Location: Aboard Drake's Ship – Two Weeks of Travel
Day 1 – Start of the Journey
The sun rose over the turquoise waters as Francis Drake's ship set sail towards the mysterious islands. The atmosphere was charged with energy and expectations.
Drake, standing on the bow, shouted orders while her sailors worked like a well-oiled machine. Leonel, surrounded by his companions, watched the horizon, wishing for a calm journey.
Spoiler: it wouldn't be.
Day 3 – Navigation Class (or Flirting?)
Artoria offered to teach Leonel how to read nautical maps.
"For a King, the sea is just another realm," she said solemnly.
While the two were over the map, Tamamo appeared with a tea tray, hinting:
"No need for maps, my dear husband can simply sail straight to my heart."
Leonel choked on his tea. Artoria raised an eyebrow, uncomfortable.
Nero, passing by, just murmured:
"He has it coming for being so popular..."
Day 5 – The Bathtub Incident
Leonel was surprised by Jeanne, who accidentally entered the bathroom while he was in the tub. She froze, her eyes wide as plates.
"S-sorry! I didn't know you were there!" she shouted, fleeing as if from a burning castle.
Later, Mash shot him judgmental looks.
Tamamo asked casually:
"And how saintly was the view?"
Leonel did not survive that day verbally.
Day 7 – Cohabitation Problems
Nero and Tamamo, in their constant struggle for affection, started a cooking competition.
Result: the ship's kitchen ended up in chaos, with flour flying, sauces spilling, and a ladle battle.
Leonel had to eat both dishes while the two watched him intensely.
"This tastes... like rivalry?" he murmured with an awkward smile.
Day 10 – Shared Dreams
During a clear night, Leonel and Jeanne shared watch duty. They talked about faith, ideals, and what it means to fight for others.
Jeanne looked at him tenderly.
"You're different from any Master... perhaps that's why I'm starting to fear what I feel."
Leonel fell silent. Jeanne gave him a smile and turned back to look at the sea.
Day 12 – Shirtless Day (Involuntary)
During a ship cleaning, the pirates threw water on everyone to "celebrate the good wind."
Leonel ended up shirtless, wet, and shining in the sun.
The reactions were varied:
Nero: "My emperor shines like the sun!"
Tamamo: "Kyaaa~!"
Mash: covered her face but peeked through her fingers
Jeanne: blushed and ran away
Artoria: "Ridiculous... but aesthetically correct."
Day 14 – Last Night Before Arrival
A small party was organized by Drake to cheer up the crew. There was dancing, music, and drinks.
Leonel was dragged to dance by Nero, then by Tamamo, then by Mash, and finally by Jeanne, who let herself go for the first time.
Artoria watched from afar, in silence.
When Leonel went to talk to her, she only said:
"I don't dance... but if you order me to, I will."
Leonel shook his head with a smile:
"I don't want you to follow me as a King... I want you to travel with me as an equal."
Artoria averted her gaze, blushing.
Location: Aboard Francis Drake's Ship, near the mysterious islands
Time: Morning, with a partially cloudy sky and a salty breeze
The sea stretched out calm and deep, the coast of the islands barely visible on the horizon. Leonel and company were on deck, enjoying a break after two weeks of travel.
Nero leaned against the mast, humming an ancient melody while looking at Leonel with loving eyes.
Tamamo rested in his lap as if they were a newlywed couple.
Jeanne and Mash were checking their equipment to the side.
Artoria, with her typical discipline, took her turn at the helm alongside a relaxed veteran pirate.
Drake, with a spyglass in hand, smiled confidently:
"With a bit of luck, we'll arrive by nightfall. If the wind stays like this..."
But then... it happened.
A violent tremor shook the ship.
The planks creaked, the mast vibrated, and an expansive wave from the sea erupted as if something gigantic had emerged and submerged again in an instant.
"What the hell was that?!" shouted one of the sailors.
"The hull is damaged! We're taking on water!!" yelled another.
Leonel stood up abruptly as Tezcatlipoca partially manifested beside him, his shining eyes looking at the water.
"There's something... below. Something very ancient and very hungry," said the Mayan deity in a grave voice.
Drake threw down the spyglass, took the helm from Artoria, and shouted:
"Everyone to your stations! Prepare for evasive maneuvers! And for the love of all you hold dear, hold on!"
The sea churned as if a colossal serpent were circling beneath the ship. Vortices formed around them, and fleeting tentacles seemed to peek between the waves only to sink again.
Tamamo, already on alert, threw several sealing talismans into the water.
"It's not a simple squid, my husband! There's a curse in this place!"
Nero, unsheathing her sword with theatricality:
"Nothing dares to damage the stage where the empress performs!"
Jeanne and Mash formed a defensive line by the main mast, while Artoria, with firmness, made sure to stabilize the course.
Leonel closed his eyes for a moment, seeking Tezcatlipoca's guidance.
"It's a spiritual being that inhabits these waters, corrupted by the energy of the singularity," the deity informed. "We don't see it, but it stalks us! We need to make it surface."
"How?" asked Jeanne, containing the pressure of the environment.
"Provoke it! Let it know we're not easy prey!" exclaimed Tezcatlipoca.
Tamamo and Mash began casting spells and energy rays into the water.
Nero and Artoria, standing on the bow, challenged the abyss with their weapons ready.
Then it happened.
An enormous creature briefly emerged from the waters—dark tentacles, eyes like red beacons, and a body covered in black scales—before submerging again.
"That's the cause of the rumors on the island!" Drake shouted. "That monster has sunk more than one ship!"
Leonel, determined, yelled:
"Prepare to fight if it returns, but let's focus everything on surviving until we reach land! Drake, guide us!"
"Of course! This ship hasn't been defeated by man or beast!" roared the captain with a defiant smile.
Location: Open sea, vicinity of the Singularity island
Time: Midday, gray sky and rough sea
BOOM!
Another jolt made the hull's wood creak, and Drake's ship made a sharp turn, causing several barrels to roll. The waves were huge, as if the ocean itself had awakened in fury.
A cyclopean shadow beneath the surface made it clear that this wasn't over.
"It's still attacking us! Damned beast won't let us arrive so easily!" shouted Drake, soaked by seawater, while turning the helm forcefully.
"We're going in circles! We won't give it a straight line to catch us!"
The ship turned forcefully around the creature, the helm screeching with each maneuver. Meanwhile, colossal tentacles rose from the depths, seeking to crush or entangle the ship.
"Leonel! This won't stop until we face it directly!" exclaimed Tamamo, invoking multiple fire talismans which she threw at the tentacles, causing controlled explosions.
Artoria, with her sword in hand, made a prodigious leap, cutting a tentacle that threatened to knock down the main mast. Her sword shone like lightning.
"This is the work of a corrupted beast! I won't allow it to harm my allies!"
Mash and Jeanne were in the rear:
"Shield deployed!!!" Mash shouted, protecting the weaker sections of the hull with her Lord Chaldeas.
Jeanne, with her banner in the wind, recited blessings that maintained morale and strengthened the team.
Leonel closed his eyes amidst the chaos, holding his pendant and whispering:
"Tezcatlipoca... what is this thing?"
The spiritual figure of Tezcatlipoca partially manifested beside him, floating on deck with a severe gaze.
"This is no mere sea monster... it's the Kraken, the very one of legends, corrupted by the Singularity's distortion. Its mind is intoxicated by ancient resentment and perpetual hunger... It won't let us advance while it lives."
Leonel, with determination, opened his eyes.
"Then we'll make it retreat... or sink it."
He extended his arm:
"Artoria, Tamamo! Let's go for its head!"
Tamamo jumped onto a platform on the side, from where she invoked a giant spiritual fireball in the shape of a fox:
"Secret technique, Kitsune Pyrostorm! Let's see if this heats up your tentacles, ugly beast!"
The sphere exploded against the Kraken's torso when it emerged, revealing its enormous body with multiple eyes, toothed maws, and tentacles covered in spiny suckers.
Artoria invoked the energy of her Excalibur, and with a war cry, launched a direct attack:
"EX—CALIBUR!!!"
A golden beam cut through the Kraken's main arm, making the creature roar in pain and writhe with fury, splashing water all over the deck.
Leonel, meanwhile, used the tactical vision Tezcatlipoca offered him:
"Its eyes are its weak points! Distract it and attack the highest ones, that will make it submerge!"
Jeanne and Mash reinforced the ship's structure with everything they could.
Drake, sweating but smiling:
"That's what I'm talking about! Hit it hard, handsome! This ship doesn't stop for anyone, not even a drunken Kraken!"
The Kraken, in a final roar of rage, threw a tentacle with monstrous force aimed at the center of the ship.
Leonel, quickly, jumped forward and extended both hands.
"Tezcatlipoca! Now!"
The god invoked an enormous spiritual jaguar made of golden light that leapt from the air and tore the tentacle mid-flight, saving the ship from the final blow.
The Kraken, wounded and weakened, let out a shriek that shook the sea... and began to submerge, sinking back into the marine darkness.
"Did it... leave?" whispered Mash.
"Not completely," replied Tezcatlipoca. "But for now, it has allowed us to pass."
The ship was damaged but afloat.
The sun began to set, tinging the sky with orange tones as the island grew ever closer.
Tamamo and Nero approached Leonel, one on each side, exhausted but smiling.
"My husband is so brave..." whispered Tamamo.
"Our emperor, as always, glorious in battle," said Nero with pride.
Mash, from the background, watched them with a mix of pride... and jealousy.
Jeanne remained silent, grateful for the victory.
Artoria looked at the horizon, still alert.
Leonel, sweating, with his heart beating hard, could only say:
"And to think we haven't even touched land yet..."
Location: Island near the Okeanos Singularity
Time: Sunset, after the battle with the Kraken
The sails hung torn, the wood creaked, and the improvised repairs barely kept the ship afloat. Drake, with her typical bold attitude, pointed firmly to an island that loomed in the mist.
"To land! That island will serve for emergency repairs," she shouted while giving orders to her crew.
Leonel, still recovering from the magical effort with Tezcatlipoca, approached.
"Are you sure about that island, Drake?"
Drake shot him an intense look.
"No, but we don't have many options if we want to keep floating."
As the ship began to approach the shore, a strange chill ran through everyone. The atmosphere was charged, as if the air itself resisted being breathed. The sun fell slowly, tinting everything red.
Tamamo frowned.
"This place is... cursed. There's magic here... but it's unstable. Do you feel it?"
Artoria, on guard, nodded.
"There's something else. Not just magic. There's... blood in the earth."
Mash made her shield sound.
"Everyone, stay alert! We are not alone."
They had barely gotten off the ship when the first roars shook the dense jungle that rose near the coast. From the skies, a shadow flew by at great speed, exhaling fire in the form of a shockwave that shook the ground.
"Is that... a dragon?!" exclaimed Jeanne, taking up her banner.
Leonel, with sharpened instinct, invoked Tezcatlipoca once more.
The god partially materialized his face over the cloudy sky, observing.
"What you see... are echoes. Creatures that no longer belong to this world, brought by the Holy Grail. They are deformed by time, by desire and blood. They obey no logic, nor history... only the will of whoever controls that power."
"A repeat of Orleans?" asked Leonel, adjusting his gloves.
"No. This is worse. Here, history doesn't even try to pretend coherence," replied the god, in a grave voice.
A group of lesser dragons, deformed and dark, emerged from the slopes, descending upon the improvised camp. Their eyes glowed with a sickly purple hue, the unmistakable sign of the Grail's corruption.
Drake, without hesitation, drew her pistols.
"Who wants roasted dragon meat?! Don't touch my ship!"
Nero, raising her sword and her ego:
"No one dares interrupt our romantic hour and gets away with it! Let's turn them to dust, my dear Leonel!"
Tamamo, surrounded by talismans:
"A field of historical inconsistency... can only mean one thing: a singularity on the brink of collapse!"
Jeanne, with firmness:
"Then we must purify it!"
Mash stepped between Leonel and a beast that was diving down:
"Leonel, behind!"
The lesser dragons attacked in groups, breathing fire, charging, trying to break the lines.
Artoria, Mash, and Jeanne acted as a shield.
Nero, Tamamo, and Drake counterattacked relentlessly.
Leonel, with Tezcatlipoca, analyzed their patterns and communicated weak points, like a strategist in the middle of the field.
Each defeated dragon released a dark magical wave, which disappeared into the sky.
"They're not real," murmured Leonel. "They're violent memories, fed by the Grail..."
One of the greater dragons then appeared, enormous, with black scales and reddish eyes. This one did not disintegrate upon dying: it suffered, roared with true anger, it was conscious.
"This one... this one was someone..." said Mash with horror. "It's a heroic spirit that has been perverted...!"
After a long and brutal battle, the group managed to make the beasts retreat.
The terrain was left in ruins, but the ship could be repaired while they stood guard.
Leonel, exhausted, watched the sky.
"The Grail is here... but not in a single place. It's spreading its influence, creating zones of chaos. And this was just the beginning."
Drake, cleaning her pistol:
"If Blackbeard is in that direction, I bet this is just a welcome party."
Tamamo and Nero, still somewhat nervous, settled next to Leonel.
Jeanne, in a low voice, without looking at anyone:
"Perhaps this time... miracles won't be enough."
Artoria, standing with her sword on the ground:
"Then let's not ask for miracles. Let's forge them."
The pirates sweated as they tied ropes, patched wood, and reinforced the ship's ribs. The sun slowly descended in the orange sky, while the beach became stained with ash, blood, and fire.
Drake, with a cigar in her mouth and her hands on her hips, observed the damaged hull of her ship with a hard expression.
"Tch... This isn't a simple repair," she grumbled, spitting to the side. "At this rate, we'll need at least three days to make it seaworthy."
Leonel, still covered in battle marks and with his coat torn, nodded gravely.
"What do you need?"
Drake didn't hesitate.
"Wood. And not just any. Sturdy, firm, that can withstand the sea, cannons, and beasts. But this damned island has trees skinnier than my cook's arms."
Mash, consulting her scanner:
"Confirmed... the flora is not suitable for naval carving. There's no usable wood."
An uncomfortable silence enveloped them, until...
"Then let's use scales!" interrupted Tamamo-no-Mae, with her classic cunning smile. "The scales of an adult dragon are more resistant than tempered steel. And we have a natural reserve right here."
Nero, crossing her arms with theatricality and haughtiness, supported the proposal enthusiastically.
"Magnificent idea! My dear Leonel, imagine what a glorious vessel we could have, decorated with the essence of a mythical creature! It would be worthy of an empress... and of her emperor, of course~"
Leonel blinked, processing the madness they had just suggested.
"Are you saying that... we should go to the nest of the adult dragons that attacked us and rip off their scales?"
"Exactly," said Tamamo with a feline look. "You don't need to fight if they're not... Just borrow. Or at least... try."
Jeanne, clearly uncomfortable:
"That sounds like blasphemy... and recklessness."
Artoria, leaning her back against a rock, nodded with a serious expression:
"But viable. The material would be ideal. And... I think nothing here follows this world's rules anymore."
Drake, letting out a laugh:
"I've heard worse ideas in a drunkard's tavern! If you succeed, we'll reinforce the ship better than ever."
Leonel, in the end, let out a sigh. His gaze went to the dark forest beyond the beach, where the trees were sparse... but the shadows of enormous wings faded in the thick mist.
"Alright. Let's get those scales."
And in a low voice, he added to himself:
"I just hope the dragons aren't home..."