The battle, naturally, ends in minutes. Blackbeard is thrown into the brig and stripped of all his… effects. The two female pirates surrender and immediately defect, as does the Lancer. Kana then storms off somewhere to cool off. Mashu follows her, as much to accompany her other Master as it is to calm her own frayed nerves.

Which leaves Ritsuka, who makes a mental note to keep an eye on Mashu, to welcome the new help.

“Hello thar! I’m Mary Read and this lil’ gremlin ‘ere’s Anne Bonny! Considerin’ how Cap’n Teach’s currently walkin’ the plank between life ‘n death, seems prudent fer us ta abandon ship and join ya!” The statuesque twintailed blonde laughs and slaps the platinum blonde girl next to her on the back repeatedly, all while she shoulders a flintlock rifle as tall as she is. Ritsuka notices that she’s not wearing much under her red coat, and that’s as much as he needs to know. “Pleasure ta meetcha!”

Anne Bonny, who is still stone from the knees down and slowly reverting by the power of greek poultices and Medusa sealing her eyes again, pouts petulantly while trying not to seem like she’s pouting petulantly. Which is hard, considering she’s got her collar popped and half her face covered by her collar. It’s adorable. “Pleasure, Captain Drake…” She looks sharply at Ritsuka for a moment before bowing her head in… not deference, but acknowledgement, at least. “And to you, Ritsuka.”


“I guess I’ll tag along too,” says the scruffy Lancer, who leans against his spear - actually a sword tied to a stick, apparently Lancers are all sorts now - and pops open a waterskin and takes a drink. By the strong smell, it’s wine. Very, very old wine. “I’m Hector, a Lancer.”

Ritsuka raises an eyebrow. “As in, Hector of Troy?”

“Yeah, I guess.” He glances over at Herakles, who looms over them like a dark stormcloud. While Mary and Anne both jump in their skins, he nods casually at him, like the Berserker wasn’t ready to smash his head off with his giant golden axe at a moment’s notice. “Why? Is it important?”

“Yeah, I mean… Didn’t Achilles kill you?”

Hector shrugs. “What happens, happens. Besides, I don’t see him here.” He spares a glance for Atalanta and Medea, the witch fussing over the Archer’s head bump despite hearty resistance, and smiles a bit. “Not that I mind.”

“...Yeah, well, I’m happy for the help. We’re looking for a Holy Grail in this era so we can collapse the Singularity and restore history. Do you know anything about one?”

Hector scratches his beard. “Well, there is a chart that the Captain kept looking at during our voyage… I believe it showed an island that has no name. Such things are usually the works of the gods, so it’s worth a shot.”

“Definitely worth a shot,” Ritsuka nods. “Thanks, Hector.”

“The sooner we’re done with this,” Hector smirks, “The sooner I can take a break.”

----

“...And that’s the plan right now, doctor. Any ideas about what this island could be?”

“Well, that’s the thing, there are plenty of nameless, unusual islands detailed in the Odyssey alone, to say nothing of greek myth or beyond,” harrumphs the acting-Director. “We’ll do our best, but be ready, Ritsuka. If the Grail really is there, SHEBA will notify us once you’re close enough.”

“I don’t actually think it’s there, but good to know.” Ritsuka’s smile strains a bit. “I’ll keep an eye on Mashu. She seems a little shaken by… Blackbeard perving on her.”

“Mm. I’m not happy about that, either… But she won’t let that get her down. I doubt she was ever in any actual danger, Ritsuka. How is Kana taking it, though?”

“She’s still mad.” He hears her laugh just a bit too loudly when one of Queen Elizabeth’s crewmates makes a bawdy joke. “Yep, still mad. But she’s always had a better lid on these things than I do. I only do cool things when I’m angry enough to not care but not too angry to think, eheh…”

“Heh. Well, that makes two of us.” Dr. Roman smiles on the other end. “Rest well, Ritsuka. Good night.”

“Night, doctor.” The screen dies, revealing the witch before him. “Medea. What’s up? If you think we should kill Blackbeard, I’m tentatively supportive of that, but I’m still debating the point with--”

“Hector is not who he seems to be.”

Ritsuka stops, the words turned to ash on the tip of his tongue. He straightens his back, fists balled on his lap. “Explain.”

“He is a man of war. He held the gates of Troy for years by the strength of his arms and the depths of his cunning.” The witch is firm today, menacing beneath her shadowed hood. Lit in amber by torches, she looks every bit the villain history paints her as - and past that, as the tragic woman who was betrayed and in turn betrayed others. “Only after he died did the walls fall to Odysseus’ cunning. Do not underestimate him.”

Ritsuka nods. “I know, he did betray Blackbeard by joining us. But I don’t think he’ll betray us to the Incineration of Man; Hector was, ultimately, a Hero. He has no stake in this besides ending this war.”

“Hm.” Medea only grunts, but she remains unconvinced. “Very well, Master.”

“Trust is only earned by trust, Medea.”

“And open gates invite invasion. Good night, Master.” She nods and turns away, to disappear in the nighttime.

Ritsuka exhales. Welp, he should go find his sister. Just in case.

----

They arrive at the island at noon, two days later. A shore party is assembled, a cove is found, and the ship is docked for the duration. And almost immediately, they are attacked by wyverns.

Fortunately, however, these are not the swarms they faced in France. These are wild wyverns, territorial creatures who are quickly scared off by fire, concentrated arrow fire, and one angry boy with a big golden axe. What began as a wild animal attack quickly turned into pest control, which further transformed into a hunting expedition when Medea of Colchis mentioned casually that wyvern scales were excellent for coating the keel and hull of any vessel of the sea.

But all the while, as the monsters were hunted to extinction - or so it felt - something called to Medusa. She who would become the monster Gorgon felt a strange familiarity with this nameless island. And so while her comrades in Chaldea hunted wyverns for their valuable scales and fangs… she wandered.

The rise and fall of the cliffs and hills felt familiar, as did the sounds of the sea and the smell of the soil. Something within her spirit sang, for what reason she could not fathom. But it was when she saw shattered marble pillars upon a stone floor, and the many stumps of what were once heroes turned to stone, that she knew.

This was no mere island. This was the Nameless Isle. Her home.

And she knew hope, for a moment, before she quenched it. Locations were one thing. Realities were another. To be reunited with one sister was fortune enough; meeting the other would be too much for a monster like her.

And so she mulled, and brooded, until the ground quaked and the stone shook and a horned beast twice the size of a strongman tore his way out of the stone, swinging a pair of massive axes at Rider. She parried with her nails, deflected them with chains, and set up a web of iron using the pillars of this isle like she did so many times before.

The beast, the half-bull half-man Minotaur of myth, roared and raised his axes high. The Gorgon snarled in reply. Two monsters, staking their claim.

And the first strike broke the earth.

----

“...Wait, did you feel that?”

“Yeah.” Kana hoped atop a pile of charred wyvern corpses, the bodies crunching beneath her boots. “Felt like the island was breaking apart.”

“Think we should board and leave?”

“...Naaaaaah.”

Another shriek echoed through the cove, followed by the buzzing whistle of hundreds of arrows taking flight nearly simultaneously, then by the death rattle of an entire nest of wyverns.

“Atalanta’s working hard today!” Mashu cheers. She hops and turns about, fists excitedly clenched. “Senpais! Let’s do our part too!”

“Well, I mean.” Ritsuka glanced at his chart and at the crewmen diligently plucking good scales off the intact bodies under the keen eye of a Caster and their Captain. “When you put it that way…”

----

It’s evening when Medusa returns.

And she returns with a minotaur carrying two small girls. Who look extremely familiar, Ritsuka thinks. And thinks. And--

“Oh god it’s Stheno and Euryale.”

“But who are they riding?” Kana asks, eyes squinted.

“That mask looks like a bull,” Mashu notes.

“That’s probably the Minotaur,” Ritsuka says. He nods. “Okay, let’s not jump to conclusions, we’ll just hear it from Medusa. Alright? Alright.”

----

“Masters, this is Stheno and Euryale, and this is Asterios, the Minotaur. He has been protecting this island - and my sisters - since they woke up not too long ago.” Medusa nods. She seems happier than before, but she does not smile. Probably because of Stheno and Euryale’s acidic tongue, Ritsuka thinks bitterly.

“Hello, Asterios!” Mashu says happily. “Welcome to the Golden Hind! We’re almost done coating the ship!”

“Hello… am… Asterios…”

The Minotaur is more shy than he expected, Ritsuka thinks. But what else is new?

“I can’t believe we wound up on the Nameless Isle of all places,” Atalanta remarks in awe. “Perhaps… It is a sign of the gods?”

“Anything is possible, considering the circumstances,” Medea nods, deep in thought.

Mary looks at Anne. Anne looks back at Mary. Both of them look at the sky. “I guess anything is possible on the high seas,” Mary notes airily.

“With the spirit of adventure in your heart and a flagon of ale in your hand nothing is beyond your reach,” Anne says poetically.

“I bring news, as well.” Medusa gently lowers her sisters from the Minotaur, one by one.

“The Grail that you seek is not here,” one of them starts, looking imperious as she crosses her arms. “However, that which you seek will never be lost forever.”

“Like shall seek like,” the other sister says, in the exact same tone and with the exact same smug. “One will seek the other. Those who wish, and those who have wished.”

Ritsuka shares a look with his sister. “Well, that’s just… cryptic.”

“Yeah I didn’t understand that at all,” Kana nods. “I think it’s deliberate.”

Ritsuka looks at the elder gorgons. They are grinning, on the verge of uproarious laughter. He sighs. “Yeah, I figured. Still, it’s a step in the right direction. We should get ready to go when possible.”

“The dragon that spawned these wyverns will not be happy at the slaughter,” Medea nods.

Ritsuka blinks. “Wait, run that by me again--”

Drake nods. “At first light, we set off. But tonight, lads, we party! Reunitin’ family’s always worth celebratin’, don’tcha think?”

“H-Hold on Medea what was that about the dragon, explain what wyverns are--MEDEA!”

And through it all, Hector smiles.

----

The party was wild, loud, and lasted well into the night. At first light, the crew of the Golden Hind was all but dead, passed out from a night of revelry. Even Ritsuka and Kana, who had figured out how to turn off Mashu’s protections for alcohol - for them and for herself - imbibed enough to lose their fetters.

Until the morning, where the unlucky sods who drew the short straw for sentry duty cried out. But most did not rise. And as a dragon descended from from the west, backlit by the sun, they saw that it carried a black giant, a young princess, and a hero on an adventure. A hero who raised his sword, and who was met by two men at the bow of the Golden Hind. One man raised a spear, a sword that had been tied to a stick. And the other raised a pair of pistols as he cackled.

It was all a ruse. They had had been betrayed.

Trust a Trojan to be a Trojan Horse.