"Acknowledged. Naval battles are not something I'm proficient in so we must ensnare this woman before she can make her getaway." Continuing to fly about on telekinetic rifles with Master in her arms, the tryant smirked as she enjoyed the air blow past her from the fast momentum. Even more exhilarating then using horses to charge into an army that wasn't ready to fight really. "Anyways, I can see that we're close enough so... It is time to play the part of the villain once more. I love this part, kuahahaha!~"

Cackling madly as flames erupted about her person (while not harming Ai in the least), the awkward seeming duo reconfigured into a large blazing skeleton whose bones contained a black that was akin to the darkest of ashes. Their identity obscured by the effects of the Demon King Skill, both Master and Servant would make quite a splash as they appeared... and Demon Archer shot a scintillating red beam towards the ship in question, just close enough to ensure that it COULD hit with a second shot. Looming over the dragontooth warriors, the much more imposing skeleton then waved its hands as a rain of highly augmented anti-Mystery energy beams fell down from the sky to try to wipe out the mooks in a display of overall strength.

The smaller of the Servants blinked a few times as her charge rather... awkwardly managed to escape the hold. Not that it was hard to escape from being carried like that but, enhanced healing of a Servant or not, she was rather surprised that being stabbed in the chest hadn't kept her down for any longer. Well, this was certainly convenient; maybe they would have some idea of what was going on right now. "Umu, I am Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, fifth Roman Emperor and one of your rescuers."

Not that she'd been in need of rescuing per se but it was the thought that counted!

"Ah, could you possibly explain why it is that this town has been consumed by flames? You were fighting Medea for some reason and yet... neither of you appeared to be doing anything likely to start a conflagration of this size or intensity."

---

There was nothing wrong with her app, no matter what Keisuke happened to think. It was perfectly clear! Well, to anyone that wasn't in their seventies at least... which would inevitably include Masters. Still, with the other Servant now up and about, there might be something important to remember. Regardless of whether he really wanted one right now or not, Keisuke was going to receive a message:

"Please try to prevent the Archers from killing Medea until we know more. The other Servant seems to be non-hostile."

Of course, the buzzing in his pocket probably wasn't wanted whilst trying to dodge.

"I did not know you cared for those sloppy familiars of yours," Atalanta replied to Medea accusations towards her. "Furthermore, that was a greeting shot. The fact that you noticed it means that it worked, am I right?"

As soon as Atalanta noticed Medea losing speed after being hit by her arrow, almost dropping to the ground completely, she tensed up becoming a blur of motion. The feline archer demonstrated once more why she was named the fastest Heroic Spirit of the Age of the Gods, closing the gap between her and Medea in the blink of an eye. Atalanta pounced at Medea, trying to pin her to the ground, if only for long enough for the Witch to listen to her.

Whether she succeeded or not, Atalanta would follow the take down attempt by saying "You know just as well as I do that, if I wanted to kill you I would have done so all the way from Colchis. Do you really think that you could avoid all of my shots, if I wanted you dead? Now, are you going to tell me what are you doing here or not, Medea?" Even then, Atalanta was ready to any form of treachery coming from Medea. If the Witch attempted to take her down with a cheap shot or draw Rule Breaker, the leonine archer was ready to dodge and counter at a moment's notice.

The sudden barrage of lasers raining down from above was enough of a reason for the Enforcer to take a few cautionary steps back, barely avoiding getting tagged by one of the lasers himself. Though he could curse Nobunaga's relative lack of aim later, the fact that he would have to try and rush through a bombardment to try and catch up to Medea was more than enough reason to decide to not do so. Instead of doing something so suicidal, Keisuke decided to simply back off, pulling out the phone that was now furiously buzzing from his pocket to see what the issue was. Luckily, most of the skeleton soldiers in his immediate vicinity were being evaporated by the Servant flying overhead, but this was still a battlefield, and that meant giving at least some respect to the stray projectile that might shave off a few hairs... Or worse.

With a quick glance over the device, Keisuke sighed and slipped it back into his pocket. He had to admit that this whole scenario was something of a mess at the moment, but getting the Servants to not kill Medea? That might be... A bit more difficult than it was on paper. Even so, there was no reason for him to not try anyways.

"Message from the city: don't kill Medea. Disarm and disable is the ideal scenario."

With that message sent, all that he could do now was sit back and wait to see if the outcome of the duel would end in their favor or not.

---

"I care considerably less about them, but resources are resources," the Caster quipped before being tackled straight onto the ground after losing her altitude. The Servant felt her back digging into the ground as Atalanta kept her arms locked firmly to the ground. With her staff tumbling out of her grip as the two screeched to a halt, Medea barely turned her head to the side before letting out a sigh of defeat.

Just a few more seconds and she would have been able to make it out. What a shame.

"Hmph. That pride of yours still hasn't waned, I see. Fine, fine. I concede. I'll tell you what you wish, though it might have been more productive for you to see for yourself. But first, a question: did you not think it strange that I was provoking you? That only the city was in flames, and no more?"

Before Atalanta could respond in turn, Medea continued on, shaking her head as if in disappointment.

"Actually, maybe this question would serve you better. Did you know that the Gods have been unable to tamper with this era, bound by some force beyond their control? The heroes they wished to bend to their will now move for another... And though I loathe any mention of those so-called 'heroes', I cannot stand the thought of someone else playing with lives, both mortal and not, for their own benefit. It is for that sake that I act—far less ruthless than I might otherwise, but that is irrelevant for the moment. Well, what of you, dearest Atalanta? Though you claim to have been able to kill me at any time that you wanted, you have not done so, even though you constantly refer to me as a traitor even now. Even so, your eyes are unclouded, full of mistrust they may be—do you choose to follow and see what I refer to, or will you strike me down here and now?"

---

Before returning back into the burning city once more, the pharaoh paused to watch as the formerly-incapacitated Servant rolled out of Nero's arms and onto the ground below, causing him to cautiously raise his staff...

Only to lower it once he saw that the Servant was not in any particularly aggressive mood as she had been moments earlier. This was strange, of course, but even he was not apt to take a blessing for granted, and thus decided to stand by and watch the spectacle unfold just in case.

The blindfolded Servant, on the other hand, seemed to stare at Nero (or would be, if her blindfold wasn't blocking her eyesight) in confusion for a moment before shaking her head and letting her arms relax at her side.

"I... Do not know what you speak of. My mind is as much a blur as far as I can remember, save for..."

As those last words slipped out of her mouth, the Servant's body immediately tensed up and she turned towards the west, a noticeable frown and creased brow as any clear for all to see.

"My sisters! I have to get back to them now!" she began to say before beginning to dash off. As before, though, without full control over her ability to move, she simply fell over again onto the ground.

Ozymandias simply stood by and watched the farce for only a few seconds more before stepping forward to give his own input.

"I shall leave these sphinxes behind to aid in extinguishing these flames if we decide to go see what this Servant means. Though that in turn begs the question... You. What is your true name? We have had statements in passing, but no more; I wish to hear it straight from the source, so to speak. The pharaoh commands it: state thy name."

At that, the female Servant flinched and, with a bit of hesitation, began to speak.

"...Rider, Medusa. I care not what you do with me after, but for now, my sisters—!"

@VitaVitaAR@Raineh Daze@KoL@Rin@Grey Star

Atalanta let go off Medea as soon as she began to explain the situation, but not very much. Instead of backing away from her, Atalanta just freed Medea's arms, while still keeping the Witch pinned down under her, wary of any attempts trickery that may come her way.

"How come someone, or something, is able to do such a feat?" Atalanta asked of Medea. As a Heroine from the Age of the Gods, such a proposition was all but unthinkable, as a chosen warrior of Artemis, Atalanta couldn't see what Medea said as nothing short of blasphemy. That said, it didn't take much for the leonine huntress to figure that something was feeling indeed wrong. "How dare such defiance be allowed to happen?" Atalanta thought, furrowing her brow.

"I have it under control. Don't worry, Keisuke," Atalanta replied a moment later when Keisuke ordered her to not kill Medea, if possible.

As soon as she was done replying to her Master, Atalanta turned back to Medea. "Who's on that ship and, supposing my goals match yours, what are you planning to? Also, why were you fighting someone like that woman? If my guess is right, she can be no one other than the Gorgon slain by Perseus, why is she even here? Your answer only left me with even more questions. Unless," she paused for a moment figuring that some truth may have escaped her senses, "don't say to me that you were trying to use Rule Breaker to free her of the force you say that's controlling the other Heroes? That seriously doesn't sound like you, Medea. Aside from the time you healed me, when was you so forgiving?"

Rider didn't remember what she had been doing before now? Then that dagger wound... it was more than some spur of the moment opportunity to injure her opponent. That would be consistent with the dagger's bizarre design. Atalanta had called it a Noble Phantasm so... Medea had been freeing the other Servant? More thought on the matter had to wait, however, as Medusa ended up falling over again. The blonde Servant bent over, offering a hand to help the much taller figure to her feet... if there wasn't a positive motive for stabbing her, perhaps it was simply to watch the amusing sight of a legendary spirit stumbling around gracelessly?

"Why would you need to hurry so rapidly to your sisters? Umu, the stories explicitly say that of the three of you, the others should be in the least danger possible. They should be immortal and impossible to harm... indeed, if they possess even half of your beauty then I wonder who could possibly bring themselves to strike out at them! Yet if it would please one such as yourself, we are heroes and can travel out to insure that your sisters are protected if you tell us where they might be found."

---

This situation was getting stranger and stranger... the alchemist moved over to Bethany, keeping an eye on the various Servants. "Have you noticed that events seem to be pointing to monsters and villains being innocent here? I wonder if the Servants might trust someone by reputation, only to find out that they were behind this fire and chaos all along."

Saber lowered her blade. The last of the fires, as far as she could be, had at last been blown out, not a single spark remaining. Even though not everyone had survived, at the very least she had not found another corpse in her endeavor to put out every remaining burning building. For that, she was thankful. For even after such a terrible conflagration, there had seemingly been quite few deaths. Ideally, of course, non would have died here, but there was some solace in the fact that the numbers had been so few. Nodding firmly to herself, the King of Knights swiftly turned on her heel, facing her Master, the other Servants, and the Servant that had been incapacitated. It seemed the woman with long purple hair had recovered, however.

Swiftly dashing towards the others, coming to a halt beside the still-perplexing and far too familiar figure of the Roman Emperor Nero. The speed with which the Rider-class Servant had recovered seemed to confirm to the short knight that the dagger had not been intended to wound the target. It seemed as if it had instead... removed some kind of influence?

"... If your sisters are in danger, then we should delay as little as possible," Arturia began, after a moment of hesitation. While this town may still be in need of aid, it seemed that most of the residents were relatively unharmed. To get to the root of the matters here, it may have been best to discover what what may have been the source of the problem in the first place. Additionally, at the moment it seemed as if Medusa, in spite of her role in history, was not their enemy. To ignore her plight seemed callous at best. "Provided my Mas-... Bethany, agrees, we should proceed as quickly as we can."

@Raineh Daze@Rin@PKMNB0Y

Once the barrage of lasers from the sky ended, Keisuke quickly dashed through the remains of the skeletal soldiers, moving ahead to see how the crash landing between Medea and Atalanta had turned out. The remaining enemies, at the very least, had stopped shooting outright, which made traversing the area far easier than it had been moments prior. Once he was actually able to see the scene, he came to a stop, watching from a distance and ready to back away at a moment's notice. He wasn't insane enough to actually attempt to interfere in another possible conflict between Servants, of course, but that's what Command Seals were for, right?

---

"Oh, so you finally figured it out? My, my, and I thought you were the fastest archer in Greece. That title doesn't apply to that brain in your head, it seems," Medea said back, shrugging her shoulders as Atalanta let go of her arms. "There are more questions being asked than I have answers to, but that's less of an issue at the moment. What I can say is that I came here alone. As for my own goals, though? Have I not stated them already? To be controlled by another and swept up by the whims of fate to act as they would not in life... I hate that. It was bad enough with fickle gods, but in the hands of a human? I would never tolerate it. I prefer having my own autonomy, thank you very much."

Sighing, the Caster paused for a moment as if to remember something before nodding her head.

"That woman... Medusa, yes. I know nothing about why she appeared here, but this turned out to be my first destination in order to get my bearings straight. In any case, she should be recovering from the effects of that control spell right about now. I was going to interrogate her before you so rudely interrupted me, but I guess that you and your motley crew have that handled. In any case, I have no time to waste; if my theory is correct, I need to head to Crete next. You are free to join if you wish, but... For now, could I ask if you could please stop straddling me? This is rather uncomfortable. In more ways than one."


With that issue having been settled (apparently), Keisuke turned towards Nobunaga and beckoned her to land before sending off a message to the other two Masters who were still in the city.

"Might split off from you two for a bit to follow after Medea. Nobunaga and Atalanta will likely follow. Keep me up to date on what's happening on that end."

With that handled, Keisuke slipped the device into his pocket and walked forward, glancing off at the port in the distance before looking back down at Medusa.

"Crete... The Minotaur, huh? I think I'm starting to understand the trend. Atalanta, we should follow; I don't think that Medea's a threat to our safety at the moment. Nobunaga, you should come, too. We can regroup with the others once we gather some more information."

---

Medusa turned her head towards Nero for a moment, a bit of anguish barely visible from her mouth as she bit her lip and shook her head.

"No, they are... Not immortal. I should know that better than anyone," she said quietly before shaking her head. "But even so..."

After listening to everyone else's thoughts on the matter, the Rider closed his eyes and nodded his head before turning towards the woman on the ground.

"Very well. If we are all in agreement, then we shall move out immediately! Though I assume the problem now is obtaining a seafaring vessel, since utilizing my own would be rather taxing on our Masters. Hrm. Would commandeering a vessel be possible? My authority as a pharaoh should be enough to do such a thing, but-"

"E-er, excuse me."

The sound of an old man's voice meekly requesting their attention caused Ozymandias to turn around and glance down. As expected, it was an old man, hunched over with a walking cane and wrinkles over his face while he continued to speak.

"Y-yes... Er... Thank you for your help in putting out the flames; all of us are very grateful for your help. I couldn't help but overhear that you needed a ship to travel on; I used to be a captain back when I was young and spry, so if you don't mind, I could help guide you to wherever you need to head," he said, a meek smile on his face.

"Hmhm. Well, I do not see any reason we should not accept such an offer. Any objections?" he asked, looking over the rest of the group for a response.

@VitaVitaAR@Raineh Daze@KoL@Rin@Grey Star

Atalanta stared at Medea, listening to her answers while still pinning the Witch down with her thighs. She decided to let the derogatory comment about her intelligence go unanswered. After all, Atalanta knew that bickering with Medea wouldn't bring her anywhere. Even so, the leonine huntress shot an unamused glare towards the purple-haired Caster squirming under her. A slight increase in the hold's pressure before Atalanta let Medea probably would be enough to help the Witch realize who was the huntress and who was the prey in their current situation.

"Crete, you say?" Atalanta said in a pensive voice right about the time Keisuke walked in. "I agree that splinting our group is the best way for us to find the prey we seek faster. Now that this is decided," she said while finally dismounting from Medea. "You can lead the way. If you feel like it, you can take my energy to heal that wound, I still owe you, after all."

---

As soon as Atalanta let Medea loose, the Caster let out a sigh of relief and, after pushing herself off the ground and brushing the dirt that was stuck onto it off of herself, moved to pick up her staff and began to walk towards the port. Keisuke followed close behind, still wary of any possible issues or attacks that might spontaneously come flying out of nowhere. Luckily enough, there were none.

"We have arrived," Medea finally said, gesturing over to a ship docked at the port. The vessel itself seemed to be in pristine condition, if not a bit bland in terms of decoration save for the occasional magical inscription that could be seen weaving around the boat itself. "I should warn you, though: under no circumstances should you be attempting to break the spells I've set up on the ship. I will take no responsibility if you accidentally lose an arm or a leg due to your own curiosity. Now, if those matters are settled, we should take our leave soon. I do not believe the trip should take long at all, assuming something doesn't go horribly wrong."

With that nonchalant answer, Medea calmly boarded the ship, with Keisuke following close behind. After a few preliminary checks were completed, the Caster waved her staff in the air and the ship immediately began to move. Whatever had been anchoring the vessel to the docks was now gone, and only a few minutes after that did a timely gust of wind push the boat off into the seas ahead. The spontaneity of it all gave Keisuke pause, and he immediately grabbed onto a rope near one of the masts to steady himself as the group steadily headed away from the port.

"Honestly, I prefer riding an airplane over riding a boat. Even if I don't get seasick, at least the trip is a lot faster," the Enforcer muttered to himself before letting go of the rope and beginning to walk around the ship. The design of the thing, as far as he could tell, was a tad more modern than he would have expected from this era, though that may have been partially due to whatever singularity was being tampered with here. Not that he would complain, though; at the very least, it meant that the group might reach their destination sooner than expected, but...

"Er... Medea. Question. How long will this boat ride take, barring any unforeseen circumstances?" he asked, warily looking around at the port that was rapidly growing farther from his field of vision.

"Normally, I think this journey would take a few weeks, but because of whatever is causing this mess combined with my own abilities, I believe it should only take... Maybe a few days at the worst? Do not think this means that the trip will be an easy one, though; on my initial journey over, there were a great deal more aggressive creatures lurking in the waters than before. I shall leave it to you to handle them."

"...Great. Alright, I can deal with battles on a ship. Probably."

"Speak of the devil. Over there, over the horizon," Medea motioned, pointing towards a large serpentine creature breaching and re-entering the water as it made its way towards the boat. "I need to keep the ship on course; can I ask you three to handle that?"

Keisuke's eyes widened in shock as the beast continued to approach with ever-increasing speed, his hands now firmly gripped around his katana as the size of their enemy slowly grew in scale.

"...Understood. Atalanta, Nobunaga, are you ready to take this guy down? Because you have all of... I think ten seconds to prepare?" he asked as the creature reared its head out of the water and screeched at the crew before diving back down.

"Never mind, looks like it's starting now!"

Grabbing back onto the mast as the sea serpent caused enough waves to rock the boat, Keisuke gritted his teeth as the enemy exited the water once more and lunged at the boat, its mouth agape in an attempt to consume the crew all at once.

---

Seeing that there were no objections from the rest of the group, the old man smiled and slowly began to walk off to the seas. After what seemed like an eternity of slowly edging forward, the group finally made it to a small shack off the side of the ocean, along with an old boat anchored off the coast. There was a small dinghy able to fit the entire group on it, however cramped that ride would prove to be, and the old man simply smiled and gestured over to the boat.

"Well, here you are. A beaut, isn't she? Ah, but you might have to go hunting for supplies along the coastline, since I haven't been on there in ages. Even if I am an old man, I've still got enough love of the sea to get you where you need to be going. The life hasn't left these old bones yet! Wahahaha!" the old sailor laughed heartily before motioning everyone to get on. Once they did, Ozymandias chose to row the small vessel forward (even if such behavior was unbecoming of a king) before the group made it to the larger ship off in the distance. The sounds of raucous laughter and shattering glass, however, put a frown on the old man's face as he stared up at the boat.

"That... Is odd. I haven't let anyone on that ship in ages. Could it possibly have...?"

"Pardon me, but I believe some other group has taken control of this vessel. We shall head ahead and check; wait here," Ozymandias said before materializing a part of his own ship to climb up onto the deck. What he saw was... Rather within expectations, all things considered. A group of miscreants drinking booze and mocking one another...

"Pirates, huh? Disappointing," he said, waving his staff once in their direction. The spontaneous appearance of giant ship parts from out of nowhere knocked many a person off the side of the ship, and Ozymandias calmly strode on deck before beckoning the others to follow suit.

"Let us clean out this vessel before we depart. We might not kill them, but the ocean may not be so kind," he said, glaring at the angry drunks that still apparently hadn't clearly grasped the situation. The sounds of metal and footsteps from below deck made it clear that there were more enemies incoming, but the problem was still the same, was it not?

@KoL@VitaVitaAR@Grey Star@Rin@Raineh Daze

Ah, the ship that they would have to board wasn't the small dinghy that the man had lead them to, instead one further off shore. She had been about to say--a rowing boat was both completely unsuitable for someone of her stature and hardly efficient. Yet this new vessel provided greater challenges... though she and the others here could unquestionably captain a ship and perform the necessary duties, there were but three of them. It would undoubtedly be easier with more people to fill the rowing benches...

Ozymandias' sweeping the drunks off the deck was hardly conducive to such a thing, and the Rider got a rather unexpected poke to the chest from an irate blonde: "Praefectus, three people is too few to man a galley. These men might be pirates but they will be more than able to manage the sails and row."

---

Maybe it wouldn't have been apparent to the others--certainly, she didn't think this batch of Servants could be called experts on naval history and nor were the Masters--but to an alchemist such as herself, it was second nature to consider the construction of items and their manufacture. This ship was... odd. The old man said that it had been ages since it sailed or had received any attention, yet it sat in pristine condition. Not that wooden ships were delicate creatures, yet it was odd...

Nor was it the ship's strangest thing. Naval designs hardly underwent rapid development in such an era but... it would be possible to have an early multiple-deck ship during the Trojan War but it was very unexpected. And the construction was far more solid than Meran expected of a ship left for years or even decades.

The expressionless girl's eyes tracked to the old man. Just who was he, and what was this ship?

Saber rose to her feet, quietly raising her blade as she did. The boat had been overtaken, and the best course of action to take in this regard was to swiftly remove them. However, before she could begin her assault, she noticed Nero pointing out what was required for the use of this ship. She hesitated. If that was the case, perhaps it was better to subjugate these pirates, then make the terms of their defeat to man the ship itself. Saber nodded to herself, adjusting her grip on the hilt of her sword. Invisible Air suddenly seemed to flare, becoming a semi-visible whirlwind around her blade. No longer was it simply concealing her weapon, instead it was now acting as something of a club, the whirling Bounded Field condensed and energized to dull her blade.

"Then I will incapacitate them," Saber said, simply. With that, she sprang from the smaller boat, and landed in the midst of the pirates as they came streaming onto the deck. Sliding one foot outwards, she swung her sword in an arc. With a sound almost like the firing of a cannon, one of the pirates went flying, knocking another of his comrades to the ground before he hit the ground and rolled once, knocked senseless by the blow.

For a few moments, the pirates reeled back in shock. It wasn't exactly every day they were attacked by someone with far more recent armor and a whirlwind that sends its targets flying with each blow gripped in her hands.

@PKMNB0Y@Raineh Daze@Rin

"Tch, using my True Name so easily and in front of people we can't fully trust. What kind of Master are you?" Rather irate that yet another person wasn't using her amazing moniker of Demon Archer and even gave away their true identities out in the open, the flaming skeleton whose form was obscuring Nobu's real appearance from the world took out an arquebus before pointing it towards the rapidly approaching maw of the serpent. Then two more guns lined to the side of the rifle held in the girl's hand, perfectly level with the weapon actually held physically before a resounding bang emanated out with the might of a thunder clap.

The three projectiles spewed forth rocketed forward with intense speed and power, Tenka Fubu empowering the strength behind the blow due to the fact that the sea serpent had a certain level of Mystery inherent in it as with all Phantasmal Beasts. In this Age of the Gods, one such as Demon Archer would be at her strongest point in a very ironic twist. "After I kill it, someone better be able to make it into either sashimi or unagi depending on what the meat is like. I've never tasted sea serpent before."

"Tsc," Atalanta clicked her tongue just as the other Archer spoke. "That is an awfully bad attitude. You cannot blame Keisuke for treating you equally to the rest of us. If nothing else, a true Heroic Spirit would be flattered to have their name recognized and spoken," the leonine Archer lectured her peer, seeping the typical pride of a Heroic Spirit from the Age of the Gods.

The discussion about the worthy of Hero's name had to wait though. Soon enough, they were attacked by a Sea Serpent. They had to take it down while Medea kept the ship on course with her wind magic. Nobunaga opened fire first, the thunderous roaring of her rifles, was enough to bring a frown out of Atalanta, who could never understand why mankind abandoned the gracious bounty of Apolo and Artemis and surrendered themselves to such loud and dirty weapons like firearms. That said, she didn't have the time for such musings at the moment.

With a quick swipe of her hand, Atalanta summoned her goddess' bow, nocking a pair of arrows to it. She didn't have time for a full draw, so a killing shot wasn't likely to happen. With that in mind, Atalanta positioned her bow in the horizontal and shot, aiming for the beast's eyes. They didn't necessarily have to kill it. Just compelling the beast to run would be fair enough.

After her first shot, Atalanta turned to Medea and asked, "Did you not say that the Gods cannot exert their influence upon the world? Why is it that one of Poseidon's beasts attacked us as soon as we left the port?" Atalanta didn't want to sound like she was doubting Medea again —there was no point in that— but this situation smelled fishy; Atalanta didn't even need to have a lion's nose to notice that.

The giant sea serpent roared in pain as Nobunaga's bullets pierced through its scales, causing blood to spew forth onto the deck as it continued its rush forward. The momentum of the beast might have ordinarily caused it to crash into the boat right then and there, but the combined force of both the bullets and arrows caused enough of a backlash to prevent that. Instead, the serpent reared back, one of its eyes now blinded by Atalanta's arrows as it hissed at them. With a deafening screech, the creature glared at the two Archers with its one remaining eyes before diving back under the water. At this point, Keisuke frowned and glanced off the edge of the boat where it had gone under before returning to the center of the deck.

"It's probably not gone yet; be careful. Actually, I'm worried that the blood might attract other creatures here, if they act anything like sharks..." he trailed off, his stance relaxing before a sudden jolt from beneath the ship caused the vessel to jump a few feet into the air.

"Damn, it's smarter than I thought it would be," he cursed, watching as the trail of blood from the sea serpent grew longer and longer as time passed. "Do either of you have any way of taking down underwater opponents, or do we need to find another way to bait it out?"

While Keisuke was attempting to figure out a solution to their current situation, Medea sighed and shook her head.

"Gods not being able to influence is not the same as their creations simply wreaking havoc, nor would it have any equivalence if a mortal, by some miracle, took their power for themselves. I said it myself, didn't I? On my trip over, I had to deal with a great number of these things; it slowed down my travel time dramatically, though I made it through in the end. Do not underestimate my willpower, dear Archer," she stated as another hit from the creature shook the boat.

"...Hm. The bottom of the ship is reinforced, but if that thing manages to hit us at the correct angle, we may capsize..."

---

"Hm? Oh, a crew, is it? I would rather not throw my lot in with wanton criminals, but you may be onto something in conscripting them," Ozymandias said, thoughtfully nodding his head with one hand on his chin. One of the drunks took that moment to attempt to attack him, but Ozymandias simply whacked him in the face with his staff before turning towards Nero and nodding. "Very well. We shall disable the drunkards and force negotiations upon the sober."

It was at this point that the captain, a rather rough-looking man with a semi-shaven beard, stormed out from the lower decks. His jaw dropped as he watched his crew members drop like flies (or be flung off into the ocean), but only for a few moments before he screamed out.

"Alright, alright, you drunken bastards! Anyone else who gets flung off this boat isn't getting back on!" he roared, anger in his eyes before pointing his weapon—a long spear of no notable make—at the group of Servants wreaking havoc. "Well? What business do you have with us? Did those idiots from town send you to deal with us?"

"Not the town, but more along the lines of... We need a vessel to travel to Greece. Our benefactor claimed that this was his ship, and so we simply came to recapture it from you heathens," Ozymandias calmly replied, glaring at the captain with his staff firmly in hand.

"Heathens, huh? Cocky, aren't you? Well, I did find it strange that this boat was completely empty and floating out on the sea, but the crew didn't seem to mind. Well, whatever; I'm not an idiot. I can tell you lot have the advantage. Well, what do you want? Treasure? Women? Our heads?"

"While the second item you suggested worries me more than it should, all we require for the moment is your cooperation in bringing this vessel where we need to travel. If you follow our directions, you may remain alive. Is that clear?"

"A threat, huh? What if we refuse?"

"Then may Ammut judge your hearts a suitable snack on your journey to the Underworld."

"So death, huh? Damn, I can't see any way around this. Alright, we're going, then!"

With those negotiations complete, the remaining passengers on the dinghy were brought up onto the deck and, after a few moments of the pirate captain walking around and knocking a few heads together, the vessel set off to sail the sea.

@KoL@Grey Star@VitaVitaAR@Raineh Daze@Rin

Turning the blackened skull's sockets burning balefully with red embers towards Atalanta, the skeleton that was Nobunaga's facade simply looked rather incredulous despite the lack of any facial muscles or skin. "Well, we're dealing with witches... even someone like I know that true names are not something to be bandied around easily in their presence." Moving towards the railings and staring into the see, the burning effigy of a human's support frame simply blazed all that hotter at Keisuke's words. "Witch, is it possible to bind the serpent tailing us with your crafts if we can pound away at it enough? If we can make it pull our ship, it'll get us moving all that faster and maybe scare away the small fry." Putting her outside the box thinking to good use, the charred black skeleton clattered in a spine-tingling laughter.

Atalanta shuddered when Nobunaga addressed Medea as a Witch. It didn't matter how fitting that moniker was, calling the one that was guiding their path in such a derogative manner was not the right choice to make, especially when said guide was known for mercilessly cutting down even her own family. In the end, the sea serpent was a much bigger problem; Atalanta decided to leave Nobunaga to suffer whatever fate she had to, after spiting the most spiteful mortal woman of the Age of the Gods and concentrate on the matters at hand.

"You are lucky that bow fishing is one of my specialties," Atlanta said as she climbed railing over the ship's bow. "Medea, make us go as fast as you can and, Keisuke, take the helm and turn us to starboard with your all. I' going to end the beast's suffering with my best shot. The journey on that boat may have been bitter; however, we cannot let whoever is behind this think that they can defeat an Argonaut while we are at the sea," she said to the purple-dressed Caster and her Master. Even if the experience she had during the Argo's journey was about as bad as it gets, the skill to fight in open seas still hadn't left her.

The raging current of air quelled, spinning to a stop and briefly seeming to dissipate, for a split second revealing the golden glow of the blade beneath before returning to its original state, simply an invisible field hiding the form of her weapon. Saber nodded quietly to herself. A peaceful surrender and a solid victory that obtained for them a crew.

"It's undeniable that your surrender was the best choice you could have made," the blonde knight said, addressing the pirates with a nod. With that, she turned towards the smaller boat nearby and approached it. Gently, carefully, putting on a slight smile as she did, she took her Master's hand and helped her move from the smaller vessel to the larger one.

However, the moment Bethany was on-board, her stern expression returned.

"You should rest immediately, Bethany," Saber declared, "There is no guarantee you will have another chance to do so, so it is best for you to do so now."

@Rin@Raineh Daze@PKMNB0Y

Bethany stifled a yawn as Arturia helped her aboard the ship. All that work at the village had tired her out, and... Well, seeing her Servant smile like that, she couldn't help but blush.

"Ah... Maybe you're right, Arturia..." It really was impossible to refuse her suggestion when she made that kind of face. She really was far too pretty to be King Arthur. It was almost unfair, really. As she laid back, her cheeks turned redder as she said one last thing before drifting off...

"Um... You'll, um... W-w-watch over me, r-right? Um... I'd... Sleep better knowing that... Arturia..."

Medea glared at Nobunaga as the term 'witch' slipped through her lips. She would remember that slight, of course; Atalanta could half get away with it, but the both of them knew how to spite the other if the need be. For the moment, the best it could be considered was a treaty of non-aggression, if anything.

"Fool. Do you really think that us four—no, us three could subjugate such a creature without slaying it? Not to mention, in order to make a creature of that caliber my thrall I would need immensely more resources than we have on this vessel. You can check for yourself how much is actually on here, if you truly don't believe me," she responded as Keisuke ran up take the ship's whee-

"Oi, hold on, how the heck does this ship have a wheel? Isn't this a few centuries too early?!"

"I stole it from some hooligans and repurposed it to fit my own needs," Medea stated curtly, cutting the Enforcer off as she let the man take control of the ship. A magic circle quickly formed at her feet soon after, and a strong gust of wind blew from behind the ship. The Enforcer took that sudden surge of speed and ran with it, causing the ship to curve around at a pace which forced Keisuke to brace himself with all his strength. The serpent, of course, was temporarily taken by surprise, but soon decided to breach the surface of the water from within the curve in an attempt to slam the apparently-prone Servants off of the ship and into the water.

---

The Rider took a deep breath in as the ship sailed forth, the smell of the water tickling his nose as he stood at the forefront of the vessel. The sound of the pirates behind him screaming as they handled everything aboard the ship was a bit of a mood-breaker, but in this scenario he could not afford to be picky. As things were, the trip would take some time, and given how the Master travelling with them had been brought to a cabin on the lower level to rest, that meant that only that Meran girl, the old man, and the pirates were left. Well, in terms of who needed actual sustenance, of course.

Needless to say, that brought issues of its own. He couldn't just waltz up to a town off the coast and demand provisions, but at the same time he couldn't leave the others unable to survive. Cheap alcohol was indeed there, but he would rather the group not dirty their bodies with that swill. That could prove to be... Problematic.

"...Medusa, was it? Do you know which way we are to head?" he asked, turning towards the blindfolded woman who was currently standing at the bow of the ship, apparently staring out towards the ocean.

"Yes, I... I believe I should. The direction of the wind is oddly familiar to me. So long as we travel this way, we should reach the island in... A day's time? This vessel is far faster than what I am used to," she responded, slowly nodding before walking back onto the deck. That evaluation, odd as it was, stuck within Ozymandias' mind. This speed was unnatural, and the distance predicted was oddly small given what information had been given to him back when he had first been summoned. There were too many oddities in this situation, and—

"Captain! What's that in front of us?!" one of the lower ranking pirates cried out, beckoning a few of the others on the vessel to peek over to see what he was screaming about. Out of curiosity, Ozymandias turned to look as well, his eyes widening in shock as he saw what was in front of them.

In the midst of the clear blue sky, a giant wave of ominous black clouds seemed to loom right in front of them—no, rather, it seemed to be coming towards them. The torrential sea seemed to be far more restless than the surrounding water, which only placed more suspicion within the Rider's mind.

"Can we avoid it?" he asked, walking over to the old man as he did so. All he got in response was a bitter face and a grim shake of the head.

"Not at the speed we're going at right now. You'd all best brace yourselves for some rough seas ahead. Any of you who can't take the rain, I'd recommend you head under right this moment."

With a grimace, Ozymandias turned towards Medusa, who immediately nodded towards him before making her way down to the lower deck. It was a fair decision, all things considered; in her condition, she was more likely to be flung off the side of the ship instead of helping the vessel stay afloat.

"All right, you bastards! You know the drill by now! Get to work!" the captain yelled, at which point the various pirates scattered on deck began to move about and prepare for the worst. Ozymandias simply stood by, staring at the clouds, almost as if he was trying to make something out past the raging sea.

@Grey Star@KoL@VitaVitaAR@Raineh Daze@Rin