Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

After being ’kicked’ out of the Ivory Castle, Shirou, Musashi, Caenis, and Altria passed through the literal army of Einzbern Homunculi for the first time. This resulted in Caenis, quite literally, growling at the ruby-eyed women while Shirou, having dealt with Illya in the past, couldn’t help but make the comparison between the army of women and his original self’s half-sister.

Seeing the complex expression on her companion’s face, Musashi lightly elbowed him in the side, asking, "What, having regrets about leaving so many beauties behind? We always have the option of joining the Empire, you know~?"

Now that she didn’t have to worry about Vahn crashed down on her like the literal Heavens, Musashi was in a great mood. She didn’t mind the resolute stares following her every move, knowing full-well that the horde of women wouldn’t attack her unprompted. Even if they did, she was confident in her escape, as, unlike the majority, she could easily flee from the Moon Cell or descend into a completely different world if the situation became really dire.

Understanding Musashi was back to her old self, Shirou just offered a polite smile without explaining the reason for his melancholy. Even without asking, he could guess the previous Holy Grail War had something to do with the Einzberns as they were the central family involved in its operation. This had brought back a few less-than-pleasant memories, including the time his past self had been forced to watch as his sister was murdered by Gilgamesh.

Remembering the arrogant golden demigod caused Shirou’s hands to form into fists, an action that hadn’t gone unnoticed by his companions. Before they could ask, however, he preempted them by saying, "We should track down Jason. I don’t imagine we’ll be able to convince him but we should at least try before he ends up getting us all pulled into something. Now that Archimedes is dead, I can’t imagine he’ll be willing to follow the orders of others..."

With Shirou’s reminder, Musashi released an annoyed groan, hand rubbing her temple as she said, "I know, right? I can already imagine that dumbass demanding to be placed in charge, only to end up driving us further apart. Should we just kill him and be rid of his foolishness...?"

Caenis rarely agreed with Musashi, but, hearing her last remark, she readily stated, "I’ll do it. I would my left arm to see that man’s face contorted in pain and disbelief as the last traces of life drain from that conceited prick."

As both Musashi and Caenis were known for being battle-junkies, Shirou wasn’t too surprised by the fervor they displayed. Rather, with few exceptions, most of their allies would readily kill Jason if they believed it wouldn’t cause problems. Unfortunately, Jason’s Noble Phantasm wasn’t something that could be looked down on, and, with his astonishingly high Luck, getting the jump on him with any kind of killing intent was borderline impossible. His Luck was enough to be reality-altering, making it possible to beat and bully him, but exceptionally difficult to plot his death.

Fortunately, if it truly came to that, it was all but guaranteed that Musashi could finish the job. Even if Jason managed to activate his Noble Phantasm, she would be able to overcome it without outside assistance. She was one of, if not the, strongest people on their side. The only two with any hope of victory against her were Raikou and Abigail, two of the original five that had willingly accompanied Archimedes to the past. As for everyone else, there was a good chance the battle would end before their minds even processed what had happened.

After considering their options, Shirou dared to look directly at Caenis, saying, "We shouldn’t plot the death of our allies so readily...Jason is a despicable man, but he is still a Hero. If we don’t even try to reason with him, we wouldn’t even be able to compare ourselves to the Emperor, much less stand in opposition to him. He is willing to engage in diplomacy so we should at least make an effort to do the same..."

Though she was nearly overwhelmed by an urge to punch Shirou in the face, Caenis was ultimately able to restrain herself. Still, she wasn’t even remotely satisfied, so, after loudly harumphing, she said, "Yeah, sure, we’ll do it your way. I wonder what kind of face you’ll make when that man completely ignores your attempts to persuade him? If you get caught in his Noble Phantasm, don’t expect me to pull you out."

As he was actually fairly confident in being able to deal with Jason’s Noble Phantasm, Shirou decided against arguing, opting to simply smile in response. He might not be able to target Jason that easily, but, if it was just surviving for a short while, he could easily persevere until Musashi managed to deal a knockout, or fatal, blow. Her Empyrean Eyes pretty much ignored causality altering effects, making Jason easier to deal with than some ’normal’ human beings...

Seeing Shirou smile before walking away from her, Caenis was no longer able to restrain herself. She quickly covered the distance between them, thrusting with an open palm towards his lower back, an attempt to temporarily disable his legs. Unfortunately, Shirou’s body just dissipated into thin air, his figure, scent, and aura dispersing into the surroundings until it was impossible to distinguish it from the ambient ’mana’ emulated by the Moon Cell.

Incensed that her attack had missed, Caenis instantly shouted, "Coward!" at the top of her lungs, ignoring the fact she had attempted to sneak attack him. In response to this, Musashi and Altria just gave her deadpan stares, the only sound between them a result of the [Avalon Apple] the latter was ceaselessly devouring with small bites.

Seated naked atop a gilded golden throne, Jason had a sneer on his face as he nursed a glass of wine in his left hand. He was amusing himself by having his would-be wife, Medea, painstakingly lick every millimeter of his feet. She, too, was completely naked, the only exception being the large collar he had forced upon her, demoting her from her original status to nothing more than a pet and sex slave.

Though it wasn’t the ’real’ Medea, Jason couldn’t help but treat her poorly as, even now, the trauma she had instilled in him often awoke him deep in the night. He could still remember how she, in her misguided love for him, mechanically slaughtered everyone that barred his path. Because of her, he was treated as a monster, but, due to his weakness at the time, he had little choice but to rely on the ’gift’ given to him by Aphrodite.

He would never admit it, but Jason was absolutely terrified of Medea. Even when they first met, she had basically forced herself upon him like a crazed zealot. Though she was an unbelievably beautiful girl, that image was forever tarnished by a multitude of bloodstained memories. He would never be able to forget the sheer madness in her eyes as she looked toward him with a smile, begging for his praise despite blood and gore dripping from her face and hair...

As this thought crossed his mind, Jason saw the ruby-red liquid in his left hand. This caused a shiver to run through his body, followed by an overwhelming amount of nausea that forced him to throw aside his cup and run for a nearby potted plant, discarding the contents of his stomach into the dark brown mulch. Even this wasn’t enough to completely rid him of his nausea, however, as the robotic Medea appeared at his side almost instantly, gently stroking his back.

Feeling his disgust well up, Jason lashed backward, striking Medea across the face as he shouted, "I don’t want to see your face right now...!!"

Despite having been slapped, Medea continued to stare back at Jason with a smile on her face, even as a trickle of blood ran from her nose. Then, in response to his previous statement, her figure burst into particles of bluish-white light, nowhere to be seen. This allowed Jason to breathe a little easier, as, following his outburst, Change’e dutifully appeared, moving gracefully to his side with a look of concern on her impeccably beautiful face.

Though she knew he didn’t like to be asked about it, Change’e lightly caressed Jason’s back, asking, "Did you have a flashback? Do you want me to make you some ginger tea? It will help to settle your stomach..."

Knowing how foolish it would be to lash out at Chang’e, Jason did his best to ignore the face she always asked him questions he didn’t want to answer. He hated seemed weak, especially in front of women, so he ultimately just remained silent, focusing on his breathing.

It was when Jason was lamenting the fact that he didn’t recruit enough women onto the Argo that his intuition kicked into high gear. His nausea faded away in an instant, returning a confident, albeit arrogant, look to his face. This surprised Change’e, though not as much as when he said, "Someone is thinking about killing me...? I feel like that horse bitch has it in for me...damn, this is the thanks I get for taking that bitch’s bastard of a son onto my ship?"

Hearing Jason’s words, Change’e’s face formed a frown, making the world around her seem less vibrant as a result. She knew a lot of the other Heroes didn’t like Jason but she didn’t imagine any of them would actually try and kill him. She knew better than to even question if his intuition was right, however, as he was remarkably sensitive to anything pertaining to his own safety. He would often complain to her before they went out, claiming that someone was going to beat him up and asking for her protection. All of these ’prophesies’ proved true, and, while it could be argued that Jason was the one that set them in motion, the fact he had an A-Rank Skill related to self-preservation couldn’t be ignored.

Fortunately, less than a minute after he had started to pace around the room, Jason came to a stop, a confused expression on his face as he muttered, "I guess not...? Someone must have scolded her. Ha! Serves that bitch right!! I can just imagine the sour look on her face, hahahahahaha-!!"

Though it seemed like the crisis had been avoided, Jason was a very paranoid man, so, after he had laughed for a good minute or so, he unsheathed the shortsword at his hip. It was a very ornate item, covered from pommel to guard in pure gold. As for the blade, it was a pure silver that refracted light in much the same way as a gemstone, allowing it to sparkle when viewed from any angle.

Knowing what Jason was about to do, Change’e took a few steps back, her hands neatly folded in her lap as she watched on with a smile. Thus, without any interference, Jason extended his arm, the blade of his sword pointed toward the ground as he released the handle and said, "I am the Master of my life, Captain of my own Destiny. Come, faithful allies, Heroic Spirits of an Era long past; Set sail with me once again! [Astrapste Argo: The Dazzling Ship that Splits the Heavens]!!!"

Despite the fact his chant had multiple verses, Jason was somehow able to finish it before his blade struck against the marbled flooring. When it did make contact, a black field seemed to spread from its point, expanding to cover around twenty meters. At the same time, figures walked out from the shadows, taking on physical form as they came to stand at Jason’s side. This included the previously dismissed Medea, now without injury, but, far more noticeable were the two armored swordsmen, a petite archer, a handsome bard, and a behemoth of a man standing at more than 250cm in height...

(A/N: Alternate Titles: ’Memories are echoes from the past, whispering in a person’s mind like the sirens who summoned sailors to their demise...’,’Mama Raikou, is that you!?’,’Setting course for his own ass whooping...?’)