I do not own Strike Witches or the Captain America Films. One-shot.
Folkestone, Britannia, 501st Joint Fighter Wing Base, 1944
"It's this way." Lynette Bishop beacons to her friend as she takes the lead, both walking down a long hallway.
"Slow down, Lynne." Her friend, Yoshika Miyafuji, comments. Yoshika hasn't seen Lynne so excited for a while now—the first time being when they both took down an oncoming Neuroi. Yoshika eventually catches up to the Britannian Witch, only because she stops in front of a large, wooden double-door with pristine decoration honoring it with the main feature being the emblem of the 501st Joint Fighter Wing. "Is this what you wanted to show me, Lynne. A decorated door." She questions, a bit confused why she is excited over such a detail.
"No, silly. It is what is behind the door that has gotten me all riled up." Lynne counters as she holds up a key to show to her Fusoian friend. "Commander Minna told me about this room a while back, but I forgot about it when I was vigorously training with Major Sakamoto. It is only recently that I remembered and requested the Wing Commander for the key to this room." She continues, inserting the key and twisting it until it unlocks, finally pushing the double-doors open. They are greeted with a glare of sunlight before their eyes readjust to finally witness what lies inside.
"It's a library!" Yoshika exclaims, her eyes shining up brightly like fireworks igniting in the night sky. The size of the room is comparable to the kitchen/dining room with four isles of bookcase reaching up to their thighs with two large bookcases hugging the walls adjacent to them with windows opposite to them to allow for sunlight to light up the room. Located in the middle is a square table with four chairs. In other words, the library in the base isn't as large as an actual library, but enough to satisfy the occupants of the base.
"It is not as big as a library found in London, but it should still hold some interesting books." Lynne comments, both walking farther into the room.
"There are so many books here! I don't know where to start. Maybe I can find a cookbook to make more diverse dishes." Yoshika Miyafuji informs Lynne of her intents. "Or maybe I can find an interesting story to read during the night."
"Why don't we look around and see what we can find." Before they can begin, both Witches hear footsteps becoming from the hallway. Look back, they find a silvered-hair, short witch in her pajamas—consisting of nothing but the necessary two garments to maintain decency—standing at the door frame, letting out a huge yawn as she attempts to wipe away the sleepiness in her eyes.
"Sanya!" Lynne states. "What are you doing here?" It takes a moment before the Britannian's Witch's words reaches the pale-white, Orussian Witch known as Sanya Litvyak as she sluggishly turns towards Lynne, her eye lids heavy with sleep and her composure groggily looking.
"Lynne… Yoshika…" she sheepishly states in a small whisper. Before, she would walk away and not talk to them, but since she has gotten to know them better and she considers them friends, she feels at ease informing them of her presence here. "Sometimes… when I have trouble sleeping… I come up here, and if the door isn't locked, I go in, grab a book, take it back to my room to read. It helps me sleep." She explains, yawning upon finishing. Technically, every time her patrol is finished, she always falls sleep in Eila's room, not that Eila hates it, but she would most likely return to her room.
"Sanya, you like to read?" Yoshika inquires. A few moments pass before she receives an answer.
"…Yes…."
"That's great. I guess that is something new I learned about you." Not sure how to handle the enthusiasm coming from Yoshika, Sanya's cheeks become red like an apple. That is not to say she doesn't like it for she does allow herself for a faint smile to formulate. "Since we are all here, why don't we have a little contest. We were about to grab some books too. Let's see who can grab the most-interesting book here. The person with the most interesting one wins!" Yoshika advocates.
"That sounds like fun, Yoshika." Lynne injects as she looks over to Sanya for confirmation. She looks around the room, pondering whether to participate. A small smile formulates itself again, signifying she is on board.
"Okay. It sounds like fun." She replies. And with those answers, the three Witches scatter around the room, looking through multiple bookshelves, reaching high and low to find an interesting book to win the contest. Ten minutes of vigorous searching, except for Sanya as she combats the sleepiness as she searches, each Witch obtains a book to their liking and converge back towards the middle of the room around the table.
"What book did you grab, Lynne." Yoshika begins. Lynne places the book on the table and begins to explain.
"All I can find is Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Julius Caesar. I have never read the play before, so it kind of curious as to what happens. My sister has talked about it to me, and she finds it good."
"Shakespeare. The only plays that come to mind regarding him are Romeo and Juliet, and Macbeth. The libraries in Fuso don't have much Britannish books."
"I see, so what about you Sanya. What did you find." Lynne inquires. Sanya, holding the book close to her chest, slowly lays the book on the table. "The Brothers Karamzazov. I don't think I ever heard of such a book. Have you Yoshika?"
"No, I haven't." she answers, both looking to Sanya for an explanation.
"It was written by a famous author in Orussia in the 19th century, Fyodor Dostoyevsky. I have read some of his works, and I ended up liking them." She answers shyly, avoiding eye contact as she explained to them. "What about you, Yoshika. That book looks pretty old." Sanya comments. The book Yoshika is holding is old, very old as the cover is stained and scuffled up. Even the pages on the edge of the book are yellow, signifying that a lot of time has passed. This is also not to mention that the book she is carrying is very large, about 400 pages thick. Even when she drops it from a short height, it makes an audible 'thud' sound, the collected dust around it being picked up by the air before resettling.
"That looks very old, Yoshika." Lynne comments.
"Yeah, it looked old, so I picked it up and looked through it, but…" she opens the book about midway through, turning a few pages before she finds the desired page she wants to show them. Sanya and Lynne both look at the page, but don't know what to make of it.
"It's written in a different language. I thought about grabbing a different book, but the picture here looks interesting." She explains, pointing toward the page depicting of a man with a large beard wearing strange armor walking down a rainbow carrying a cubed-shaped, blue object in his hand. The rest of the page is filled with a mixture of words the Fusoian Witch could not read. Sanya, however, takes a closer look at it, more specifically, the overall title of what appears to be a story about the old man.
"… Jewel… vault…" she utters.
"What did you say?" Yoshika questions.
"The words on the title… one read jewel and the other reads vault… That is all I can read."
"Wait, you can read this, Sanya." Lynne asks.
"No. From the looks of it, it's written in Eila's native language. She taught me a little bit about her native language, so I can read some of it, but not all of it without difficulty. If you want to know what it saids, perhaps Eila would be willing to read it for us…" she explains.
"Do you think she'll mind?" Lynne puts out there, a bit hesitant on bothering her.
"… It should be fine." Sanya answers. "If I request it, she'll be more than happy to read it to us."
"If you say so." And with that statement, the Witches return the two other books picked out by them and head out to find Eila for some translation work.
On the second floor in a living room-like area…
"So that's about it. We can't read the book. Sanya can kind-of read it, but since it is written in your native language, could you please read this section of the book to us?" Yoshika inquires of the Suomus witch, Eila Ilmatar Juutilainen, as she presents the old book before her with it already opened to the desired pages with the old man on the rainbow holding a cubic object. Eila looks down and instantly recognizes the words written in her native language; however, she only gazes at the pages for around 3 seconds before her gaze morphs into a glare that is instantly directed on Yoshika as she takes a few steps forward and invading her personal space, causing Yoshika to arch back.
"What were you doing with Sanya in the first place?" Eila demands, her tone clearly expressing a dissatisfaction and curiosity as she ignores the explanation and request given to her. Normally, she wouldn't mind Yoshika accompanying Sanya since they have become friends during Yoshika's time patrolling with Sanya on their birthday, but seeing Sanya in her undergarments—a bra and underpants—makes Eila's sense of envy and defensiveness rise within her, becoming suspicious of the Fusonian witch, especially since she is starting to develop an unusual habit.
"I… uh… well… we were in the… library, and Sanya just… appeared at the door, wanting to get a book..." She nervously explains as Eila glares daggers at her, her mind judging if Yoshika's answer is acceptable. Judging by the sustained glare directed at her, Eila is not convinced in the slightest. Her glare slowly gravitates towards Lynne, who is taken back a bit when Eila suddenly glares at her.
"That's… what happened. I swear." For Yoshika and Lynne, it feels as if they are being interrogated for a murder, causing them to sweat nervously like they are guilty for the charge even though they haven't committed the crime.
"Eila… that's enough. They didn't do anything wrong." A soft-spoken voice intervenes, it belonging to Sanya, causing Eila to suspend her glare to face her. "I couldn't sleep, so I went to the library to read a book to help me sleep and found Yoshika and Lynne there. They asked if I wanted to join them, and I did."
"If you wanted to read a book, you could have just told me; I would have gotten one for you." Eila reasons. It not so much she didn't want Sanya to ascertain a book, it more so with the fact Yoshika and Lynne are spending time with her, making her blood boil in envy.
"I can do it myself."
"But you're still sleepy, Sanya. You could have used that time to attempt to sleep while I retrieved the book for you." She is always like this. Sanya ponders in her mind. She like Eila; she is more than a friend to her, but something she can be overbearing about every detail Sanya does, so much so that it, at times, feels suffocating for her. But she knows she means well, but that doesn't excuse the fact Eila is being insensible and starting to get on Sanya's nerves.
"… Stupid Eila…" Sanya quietly utters, everting her look away from Eila.
"Ah… I just got called stupid by Sanya." Sanya's mad at me! She panics. Nothing is more dreadful to Eila—not even going up against multiple Neuroi—than having Sanya angry at her. To Eila, it is unfathomable to have the one person she cherishes deeply mad at her. It makes her stomach turn. "I'm sorry, Sanya. Please forgive me!" She begs as she claps her hands, closers her eyes shut, and bows slightly. Eila will do anything just so Sanya isn't mad at her.
"…I'll think about it." She decides, causing Eila's expression to drop further. Eila feels like she wants to cry, but… "but I might forgive you if you apologize to Yoshika and Lynne and accept their request." Sanya bargains, her head still not facing her friend's direction but allotting one eye to look at her. Without hesitation…
"Sorry for giving you a hard time." She grumbles, still jealous of Yoshika and Lynne.
"We accept your apology, Eila. After all, we're friends. You, Sanya, Lynne, and me."
"Friends… I guess. Anyway, let me see what you wanted me to read to you guys." Yoshika hands over the book, opening it to the desired page. Eila grabs it and begins reading the short passage. After a few moments of silence…
"So what does the title say? Sanya can only make out the words vault and jewel." Yoshika inquires. It takes a moment for Eila to register what has been asked of her for she momentarily is lost into her reading.
"The title…oh yeah." she looks over the title and reads, "The Precious Jewel in Odin's Vault."
"Odin's vault?" Lynne questions.
"I have heard of this name before. It's Norse mythology, originated in the Baltland-Suomus region. My mom used to tell me these myths and stories when I was a little girl. If my memory serves me well, Odin is revered as a god by ancient Baltlanders and Suomusians. He is also the King of a mythical realm known as Asgard and protector of the Nine Realms."
"King of Asgard… Protector of the Nine Realms. I never would have guessed that; it sounds so interesting. Did you get all that just from reading the book?" Yoshika asks.
"No. What I told you is all from memory. This passage tells how long ago, Odin visited Midgard, another name for Earth, and during his visitation, he brought with him his most-prized possession stored away in his vault, and with no reason described in the book, he left his prized possession on Earth. I have never heard of this story before, so I can't tell you why Odin would do something like that."
"What exactly did he leave here?" Sanya inquires.
"Let's see. I know I saw the name here somewhere. Ah, here it is!" She announces, placing her finger on the 9-lettered word.
"The Tesseract."
"The Tesseract? What is that exactly." Lynne asks.
"From what I have read, it is a powerful cube-shaped gem capable of transporting people across different realms."
"That sounds very powerful." Yoshika comments.
"…And scary." Sanya adds.
"Indeed, it does." Another voice chips in from the doorway.
"C-Commander Minna!" All the Witches gasp in unison. "What are you doing here?"
"I was walking around, seeing how everybody is doing until I came across you girls talking about Norse mythology and this Tesseract." Minna-Dietlinde Wilcke explains as she enters the room with the Witches, standing next to Eila as she looks down at the page with the picture of Odin holding the Tesseract.
"Have you heard about the Tesseract before?" Yoshika inquires as Eila hands over the book to the Wing Commander for her own inspection.
"I've heard about it before. It belonged to Odin where he kept it in his vault?" She answers.
"You're so knowledgeable, Commander Minna." Lynne compliments.
"Where have you learned about Norse mythology? Did Karlslanders use to believe in Norse Mythology?" Sanya ask, letting out a yawn after asking.
"Before I became the Wing Commander of the 501st, I served under a high-ranking Karlsland officer who had an acute interest in Norse mythology. I don't quite remember his name, but I remember him being a bit strange and quite the scientist to the point where the Emperor of Karlsland was impressed by him. He was also the type of person who doesn't have problems with Witches unlike other high-ranking officers I know. Currently, I think he oversees Karlsland's special weapons and development program, appointed by the Karlsland Emperor and on good terms with Air Marshall Galland." Minna explains. Now that the Wind Commander is thinking about it, it is highly likely Ursula Hartmann, Erika's twin sister, might be working under him seeing she is the one who developed Sanya's Fliegerhammer and is currently developing a new line of Striker units that use jet engines instead of magic-generated propellers.
"The Karlsland special weapons program. Commander, you know some interesting people." Eila shares. "Are you, like, on good terms with this guy? He sounds like he can be of big help to the 501st seeing that we are getting by as it is." What Eila is referring to is the fact command has decided to cut their funds, drastically reducing the supplies available to them, which is evident given that all the Witches only had Miso soup and bread for lunch.
"I didn't make a personal relationship with him, but he should be able to recognize me if I contact him and tell him my name. However, I don't know anything about his whereabouts. The last time I saw him was during Karlsland's evacuation, and even then, I was no longer under him. Last time I heard, he was conducting his own research with the Karlsland high-command's permission. He could be in Neue Karlsland or somewhere in Europe developing new weaponry to combat the Neuroi."
"Regardless, that enough information for one day. Yoshika, Lynne, you two better outside for some training or Mio… I mean Major Sakamoto will severely punish you if you are late." Minna warns the two low-ranking Witches.
"Ah, you're right! We should go Lynne! If you will excuse us…" The Fusoian Witch bows before grabbing ahold of her best friend and dashing out of the room full-speed.
"Sanya, you should head back to your room and rest up."
"Okay, Commander Minna." Sanya accepts, letting out another yawn. "Eila, would you mind accompanying me back to my room?"
"YES!" An instant answer is given to the Orussian Witch. "I mean, I can do that." Eila answers again as both the Witches leave the room together, holding hands, leaving the Wind Commander to herself in the room holding the old book in hand.
"Wait a minute. Wasn't he trying to find the Tesseract?" Minna wonders to herself, now remembering why she found him weird as she has heard him talk about finding such a mythical object. However, she quickly persuades herself otherwise as she knows that the such a mythical object like the Tesseract and the Norse gods can't exist.
At least… as far as Minna knows.
Two years prior…
Somewhere in a hidden base, Orussia, 1942
The doors to a wide-open room with multiple people working opens, behind them revealing a Karlsland high-ranking officer clad in black walking in carrying a large, cube-shaped containment unit. The workers paid no attention to him for they know their superior office want them to continue with their work unimpeded. The workers are currently working on a Striker unit, but around them is capsule filled with blue, powerful energy that did not considered magic by a witch. The only person who did pay attention is a long, brown-haired, 14-year-old girl also clad in black—black trench coat, black socks and boot, black undergarments—minus the pants. She salutes him as he approaches, but the Karlsland officer waves his free hand, and she stops saluting him soon after. The only thing that is not black on them is a silver-colored, unusual emblem depicting a skull with six tentacles pinned onto their vest near their chest.
"What is the status of our operation, Fräulein?" the high-ranking officer inquires as he walks past her. She follows, making sure to stay one-step behind her superior officer seeing that strapped around her shoulder is the emblem depicting a Flight Lieutenant (Captain).
"Obergruppenführer (Lieutenant General), our progress has been running smoothly. Each day, we draw closer to completing Zola's designs. The weapons and equipment already designed are currently being mass-produced in our secret factories in Northern Orussia and Eastern Suomus." She reports as they pass through another set of doors leading out of the large room with many working engineers with armed personnel patrolling around with their newly created, advance-designed weaponry. It should also be mentioned that the Obergruppenführer and the Flight Lieutenant are carrying advanced pistols as sidearms.
"And what about our Fälschung designs? Has Karlsland received them?" the Obergruppenführer further ask his witch subordinate.
"Karlsland has received our Fälschung designs. I believe Ursula Hartmann will be taking charge in developing the purposed Jet Striker we offered along with more modification to the Fliegerhammer rocket launcher. They suspect nothing."
"Wundebar. As long as we keep feeding them "advanced" designs, they will never suspect of what is actually being constructed here. It is of the upmost importance Zola's designs are not revealed to the world, Fräulein, or we face only empowering our enemies." He reveals, the Flight Lieutenant knowing he isn't only referring to the Neuroi. In fact, everything he has been keeping in the shadows from the rest of the world has nothing regarding the Neuroi for they are never the problem. Both reach a set of stairs, to which they take until they are met with a door. The Obergruppenführer grabs ahold of the doorknob and twist it opening the door to an office with a large desk towards the back, cabinets around the room, and large windows on the walls overseeing the working floor. He proceeds to his desk and puts down the containment unit on it, pushing a button to which the containment unit lets out compressed gas and begins to open. The Flight Lieutenant shortly enters, closing the door behind her as walks towards the center of the room before she stops, watching the containment unit slowly open as her superior officer pours himself a drink of vodka in a shot glass.
"Soon, we will stand masters of the world, Fräulein. Our forces grow with each passing day as we are now 100,000 personnel stronger than last year. The loss of Karlsland and Berlin makes no difference to us." He states as she looks at the opened containment unit, a mysterious blue glow emanating out of it for him and his subordinate to marvel at. "This is all we need to ensure our places as rightful masters, Fräulein. Odin's Jewel will serve us well."
"Ja, Obergruppenführer. The Tesseract will not only defeat those who oppose us but will also pave the way for advancemenst far beyond those before us can ever imagine. Doctor Miyafuji's invention will be put to shame compared to what we will design." She states, never taking her eyes off the Tesseract. "However, with our newly-gained recruits and supporters, what should we do with the new Witch conscripts?" She does bring up a valid question. Witches tend to be extremely loyal to their country, so approaching them to abandon their country to join them is out of the question—they have attempted this, but that only ended in bloodshed, to which they had to falsify reports about Witches missing. However, they have learned from their mistakes and have created a 'screening' process that either the Obergruppenführer or the Flight Lieutenant conducts. Not just any which can join, so they must conduct a thorough examination to see if the prospective Witch will align themselves with the Obergruppenführer and his organization's goals. More often than not, most witches fail this screening, to which they let them continue their service. However, if they find a witch does pass the screen, she is approached by either the Obergruppenführer or the Flight Lieutenant and asked to join them. 9/10 times, the prospective witch joins. This is the reason why the Obergruppenführer keeps Ursula Hartmann a great distance away: she failed the screening, but she is still enlisted under him by Karlsland, so he has her stationed in Neue Karlsland so she doesn't interfere with his grandeur plans and has her busy inventing her designs. It is also the reason why he promoted a young witch named Minna-Dietlinde Wilcke out of his command so she doesn't learn and involve herself in too much of his plans. He wants to keep the blood shed to a minimum. Excluding the Flight Lieutenant, there is only a hand-full of witches that have joined their cause, with the highest rank being the Flight Lieutenant before the Obergruppenführer.
"I will allow you do decide what you see as fit, Fräulein. You and Zola are my most-trusted subordinates, so I trust your decision regarding the new and current witches loyal to us." He reveals.
"Ich verstehe, Obergruppenführer. Danke Schön für seine Wörter. I will not disappoint you or bring shame to our cause."
"I know you won't." He proceeds to face her while holding his poured drink.
"Whether it be Neuroi or human, those who oppose us will fall before us. They shoot down one of our planes, hundred more will rain fire upon them. If they cut off one head, two more shall take its place." He drinks his vodka and lowers his glass upon completion.
"Hail Hydra."
The Flight Lieutenant abruptly straightens herself out, legs clamping together with feet facing forward and arms over her head at a 45 degree angle to the floor, her hands clenched into a fist and expression full of life and vigor.
"HAIL HYDRA!"
Thoughts? Reviews are highly encouraged.