who was sleeping through the entire fight." Euryale replied back.
"Because I used all of my mana and energy to cut that damn tooth and free the ship!" Nala yelled at Euryale, feeling provoked as well.
"These two won't ever be friends I suppose." Drake said, watching Nala and Euryale squabbling.
"This dynamic also doesn't look bad in my opinion." Ritsuka replied, laughing a bit.
Then, the hologram of Doctor Romani appeard again. "Checking on everything, I confirm that there's no more hostile enemies or monsters nearby! So well done Fujimaru and everyone else! You completed another Singularity!"
"Yay! Better have a celebration ready when we come back to Chaldea!" Nala said happily.
"Yeah. Cakes and everything." Romani responded a bit tired. "But after you guys rest, understood?"
"Fair!" Nala replied.
"So...I guess it's time for that part again." Ritsuka said with a sad smile.
"Hm? What part?" Drake asked, before noticing Artemis and Orion starting to fade.
"Oh, it seems we will go first." Artemis said. "Hope we were of help to you."
"You sure were Artemis! Wihtout you, we wouldn't have escaped Blackbeard that night." Peko told to the goddess.
"Exactly. You have our thanks." Ritsuka said to her.
"Ah ah! Thank you very much! Also, come here Atalanta!" She pushed Atalanta into a strong hug. "A goodbye hug to the best huntress I could ever wished for!"
"Agh! A-Appreciate it Lady Artemis! B-But please stop! That hurts!" Atalanta begged.
Artemis stopped and looked at the rest of the allies. "Want to have a hug as well?"
"No thank you!" They all responded in unison.
"Hey! What about me! Don't I get a thanks as well?" Orion protested, having been left out. "This Saint Graph is originally mine, remember?"
"Y-Yeah. Thank you for also staying with us Orion." Ritsuka replied, smilling nervously.
"If you think I was of great help, then have me being summoned properly next time! In my true form! You'll see of how much help I am to you that way!" Orion told to them.
"S-Sure." Peko responded to the teddy bear. "What are the chances of him be lying?"
"Anyways, me and darling are going!" Artemis said, staring at Orion. "Also, we need to choose a better place for our honeymoon next time."
"What the- This wasn't even a honeymoon!" Orion shouted at Artemis. "You just came along and invaded my Saint Graph woman!"
And the moon goddess alongside her hunter had gone away.
Atalanta sighed. "I won't ever be able to erase these memories of Lady Artemis from my mind." She then saw her hand dissapearing. "Hm, I'm next."
"Have a safe trip back to the throne Atalanta!" Nala told her.
"And thank you for helping us this time. That must have took out the guilt you felt from all the things you've done in France." Mash said to the huntress.
"Sure did. My soul can rest at ease now." Atalanta responded and proceeded to look at Peko and Nala. "As a child who went through her entire life without having parents, I tell you this. Don't give up and I hope you come to find what you lost."
"Thanks Atalanta!" Peko responded.
"We will find them! That's why we don't intend on giving up!" Nala told her.
"Good to hear that. For two children, you are brave for facing incredible dangers and fighting against opponents stronger than you. You deserve to find your parents." Atalanta then looked at David. "Also, thanks for giving me shelter and for being a person I could count with when I was alone in this place."
"The pleasure is all mine Atalanta. It was good to have you as my first ally and companion in this battle against the Argonauts." David shook hands with her.
"Goodbye, master of Chaldea. If you ever need help, summon me. I'll gladly answer it." And so Atalanta dissapears.
"Well, with everyone saying goodbye, I also give my own." Euryale said, starting to dissapear. "Thank you all for caring and protecting me. I appreciated it. However, I too hoped to say a proper goodbye to Asterios as well..." She said sadly, before smiling again. "Despite that, I'll hope I can meet him again, and we this time can enjoy our time together. Not being chased or attacked. Just enjoying each other's company."
"That sounds a beautiful thing to do after all of this. Mash told to the goddess. "I bet Asterios is hoping for that opportunity to arrive as well."
"It was nice meeting you Euryale. I hope that you and Asterios can spent more time happy and together. If there was someone who never saw him as a monster from the beggining, it was you. And in the future, who knows, we might see each other again."
"Hmm, I would surely like that." Euryale said with intrest, approaching her face to Peko's. "But for now..." She then did the unthinkable and surprised everyone by kissing Peko in the cheek.
"..." Peko stood speechless, blushing red from everywhere and fumming.
"D-Did I saw that right?" Ritsuka asked in shock
"I think you did master." Mash replied, being as shocked as him.
Euryale giggled and blinked to Peko before fading. "A goodbye kiss. To my hero."
"..Y-y..Y-ye..ye...y.." Peko couldnt even speak correctly, just smilling and laughing timidly as he continued to blush.
"HEY! STOP DOING THAT TO MY BROTHER YOU STUPID GODDESS!" Nala yelled in rage, waving her fists in the air as Euryale dissapeard.
"Well Peko..." Ritsuka patted him in the back. "Congratulations, I guess."
"I-Is it normal to feel like this Ritsuka?" Peko asked, his blush decreasing.
"Definetly!" Ritsuka responded.
And so, the last servant that had yet to dissapear, David, said his goodbye. "It was a honoru meeting you, people of Chaldea. May our paths cross again down the line. You proved to be good people and capable of the task at hands."
Mash however, had something to ask. "Before you go David-san, can you give us any advice or hint about the Demon Gods, since you are Solomon's father, their employer."
"Hmm, unfortunately, I cannot." David responded. "Summonings and that sort of stuff ain't my area."
"What? Really? I thought one of the great kings of Ancient Israel would know much more." Romani told him, somewhat dissapointed. "Perhaps I expected too much from you."
"Sorry about that my friend. My knowledge about them is low. Opposite of yours." David said. "You must be a very nerdy scholar if you know that much."
"Yes he is!" Da Vinci came in, interrupting Romani from replying to David. "Romani is a big fan of Solomon, altough he doubts of the Demon God's real existence and connection to your son."
"Hm I see." David replied. "Still, I wouldn't be surprised if Solomon is the villain here if the Demon Gods are envolved in this."
"What?! Don't you know your own child to say those things?" Romani said angry. "Solomon was a wise and benevolent king! He would never do that!"
David smiled to Romani. "Perhaps you are right. For what I can remember, he was a good-for-nothing son, so it may be true someone like him wouldn't have the necessary intellect to plan something like this."
"Can you have more respect for him please?!" Romani asked to David, not liking how he was adressing Solomon.
"That or it's the other one doing all this. That 'man of sin' Medea spoked of. Either one, it sounds like an enemy to be cautious with." David told to Chaldea before dissapearing. "Good luck to the rest of your journey Chaldea. My help will always be available." And he dissapeard.
Now, with every servant gone, it was time for the chaldeans to say goodbye to Drake and her crew. After everything they've been through, they would finally go their seperate ways. Chaldea's job here was done.
"Well, thank you all for freeing the seas with us. Now we can port the ship on a territory that isn't just land!" Drake said, smilling at them.
"It sure was nice to help you and being part of the crew!" Ritsuka told her.
Nala noticed the entire crew of Drake standing on the ship, refusing to go down. "Aren't they going to say goodbye?"
"They don't like it. They are a bit...emotional when it comes to departures." Drake told them.
"We're not cap'n! We just doin our job of keeping the ship clean!" Bombe yelled at her, trying his hardest to not show his tears. Same with everyone else of the crew.
"I'm gonna miss them too." Peko said.
"Yeah. You and your crew showed me that not every pirate group are ruthless murderers." Mash told her. "I enjoyed being a member of this crew."
"Make that two!" Nala said.
"Three!" Peko added.
"Four!" Ritsuka concluded.
"Fu fou! (Five! Don't forget about me!)"
"Hahahaha! You are quite lively for someone who's gonna say goodbye." Drake laughed. "It's not the first time, is it?"
"Yeah. It's not." Ritsuka replied, looking to the sand on his feet. He stayed silent, feeling sad to have to say goodbye to another friend again. Another person that would forget of the memories they made together. Mash, Peko and Nala also felt the same. Everyone now stood silent. Even Drake. The only sound now was of the waves hitting the beach as they thought back about the moments they had spent together.
It was almost enough to make Drake cry. "H-Hey, heads up-"
"Senpai!" Mash called Ritsuka.
"Hum? What is it Ma-" He then got all splashed by surprise as Mash threw some water at him.
"How about a last swim together?" She smiled to them. "What do you say?"
Peko and Nala immediatly smiled from excitment before joining Mash in the fun.
"Haha!" Ritsuka rubbed his face from the water. "You're going to regrett that!" He then launched himself torwards the water, throwing way a larger quantity at Mash.
Quickly, all five of them, as Fou had joined in too, were all playing and having fun in the water, forgetting about the sad feeling it was of saying goodbye.
"Ah darn it! I'm coming in too!" Drake yelled as she entered the party.
Romani and Da Vinci watched happily from behind.
"What a nice way of saying goodbye. Don't you think Leonardo?" Romani asked her.
"I wouldn't call it a goodbye. More like a, see you later." Da Vinci responded.
With the minutes passing by, the chaldeans and Drake had have their last fun together, and now they where ready to depart.
"Rayshift is done and ready to be utilized." Romani informed them. "Prepare to come back in the next seconds."
"This was an wild adventure eh? I'll be rooting for you to save humanity and that stuff. Whatever your job is, keep doing it!" Drake told them.
"Thank you for everything Drake, but, I never got to have a wish before the end of this." Mash told her. "A wish to tell you."
Drake put an hand on the shielder's shoulder. "No worries Mash. All humans do have a wish. Some good. Some evil. And some go without learning it. Perhaps you're better off not knowing it, but I assure you that no matter what, you'll realize it in certain pojt of your life. That goes for all of you." Drake told to the rest. "Seek what you wish and desire for. Make those things become true!"
"I know what mine and sis wishes are. And we will do everything to have them granted! So thanks for the support Drake!" Peko told her. "You added even more will in us to complete our mission."
"True! Now I feel more motivated than ever! All thanks to you Drake!" Nala said.
"We will never forget of the fun and adventure we had together." Ritsuka said. "May you continue to sail as free as the wind captain!"
"Then, as a last order to all of you, grant me this wish." Drake made one last request to Chaldea. "Never forget of the moments between us here in this Singularity! Is that clear?"
"AYE AYE CAPTAIN!"
"Then go now! Go and fulfill your dreams!"
And so, the group started to abandon the place and wave goodbye to Drake and her crying crew. The sea, the beaches, the tropical islands. They would miss it. As much as they would miss their friend.
They had set the blue ocean free, alongside the spirits of countless deceased pirates. Going up against famous pirates, a famous crew, and a famous sea monster. Once again, they had resolved this era's problems. And once again, they had taken progress in their journey. At last, they left the sounds of the waves and the feel of the cool breeze behind.
"We're back!" Ritsuka announced as he and the group had arrived to Chaldea.
"And that makes three Singularities to the list!" Nala added. "I feel like nothing is going to stop us now!"
"That is, if the next enemies we face aren't stronger than the ones we faced this time." Peko told to his sister.
"They can throw whatever they want at us! I'm ready for it!" Nala replied.
"You are in a very high mood Nala." Mash said to the girl.
"I guess that as to do with her cutting the Leviathan's tooth." Ritsuka whispered in her ear.
"Most surely that." Mash replied back.
"Welcome back! Good job on clearing another Singularity everyone!" Romani said as he entered the room alongside Da Vinci. "You are starting to get professional in this."
"Yeah. I think we are getting used to this." Peko said to him.
"Congratulazioni everyone! You did an amazing job." Da Vinci said. "I was wondering how you would defeat that Leviathan, but thankfully that wasn't needed."
"Its appearence was still strange. And the way it decided to dissapear as well afterwards too." Mash responded. "Just, what was doing in there?"
"That can be analyzed later. Go take a bath and rest instead." Romani told them. "Doctor's orders. In the meantime I-"
"We'll conduct a research about the Leviathan, those creatures that appeard and the BC era from where the Demon Gods came." Da Vinci said, much to Romani's pain.
"Can't I be allowed to rest as well!? I'm still doing it but, Chaldeas and Sheba's accuracy in the BC era gets lower due to higher mana density and mystery from those ages." Romani told her.
"Could you also investigate those words Medea said? The ones about a beast inside men's heart, and another that lurks in the void? Man of sin, I guess that's what she called to the second one." Ritsuka requested to Romani and Da Vinci.
"Sure. We will look into it too and gather any clue we can find." Da Vinci accepted. "And that ends our discussion. Go rest now. Also to celebrate, the dinner today will be a surprise." Da Vinci said with a teasing smile.
"Then I'll go to the bedroom immediatly!" Nala said, about to run when she then decided to do something. "Oh! Almost forgot about it!" The girl then went to give an hug to Ritsuka. "Thanks for trusting me, Ritsuka." She looked up to her friend's face with a shiny smile. "I valued that."
"No need for that." Ritsuka patted her in the head. "It was just my decision as a leader to do it."
"Whatever you say! I'm still thanking you." Nala said to him.
"Don't get all excited because you done that. I also got dtronger y'know?" Peko told to his sister.
"Oh yeah? Then tomorrow we fight again! Remember how's the score." Nala said with a smug.
"Can it be the day after tomorrow please?" Peko asked. "My leg is kinda hurting from that blow I suffered from the Demon God."
"Really?" Nala asked, genuinely showing concern.
"Yeah." Peko tried to take a step forward with his left leg before stumbling. "Guess I pushed it too much."
Seeing the difficulty her brother was having to move, Nala had an idea. "Alright then. Get on my back. I'll carry you to our bedroom."
"Y-You what?! T-There's no need for that. It may take a bit but I can still-"
"Stop lying already and let me help you silly!" Nala insisted, not accepting a no as the answer.
"...Okay then." Peko gave in and with the help of his sister, got on her back and the two started heading to their bedroom.
"Hey, Peko. About the fight you had with Jason..." Nala told to him.
"Hm? Why are you bringing that up?" Peko asked.
"I was worried that you might would have lost to him, but you ended up defeating him alone." Nala told him with a smile. "I'm happy that you proved me wrong."
"Heh. Wouldn't have done it if someone didn't trust in me first." Peko replied. "So thank you for that sis." He then smirked at her. "But I'm always proving you wrong most of the times, so it wasn't that much of a surprise."
"Push it and I'm going to make you fall!" Nala threatened him.
"Okay! Okay! I'll stop!" Peko immediatly took back his own words, before having Fou jump on top of his head. "Hm? You're coming with us Fou?"
"Fou fu!"
"Well, then enjoy the ride!" Nala said as she carried Peko and now Fou, torwards the exit of the room.
Ritsuka and Mash shortly left after them.
"Now, I'm also curious on why you trusted Nala to do such heavy and extreme task Senpai." Mash said to Ritsuka.
He rubbed the back of his head. "Well...it's hard to say, but I think it was by her face. It told a lot of determination to me when I looked at her. So in that moment I understood she was prepared to risk it all."
"Then it was determination?" Mash asked again.
"I suppose so. People with that kind of will always reach far. Just like Drake." Ritsuka responded to Mash.
"I think I'm comprehending. Determination and ambition are fueled by having a wish, a desire. Drake had one and that is why she always kept going forward. But there was also those with dark, evil wishes like Jason. Yet they both contributed to history despite the actions they have made. Humanity lives in pursuit of their dreams, whether they be rightous or not. Yet, is those things, that fuel, that makes the human overcome the impossible like Drake showed to us."
Not expecting a deep commentary of Mash about the subject, Ritsuka just responded simply. "Yep! I'd say that's what makes us human."
"Then I too wish to have that. That power to have a dream and wish. To desire something. One I hope to find along the journey." Mash said, smilling to Ritsuka. "The power to be human."
Sailing alone in the large blue sea, the Golden Hind would lively navigate with the winds hitting the sails. And in the crow's nest, its captain, Francis Drake, looked into the massive terrain of land that had showed in the horizon.
"Cap'n! Mainland ahead! Should we dock in it?" Bombe yelled, asking to his captain their next course of action.
Putting her pirate's coat and hat, Drake smiled in delight as she knew exactly what they would be doing once they reached to the port. One that pirates like her enjoyed to do every week. And as a free woman of the sea, it would only be a quick pit stop. But a stop she would make sure herself and her crew would remember with fun and laughter. The life of this pirate was just like that. Fun, adventurous and always on fast pace.
"Lower the anchor men! Let's invade that town and find the best pub of the area so that we drink and party to death!"
"YEAH! AYE AYE CAPTAIN!"
Third Singularity: Sealed Ends of The Four Seas: Okeanos- Foundation Restored
To be continued...
And that was it for chapter 51 and final of Okeanos!
Longest ending (and overall) chapter till now (Not planning on doing that again lol But I guess I can't help it)
Now, you saw that some new creatures appeard on the chapter. The ones that attacked our group near the Leviathan's tooth. In this story, they are going to be a new kind of mob/enemies that will appear in future occasions.
I call them, Imps of the Null! Like stated in the chapter, they are demonic enemies. They're weak to light and light/holy attributes and their class would be Assassin. Their abilities would consist on giving Defense Down, Delayed Debuff and Terror when their gauge is charged. So yeah, they are OC mobs.
Now, long chapter so a lot of things happen. Nala slices a giant tooth, Medea and Forneus/Jason are defeated, with Medea giving her hints about the TWO possible main villains of this saga. (Oh yeah Goetia, you won't have to do all the heavy lifting this time.) Peko sinks into unknown parts of the ocean and is brought back by mystical creatures and everyone says goodbye with Chaldea having a last swim with Drake. Basically the ending chapter of Okeanos in a nutshell! Woo!
It stayed majorily the same with some changes here and there (apart from the final with the Leviathan appearing). But it was worth it.
And since FGO 8th anniversary will be happening this weekend, here is what I think will be shown to us: U-Olga Marie as the anniversary servant (like, that's the impression I'm getting from the marketing), Animation Updates for several servants, more info and perhaps a trailer of that Fate Samurai game, starring the one and only, Miyamoto Musashi. New CE, a full version of Beyond the Tale AND, if a God exists, a new anime adaptation of FGO. Most people want of Avalon Le Fae because, yeah it's perhaps the best and most famous chapter of the game and the most recent one in NA. I will be on the dark side of that and say that I would prefer an anime adaptation of Lostbelt prologue+ Anastasia. So that we could adapt the entire Lostbelts in order. Everyone would win with that in my opinion. Or it will be just an adaptation of an EoR like Shimousa or Salem. An anime adaptation of the earlier Singularities maybe? Hmmmmm, that option is pretty much dead at this point to the higher ups of Type-Moon.
But anyways, that's all I wanted to say and see you next time on chapter 52 and in the foggy misty town of London, the Fourth Singularity! (And second worst), Peace!
P.S:
Illya: Hey, Nala. Want to become a magical girl like me?
Nala: Sure! What a magical girl like you does?
Illya: Well, I spend time having fun with friends ,talk ,defeat monsters and TRAUMA. Lots and lots of trauma.
Nala: Eeh, I'll pass then thank you.
(IMPORTANT NOTE: THERE WON'T BE CHAPTER NEXT WEEK)
