-Tempus Mare Puera -Arkh's Kancolle Fanfic-
Tags: AU-verse, Non-canon, OC.
Chapter 1: Prologue

/Kanmusu is not a miracle./

/It is not the pure defender of justice we had all hoped it to be./

/Instead, being a Kanmusu is a path, paved in tears and suffering ,/

/Suffering that goes unnoticed in our cruel, uncaring sea./

/Kanmusu goes in a cycle, perpetuated by grief,/

/Grief that grows heavier and harder to bear with each passing day./

/And yet, Kanmusu still exists, and will continues to exist./

/So, as long as there is grief, there will be those who will fight for
hope./

/However as long there is Abyssals, grief too will continue to exist./

/Whether their struggle will yield fruit, or be dashed against the
bottom of the sea – only time can tell./

There it was again, Asahi thought, that cherry blossom tree in the
yard across the nearby field. From her room's window in the
Naval District, Asahi could clearly see that cherry
blossom tree bathing in sunlight. Asahi had never thought much about
it, but she started to see the irony in that scene. The tree was dead,
her bark dried and her blossoms withered. Its baring branches swayed
weakly in the wind.

Every time Asahi awoke in that bed, the girl shot upright and
panted heavily. The memories of the timeline she had chosen to reset
were still fresh in her mind, tormenting her in her waking moments.
Then, she would turn to her side and see that same cherry blossom tree,
dead.

Why was this tree dead? Why did it bother Asahi so? The young girl
could only sigh.

With composed determination, Asahi rose up from her bed and started to
prepare her things. It was time for her to go to class again – the
Kanmusu Classroom ofcourse. There, she would repeat that fateful month she
had lived through time and time again. There, she would try to make good
on the promises she had made to protect Chidori.

This time would be different, she told herself. This time would be
different.

This time, she will defeat that Erebus Hime.


*Tempus, Mare, Puera*


Asahi, the new transfer student in Chidori's class, seemed
perfect. Blessed with both peerless beauty and dutiful studiousness, it
was hard for her peers to remain unimpressed. Chidori watched this girl
from her seat at the back of the classroom, very much fond of her.

That afternoon, their teacher, Katori lectured about Rudders – a
topic almost everyone in the class found boring. The majority of the
class was already nodding off to sleep. Chidori's best friend, Tomozuru, already had her face buried in her desk.

Asahi, on the other hand, sat upright and took down notes without the
slightest hint of disinterest. She had been writing like that throughout
the class, stopping only to part her hair or to scan through what she
had written. Chidori's admiration for Asahi grew.

"Asahi-chan sure is studious." Chidori thought, "Class is almost over,
but she's still at it."

The face-desked Tomozuru almost sensed Chidori's thoughts through telepathy.

Almost.

Tomozuru responded with mock telepathy, jealous and tired irritation.

"Fuah~ How does she find this stuff interesting? Rudders are developed ages ago… almost a freakin' century!"

"Hmm… maybe she likes the subject?" Chidori pondered back. She then turned to the
black, snake-like creature napping in her bag and smiled at it. "Isn't
that right, Rowy?"

Rowy's only reply was a small nod and its odd smile. Chidori
smiled again and tried her best to listen attentively to the teacher's
lecture. Tomozuru, on the other hand, stayed face first on her desk.

"I'mma sleep for real this time, Chidori." Tomozuru yawned ,
she wispered
"Wake me up when class is over, aight?"

"Wait, Tomozuru-chan…"

It was too late – Tomozuru was already fast asleep. Rather than wake her
up, Chidori just smiled.

"Maybe I should take it easy too." She thought, taking out her own
notebook filled with drawings and doodling to pass the time. Before she
could realize it, the school bell rang and classes were over.

Chidori woke up the stealthily sleeping Tomozuru, gathered her things then prepared to
leave. While waiting for Tomozuru to finish, Chidori searched the room for
Asahi but she was nowhere to be found. Much like always, Asahi made
her exit without saying a word to anyone else. Chidori was disappointed.

For a moment, she considered trying to go after Asahi to try and break
the cold silence that had persisted between them since they met but
eventually decided not to. After all, that afternoon, she and Tomozuru
would be participating in their very first sortie under their
unofficial 'mentor' Tokiwa, their upperclassman. Both she and Tomozuru
were excited for that afternoon. She decided to talk with the strange
transfer student some other day.

Meanwhile, Asahi made her way to the library – a place rarely
visited by the kanmusus. After decades of combats many kanmusu saw books and libraries as trivial pleasure instead a place of learning.
Asahi didn't mind. It would only mean that she would be able to read in
peace.

The section Asahi visited was dedicated to the First Spring War, or mostly known as "The Kanmusu War" because it was the first war to sortie the then new kanmusu, it was also filled
with books describing the major battles and the tremendous suffering the
War brought about. These books oftentimes sat untouched by anyone save
for Asahi. This time, though, a handful of books – including some of
the books Asahi was looking for – were not on the shelves.

Asahi frowned. She had been meaning to borrow those books, but someone
had already beaten her to them. It wasn't a big deal, she thought. She
just chose a few other books that caught her interest then looked for a
comfortable seat somewhere in a closed-off corner.

During her search, she found Tokiwa already seated on a comfortable
armchair and reading one of the books Asahi was looking for. Asahi
greeted the golden-haired girl with a glare.

"So, you like reading about the First Spring war, Asahi-san." Tokiwa
smiled, "I'm glad to know I'm not the only one."

Tokiwa then showed Asahi the book she was reading – a record of
the abyssals form of the First Spring War. It had entries describing
everything from early Ro-class to the now extinct Protected Cruisers Abyssals to the one of a kind Monitor-class Hime,Asahi didn't know why Tokiwa would want to read
that book..

"Why are you here?" Asahi challenged, "Starting to feel like your
cannons don't have enough stopping power?"

"I get by with my cannons just fine, thank you." Tokiwa replied, her
smile cooling quickly, "It's not unusual for Kanmusu like us to want
to study battle tactics and our enemy. Even these old tomes can be
exceptional references, you know."

Tokiwa then stood up from her seat, picked up the small pile of books she
had taken from the shelves then stuffed them into her bag. The book of
then First Spring war armaments, however, she handed to Asahi.

"You wanted this book, right?" Tokiwa asked, "Its section on artillery is
superb, 380mm cannons particularly. You will like it, I'm sure. It's an
interesting read for enthusiasts like us."

"That's not why I'm here."

"Why then are you here?" Tokiwa asked, her voice now sharply inquisitive.
Her perpetual cheerfulness was now nowhere to be found.

Asahi replied with cold silence – it was a stalemate. Tokiwa sighed and
her cheerfulness returned, paired with a little more caution than before.

"Well, as long as these books keep you from harming Chidori-san or
Tomozuru-san, I'd be happy to share what I know with a fellow enthusiast."
Tokiwa cheerily said, forcing the book into Asahi's free hand, "I have to
go now, Asahi-san. Enjoy your reading."

Taking her bag of books with her, Tokiwa went on to the checkout counter
then left for the sortie hangar in a hurry. Chidori and Tomozuru
were waiting for her there, after all. Asahi however just stood there,
gripping onto the book tightly. She turned to a nearby window and saw
the setting sun grow dimmer and dimmer.

"You know nothing, Tokiwa. Nothing." Asahi muttered, her voice shaking,
"I… I envy you."

In the white, blank nothingness of Asahi's dorm room, a pendulum suspended
in the ceiling swung back and forth endlessly. Aside from the hundreds of
pinned papers on the walls around the room and the simple couches that served as
seating and bedding, the room was completely empty.

Asahi took a seat and fished out the book of armaments from her bag.
She randomly flipped through the pages then came across the 380mm monitor
gun, the type of gun that formed the backbone of the then defensive Kanmusu
of Corregidor Island in the Philippines during the First Spring War.
Just as Tokiwa had presumed, the monitor gun, as well as the other guns,
piqued her interest.

The arrival of a black, snake-like creature, however, would interrupt
her curious reading.

"You wanted me?" The creature squeaked, its smile ever present on
its face.

Its arrival startled Asahi, causing her to knock her bag off her seat.
Its contents then spilled to the floor. Asahi gathered her composure,
ignoring the books, then turned to the creature with cool and collected
expression.

"Yes, I did." She said coldly, "Tell me about Erebus Hime."

"Erebus Hime?" Rowy asked, glancing at the books that had been
scattered all over the floor, "So that's what you've been up to. If
you've read all of those books, you should already have a fairly good
idea of…"

"Abyssal!" Asahi hissed, her glare now bordering on murderous intent,
"Tell me about Erebus Hime!. She was a Kanmusu once, wasn't she?"

"Very well." Rowy said, slithering onto one of the sofas then facing
Asahi, "It will be a long story… or should I say long /stories/. Are
you sure…?"

"I have the time. Out with it."

Characters so far:

- Battleship Asahi
- 'TorpedoBoat' Destroyer Chidori*
- 'TorpedoBoat' Destroyer Tomozuru*
- Armored Cruiser Tokiwa

* (really, it just a term IJN made to evade the naval treaty, its really a destroyer in all but class name)

**(Wikipedia them if you want to know their real life counterpart)