A Nascent Kaleidoscope

Chapter 558:

The ship was whisked away without so much as a warning once it settled upon the beam of light produced by the lighthouse.

I barely had time to register the spatial anomaly before we were swept up in the proverbial current and pulled through time and space.

Truthfully, I wanted to investigate things before just hopping over, but I was taken aback by the fact that I had just met Captain Hook.

Regardless, we were unceremoniously deposited onto a large, watery surface; a splash of water that nearly threatened to tip the boat over made that obvious.

A few people ran over to the sides of the boat to throw up once the created waves subsided enough for us to regain our bearing and get a good look at what was going on.

The boat had started floating away from the spot we originally landed on, but I focused on the beam of light, the same one that basically carried us here, as it came down from the 'sky'.

The aurora that could be seen in the Fae Realm normally was gone, replaced by bright stars that could be seen in the middle of the 'day'.

I just chalked that up to the oddities of this place.

I reached out to the ocean, letting my Authority subtlety flow out. My Divine Power that had been laced with the Storm and Wind touched upon the Ocean around us, and I was rejected.

I frowned but pulled my Divine Power back.

Vivian mentioned that the ocean wouldn't like it if we 'cheated'. I'm of the fairly confident mind that this ocean is more alive than I originally anticipated.

Making an educated guess based on the few clues I have so far, the way this 'Lighthouse' brought us here and the way Vivian talked about it, I think the Lighthouses are anchors to keep this 'Ocean' both sealed and in place.

But who knows, I could be way off the mark.

Still, it was nice to be on the open sea.

Ignoring everything else, if I closed my eyes, I couldn't tell anything was wrong. The salty air, the wind, the cool water that splashed up from the waves.

It was oddly peaceful.

"Alright, who wants to see what eldritch horrors are lurking under the surface?" I asked.

Many Youkai around me stepped back rather quickly.

"You bunch of cowards." Nurarihyon scoffed.

"You volunteering, boss?" It felt oddly appropriate to call him that, considering I was a member as well.

I may be the captain, but he was the boss.

Nurarihyon looked at me with a firm gaze. "Sadao, get over here!"

"Don't wanna!"

I blinked, surprised that the words from the big Kappa, usually soft spoken, had that kind of tone. "Actually, he's perfect; a Kappa is an aquatic Youkai, and he's strong enough to escape any dangerous situations." Probably.

"I can't swim." Sadao said with a completely straight face.

"You're a Kappa." I pointed out.

"Just because I'm a Kappa, that means I'm a swimmer? That's Racist."

I felt my eye twitch. "Yup, it is." I grabbed his shoulder. "You wanna do this the hard way or the easy way?"

Sadao crossed his arms with a resolute expression, but his toes dug into the wood of the deck.

Nurarihyon shared my look as he placed a hand on Sadao's other shoulder, his grip tightening.

Rather quickly, Sadao's aura seeped out, and Nurarihyon and I matched him as the boat started shaking.

"Sadao~" The Yuuki Oni from before—I think her name was Yuna—sauntered over rather coquettishly, her hips swaying, her kimono nearly falling enough that her chest was almost visible. She was rather beautiful, and the rumors about the beauty of Yuuki Oni were well deserved.

Sadao's pressure decreased, and a faint blush crept up across his face as Yuna put her hands on his chest, running them up to the collar of his shirt. Her flirtatious smile quickly turned into something a bit more sadistic as her fingers dug into his shirt, and she quickly lifted him up and threw him over her shoulders and off the edge of the ship.

It took until I heard the big splash to come back to my senses.

"Well done, Yuna." Nurarihyon said proudly.

"Thanks, Boss." She took out a pipe, lighting it up happily.

Many Youkai scooted over to the edge to see Sadao reemerge from the water, though surprisingly, he was splashing around in a panic, shouting for help.

"...was he actually telling the truth?" I looked at Nurarihyon.

"He's a damn Kappa!" Nurarihyon grunted, though several more moments of Sadao struggling made his stern look disappear. "Dammit, please tell me he can swim. Someone, anyone?"

"How do you not know this?!?"

"Do you think I hold swimming lessons for all my boys!? And he's a damn Kappa!"

"Nah, he can't swim." Yuna said rather casually.

"..."

"You're waiting until now to say that? After you threw him overboard?" I asked incredulously.

She blew out a puff of smoke. "He made me drop my lipstick overboard when he started rocking the ship."

"You're a cold bitch, Yuna." Nurarihyon snorted.

She just smirked.

I sighed, mentally reaching for a rope, and used a bit of telekinesis to throw it out to him.

He took it quickly as several others dragged him back up.

I might have felt a little bad if the massive and muscular Kappa didn't keep flopping around on the deck like a fish despite being brought to safety.

"You people are idiots." I looked at Nurarihyon.

"Yeah, but they're my idiots." Nurarihyon sighed just as I did. "There's a reason I left the real 'formations' and'soldiering'' to Yasaka."

Fair enough.

Begrudgingly, I began to unbutton my vest and moved onto my shirt.

"Wait!" Yuna stopped me in my tracks.

"What's wrong?" I blinked in surprise.

"If you're going to strip, let me call my sisters up."

"Get out of here!" Nurarihyon gave her a firm kick on the rear.

I simply shook my head before taking my socks and shoes off as well, setting them to the side. "Sir Wiggles is in charge while I'm away."

"I'm not listening to a rabbit."

"He's technically a God." I retorted.

"Just go already." Nurarihyon rubbed the bridge of his nose.

I shot him a little smirk before diving off the ship, pushing past the initial water threshold without issue.

My first thought was that the water felt heavier than it should be, but nothing I was overly concerned about.

The water, in general, was very... clean. Pure? I wasn't quite sure what to make of it. In general, there was a tinge of uneasiness I had just feeling it, like it belonged to someone else. Whereas back in the human world, despite being called Water Gods or thereof the variety such as my own, the Oceans of the Human World were much more free.

My Divine Authority was still activated back at the Youkai camp, but even still, my Authority was part of me; even if I couldn't use it, I still was someone who had Divine Authority over the Ocean.

With a push of my Divinity, I shot downward, the light from above slowly muddling.

I held my hand out in front of me, and I used a spell I hadn't used in awhile. Magelight shined outwards, illuminating within a few dozen meters of me as I pumped the spell beyond what was probably intended for such a basic spell.

It's a bit less efficient than Lumos that I learned recently, but I didn't really want to take my wand out underwater.

Rather quickly, I jerked to the side as a row of sharp teeth narrowly missed me.

I clenched my fist, and the water surrounding the vague silhouette of whatever attacked me froze into spikes.

I swam a bit closer so my light shone on it; it was some kind of mix between an eel, a shark, and a person. Specifically, it had the legs of a person on its lower half.

Wait, there was more. Was that the tail of a leopard on the side? 

What a strange thing. Does it develop traits of things it consumes? In that train of thought, where did it find a leopard? Well, considering the legs... the thought of something this disgusting running across land after me would give me pause enough that it might get close.

Lost in thought for a moment, I blink in realization that I was surrounded.

Beyond the peripheral view of the light I was emitting, vaguely, I could see a set of small glowing eyes.

And a second pair.

And more.

A lot more.

Thousands easily.

Well then.

I wasn't quite sure how the ecosystems here worked, but I think it would be bad if I suddenly removed a certain level of the food chain in such quantities. Hell, I'm not even sure if these things were... bad. I mean, can you call a shark bad if it kills a human every now and then? They're animals, predators, who serve a purpose in the ocean.

Oh well, I'll just scare them off for now.

I let my Reiatsu spread out, enough that it would press down on the thousands of souls present around me.

Rather quickly, they all scattered. I could vaguely make out their hastily retreat, so I withdrew my spiritual pressure.

The area around me began to become brighter.

I looked at my Magelight, making sure it wasn't the source. Then slowly, I turned around to see why it was suddenly bright and why those things actually ran away rather than the tiny amount of pressure I intentionally exuded.

Two gigantic eyes shone unnaturally in the darkness of the bottom of the sea.

Slowly, I moved My Magelight in front of me to get a better look.

Tentacles.

Lots and lots of tentacles.

More tentacles than the creatures from before; they all wiggled through the darkness. They didn't immediately close in on me; it was as if this thing was measuring me with curiosity. Clear intelligence in its utterly massive eyes.

[I don't want to alarm you, but I think you should consider something]. Ddraig spoke up in my mind.

And what's that, Ddraig?

Though my eyes didn't pull away from the thing's eyes.

[You're Japanese.]

…..

Nope!

Nope, nope, nope!

I felt... a shockwave through the water. It wasn't an intentional act on the monster's part; I just think it stood up.

And gradually, its eyes rose higher and higher until they loomed over me.

I could feel the water currents distort as something massive pushed outward and the vague outline of a hand came at me.

Nope!

I immediately took out the True Longinus, pointing it at the oncoming hand.

Its holy light radiated outwards, and the monster's hand paused. I quickly moved it, pointing at the monster itself, and I could see the hesitation in its eyes.

There was a seeming moment of consideration on its end, as it didn't move.

It didn't speak or make any real sound, but I think there was a silent agreement as its eyes relayed enough intent.

I backed off and slowly moved away.

The gigantic eyes in the darkness closed, and I could no longer see them. I took that opportunity to shoot back up to the surface, breaking past the top and flying up easily forty or fifty feet into the air.

The ship wasn't very far away, enough that I could use my wings to fly on over without much fuss and without causing any problems.

"Something wrong?" Nurarihyon greeted me with an eyebrow raised.

"Nope!"

"Is it safe down there?"

"Nope!"

"Should we be worried?"

"Yup!" I quickly started putting my clothes back on after dressing. "Don't go too far down if you don't want to find monsters."

I think it's best if I don't mention the thing I saw down there.

Easily God-level, probably around the strength of those Giant Warlords from Jotunheim that I met in the Norse Realms.

Except with Tentacles.

I was more than willing to throw down with gods and get in fist fights with Immortals and Demons. So I think it's perfectly acceptable; there are some things I absolutely refuse to engage in.

Giant spiders are one of them.

Eldritch Tentacle God Monsters are another.

"Boss, …uh, Captain!" A younger-looking Youkai ran up; he wasn't humanoid but sort of round with the shape of a pyramid on top of his head, with only a singular large eye.

Youkai came in all shapes and sizes, so I didn't really make note of it.

"What's wrong, Seta?" Nurarihyon asked.

"I was up in the crow's nest, and I saw a ship." He pointed.

I reinforced my eyes, but I couldn't see anything. "Are you sure?"

Nurarihyon put a hand on my shoulder. "Seta can see for miles on out." He chuckled. "If he says he sees a ship, he sees a ship."

"Well then, get ready for battle." I made the announcement, quickly moving towards the steering wheel, alleviating Sir Wiggles of his duty.

I made sure to put his pirate's hat on his head before taking my spot as captain.

My ship wasn't like the trash we would surely find around here.

When it moved, it moved.

Not to mention I could force the winds in the way I wanted.

Rather quickly, on the horizon, I could see the ship that the Youkai told us about.

Credit where it was due; I couldn't see this far.

And as we came into view, the other ship seemed to turn and start coming towards us.

"Hmm, I'm wondering about something." Nurarihyon appeared next to me, a gourd in his hand; no doubt it was full of sake.

"What?"

"I'm just wondering if we should immediately open fire on them."

"Are you having second thoughts about robbing them?" I looked at the old Youkai.

He snorted. "Brat, I've been stealing and sneaking into places since before you were a twinkle in your father's eye. I'm just wondering if we should give them the chance to surrender. I'm trying to be more reasonable since I gotta consider your Fox's preferences, y'know."

I pondered his suggestion.

Cannon fire erupted from the enemy vessel as soon as we got close. Well, close was relative here; those cannons fired much further than they should have.

Actual cannon balls collided with the barriers of my ship.

Well, my pondering has ended.

"Fire the front cannons!" I shouted in response.

Beams of fire erupted from the front, slamming into the side of the enemy ship.

"Don't destroy it, you idiot!"

"I know what I'm doing, old man! We just need to disable the ship enough so they can't run away. Get ready to board everyone!" I could fix that amount of damage.

As we got close, we got a better look at the crew of the enemy ship. Holy sh*t, was that a genuine Spanish galleon?

Where did they even get something like that?

And the crew were most assuredly not the original owners.

They looked like some type of goblin? Oh, they're Red Caps!

The large... red caps on their heads kind of gave it away.

I vaguely recall them mentioned in Irish and Scottish legends. Their caps are supposedly drenched in the blood of those they've killed. A very malevolent type of Fae. Though... aren't they supposed to inhabit things like castle ruins and such?

The fuck were they doing, crewing a ship in such large numbers?

They were really nasty with their gazes. The goblins I met in Diagon Alley were night and day compared to these things. I could practically taste their bloodlust.

"Alright boys, don't damage the ship, but take everything they got, especially their lives!" Nurarihyon grinned savagely himself.

I was reminded that Youkai are just as much 'monsters'.

They cheered happily, jumping across to the other ship as we got close enough, a melee breaking out.

Just sweeping my gaze across the several dozen 'Red Caps' that were present on the enemy ship and the initial fighting, I could place their strength around mid-level. Mostly a sort of inborn physical level that let them land there, but I caught a few magics being cast on their end. Crude as they were, they didn't require things like magic circles, so it caught a few of ours off guard.

Poison? I think I saw some poison spells primarily used.

I cast a few healing spells of my own and a few enhancement spells to cover them, but I had my own target.

I found the enemy captain.

As the captain of my own ship, it was only proper that I engage the enemy captain in battle.

I of course withdrew a cutlass I had kept just in case and jumped over. "Have at you!" I shouted intentionally to get its attention.

It sneered something unintelligible in a language I couldn't understand even with my status as a devil.

Its rows of sharp teeth opened and its tongue salivated, pointed at me rather arrogantly as if I were simply a meal in its eyes.

The other 'captains' sword was... a sickle.

Okay, so it wasn't a proper weapon, a farming instrument, but still, it was my first fight as a proper pirate!

Our epic clash!

Except my sword broke nearly instantly.

Even the goblin was surprised.

Well, I suppose that makes sense. I could feel the magic from his weapon, despite it being a literal farming instrument, while mine was honestly not even a 'real' sword, but a fake wall decoration I randomly found.

The goblin laughed and spoke something in its language. I didn't need to speak it to know it was insulting me.

Fine, I should take you seriously.

I gathered my power around my arm and reeled back my fist. "Take my secret technique!" I declared as the goblin instantly became on guard. However, he was focused entirely on my arm enough that he didn't notice when I kicked him between the legs.

He immediately fell over, clutching his presumed dangly bits with tears falling from his eyes.

I picked up his weapon and held it up. "Victory!" I shouted as loud as I could.

I heard the sounds of battle and laughter behind me in response.

"Brat...did you seriously kick him in the balls?" Nurarihyon appeared next to me.

"Yes." I nodded.

He stared at me for a long moment and put a hand on my shoulder, nodding wisely. "I knew you were one of us."

I was about to say something, but I noticed something strange on the goblin captain. I immediately stopped joking and grabbed at him; despite his hissing, I waved my hand, severing his head. Though my eyes never left the object on his wrist.

"Why does he have a wrist watch?" I voiced my thoughts out loud.

Nurarihyon also zeroed in on it, inspecting it closely. "That's not that old either."

"Early 1900's, maybe late 1800's." I eyed it.

My watch proficiency isn't that good despite having a certain proficiency for fashion of a certain variety.

This made me frown because I thought back to Captain Hook.

I pulled the watch from the goblin's arm and tossed the remains of his body into the water. "No survivors; either burn the bodies or toss them overboard." I said softly.

Nurarihyon put a silent shoulder on me and walked down to the main deck as the fighting finished up.

I walked over to the wheel to see what I was working with, and I saw the most curious rolled-up piece of parchment wedged between the wheel and the mechanism that held it in place.

I pulled it out, realizing it wasn't parchment but some kind of beast skin, woven with magics I was unfamiliar with. However, nearly immediately, it seemed to display a picture of where we were and an island not far away.

Magical Fae GPS?

"Hey boss," I called out.

"Hmm?" He was at my side rather quickly again.

"...up for a raid?" I held the map up, and he smiled.

@***@

Magical Fae GPS was in fact real.

I was certainly going to study this and see how it worked, or maybe give it to Jinn; she would probably love it. But it would be a nifty thing to learn for our troops and whatnot.

Unfortunately, these Red Caps didn't have much below deck or stored away. It seems like their base of operations was close enough that they didn't carry anything worthwhile.

Sure, we grabbed their weapons, because, why not? But otherwise, nothing else worth mentioning other than the ship itself.

Which was being sort of towed behind my ship.

Funny enough, we didn't actually have a good idea on what to do with the ship at the moment. We didn't anticipate getting one so quickly before we set up a spot to... well... store them? Accumulate them?

We brought enough people to crew quite a few ships, but we had just set sail; we didn't want to separate or start a big fleet just yet.

But luckily, it seems our donors left us a means.

And the Island itself, it was close like I thought. Maybe an hour's sail at a moderate speed and we could see it in view. They were probably on their way home after being away for awhile considering their lack of provisions.

It seemed a tad on the smaller side, but more than enough to house thousands of people if they were so inclined with a bit of a jungle.

The best thing about a magic ship like mine? I sailed it right into the sandy shore without a care in the world.

It came to a harsh halt, unmoving. The ship we were towing was far enough out that it was still in deep enough waters, so it worked out perfectly.

"How do you want to split up?" I asked the Old Man.

"Sabao, you're watching the ships." Nurarihyon called out. "Anyone who wants to stay can stay; anyone who wants to come can come."

What a casual way of leading, but I guess that worked on these types of people. They weren't ones for a rigid authority structure.

It was probably split into 2/3 our favor, with the remaining not being as particularly combat-enthused as the rest.

Oh well, I also left Sir Wiggles on the ship.

As the first mate, it's his job to monitor it in my absence.

We nearly immediately found a well-walked path leading into the forest and took it without a second thought. Cocky? Maybe, but honestly, we felt rather confident at this moment, and it would hamper morale if we acted overly cautious against enemies; we just stomped rather easily.

Though Nurarihyon held his hand up, everyone came to a stop because we found someone impaled on a spear.

That someone was a goblin—a Red Cap.

"I smell smoke and resentment." Aotabō said, sniffing the air.

"Let's pick up the pace." Nurarihyon shot forward at a speed where everyone could keep up but was significantly faster.

We arrived at a village, or what was left of one.

It was artificially cleared out; wooden structures somewhat remained, but they were mostly piles of ash. No fires were visible, but there was still heat emanating off some of the remains.

A few days at a minimum, someone was here.

There were dead bodies, hundreds of those Red Caps, slain in a gruesome way.

"Fan out, search for anything worthwhile; if you see a living thing other than these goblins, bring it back." Nurarihyon ordered as everyone moved about. He eventually clicked his tongue in annoyance. "I hate when someone steals something before I do."

"I'd give it two days at a maximum." I went and kneeled down next to a burned-down hut. house, something. "At a glance, I see no other bodies other than Red Caps. Which leaves three options."

"Either they were killing among themselves. The ones who killed them retrieved the dead bodies of their comrades, or they were much stronger, enough that they didn't suffer any casualties." Nurarihyon spoke.

"Boss, we found something!" Aotabō hollered, waving from a bit further ahead.

I let go of a handful of ash I had in my hands, clapping to flick away the debris and dirt. We followed along to see what he was shouting about, and we both came to a stop.

"Well, isn't that curious?" Nurarihyon stroked his chin.

There seemed to be about a dozen freshly made graves.

And at the head of each one was a makeshift cross.

@***@

A/N

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