Chapter 545 (Patreon)

“Alright, we’re ready to go!” I waved the papers around in my hand as I climbed aboard my ship.

Jeanne, who was waiting for me, perked up seeing me board. “Did you really need those? Why couldn’t we just sail out into the water?”

I wasn’t surprised she didn’t know; it’s more a modern thing. “Bureaucracy, the evil of the modern world.” I sighed. “I just wanted to cover my bases. We’re going out into a popular trading lane. Lots of other ships and plenty of navies patrol these waters. I’d rather not fly my boat away when a battleship pulls us over because we stick out like a sore thumb. Now, we’re legally allowed to be docking and undocking at this port and all that.” And it’s important in case of the Battleship scenario that we can prove our identities.

Did it truly matter?

Probably not, but I didn’t want our time interrupted again because of some government bullshit. And my ship is amazing, but I don’t want to fly it away under the watchful eyes of hundreds of sailors. And keeping up a spell to conceal us the entire way would be utterly exhausting for my already fried brain.

So, instead, I paid some money—bribes—and spent some time to get everything prepared.

“I’m surprised.”

“About what?”

“That you took the time and effort to do things the proper way.” She responded with a smile.

I responded maturely by pulling on her cheeks even as she stuck her tongue out at me. She’s been pretty sassy today, and it’s rather cute. I ended it with a kiss on her forehead.

“Alright, go below deck and change.” I gave her a smack on the bottom.

“Neh!” She puffed up. “Why do I have to change and you don’t?”

“As the captain, I declare that all Jeannes must wear bikinis on my ship. That or naked, I’ll let you choose.”

She quickly turned bright red and hit my shoulder. “Y-you’re not allowed to tell me to get naked! T—that’s reserved for partners only!” She puffed up cutely again.

“If it makes you feel better, I’ll get naked too.” I offered.

She let out a cute squeak and ran below deck.

Silly girl, you just have to say the right words, and it wouldn’t be a problem.

I let out Sir Wiggles and Lady Wiggles.

I could feel through the familiar link we share that Sir Wiggles and his wife enjoy sailing on the boat. They happily scampered around everywhere, Sir Wiggles going slowly to let his little wife keep up since she was pregnant.

Always adorable.

I briefly wondered what Ddraig was doing right now, but he was apparently still maintaining his fake Nidhoggr state, so I was fine to keep leaving it for now. 

I’ll check in tomorrow and see if anything is wrong. It’s rare that he gets to come out and play; I don’t want to spoil anything for him.

While waiting for Jeanne, I took out my phone and the card that Coulson gave me and began to message him.

Wilhelm: ‘Hey girl, how’s it going?’

Coulson: ‘Stark, I told you to stop sending messages to this number. This is for official SHIELD matters only.’

Wilhelm: ‘You know, the more I hear about Stark, the more I want to meet him.’

Wilhelm: [Devil Emoji]

Coulson: ‘Ah, Mr. Schweinorg. Thank you for giving me your number. How reliable is this method of contact?’

Wilhelm: ‘Not very reliable. If I’m in other places, I won’t receive your messages until I come back.’

Coulson: ‘Noted.’

Though, I did want him to have my number just in case. It wouldn’t receive messages from him unless I’m in this world, but while I’m here, it’s nice to keep in touch. And I forgot to give it to him beforehand.

Coulson: ‘I have a question if you have a moment.’

Wilhelm: ‘Shoot.’

Coulson: ‘What do you know of vampires?’

Wilhelm: ‘Are you serious?’

Coulson: ‘Unfortunately.’

Wilhelm: ‘In New Mexico?? Sif and them should be able to handle them if they pop up.’

Coulson: ‘No, it’s a problem that arose in New York. It seemed something more in your wheelhouse.’

Wilhelm: ‘Kill them all and let God sort them out.’

Coulson: ‘I was hoping for methods of dealing with them or any knowledge you may have.’

Wilhelm: ‘Do you not have any experts in this kind of thing?’

Coulson: ‘We are currently trying to recruit any experts from the magical side of the world. It has yet to bear fruit beyond a few ‘fortune tellers.’.

Wilhelm: ‘I can ask some people; maybe they can point some in your direction.’

Coulson: ‘It would be appreciated. But vampires?’

Wilhelm: ‘It depends on the type of vampire. You got your lowest rung, the cannon fodder, recently turned trash. They can probably be taken care of with just modern weapons. Spray them with bullets until they can’t move, then double tap them in the head; that should work. Though, even the lowest run is somewhat superhuman by your standards.’

Coulson: ‘And the other types?’

Wilhelm: Mostly, it comes down to age. Vampires get stronger the longer they live.

Coulson: Define, ‘stronger.’.

Wilhelm: Bullets and guns become obsolete. If you see a vampire running around with a sword, assume that bullets won’t do shit. And if they can actually swing a sword around properly, they’re not the normal cannon fodder. And if you see one of them wearing really old-style clothes, then assume they’re a tier higher. The ancient types. But that’s more just a snap judgment thing.

Coulson: Weaknesses?

Wilhelm: For the bottom rung, just normal stuff like I said. But something sharp through the heart will usually put them down. You can cut off their heads for good measure—which works for most things. For higher levels, you’re going to need special equipment. Holy items work the best, but items generally associated with divinity can work in a pinch even if they’re not ‘holy.’.

Coulson: Like a cross or holy water?

Wilhelm: A cross depends on the user. If you’re waving a cross around, you need someone like an actual priest that has unwavering faith and belief for it to be meaningful. For Holy Water, it depends too. For the lowest trash, Holy Water will be like acid to them, and a splash of Holy Water should be enough if you get them good. For older vampires, it’s going to burn and debilitate them, but they may or may not be able to shrug it off and keep going. For the really old ones, the ones that have lived hundreds, if not thousands, of years, it’s only going to hurt and not cause any actual damage.

Coulson: And what would you suggest for the latter types?

Wilhelm: Contact the church and get their help, probably. The older the vampire gets, the more control they get over their blood generally. For vampires, their blood is their power. You can start expecting things like blood magic or manipulation of blood right out of a horror movie. And whatever you do—and this doesn’t just involve vampires—never willingly give someone your blood. Willingly given blood can be used for much worse things than forcibly taken blood. Besides that, older vampires get harder to put down because they can regenerate as long as their blood has power still. Beyond things like their heart getting crushed or their head cut off. 

Coulson: How likely is it to run into the older ones?

Wilhelm: Unlikely. Vampires hate competition; they generally won’t like other vampires or their underlings getting too strong. Usually, if you find a group and finagle your way up the tree of hierarchy, there’s one old vampire at the top that usually doesn’t get involved in most things. The church generally also deals with them if things get out of hand, so they know not to cause any real problems. If you say there are problems in New York with vampires, it’s almost certainly some trash who have their egos inflated. But being prepared wouldn’t hurt. Explosives may take down a middling type if they’re unprepared.

Wilhelm: Tell me your coordinates; I’ll give you some things.

Couslon: That’s classified.

Wilhelm: Fine, if you don’t want some holy weapons.

Coulson: One moment.

Coulson: [Link]

I pressed the link, and it gave me a set of coordinates, and I began some basic calculations before opening a portal and dropping some stuff through. I gave it a moment of thought and searched my ring for one of Kokabiel’s wings, pulled off a feather, and dropped it through as well.

It only took a few minutes before Coulson responded again.

Coulson: Package received. Do you require coordinates to use a magic portal?

Wilhelm: Do you think I just flail my arms around and say some nonsensical words for it to happen? I’m more of an expert on theoretical astrophysics than Jane is.

Coulson: Did you give me a lightsaber? And I thought you said guns were obsolete. Also, what’s this feather?

Wilhelm: It’s a lightsaber, and if George Lucas tries to sue me, I’m blaming you. It’s concentrated Holy Power; it’s not infinite in power, so don’t waste it. As for the guns, they’re Holy Guns. Both are used by church exorcists to hunt things down like vampires or other stuff. Specially made along with the ammo. They’re much more powerful against ‘heretical’ things, so take that into consideration. I don’t exactly collect the stuff, so that’s all I have on me.

It’s basically just what I had after my few run-ins with exorcists. Mostly during the whole Kokabiel fiasco.

Coulson: We appreciate the help. And what’s this feather?

“Wilhelm: It’s from a Fallen Angel. It still has a lot of holy juice in it, so it can be used pretty well against something like a vampire. Though, you could probably trade it to the church in return for some sort of cooperation.

Coulson: Dare I ask how you got this?

Wilhelm: You don’t want to know.

Coulson: Noted, thank you for the assistance. We’ll be in touch.

I liked Coulson.

“Will.” Jeanne came up from below deck, wearing the same bikini from our beach trip.

As always, it was a beautiful sight to behold.

“First Mate Sir Wiggles, take the wheel!” I declared as I went to pull the anchor up and begin untying the ropes from the dock.

The boat jerked a little as it began moving forward.

Jeanne looked on in excitement, leaning over the edge as we left the dock and started heading out to the sea.

It didn’t take long before the land disappeared entirely. I may have given a little helping hand with some artificial wind to really get moving.

It got a little bumpy on some larger waves, to the point where Jeanne, who was leaning over the edge, nearly fell over.

“This is amazing!” Jeanne beamed. “I’ve never done this before!!”

Before, it was Jeanne’s first time going to the ocean. Suffice to say, she had never actually ridden on an actual ship like this while it sailed across the waves.

It was a nice way to end our little trip. Though, I suppose we had a few more things to take care of. Particularly, I still had some things I wanted to do, but after getting the Vibranium, my main priority was completed.

“Do you want to try steering?” I offered it to her.

“Really?” She perked up. “You wouldn’t mind? I’ve never done it before; I don’t want to mess it up….”

I swept my gaze around the open ocean. “Do you think you’re going to hit something?”

She cutely puffed up again, but still the excitement shined through. “I’ll do it!”

Sir Wiggles didn’t even need to be told what to do; he zipped over, landing on Jeanne’s shoulder with Lady Wiggles not far behind.

Jeanne happily gave them both a little rub before taking the spot behind the wheel of the ship. 

Admittedly, she turned it rather abruptly, and the ship sort of groaned against the waters with the abrupt change. Not that it did any harm, but she looked rather sheepish when it happened.

“Am I doing it right? Where am I supposed to go?” She looked to me for help, but she had a big smile on her face.

I took out the map that the Ancient One gave me, which was rather convenient as it showed where we needed to go and where we were on the map itself. “Just go towards the red ‘X,’ but no rush. You can play around if you want. If you want to see if you can drift the boat, go for it.” I chuckled, setting it down so she could watch it from where she was steering.

Her lips twitched in amusement as she slowly started turning the wheel without any care. If someone were watching from far away, they would have seen us doing loops in the water, going up and down with barely following a certain ‘line.’.

Jeanne giggled as both rabbits flew around off her shoulders, having their own fun as the salty water splashed against the side of the ship.

I found my own spot, up behind Jeanne, as I wrapped my arms around her and put my chin on top of her head.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it? The open water, nothing in sight.”

“I always wanted to see this when I was alive. I used to hear stories about this from some of my companions. Many of them served on ships or were on merchant vessels. They used to tell me stories of traveling across the ocean.” Jeanne replied.

“I’m glad I could be here with you when you experience it then.” What was life without new experiences? 

Her head tilted down slightly, and I couldn’t see her expression, but she seemed to be thinking something. “You keep doing this, you know? It’s not easy for me.”

“Doing what?” I was confused.

“Taking care of me.” She said very quietly. “Giving me things, helping me, doing things I’ve always wanted. Momma said when a boy does this, that I have to do things in return too, but I don’t know what to do.”

“Jeanne, seeing you happy is why I do all these things. It’s more than enough for me.”

She made a cute sound. “B-but, what if I want to do something for you?” She turned around and grabbed onto my sleeve. “Close your eyes; you’re not allowed to open them until I say so.”

I chuckled but followed along, waiting for what she was going to do. 

However, whatever it was, I knew it was going to be utterly adorable—

“You can open them.”

And I froze.

“Y-you’re not allowed to stare too much.” Jeanne was perhaps the brightest shade of red I’ve ever seen.

Probably because her bare boobs were sitting right there and she was holding up her bikini top, flashing me.

I admit, this is maybe the first time she’s made me utterly speechless.

Only a moment or two of silence passed before she quickly pulled her top back down and even still covered herself with her hands. “M-momma said that boys like boobs.” She looked away.

“Lewd Saintess.” I wrapped my arms back around her.

“I’m not lewd!”

“Corrupting this poor devil with her lewd body.”

“Neh!!”

Today was a good day.

@***@

“Wil, it shows that we’re right on top of the mark.” Jeanne held up the map, and I lifted my head up, having been lying down on the deck of the ship, enjoying the ride.

I quickly hopped over to her, inspecting the map as well. “Huh, seems we’re here already. You want to go diving down with me, or stay up here?”

“...it’s dark and scary down there.” She fidgeted in place. “If I go down, you’re not allowed to leave me alone, okay?”

An important thing to learn was when to bully and when not to bully.

“I promise you I won’t leave you alone, okay?” I offered her a hand, being genuine with my words. With a gesture, I had the ship drop its anchor so we wouldn’t move too far away. 

She happily grabbed my hand, and I cast the required spells for some deep diving. Something to stave away the pressure, water breathing, and a basic light spell so we could see around us even as we went deep.

I may have had the thought of grabbing her and jumping in without warning, but she apparently beat me to it.

Without any words, she grabbed me tight and pulled me over right into the water with a giggle.

I didn’t even have time to take my clothes off, but seeing her laugh like that, I couldn’t even force myself to be fake upset.

You know, I even forgot to ask if she could properly swim. But that question was answered rather quickly.

Just because she never went to the ocean in life didn’t mean they had no rivers or lakes or whatnot back in France.

She pulled me down quickly; despite her admitted fear before, there was obviously excitement as well.

Slowly, the light from above began to disappear, and we could no longer even see the ship. That’s when she began to get a bit more tense and wouldn’t venture from my side.

My spells didn’t take into account talking between us, so we were both surprised as we heard certain sounds this far down.

Jeanne was startled much more than mean, but I sort of recognized the sound.

I held my hand out and created a ball of light that enveloped probably fifteen meters in all directions and sent it off into the distance.

After a moment or two, we could see where the sounds originated from.

A group of humpback whales was swimming nearby.

Jeanne grabbed my arm, giddily pointing at them with one of the biggest smiles I’ve ever seen on her face. We watched silently for a few minutes as they disappeared into the distance, and I dismissed the secondary light spell.

It seemed like her earlier fear diminished greatly now. I gestured for her to follow, and we kept heading downward until we hit the ocean floor.

It wasn’t too deep here, so we didn’t need to swim for too long.

Now, it was just a matter of finding a needle in a haystack.

Luckily, I had the equivalent of a magnet, and I began to pulse my magical energy to see if I could find any resistance.

Jeanne, well, Jeanne was playing.

She found a crab and was poking at it before a fish came up to her and kept trying to push into her face.

Cute.

But I couldn’t get distracted, eyes on the prize.

Slowly and surely, I inspected a few dozen yards of ocean floor, and still no reaction. I made sure to pulse my magical energy deep enough to catch any buried bits, but it was still a bust.

It was only then that I realized that Jeanne wasn’t at my side. 

Something gently touched my back, and I saw a small stone sink down and hit the sand. Turning my head, I could see Jeanne peek up over the edge of a rocky coral bit, silently giggling and gesturing for me to come over.

She seemingly disappeared underneath, and when I came up on it and looked under, there was like an entire underwater cavern with a bunch of luminescent moss. At the deepest part, there was what looked like a hole of some sort, and I followed Jeanne to it.

There was a moss- and algae-covered rock that looked just a tad too different than everything else around, and a simple poke with Magical Energy, and I could feel the rejection immediately.

Jeanne floated next to me, looking very proud of herself.

Bullshit intuition is what that is.

But still, I was happy we found it.

A chunk of vibranium that looked about the size of a car tire.

I grabbed it and hefted it up over my shoulder as we left the underwater cavern and began swimming back towards the surface.

We breached the water not too far from the ship and easily made our way back to it. Jeanne helped me carry it up the rope ladder on the side of the ship.

“Is this what you were looking for?” Jeanne poked at the chunk of vibranium. I sat on the deck.

I pulled off all the moss and algae, and the metal had a glistening sheen to it despite being buried under the water for an uncountable number of years.

“Yup, this is exactly what I was looking for.” It was a pretty good-sized chunk too. Enough for my sword and any other projects I may want to do in the future. Though, it’s still a finite amount that will eventually get used up.

Already forged Vibranium is a bitch and a half to utilize again, so calling it a one-and-done thing isn’t wrong even if it’s not technically right either.

I was happy and about to celebrate, but I felt something was wrong.

And it wasn’t just me; Jeanne jerked her head upwards. The clouds parted, and there seemed to be a faint distortion in the air before some winds were artificially kicked up.

All around our ship, a bunch of aircraft shimmered into view, advanced cloaking technology revealing them for what they were.

The distinct technology that Wakanda showed off earlier.

I rubbed the bridge of my nose, letting out a sigh. “Seriously? Fuck off.” I glared at the nearest one.

“Place your hands above your head and prepare to surrender yourself into custody.” A voice echoed out from one of the crafts.

I looked right at the ship that sent out the demands, turned around, and walked towards the wheel of the ship and did an exaggerated spin of it as the ship slowly began to turn and the anchor was pulled up.

“Will, who are they? What did you do?” Jeanne looked at me.

“Funnily enough, I’m actually completely innocent this time around.” I grumbled. “Just ignore them.”

“Remove yourself from the vessel’s controls and put your hands above your head, or we will be forced to utilize force.” The voice emanated out again.

I flipped them off.

Were they watching us this entire time? 

God damn, just leave me the hell alone.

I ignored them and turned the ship around and started steering it back towards port.

“This is your last warning.” The ships easily kept pace, surrounding my own ship. A moment later, one of the ships fired off its laser weaponry, presumably aiming at the lower back to disable the rudder.

The shield around my ship activated, leaving no damage, but it rocked the ship a little bit, making Jeanne yelp in surprise.

Then fired at me.

They actually fired at my ship.

Now, I was fucking pissed.

I’ve been very nice. I’ve ignored them being assholes; I only insulted them before with everything that happened. And I didn’t even kick up a fuss when they were obviously following me and spying on me.

And now, they escalate to this?

Especially when I was spending time with Jeanne.

Congratulations, Wakanda. You’ve successfully aroused my anger.

“Cannons.” I intoned. “Fire.”

My very medieval-looking ship had its literal cannons tilt upwards and fire off a magical barrage at the crafts. They had their own shields, but they couldn't withstand much before they were destroyed.

The advanced aircraft fell into the waters one after another with fire and explosions erupting within their structures, crashing all around us.

I transformed into my demonic state.

I hopped off the ship, landing on the front of the ship that made the demands earlier. I landed on the glass front that was still above water and in a big enough piece to float.

My hand shot through the glass, and I ripped the pilot right up through it.

Fear, I saw it in his eyes.

I couldn’t blame him; I looked positively demonic when I had my full devil features out.

I didn’t raise my voice; I didn’t shout.

This was the second time. The second time that I had my day interrupted with Jeanne was because of some stupid assholes.

At this point, I was livid.

I don’t think I was someone quick to anger. I could take abuse thrown my way; I can take insults; I can even take a beating. But I most certainly was not a saint like Jeanne; I had my boiling point, and I had reached it.

“Don’t worry.” I pulled him close so he could look into my demonic eyes. “Your leaders are going to find out how much they fucked up soon enough.”

I didn’t give him a chance to respond before throwing him up onto the deck of my ship, mentally controlling it to send out ropes to tie him up.

It was time to pay another trip to Wakanda and have words with whoever was in charge.

@***@

A/N

POV from Wakanda next to see how things reached this point and what they’ve been seeing by following around Wilhelm. Though, to summarize, they’ve basically been watching from a distance because he claimed to know how to find more Vibranium; once he revealed it—satellites and advanced surveillance tech—they didn’t wait anymore and moved in. As for the whole Loki debacle, well, they couldn’t actually see the details, only the vague things from a very large distance, so they were somewhat in the dark still.