How long has it's been?
The war will never end, won't it? It's been some time yet the instinct to destroy a ship-girl persists. Then again, whenever I'm wandering in the sea...I can hear voices...strangely familiar voices. Is it a memory that continued to persist? That forces itself to resurface from the bottom of the sea?
"Planes?" Suddenly, I spotted scout planes in a distance
Those doesn't look like Abyssal planes so they must belong to a Aircraft carrier ship-girl. I fled from the scene as there might be a squadron of them somewhere.
"Planes..." A vague scene appeared in my thoughts
Another battle. More explosions...When will it end? I suddenly remember the feeling of standing amidst the battlefield seemingly deprived of hope.
"I am an Abyssal" I want those visions gone
They won't stop haunting me day and night. What did the sea do to me?! What do you want from me?! Stop it...stop it...stop it!
"Why won't it go away?!"
I can't help but pace back and forth on the sandy shore of an unknown land. The peace calmed down my nerves, but the sound of cannon fire and bombing interrupted the serenity. In a distance two opposing forces clashed with one another.
"No...I have to resist" My instinct as an Abyssal urges me, but I refused
It's they're fight so whatever is happening is not my problem. Yet for some reason, one of the ship-girls is awfully familiar...someone I know by instinct? The details are vague, but the feeling persisted.
"What is this feeling?" I wonder
Their decisive battle caused both sides' troops to be quite damaged from the exchange of blows. The next thing I know is I felt myself being in the water once again...slowly nearing the battle.
(No...!) I stopped before I could be caught in their crossfire
I simply watched from a distance and one of the human destroyers suddenly notice me. She deeply stared into me as if she is deeply shocked, but somewhat puzzled.
"...!" Her lips moved uttering a word...a name
Her face. I remember seeing her in a dream...the dream before I woke up as this Abyssal being. Tears shed from her eyes, uttering the same word again. Why did that word made me feel a pain in my chest?
(I have to get out of here)
I fled the scene without a second thought. Before I turned away, I saw a brief glimpse of that ship-girl seemingly reaching out her hand.
Come back...
"Those words..."
I stopped when I can no longer hear the crossfire and see their exchange of firepower which is a hundred meters away from where I used to stand.
"Huh? Tears?" I couldn't explain why did I start to cry
Seconds turned to minutes, Minutes turned to hours, and hours turned to days. It's been a few days since I wandered off as a lone Abyssal...unsure of what to do next. I want to fill this emptiness in my mind...I want these haunting visions to be gone.
An island...
A battle...
A fleet girl...
A...person...
The image of the person inside my head. It reminded me of the ship-girl that uttered those strange words. She looked at me as if she knew me very well. But why was she shocked and tearful?
"Ggh! More of them?!"
It's not just the aircraft's carrier but other people as well. It's bright...they're all smiling. Why am I crying? What's with the pain in my chest? Tears won't stop falling while I gripped my suffocated chest.
"A place..."
Savo. Along with the pain, that word resurfaced. It keep ringing in my head, but I don't know what's the meaning of that word. Just then, a sudden instinct drew me...
"Argh!"
I have to trust this urges as it seems to lead me to anything...worth noticing and important. I wish I was just like the others, but strong feelings lingered inside me. The other Abyssals who are simply driven by their primary instinct to destroy any fleet girl in sight. The same thing goes for me, but to fulfill this emptiness is my top priority.
Sinking...below the water...
Fading sunlight...
Someone...reaching out...
Falling down...to the abyss...
I keep coming back to the one place that is scorched within my thoughts. What's with this place that keeps me here? This is the one place where my instincts pulls me, but for what reason?
"Still...nothing..."
Right now, I see no hope of filling the emptiness inside me. I'll just be another Abyssal whose sole purpose is to annihilate every ship-girl in sight. I don't want to be a part of a war with little purpose...not until I accomplish my goal.
Come back...
I heard those faint words just before I disappeared from that scene. Why was that human destroyer made me feel very strange? Was she someone I knew? If I did...why can't I remember?
"M...mu..." I barely uttered a sensible word
Something is trying to come out. A word I don't even know so that's why I can't speak it properly. The more I force myself, the more I see those dreams of sinking as the sunlight fades away.
"..."
The feeling of the water pulling me down and the loss of strength overwhelmed me. It overwhelmed me that the feeling became as if it's real. I couldn't breathe while my body slowly sinks to the dark abyss.
...
"A name..."
Right before that "sinking" feeling, I can see someone with me. A ship-girl? Right before I fell, she called me out over and over again with tearful eyes and pleading cries.
"She called me the same thing"
It wasn't just a word...it was a name. Was it mine? It kept me wondering. I couldn't see anything else...anything else but explosions and cannon fire.
"Did I really sunk? Did I..."
I sunk beneath the sea. Right now, I'm holding that fact with little basis as a part of the missing piece. It is there for a reason and it haunted me for a reason. Perhaps because it's telling me to find out how I sunk.
"But..."
Other than that, 'that ship girl' kept appearing in my mind. That short haired destroyer.
"...!"
In a distance, I saw a scout plane. One? I'm certain that it's scouting the area. Why else would they send one in this kind of place.
"Tch! How annoying..." So I prepared to leave
Sooner or later, there would be ship girls here so I fled the area at top speed. But...
"Abyssal planes?"
Several flew over my head, flying towards the island I was in. I watched as Nu class and more Abyssal planes arrived. It's only been a few days and they're battling again.
"Luckily there is no Princess around to drag or sink me"
When I feel comfortable lying down then these people started with it again. I didn't leave, but I watched them clash from a safe distance. From the looks of it, the human side is being overwhelmed by numbers.
"What is this...feeling?"
I keep feeling things and I don't like it. Why won't I stop feeling?! It was then I found myself approaching the battlefield.
It's you...
She told me those this time. Just then...I instinctively shot down the two Abyssal planes that almost bombed the distracted human destroyer. She stared at me, hesitating on what to do, but I can see she is surprised...almost about to cry. The other ship girls are distracted, but before they can notice me, I decided to leave.
"Why would you...? That face...No..."
"..." I turned away
"..." She called out...my name?
"..." I paused and turned my head
"It is you, right?"
"..." I left without saying anything
My name. Is it really my name? But would it matter now? Ha ha ha...I don't think so. The battle raged on even after I left, but I was thankful enough since I resisted my primary instinct as an Abyssal.
"That ship girl..." I shook my head
Was it really my name? This is the second name that same ship girl refer me by the same word which I presumed is a name. I know there is still doubt inside me and I can't blame it. That human destroyer is the one that could tell me the truth to why she referred me by that word...but an Abyssal like me would get instantly shot down once a they see me.
No...I don't want this...
But...this is really the end...
I don't have much of a choice...
Goodbye...
Those were my own voice? Those words echoed in my head...while my body slowly falls to the abyss. Aah, the sunlight is fading, but I'm still reaching for it...
That is when I came to a stop...
An island stood steadily hundredths of meters in front of me. Beneath me is the gentle ocean wave sweeping to my feet. The serenity is opposite to what I'm seeing inside my head...
Stop it...go away...!
Explosions. Explosions everywhere. Abyssals sinking from one to another. Battleships raining down type three shells, carriers launching their planes, and destroyers...taking down the enemy. This place is bringing back something from inside of me.
"This place...this..."
Sa...vo...
"I was here before..."
I couldn't remember, but the sound of explosions and cannon fire are all too familiar to forget. I couldn't remember what happened, but a 'light' showed me...
It made it clear to me...
"A battle. Then I was in a battle"
I circled around the area and unfortunately, there's nothing else that triggered any strange feelings. Yet it feels like I'm attached here...there's something here that I can't explain...
"Ah...I'm getting tired"
Even with the pitch black darkness of sinking to the abyss pulling me, I can see a faint light pulling me back. That light just happens to be a voice calling me out, but something is keeping me from reaching the li
choed inside my head...wait-I've heard this before. Beneath the darkness of the abyss, I was helpless...and almost lifeless, but a voice called me out...
Who's...there?
Something touched my cheeks and whispered to me various things I can't interpret. This 'thing' is the reason for my emptiness and my frustrated longing.
"What did you to me?!"
Consumed by rage, I fired my cannons blindly and furiously. I screamed at the empty seas and island. I'm not just an Abyssal, am I? I was someone else before...but is it really the truth? And so I fell into a not night slumber once again.
This...will never end...
A never ending cycle...
It will repeat...over and over again...
All the pain...and suffering...
Terrible screams and explosion woke me up just like the other night. My left arm filled with scar like markings begun to hurt for some reason. It hurts...it felt like it once had been...severed...or maybe disintegrated? All I could feel is a stinging and unbearable pain in my arm.
"Urgh! Why won't it go away?!" For hours I endured the pain
It's so painful I felt like it's better to rip off my arm, but that would limit my fighting capabilities. I could barely move it, my arm that is. I stared at my left hand, forcing the slightest move.
"No use...it felt like it had gone partially numb"
Just then, I saw someone. Someone I felt like I deeply knew. She stood there smiling quietly.
"Who are you?" I angrily glared
"..." She placed her finger in the middle of her lips
The unknown girl walked away, but she turned around for a brief second as if she's gesturing me to follow so I did. She continued to walk on the shores until she stopped at one point.
"Why did you lead me here?"
Eerily silent, she tilted her head and pointed over to the horizon...to the seas. I don't understand. What is she trying to imply?
"I don't...understand..."
"..." It's as if I heard a faint laugh from her
What is this person trying to play? Is she even trying to tell me something? Whatever it is, I'm getting annoyed with each second that passes.
"...!"
Looking at the gentle waves brings back feelings that are awfully familiar. I can feel something inside my mind so I let it flow...just this once...
"Mutsuki...Mut...suki..."
At this very place, I emerged out of the water and weakly forced my body to head to the shore while tightly clutching a small object. My consciousness is starting to fade that moment, but I continued to walk until I collapsed at the land.
"I can't forget...I must never forget...who I am..."
Every part of me was becoming numb at that time, but I struggled to gain control over my weakening self. What was I so desperate to cling on at that time? It looked as if I'm holding into something and refuses to let go no matter what.
"Mut...suki..."
I repeatedly uttered those words until someone walked towards me. A woman with long black in a short black dress smiled down. I could barely feel anything...until I lost my grasp on the object at my hand. That was the end of that waking dream...
"Is this what you want to show me-?!" The girl disappeared
For some reason, she looked like...me? But she looked much more human and full of life compared to me. Whoever she is...an object is left not far from where she stood. I can see something golden being mostly covered by the sand. I slightly dug and found a necklace of some sort.
"What is this supposed to be?"
It looked like a necklace, but its pendant isn't the type of thing you would use for a necklace. I suddenly remembered it looked like the one I was holding 'before I passed out in this shore'.
"Did my mind led me here?"
Perhaps my memories are trying to come back on their own, but something inside me is preventing that. For now, I'm keeping this sort of important object. As I hung it around my neck, I gently touched it feeling the cold metal against my fingers.
But there's still a question left in my mind.
What was I desperately trying not to forget?
Chapter 03: Not the same (?)
I wasn't imagining it. I couldn't have...
At that day, I looked at her in the eyes and she looked at me. I know it's her...it can't be anyone else...
"Fubuki...chan"
called her out and she turned around...even for just a moment.
"Come back"
I pleaded, but she didn't lookt at me anymore. It has to be you, right? It can't be anyone else...because I just know...
And it was the same expression you made...before you sank...