For several minutes, those who have gathered to hear the tale of the Okeanos Singularity fell into hushed silence as they waited for Ritsuka to speak. He stayed silent for many long minutes, alone in his contemplations as his sister and Mashu had left to get ice cones. He sat with a hand clutching his chin, the posture of a thinking man, and his audience gave him the space to work. He sits there unmoving. They stay silent, waiting with baited breath.
At long last, he breathes deeply. His audience tenses and get ready for the tale to continue.
And are immediately disappointed.
"...Yeah I have no idea how to convey this narratively so I'll just say what happened," Ritsuka sighs. "I get a dream of the Argonauts on Lemnos and see the memory of Herakles chiding the entire crew, and Jason there is more like a good hearted idiot who didn't consider the consequences of giving the Queen three kids. And he is also a diplomatic genius who successfully kept an entire island of women who just murdered all the men from murdering them." He stays silent for a while longer. Medea fumes silently at the memory but says nothing. "I'm sorry, I don't know how to translate this."
The audience sighs heavily at this. Even Jeanne, who is happy to see this many men and women gathered who aren't about to sack a city, seems disheartened. Gilgamesh has long since wandered off from sheer lack of interest. Kana comes back then, spoon in mouth.
"Hey, Rits. We're out of rose syrup so I got you ribena."
"Aw man, I like rose syrup - wait that's still good gimmie."
"Mmhm." She plops down on her chair again and lounges for a moment. "So, why's everyone silently judging you?"
"I tried and failed to explain Herk's dream as a story. So I just told them what happened."
She blinks. "Wait you actually understood that? I just figured you agreed when I said Jason doesn't seem like himself. I woke up with a headache!"
"Senpai's a Berserker whisperer," Mashu says with a satisfied nod.
"It's a gift," he shrugs. "But yeah, anyways four days later we arrived at the mystery island. And found some really weird people."
"You can't really call them people, Rits."
"Fine. We ran into a Goddess, her literal boy toy, and a Shepard who got crowned King by God."
----
No sooner had they moored to the coast of the mysterious island of the Ark and disembarked did a strange woman with a stuffed toy on her shoulder arrive to greet them. Dressed in a strapless long dress seemingly made from corals, held up entirely by magic and an hourglass figure, she waved excitedly as she… floated towards them?
"Hello strange travellers! Are you also looking for the Ar--hmff?!"
Most astonishingly of all, the teddy bear moved to cover her mouth. He then whispered into her ear before clearing his throat and turning to them. "Ahem. What my fair lady is trying to say, strange travellers, is if you're available tonight, milady."
Ritsuka blinks. Kana blinks. Mashu blinks and then tilts her head. "Wait, I'm confused. Could we try again?"
"Of course! I'm available tonight, if you can catch my--"
"D a r l i n g ~ ?"
The bear freezes as his female companion smiles intently at him. He swallows. "N-Nevermind. Who are you, strange travellers?"
"By the way, Ritsuka," Dr Roman chirps in his ear, "This is the divine signature we're reading from the island."
"Yeah I guessed." Despite how she acts and dresses like… Well like an actual bimbo, Ritsuka can taste the amount of bullshit packed into her. If she tried anything… Well honestly it's a good thing she's ditzy and approachable. Goddesses be cray, you see. "We are Chaldea. We've come from the future to stop the Incineration."
"A likely story," the bear growls. "My dear, they might be allies of the Demon God. I think we should stop them - oh, but we should save some captives. For interrogation."
"Is that sooo, darling?" No sooner said than done does the Goddess call a silver and gold bow into her hand. "Then here I gooo~"
"Wait!" Atalanta, who Kana told to stay on the Golden Hind for fire support earlier, materialises suddenly before them, bowed on the ground so hard her forehead is touching the sand. "My Goddess… It… It is me, Atalanta!"
"Hm?" The Goddess opens one eye and her smile droops slightly. "Atalanta? My Atalanta, who gave her virginity to Hippomenes within one of my sister's temples and was cursed thusly?"
"...The very same." She looks up, eyes wide. "But I have remained true to you in other ways, Goddess! Renounce me for my shame, but know that their mission is true, and--"
Atalanta's plea is drowned by a large bear hug by her Goddess, who laughs merrily. "Awww, you've grown so big! I'm glad I could see you again, you're so beautiful now! Oh, Hippomenes was such a lucky boy! And now you are with Chaldea!" She steps back from the hug and a dazed Atalanta to look at the obsidian giant standing behind Ritsuka. "And you must be Herakles! My little brother!" She extends her arms. "Give your big sister a hug, little brother!"
Herakles does not move. He does, however, blink. This is a day for firsts.
"...Huh?" Atalanta, dazed, lets her jaw sag. "W...W-What?"
"Give her a moment," the bear sighs. "She gets like this whenever we meet anyone we actually know."
"Aw, don't be like that, Orion! We've finally found some friends!"
In Mashu's head, something like a record scratch is heard. Except it's actually five trucks crashing into one another. "Wait. Orion? The Hunter?"
"Yeah," the now-identified hunter of legend sighs.
"The constellation?" Kana asks.
"I remember when I still needed three stars to hold up my belt," he sighs harder.
"Why are you a bear," Ritsuka asks.
"Oh! I--"
"Gaia held a grudge," he says quickly, a paw on Artemis' mouth. "Look, this is seriously awkward, can we talk about it later?"
"Gaia is a huge bitch," Artemis nods enthusiastically. "But she made my darling small and huggable so I guess she's alright!"
"Woman you did this to me!"
"Whaaaaat no I would never hurt my darling - just like how my darling would never throw his beloved Goddess aside like dirty laundry for ever girl he meets, right? D a r l i n g ?"
"...N-No, 'course not. You're my l-lovely… l-lovely Goddess."
"D-awwwww you're so sweet - and so cute and cuddly ohmigosh eeeeeeeeee--"
So while the supposedly-virginial-and-asexual Goddess of the Hunt gushes over the ancient Giant who once nearly hunted every single beast on the planet to extinction, quietly Ritsuka wonders how she does that with her mouth. It frightens him. Just a bit. And just a bit away, Atalanta has curled up into a ball and is leaning against Herakles' shin, trying desperately to wipe the memory out of her brain with a cast iron brush.
It really is a day for firsts.
"...Right, Kana, we should probably look for the -- Kana?" Ritsuka looks around. His sister is nowhere to be seen. "Kana, c'mon. Kana." More nothing. "Kana! Where are y--KANA! GET DOWN FROM THERE!"
Atop the Golden Hind, right next to the Captain, Kana shakes her head. "Nuh-uh! I'm staying right here! You can go play with the creepy bear and the bimbo Goddess yourself!"
"Don't be like that, fair Kana of Chaldea!" Orion calls out. "You have nothing to be afraid of! I, Orion the Hunter, do solemnly swear to be a gentleman! A great beauty as yourself has nothing to fear, not your skin like fine marble, your eyes like bright amber, your great bounty to grace the--ack!"
"O r i o n n n n ~ ?"
"B-Besides we are looking for the Ark of the Covenant and could really use the help!" He rushes out, while his Goddess almost chokes him with one hand and a smile.
"Why?" Ritsuka sniffs. "You have a Goddess. Of the Hunt. And are a great Hunter yourself." He sniffs again. God, the way Artemis does inflections is really terrifying. He's going to cry himself to sleep later. "Can't you find it yourself?"
"...W-Well actually we found it already," the bear admits. "But, well. We can't reach it. There's… Well, point is we could use the help, alright?"
Ritsuka ponders this briefly. "Well, I'm not against it, but I have some ground rules for--"
"Hey!" Atop the Golden Hind, Kana holds out Euryale like a cat, and the middle Gorgon Sister scowls at Artemis. "Get that bimbo out of here! No mountainous cows are allowed!"
"How rude!" Artemis thrusts Orion out at her in a similar fashion. "Darling, protect my honour!"
"Your sacrifice doesn't change anything! But I'll still bully him!"
"MERCY ARTEMIS MERCY!"
Atop the Golden Hind, Kana starts hissing like a cat. "No mercy! Only snek."
Orion looks over at Ritsuka in a panic. "A-Anything you ask Chaldean JUST SAVE ME!"
Ritsuka sucks on his teeth and nods. Yep. A day of firsts.
----
It is a cave. A nondescript cave, like any other cave that they have been to. It isn't even a particularly big cave. It's nothing like the cove that they parked the Golden Hind inside on the Nameless Isle. It's barely big enough to fit Herk. He has to stoop down a little bit, just to walk in. And sure he does it without any complaints, but you can just feel how annoyed he is, forced to bend over for the crime of being too swole. At least he has the abs to make it work.
All the same, this is the place. For at the back of the cave, where the tunnel ends, is the Ark of the Covenant. A gold-plated chest nested upon a flat stone, glowing as whitest light leaks through the opened lid. The singing of angels, pure and effervescent, echoes softly in the tunnel. Ritsuka shudders as a chill runs down his spine, from the beauty of the sound. Mashu stands enraptured for a moment, overcome with thought.
And sitting before it, legs crossed and a shepherd's crop nestled upon his lap, is a man with handsome, well cut features and long green hair, held back by a white headband. His eyes are closed, his breathing even and his posture perfectly still, but all the same he cranes his head as they approach. Then, he opens one eye, as green as his hair. And his expression softens.
"Ah, Chaldea. You've finally come. And you've recruited the Goddess and her Hunter. Excellent." He stands up and walks over quickly, shaking their hands in quick succession. "I am David. I've been waiting for you to come."
"...Well, here we are." Ritsuka furrows his brow slightly. A shepherd named David in the presence of the Ark of the Covenant? Yeah this is probably King David of Israel. Yeah. No pressure. He'll just let Kana take the lead on this one.
His sister sniffs. "Gonna be honest, I was kind of hoping for a Knight of the Round Table. But I'm not against meeting King David!"
The King chuckles and spares a surreptitious glance for their Shielder. Figures that he'd know that too. "No doubt about that. Now, you're probably here for the Ark of the Covenant."
"It's the Grail for this Singularity, right?" Orion asks. "You know, for curiosity's sake."
At that, David shakes his head. "You've been deceived. The Ark does not grant wishes. It is a holy artefact, an instrument used to commune with God, and my Noble Phantasm. And," he adds sharply when Kana goes to touch it, "It burns with His divinity, which burns sin. It tends to kill anyone who touches it, and quite painfully I might add."
Kana stops just short of it. She looks at Ritsuka with a wordless scream on her lips. He looks back with a bemused frown. "...Right. That was my fault."
"You referenced the movie earlier, you dummy. You should know better."
"...Yeah."
"Only the pure of heart could survive, and in doing so attempt to speak with Him," David goes on.
"I guess I should have brought Jeanne, then," Ritsuka sighs. "I'm sure she has a lot to say to him. Y'know, since she burned for him."
"She'd probably thank him for the opportunity," Mashu notes.
"Jeanne D'Arc, I presume?" Kana nods. "Ah, she's the one who heard Hi--" He raises an eyebrow suddenly. "Excuse me."
Immediately, David goes to Medea and kneels as he takes her hand in his own. "Fair lady, you have struck me with your beauty. Please, sire my children. God wills it."
Something breaks. Medea, the very image of a smug witch with loads of experience, blinks. Even for her, something this brazen elicits a reaction. "I… I beg your pardon?"
Orion squeaks as Artemis digs her fingers around his furry bear body. Kana is so disgusted she can't even laugh at the absurdity. Mashu is trying and failing to process the hypocrisy of it all. And Ritsuka is suddenly happy he didn't bring Jeanne along.
Nevertheless, David tries his luck.
----
"...So yeah, we found the King of Israel."
"Is that so," Roman says, the most dissatisfied that Ritsuka has ever seen him. Arms folded, eyes half-lidded, almost… pouting? "Well, I shouldn't be surprised. History was written by the winners."
David laughs and folds his arms. "'And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; swarm in the earth, and multiply therein.' Genesis 9:7."
"'Why have you despised the word of the Lord, to do what is evil in his sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and have taken his wife to be your wife and have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites.' 2 Samuel 12:9." Roman looks at the King of Israel, entirely unamused. "We could do this all day, King David. The word of God is not for self-serving men."
"It is tempting, knowing your reputation," Medea notes lightly, "But I must decline. I've committed to another."
"Hah! Well, fair enough, both of you." Shaking his head, David sighs and loses the smile. "Nevertheless, I did not come to exchange pearls of wisdom and laughter. I come with a mission."
"On a mission from God?" Kana asks hopefully.
"Chosen for myself, but with His blessing, certainly," David nods. "I was actually summoned in a distant land called Italy, during the reign of a Roman Emperor - or the Singularity thereof. At once, I was unsettled. Foul forces were at play there, and I had to act. So I left, and sought to commune."
"That explains why there wasn't an Archer," Ritsuka mentions distractedly.
"What about the Caster or Assassin?" Kana asks.
"...You shut up."
"And yet, with the Incineration in progress, I could not hear His voice, nor He I." David spreads his arms, gesturing to the cave. "This Singularity is the first I've seen where Gods may still act, and so I have hoped to speak to Him here. But I haven't had success thus far." He glances at Orion and Artemis. "Especially with my many… visitors."
Orion holds his bear hands up. "Hey, I didn't know it killed people! I just wanted a wish."
The Goddess nods furiously. "And I want my darling to be happy!"
"I'd be happy if you didn't hijack my summoning! ARTEMIS!"
"I'm screaming," Atalanta murmurs, shaking. "I'm screaming and I don't know if I'll stop."
"It helps to blame other people," Medea says, a comforting hand on her shoulder..
Ritsuka shares a brief look with Kana. She has nothing to say. He shares one with Mashu. She's still in awe of snippy Romani. Okay. "So, what do you know?"
"I know that the Demons of the Ars Goetia have gone wild, and that this Singularity was created by one of them. I'm not sure which one, but I'm sure it's coming for the Ark. And me."
Roman coughs. "The Argo is approaching, by the way. Jason still wants the Ark."
"He still doesn't know it's a deathtrap," Kana points out. "If we tell him, he'll probably drop it. And as a Hero, he'll be on our side. Like everyone in Rome!"
"I don't think it's that easy," Ritsuka says. "But we might as well try."
"I won't!" Artemis chirps. "I like Jason, so I'll just wait here!"
Ritsuka frowns. He turns to Orion. The bear shrugs. "I can't actually do anything. She has all the power."
Kana scoffs. "What are you even good for you stupid bear?"
"I'm good for you, fair lady," Orion replies smoothly. "A-Ack! Artemis! Artemis no! That one's just a joke!"
"I know! I'm laughing too, d a r l i n g ~"
Ritsuka sighs heavily and with a shudder. "God, I hope Jason hears us out."
"You don't need the Ark for Him to hear that," David points out.
"That's unhelpful but okay."
----
"The Ark kills people?" Jason leans forward, arms folded and eyes wide. "It's not… it doesn't grant wishes of a grander scale? It's not a superior wish granting engine to a Grail?"
"It kills everyone who touches it," Kana nods. "Gods, right? Even when they try to help, they kill people."
"Don't I know it," Jason says bitterly.
"Even I ain't bold enough ta steal it," Drakes says with a shake of her head. "Shame, too. Tis a beaut."
David shrugs, hands close to his chest. "At least He tries. It's more than I can say for the Olympians."
Jason ignores him and looks angrily back at his younger Medea, floating passively beside him. "What is the meaning of this, Medea?! You told me that the only way to grant my wish would be the Ark! Why did you lie to me?"!"
"I would never lie to you, Jason," Medea says, airily and sincerely, but chills run up Ritsuka's spine anyways. "I love you. I would do anything for you, Jason. Anything."
The Argonaut tenses up. Something is wrong. Kana's hand slowly hovers over Asriel. "Yes," he murmurs. "You would do anything for me."
"They're lying to you, my love. They've thrown their lot in with him. They wish to deny you everything. Paradise, glory." She cranes her head by his ear, whispering. "Peace."
At this, Jason changes. His posture, formerly affable, becomes feral. Furious. He draws his sword and points it at Kana, prompting Mashu to plant her shield. "ARGONAUTS! DESTROY THEM!"
From the ship, a flash is spotted. Only then does Ritsuka realise that Hector isn't around. "OH SHI--"
"Oh, Anti-Army Noble Phantasm. Stand back, I got this." David clears his throat and holds out one hand. In the other, he carries a sling, filled with stones. He twirls it, keeping his eye on the rapidly-approaching Duridana.
As the spear makes its final approach, David launches his projectiles.
"Hamesh Avanim!"
The stones are launched. Four miss the spear. The fifth knocks it off-course and elsewhere, where it detonates in the nearby woods instead. Exhaling softly, he turns around to Ritsuka and Kana, hands on his hips. "And that's my part of the battle. Your turn, Masters of Chaldea."
At this, a Hydra screams out of the ocean and onto the beach, one hundred heads roaring.
"Seriously?!" Ritsuka points at it, nearly in hysterics. "There's a MONSTER!"
"Can't do all the work," David shrugs. "Prove yourselves. Show me the mettle of the ones who will save the world."
The rest happens in a blur. Rider appears with Euryale, the older Gorgon wielding a bow, and take on the Hydra themselves. The enemy Herakles arrives in a blur of speed, is intercepted by his own Herakles, and they both vanish to elsewhere on the island leaving shattered island in their wake. Bullets whiz past Drake's head and she retaliates, blasting her pistols at Blackbeard while they close the distance. The Argo in the distance howls as hundreds of green arrows fall like stars upon it, shredding the sails and threatening to turn a Trojan into a pincushion. High above in the sky, a Witch matches a Princess spell for spell, flame on flame and arcane laser on arcane laser.
And all this leaves Ritsuka, Kana and Mashu to face a Greek Hero alone, as Jason summons his aspis and clashes his sword against it. "You will deny me no longer!" He bellows. "I will have retribution!"
"Any plans?" Ritsuka asks his sister.
"Yeah," she says, and draws her blade. "We'll kill Jason."
"You sure? He's still a proper Servant."
"Yeah, well, I've been practicing!"
With a feral snarl, Jason charges and swings. And so the battle is joined.
----
On the Argo, Hector smiles lazily as he holds his hands up, facing the Huntress with no fear. "Well, you got me," he says. "My spear's gone and I've got nothing left to lose. Go ahead, make it right."
Atalanta does not even nock an arrow to shoot him with. She just looks at him. "That night, during the party, you poisoned the wine. Yes?"
"That's right," he nods. "Kind of a nasty thing to do, isn't it? But when you're outnumbered, you do anything to make it even. Hunters use poison too, don't they?"
"No, it spoils the meat. Which is why you didn't either."
Hector raises his eyebrow. "What do you mean? I incapacitated the crew."
"Yes, of course." She wrinkles her nose. "Rotten grapes. How inventive."
"Ah," he says, like a breath from his lungs. "Seems I've been found out. What are you gonna do about it?"
Now, Atalanta holds up her bow, ready to press it against Hector's neck. "What do you want, Hector? Why are you rebelling against Jason?"
He smirks. "She'd kill me."
"I'd kill you."
"So do it." He continues to smirk, but his eyes are hard. "Make it right for Anne and Mary."
Atalanta says nothing. She nocks an arrow onto her bow.
