A Nascent Kaleidoscope

 

Patching up the ship was quite literal in some aspects and, in others, not so much.

The ship was old, and there was a lot of wear and tear, especially after sitting here for so long. For an extended period, this ship wouldn't last, but for one more use, I could make it get by.

Luckily, the ship was filled with magic. It had been coursing through various parts of the ship for so long that it let it weather the years while retaining its overall shape.

Still, I had to use some creative fixes to make sure that it could even float without water pouring in through some holes.

Though curiosity got the best of me because I had yet to see the mechanism by which this ship could actually fly.

There was obviously some magical mechanism somewhere.

After fixing a rather egregious hole the size of a head near the back of the underdeck, I did find the room it seems as Magical Energy seeped out of it noticeably.

The door creaked and grinded, made of metal and rather strong at first touch. Dust and rust made way as I pulled it open, and immediately, I was left dumbstruck.

It only took a moment to analyze by sight alone. I could trace the mechanism by which magical energy was produced along with the spell sequences melded into its overall application.

Still, after understanding it, all I could think was, What the fuck was I looking at?

"Did you find the furnace?"

I looked to see Captain Hook walking over. I was glad he seemed to have a bit more energy, but it was obvious his body was still in a bad shape. "This is how you get your ship to fly?" I said incredulously.

"She has never failed me once before." He walked over, putting his hand on it.

"How did you come by it?" Because he didn't seem like someone overtly knowledgeable about magical means based on his life in the stories….

More like he stumbled into things.

"I sold my soul for revenge." He said directly without a hint of remorse. "I asked for a means to venture anywhere and hunt down who I needed to."

"Was it worth it?" I asked.

"I have many regrets in my life." The old man's aged eyes opened a bit more. "This will never be one of them."

He walked to the side of the other machine—if it could be called that.

If my ship had the equivalent of a magical reactor to sustain its properties, this... well, this thing, the closest approximation I could call it was a blast furnace, despite that not being a type of energy source. But that's basically what it looked like and seemingly how it sort of operated on the surface.

It was all kinds of strange, a product of its era.

How old was this ship? He said he sold his soul for it; I don't know if he meant literally or not, but this was made purely by 'mortal' means, and it was easy to tell. R̃ÃƝŏᛒЕS̈

He held up a torch and lit the top of it on fire; there was a hole big enough for the torch to fit into, as if to reignite the engines.

"...you know this thing is only a hair's breadth away from being a giant bomb, right?" I looked at him.

Captain Hook looked back at me, lighted torch in hand with a growing smile, and he stuck it into the contraption.

It was accompanied by a loud explosion. The accumulated dust and grime were blown away as the thing began to groan and creak, turning on again for the first time in who knows how many years.

Fire roared to life, and the magical energy in the ship began to increase with the churning of the machine.

"She still holds strong." Captain Hook said affectionately.

I gave one last concerned look at the 'engine' churning out magical energy and decided it was best to ignore it for the sake of my sanity.

Right, well, everything was fixed that I could manage below deck.

"Cousin, look what I found!" Arc nearly knocked me over as I came up the stairs. She was holding a bright red hat with a big feather in it, very similar to Captain Hook's more weathered hat.

She seemed really excited about it for some reason, like it was some treasure.

"My old hat." Captain Hook peeked out from around me.

Arcueid just held it up for him with a smile.

Captain Hook took it hesitantly, running his hand along the fabric before putting it on top of Arc's head.

"A young woman shouldn't be forced to bear the hot sun for so long." He returned the warm smile and returned to the top of the deck.

I glanced at Arc, who was pulling on the hat like it was her new favorite toy but kept it on her head.

She doesn't really interact with many people, does she? I was still pissed at Arc for abruptly hopping over here, but… she probably has no social awareness at all due to being isolated for the vast majority of her life.

And despite Gramp's efforts, she is not human; her goals and purpose force her into certain lifestyle choices.

The fact that she at all had the desire to come 'explore' was… well, it was surprising.

"Did you patch up the sails?" I asked.

"I fixed them good!" She said proudly.

Walking up to the deck, I looked at her patch job.

While the sails were in fact patched, I couldn't help but stare at them. One of the holes was covered by what looked like the outline of a cat sewn into it. Another was an apple, another was a star….

"I did a good job, right!?" She was looking for praise.

"You did a wonderful job!" Captain Hook praised before I could utter a word. "My ship looks more spectacular than I remember!"

"Hehe~"

I would let her have it.

Actually, where did she even learn how to sew?

There was a lot I seemingly had no clue about regarding her.

"I'm finished." Folen came up as well. "Weapons should be good to go. More impressive than I thought they would be."

Well, it would be odd for a magical ship to merely have mundane cannons.

Jormungandr loomed over the side, lifting his massive body up, and, funny enough, a large, albeit significantly smaller Tick-Tock hopped onto the deck. Still a monster of a crocodile, but he was clearly smaller.

"I taught the kid here how to shrink down." Jormungandr stated, himself shrinking down to the size of a small snake and coiling around Folen's arm.

"Tick-Tock, it's like you're a wee lad again!" Captain Hook laughed happily, running up to hug the big crocodile.

"We're all ready, Captain." I informed him.

It had taken a bit more than an hour, but the damage was also a bit more extensive than it appeared on the outside.

Captain Hook stood up straight, hands trembling. He looked excited, happier than I've seen him thus far.

"Then it's time to set sail." He walked towards the wheel and put his hands on it; the ship creaked and moaned.

Everyone braced themselves as the ship slowly pushed off the ground; the many years of sedentary stone and moss around it crumbled as it pulled away.

There was a small jolt before it evened out, and the ship left the cavern, ascending to the air.

I thought he was going to keep close to the waters, but the ship pointed upwards at an almost 50° angle.

"Uh, Captain…?" I looked at him because even I was concerned about flying too high in a realm like this where time and space were so mangled that it was hard to properly perceive it. "Is it wise to go this high?"

Captain Hook let out a hearty laugh. "I've long ago conquered these waters! There is nowhere that the Jolly Roger can't sail!"

The ship accelerated, and it shot upwards, breaching a threshold as if entering a new world where the stars danced around us and the waters below disappeared.

The ship trembled with each passing moment, the stars turning to strings of light as the ship went faster and faster.

I grabbed the railing, questioning some of my choices up to this point.

"This is so much fun!" Arcueid threw her hands up.

"Haha!" Captain Hook laughed along with her.

"They're both crazy." Folen grumbled, looking more worried than me. "Does this old coot know where he's going? I'm pretty sure we're far from where we need to be."

"Don't worry, I know a shortcut!" The captain spun the wheel aggressively as the ship jerked and drifted.

I never in my life considered if a flying ship could drift, but apparently that question was answered for me.

I blinked because I noticed a small rupture in space among the turbulent sky.

"Don't worry; he knows what he's doing." I smiled along.

"From the Waters to the Sky. From Horizon to Horizon, never a land we cannot reach!"

The ship sailed right into it.

 

@***@

Yasaka POV

 

I felt like we made good progress.

I glanced back behind me, and tens of thousands of my people stood in formations, waiting for our next order.

The stench of death and corpses hung in the air, but it was inevitable. How many did we have to march through to get to this point? I lost count, perhaps equal to the number we have, but they were never organized.

It was clear that we had yet to face the full brunt of their forces.

Yet, it could be said, for this stretch of land, we had fully conquered it. Perhaps it would have been more worthy of celebration had they not considered it farmland by Vivian's words. Regardless, it was enough to motivate our people.

"Lady Yasaka, shall we burn the bodies?" I looked at my general.

"See to it." I nodded.

They seemed to be putting up a last stand at this point.

Piles of Fae stood tall between us and what remained of our enemies in this stretch of land.

From what I understood, the large building in the distance with the beam of light was the supposed lighthouse that connected to another space that we needed to traverse to reach the realm of Winter.

I have long lost any goodwill or sympathy for these people.

Even in war, with enemies, you had to treat them with a certain respect. It was not my first time in a war, but I've never led armies so directly. Wars back home, they normally didn't compose of marching armies of tens of thousands in open fields. Oh, we had clashes of such number, but they were much more disorganized in the past.

And in the past, our enemies likewise held a certain regard. There were... rules, unspoken ones. You don't feign a surrender, lest your enemies never believe a true surrender going forward. You don't torture prisoners, which was a bit less 'enforced,' so to speak, because sometimes you needed to know something. But you didn't want to be known for torturing prisoners, lest the enemies never surrender and willingly fight to the last man, causing more casualties on your side.

And there were others, depending on the situation. Maybe lesser ones, such as not playing around with what humans would note as 'chemical warfare.'. Less impressive that sounds when everyone is robust as us, or magical and whatnot. But if you escalate in that direction, so too will your enemies. And if someone thought that mundane chemical weapons were horrendous, they never considered what you could make with magic and a desire for revenge.

Of course, you're not supposed to kill non-fighters. Accidents happen; as unfortunate as it is to say, bombarding an area with magic tends to find casualties among the non-combatants. But you don't intentionally target them or anything like that.

It basically all comes down to not wanting these things done back, which is why you don't do them in the first place.

It's never so cut and dry; things happen; war is bloody and relentless. However, in this instance, we had thrown all that away.

We tried.

We gave them a certain amount of undeserved respect, mostly because of our own pride, but that quickly whittled away.

Now, there were piles of Fae bodies burning between us and the remainder of their forces that stood across the last fields.

It was about sending a message.

I sniffed the air, noticing something familiar, and I found myself smiling. "I'll be joining the fight this time."

"As you wish, Lady Yasaka." My last general bowed and moved to handle things.

How nice that I don't even need to explain myself.

I haven't gotten to stretch my legs very much as I've been acting more in a leadership role. But I had a feeling I would be needed upfront going forward.

"Raikou dear." I called out.

"Yes?" My harem sister answered quickly.

"It seems our other sister is approaching; let's give her a nice welcome." I didn't know where Scáthach was, however. Only that she was nearby and tended to do her own things. Jinn was in the back behind the army, following along this time as she wanted to see where we were going. Lastly, Jeanne was back at camp, keeping up with the wounded.

It was nice to know she was back there along with a good amount of our forces to keep the portal secure.

Secondly, while stretching my legs, I had this strange tingling in the back of my mind.

I felt like I was going to discover my Semblance soon, and I was rather curious.

Well, I suppose I should introduce myself.

I briefly considered transforming, but I pushed that thought aside. It wasn't needed, and I didn't want to hog everything for myself.

I took a step forward, gathering my Youjutsu.

Many people think that dragons have the most deadly flames.

They were wrong.

I took a deep breath and released everything I gathered; a wave of Fox Fire hit the front of the gathered Fae still standing in our opposition.

Raikou was the next to act as purple lightning danced overhead and her blade swept the heads of many Fae in a single breath.

Combined with thousands of shouts, our own warriors charged forward; the Fae, on the other hand, missed the initiative and didn't have the chance to meet it properly.

The first of the warriors under me collided with them. Through the wisps of my flames that were near dissipation, burnt and seared bodies crushed under his feet. An oni of good stature wielding a large club.

It splattered the head of one Fae with butterfly-like wings and a rather oversized head and some other odd features.

Following it was a young lady, completely nude but with no genitals, easily mistaken for the more caricatured version of a fairy from certain societies. She flew on a flaming wheel that launched downwards, spinning through their numbers, burning and ramming all about.

A clan of Obake roared with katanas drawn, wearing proper Samurai armor. A type of Youkai known for shapeshifting, but over the years, took pride in maintaining a samurai-like lifestyle.

I smiled as a spear sailed through the air, impaling a Fae that was firing arrows from a bow. Another of his brethren seemed intent on removing it, as the impaled Fae was not dead. Only for the spear to pull out on its own, a hazy silhouette formed around it, as if a ghost were wielding the spear. But that was incorrect; it was a Tsukumogami that used its own Youjutsu to create an image of a 'person' to wield himself as; after reaching over a hundred years of age, it gained sentience and became a Youkai.

And of course, the highest number of any singular Youkai were my own Tengu that served me for generations. They propagated quickly, and they were always so militaristic that they took to this kind of warfare rather easily.

They stormed the front lines, as well as taking them from above, utilizing their excellent flying speed and maneuverability.

Despite how different all of them were, all the different shapes and sizes and abilities, they all worked together coherently, fighting together without problems.

With a ferocious grin, I leapt into the air, slamming down near the middle of their numbers, burying one unlucky Fae into the ground from the impact.

I swiped my claw, turning bodies into chunks of flesh. Spears and swords were swung at me, but these ones were far too weak for me to take seriously. I easily danced around her weapons, rending them asunder with each wave of my sharp claws.

"You are enjoying yourself." Raikou stepped onto the ground next to me, her blade parrying another as she followed up, cleaving the owner in half.

I wiped away some of the blood splattered across my face. "I am a Youkai as well," I replied.

I was far from innocent even if I was content with my peaceful lifestyle these days.

"A monster is always a monster, is that right?" She glanced at me.

"Exactly!" I laughed as she smiled. "Don't hold back on my account, Demon Slayer."

Raikou claimed she didn't like showing this side of herself around Wilhelm; I don't understand it either.

Because as she tore through bodies with such skill and precision, with blood and limbs flung through the air, even I wanted to push her down right here in the middle of the fight. One thing was for sure: once everything was over, I was dragging both her and Wilhelm into bed with me.

One of the most famous figures in Japanese legends stood at the side of her supposed enemy as we both slaughtered with rather malicious grins on our faces.

It was good to let loose every now and then.

Surprisingly, the building we were trying to reach lit up—even more than it did previously. There was a sort of pulse through the pillar of light; I didn't quite understand what that meant until I saw a familiar ship push out of it.

Flying through the air, a certain rabbit is sitting on the wheel. The cannons wasted no time before releasing a barrage down below onto the Fae's back lines.

I relaxed a bit, Raikou shooting me a confused look amidst the chaotic battlefield as I merely pointed towards the side.

It started with a bright golden light. A thousand horses racing across the plains and the Pendragon's banners raised high.

Their lances leveled downwards, and they aimed for the center of the lines of the Fae still alive. Almost immediately, they almost collapsed, and many started to run away, but they couldn't escape as the entirety of Artoria's Knights rode right into them. Shields were immediately shattered; what armor they possessed was demolished, and the mounted knights crushed hundreds beneath them as they continued charging through the middle lines, creating a clear divide and cutting off any kind of retreat from nearly half of what remained.

If it wasn't a foregone conclusion before, it was most certainly one now.

They didn't have anywhere to run.

I had my fun, and Raikou as well didn't pursue anymore. The bodies around us were already piled up.

"Have you both been well?" Artoria trotted over on her horse; she also had enough blood drenched on the lance she wielded.

"About as well as we could have been. No major hindrances, I presume?" I asked.

"Nay, if anything, the resistance had been lackluster. Thankfully, we have had very few losses and injuries." Artoria shook her head.

"Is it okay for you to not accompany them?" Raikou asked out of concern. "Your method of fighting is much different than ours."

That's true; it was rather common for a knight leader like her to take to the front and lead the charge.

"Mordred is leading, and they are doing a wonderful job." Artoria smiled, hopping off her horse.

I glanced to where they were, and I could see her armor stand out amongst all the Knights. That and the fact that her lance was crackling with lightning as she led the literal charge through an uncountable number of bodies. Not even attempts at magic or strange abilities could stop her.

The ship came down, landing next to us, and Old Man Nurarihyon trotted down the ramp that unfolded.

However, I noticed a distinct lack of Wilhelm.

"Lost the kid a couple days ago." He said rather abruptly. "Should be fine though."

He looked, well, not good, but not bad. Like he had been in a good fight recently.

"Details would be appreciated." I deadpanned.

He waved at his people under him, and they jumped off and joined the fight, cleaning up what was left.

"We paved the way mostly, with a few obstacles here or there. We have an island we set up a base on, but we found the opposite... lighthouse; there was a weird thing around it. It started making copies of us that attacked us. They were pretty strong and somewhat identical. Couldn't copy our Touki or Youjutsu, but used magic to mimic it." He explained.

"Oh dear."

"Wilhelm as well?" Artoria asked the question that seemed the most prevalent.

Because if some sort of weird thing was copying them, well, a copy of Wilhelm would be scary.

"It didn't copy the brat; it copied the Great Welsh."

At that, I blinked and realized that was probably worse.

Wilhelm had a bunch of thing that couldn't really be 'copied' properly without substantial effort. But copying just a very powerful dragon? That was a whole other possibility that seemed much more dreadful.

"He brought it away to their side, and after settling our own copies, we headed back to prepare for you all." Nurarihyon grunted.

I held my arms out, noticing a bolt of lightning, and Wilhelm's familiar landed in my arms affectionately. "He should be fine." I said as well, rubbing the top of the rabbit's head. "If his familiar isn't worried, then we shouldn't be either."

Something caught my attention as there was one person left on the ship, looking at things strangely.

"Old Man, why do you have a human on your ship?" Because he most certainly didn't have one when he left.

"That's a long story." He rubbed his head. "Would you believe me if I said there were thousands of powerful humans living on an island in this place?"

Before I could answer, a blue blur shot past me.

Jinn ran up from where she had been staying, ignoring everything else. All I could hear was her crying as she bolted towards the human and grabbed him into a hug.

I don't know who was more confused, us or the human.

"Jinn, what are you doing?" Artoria was the first to show concern.

The human just stood there, a middle-aged-looking...viking? Awkwardly accepting the hug from Jinn. He looked like he was silently asking for assistance.

"I can't help it!" She cried. "As the Goddess of Homestead, I can feel that he hasn't had a home in a long time!"

I blinked, because I often forget she is an actual goddess now.

"Are you perhaps the Goddess Jinn that was mentioned…?" The viking managed to squeeze out.

"I'm Jinn!" She recovered quickly. "Asgardian Goddess of Magic, Knowledge, and Homestead." She finished with an enthusiastic nod. "I didn't know there would be believers in a place like this!"

The human's mouth hung open. "Asgard…?" He whispered.

Well, whatever was going on, he seemed to have broken just now.

Oh well, it was time to prepare to depart.

"Old Man, how are preparations?" I asked.

"We managed to get 49 ships. If you want to cram them, we could probably fit a hundred or so on average on each ship." He replied.

Better than I thought.

"It's enough to make a spearhead and set up a proper anchor point." I nodded.

Vivian said that as long as we 'crossed' it normally, the 'rules' would then allow us to teleport.

So be it.

The Fae around us were cleaned up handily, as the last remnants were barely putting up a fight.

We weren't taking prisoners anymore.

It was time to assault them properly, right into the land of Winter.

 

@***@

A/N

We just started the new world over on P.a.t.r.e.o.n.c.o.m. Also, we got two chapters of Arachne over here and another cyclops snippet chapter. Only a handful of chapters left of the current arc before moving on.

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