Unmei Force Solitary Legends: Azure Seas, Black Space
Prologue: A Coincidental Invention
In the GFS Ryujin…
Richard and Siege came into the GFS Ryujin's massive research sector, as Nitori called them both over, in order to take a check of their new invention. When they arrived, they found Nitori near the entrance, while the rest of the sector was busy with making new breakthroughs and researching new technologies for the organisation.
"Ah, Richard, Siege, you're both here. Sorry I called you both here urgently. I have something that I need you guys to personally see." Nitori responded back.
"No problems. We've got some time and room in our hands." Richard responded back. "Even though there has been new residents lately, I wouldn't mind seeing what you have in store."
"Yeah, considering Weiss and Reisen brought in 5 girls with weapons on par with what we have." Siege mused. "Anyways, we do have some time. What do you require from us, Nitori?"
"Well, I've been researching something lately." Nitori answered back. "To be honest, it's related to the experiment to move your Digimon to the real world at last, Richard."
"Is that so… And what does that experiment involve?" Richard asked back with a slight raise of his eye-brow.
"...Yeah, what does this experiment involve…?" Siege asked, now intrigued by this.
"Well, it involves teleporting digital matter, and converting it into real matter." Nitori explained. "That's the simplest way I can explain it, the details behind it are super complex, and you wouldn't be interested in hearing it. That's why we're planning on doing something akin to testing on rats. Except it's with sentient beings that are fairly less complex than the Digimon themselves… I would shudder trying to directly use the means on them."
"And so you called us here to supervise all of this, right?" Richard questioned back.
"Yeah, come with me." Nitori answered back, before she then led them into a small room, where there was a round teleporter in the centre of it, and there were several consoles hooked up to it, displaying streams of digital data inside of it. "Right, I'm about to test this out. Just inside the fortress databases, to avoid picking up something, like the last time the teleportation happened…"
Nitori then moved to one of the consoles, as she inputted a series of commands inside. Siege watched her do this and had to wonder… what did she mean by "the last time the teleportation happened?"
"That's how I ended up in the world of Digimon, didn't I tell you before?" Richard answered back. "That was also the first time I met David, Hope and Ace. Anyways, Nitori, how is the process currently?"
"It's working well so far, although I'm not lowering my guard, in case something bad happens." Nitori responded back, before adding a few more commands. "The preparations have been completed, the real work is starting."
"I see… so… the reason you guys are going through a procedure like this is so something like what happened to you and the Digimon world doesn't happen again." Siege remarked.
"Mhm…" Nitori mumbled back.
Siege simply nodded as he continued watching Nitori work her magic. As Nitori worked, some curious minds from Siege's group came in to see the work at hand. Namely, Kiana Kaslana and Mei Raiden, two of the people that Weiss and Reisen brought back with them from about a week ago.
"Hm? What's going on here, Siege and Richard?" Kiana asked, curiously looking at Nitori's work.
"Kiana, you shouldn't be letting your curiosity get to you like this, you know." Mei warned as Siege merely chuckled.
"It's quite alright. Mind filling them in, Richard?' Siege would ask.
"It's something that we're trying to rest out." Richard answered back. "Actually, please stay. Some company could be useful for what is about to proceed-"
"'Connection established with Mirror Sea'...?" Nitori answered back, before she then redoubled her efforts, as she frantically began to type commands. "That doesn't sound right… I've never heard of a Mirror Sea before… What the hell is this thing doing now…?"
"Mirror Sea?" Richard repeated, before he then walked over to the console. "Hold on, Nitori, are there any other notable events happening now? No glitches or anything?"
"No, it's nothing serious… The system's still optimal and stable… But why did the system default to an unknown source? I typed in commands for the local database…" Nitori remarked. "I think that it's a repeat, except instead of force-transporting you guys out, something is trying to get in, but what it's doing is fairly polite, like 'knocking on a door' polite… I could just cut the connection, and nothing serious would happen, the fail-safes in place should ensure that."
"...Let it through." Richard stated.
"Richard? Are you sure that it would be a good idea? Who knows what would be on the other end…?" Nitori asked with worry in her expression, facing Richard directly.
"I have an hunch about where the source is… And I'm sure that it's nothing malevolent, or anything we can't handle. We got two former-Herschrers here, and us, who you called to keep control of the situation." Richard assured Nitori. "Let the connection establish itself, allow it through, but only through the transporter."
"If you say so, I'll patch the connection through." Nitori nodded back, before she then typed the required commands, as the teleporter whirred quickly to life. "It's activating the teleporter... and… the connection is completely established… Not only that, but the connection stability is very strong, enough to ensure that the connection remains long-term… But why…?"
Richard and Siege eyed the teleporter, while Kiana and Mei did the same. After a few moments, blue particles began to emit from the teleporter itself, as it was slowly forming something.
"...What's happening, Richard?" Siege asked.
"Yeah… this… this is kinda weird, even for Mei and I…" Kiana said, looking at the teleporter.
Suddenly, the blue particles turned into a humanoid figure, before the blue glow began to disappear from the bottom of the figure, to the tip of their head, revealing a fairly tall lady, wearing a short white blouse with a black buckle below her chest, a black skirt, long boots with metallic parts around the feet, a black coat that was draped around her shoulders, with a red interior, and a white officer's cap on the top of her head. She had long flowing white hair, and perched on her shoulder was a large American bald eagle. Her eyes then slowly opened, revealing that they were grey.
"...Guess my hunch paid off." Richard remarked. "It finally makes sense why she would come out, if it was connected to a Mirror Sea… but what started the connection in the first place…?"
Before anyone else could ask any questions, the unnamed woman slowly lowered herself onto the ground, as she eyed all of the present people.
"...Where is this place…?" She spoke with a fairly calm yet firm tone, while placing a hand on the bald eagle perched on her shoulder.
"I'll answer that, miss. You're on board the GFS Ryujin. And no, it isn't the name of a sea vessel, like you may think. You're on board a space vessel." Siege informed the woman. "I am the co-commander of this vessel, Siege Sukui. With me is the other commander, Richard Liu Zhao, and also here are some of our recently recruited operatives, Kiana Kaslana and Mei Raiden." Siege introduced.
"I see…" The woman responded back, before she then turned to Siege. "But you said that this is a space vessel… How is that possible? It is not close to the era where space travel has been perfected… No wait, what time is this…?"
"...It's a long, long time from what you have been from." Richard responded back with a grim expression, as the lady turned to him. "All I can say is this: It's a long time after your original form has decayed, and it's a long time after you first learned of your second life, in this form."
"What… What do you mean?" The lady asked back, as there was an expression of confusion etched on her face, although she had the feeling that she might not like the answer.
"What we drew you from, was a 'Mirror Sea'. In essence, you were from a simulation of a timeline on Earth, in the present era. Not only are you outside your time by 2 or 3 decades… but you're in another timeline entirely, because what you have known was a life-like simulation." Richard answered back. "It's hard to digest, but I should know… because I count as an external observer of these simulations."
"That… That can't possibly make any sense…" The lady answered back, before she then moved back a little. "...But I can't remember anything... All I know is who I am, some memories regarding my fellow kin, and my duty to serve any commander who has summoned me before them... I don't know whether I should believe it, because you sound so honest…"
"...Take your time. For now, know that you're in safe hands." Richard responded back. "You said that you know your name… What is it?"
"My name is USS Enterprise…" Enterprise finally named herself. "I serve the Eagle Union, and my nickname was the 'Grey Ghost'..."
It was at that moment that the teleporter came alive again, as another figure began forming, as their appearance seemed to surprise both Richard and Siege, considering that Siege could have sworn that the being was some sort of inter-dimensional counterpart of him. She seemed to have short black hair that was slightly spiky, and she was dressed in a large white officer dress, with golden streaks along it, and a large black officer cap not too different to Enterprise's own cap, and she had white boots with silver linings, as well as dark brown eyes.
"...What is this…?" The new arrival remarked, as she looked around, before she then eyed Enterprise. "...Enterprise...? Why are you human? And… wh… where the hell are we!?"
"Iowa…? Impossible, I cannot recall ever seeing you take form like this…" Enterprise answered back, before she then clutched the side of her head. "Wait, there's something coming back to me… Wisdom Cubes.. The Wisdom Cubes gave us this kind of form… Cleveland, Illustrious, Washington… Not all ships were given this kind of treatment… But who created the Wisdom Cubes?"
"I… I…" Iowa said as she began to try and pry out the answer. "I… I don't know, Enterprise…"
"You two look like you need some time." Richard answered back, before turning to Mei and Kiana. "Mei, Kiana… I should ask if you could escort them to a place where they can lay on and collect their thoughts. Would you mind?"
"Not at all Richard-san." Mei said as she took Enterprise's hand. "Come along now, we'll take you two to a place you can rest and collect your thoughts."
"Yeah, this way now!" Kiana said with a smile as she took Iowa's hand, and the four of them walked off.
"...Richard… I wasn't seeing anything, right? That USS Iowa girl… she… she looked a lot like me if I was a female." Siege said after the group of four left.
"I suppose that it's a coincidence. But if I were to guess some reason, I suppose that ship-girls follow a certain stereotype… I'd say that you would fit as the hardened soldier type, which is what Iowa translates to for the US navy, or the Eagle Union in their universe." Richard answered back. "After all, there are weirder cases that happened down in their world… Literal V-tubers becoming shipgirls is one of those instances."
"V-tubers eh? That's gotta be a little weird." Siege mused at the thought of a V-tuber becoming a ship girl.
"Either way, I suppose I should dish about what this is all about. I'm surprised that this happened, but I can find a logical explanation as for what happened… Considering that Nitori figured out a part of it." Richard responded back, before looking back at the teleporter. "These girls are from a game called Azur Lane. It's basically a ship-girl game in the same vein as Kancolle, except it's much more internationally-diverse in ship-girls. What I said about the Mirror Seas, is true, because the Mirror Seas are basically simulations made by the overarching antagonists of the world, the Sirens. Although… it's questionable whether they're really villainous or not."
"If I may propose something Richard." Siege said as he had a thought. "If we want to find a logical explanation as to why this happened, wouldn't a good course of action be to insert ourselves into their universe?"
"...That's a whole different matter altogether, I'm afraid." Richard responded back. "You may not find it sufficient, but I think that the universe is in some sort of Schrodinger's Cat state. Considering that Enterprise and Iowa are blank in memories… And the fact that we connected with the Mirror Sea directly... Nitori, I need to check something. Attempt a connection with the Mirror Sea, see what happens."
"Alright, I'll try." Nitori responded back, before she then inputted a series of commands, only to get a error message back. "'Transmission status is not ready, not enough data to call ship-girls'? What does this mean?"
"...As I thought, I have heavy suspicions that this is a one-way access point, in that we literally can't get into the Mirror Sea, not because something is blocking us, but the fact that the Mirror Sea is not something physically existent like a world." Richard answered back with a scowl. "In short, we can summon the ship-girls here, but we can't traverse to their world… This might be both a boon and a problem in disguise."
"Could you explain what you mean by the world not existing physically?" Siege asked back, with a glare in his eyes.
"Like I said, the Mirror Sea is digital." Richard responded back. "And ever since I came back from the world of Digimon, me and my team lost the ability to traverse into cyberspace and back. When I asked Erika about it, she told me that it was the lack of the EDEN head-ware that stopped me from being able to use this ability. But still… wait, something must have prompted this summoning… I think the pieces are falling together."
Richard then immediately activated his communicator, linking up with Erika. "Erika, may I have some time to speak with you?" Richard asked her.
"Yeah, suppose I got the time to listen to what you have to say." Erika answered back. "Something the matter?"
"Erika, do you recall any anomalous data entering the fortress data-banks?" Richard asked Erika with a hint of urgency. "Nitori tried using his teleporter to transmit digital matter to the real world, and we ended up with a surprise… Do you have any hand in this?"
"...I admit that I put something inside of the teleporter's database before it was being tested. Mostly because I wanted to give Nitori a hand from this side of the connection." Erika admitted. "I found this data when scouring the data-banks in the fortress, and found some more looking around from the external connections we have with the rest of the worlds. Somehow, I had a gander at the data itself, and it seemed to be quite interesting, and a perfect specimen for Nitori to test with. So I offered it up. So what happened?"
"USS Enterprise happened, plus her fellow battleship comrade, USS Iowa." Richard answered back. "And it mentioned that the source was from the 'Mirror Sea'..."
"...That explains a lot. So let me guess, you're trying to see if you can reignite the connection between the teleporter and the Mirror Sea, right?" Erika responded back. "Give me a few moments to scrounge up the data, and we'll see what happens. I'll make sure that I don't take in any bad data, and I'd know since I can sense it here. By the way, pass the comm to Nitori, will you?"
Richard then did as he was asked, as Nitori received the call. "Erika?" She asked back.
"Hey Nitori, sorry for the trouble. Just wanted to say it. Wish I could say it face-to-face, but not the time now." Erika told the kappa engineer. "Anyways, I'll take care of this problem myself, so don't worry about it. I'm sure that we'll be having some guests soon. Just try not to startle them, okay?"
"Alright… I wasn't doing the talking here anyway…" Nitori responded back. "And thanks for owning up. Thought I almost caused another workplace accident, which would not look good to my brethren."
"I know, I know. Anyways, I'll tell you when it's ready." Erika answered, before she then closed the call.
"Well, the mystery is solved." Richard answered back. "I wager that the 'data' Erika was collecting were fragments of Wisdom Cubes. Suppose that we ended up with a mix of the FGO system and the Wisdom Cube system with all this. Still, that does bring something to my attention."
"And what may that be, Richard?" Siege would ask.
"We're going to need to keep the ship-girls off each other's throats. Well, not all of them, but a fair lot of them." Richard answered back. "To make this short, the shipgirls are literally divided into two major factions. One's pro-Siren and pro-Siren tech, and basically makes the Axis of WW2, called the Crimson Axis. And the other one is the Azur Lane, which the Eagle Union is a part of, who is fairly against Siren, being and tech otherwise. I'll make this simple: The groups can be easily identified by country from what national faction they are in. Eagle Union is the USA, as you can guess, Sakura Empire is Japan, once again obvious, Ironblood is Germany, Royal Navy is British, Dragon Empery is China, and there are several other minor factions who take their stance with either major faction, or stay fairly neutral in the conflict. My idea is that we'll get the two factions with the biggest beef: Eagle Union and Sakura Empire, the reason the grudge is intense should be fairly obvious, considering that the Mirror Sea runs a close-parallel to WW2 events in modern times…"
"And probably the reason Enterprise is the way she is: Pearl Harbor, the thing that set this all off. When Japan bombed that Naval fleet, and multiple upon multiple ships were destroyed." Siege said. "It would make sense why Enterprise looked like she did, with that firm tone and all. She's lost so many comrades, and has that burning hatred for the Sakura Empire."
"Well, not exactly. She's not the kind to hold a deep grudge, and neither are the ship-girls, but it is easy for them to get them into a cat-fight where shells and bombs will be traded, and it won't be good for both sides." Richard answered back. "Look, I'll be blunt: I'm going to force them to make peace with each other, even if they don't like it. To be fair, Sakura Empire is losing support for the Siren lately, but they won't let their grudge with the Azur Lane go, especially a certain fox-carrier… I'll take lead of the Sakura Empire, since my experience with Japanese culture, being in Gensokyo for a decade and half, would be sufficient enough to keep a rein on them, and build good relations. You'll take the-"
"Eagle Union ship-girls, and try to keep them from tearing apart the Sakura Empire, and since we're splitting up our forces, might as well send some others who may help you keep the peace. I bet Heiwa would love to meet some fellow bearskin people, and I know Himeko and Yae Sakura both would enjoy helping you keep Sakura Empire in check. As for me, Kiana and Mei should be sufficient to keep Eagle Union in line, and just in case, we'll call in for one of your allies with good knowledge on American culture to help keep the peace." Siege replied, knowing where this was going.
"Well, you won't have much trouble with them. They're fairly good people. Some are hot-blooded, some are fairly meek, some are dignified, and some just a bit crazy but still reasonably friendly." Richard answered back. "Yeah, I think that we've got this handled. At least until we get the other factions popping up. But we'll cross that bridge when we get there. Try to spend some time with Enterprise and Iowa, and if a Sakura Empire ship gets summoned by chance, I'll do my best to welcome her, and any plus ones."
"As I said, I'll send over Himeko and Yae Sakura to help you out. I think they would enjoy Sakura Empire's company. Until then, we'll spend time with the Eagle Union." Siege said.
"Alright." Richard nodded back, before he then received a message from Erika.
'Job's done' was the message's content, as Richard immediately gestured towards Nitori again, as she activated the teleporter device again.
"Things are looking good, the system is stable, the connection is made…" Nitori answered back, before the teleporter whirred to life again. This time, the figure that stepped out of the teleporter itself was a fairly bodacious Japanese woman, with a long kimono dress with red sleeves, a black body fading into grey and then white, with the artwork of cranes on the bottom edges, and a black and white sash around her waist, as well wearing nylon stockings with her tall sandals, and her hands were covered with a silken cover that covered the entire fore-arm and the middle fingers. She had long brown flowing hair, with a pair of large furred fox ears on top. Her parasol appeared next, in her right hand, before her eyes opened, being purple.
"Well… I'll be… Luck of the draw indeed." Richard remarked with a bedazzled expression. "Out of all of the Sakura Empire ships, she would be a fairly suitable first-timer for the others. This makes dealing with the Sakura Empire a lot less tedious with her on-board."
"Huh, Heiwa is likely going to squeal with joy, seeing a mature kitsune like this." Siege added. "She does seem a bit resemblant of Ran, so I can see Heiwa mistaking her as a fairly-disguised Ran. But you said that this makes your problem less worrisome… How so?"
"First of all, Amagi's one of the people who actually takes good care of her faction, like a successful mother, and actually is on fairly good terms with everyone across the world. Second of all, she's one of the older ships, meaning that she has seniority over all of the ships, which means she can act as a 'chaperone' of some sorts for most of the Sakura Empire ship-girls, especially when she's the direct sister of the problematic fox-carrier that I was talking about earlier." Richard answered back. "And third of all, her personality just makes it easy for people to come to like her, and not only that, she can fight like hell when it's needed, even in her… ailing state. That's the reason she's one the shipgirls I look forward to meeting."
"Well in that case it seems we're off to a brilliant start. I'll head over to my base then. Himeko and Yae Sakura should be here soon." Siege remarked as he left, and surely enough, no sooner than he left, Himeko and Yae Sakura came into view.
"Siege called for our assistance here, Richard-san." Yae Sakura declared as she bowed slightly, as Himeko did the same.
"Good timing, Yae Sakura… We got a guest to greet after all." Richard answered back, before turning to Amagi, who stumbled forward a little, slightly disoriented.
"Where… Where is this place…?" Amagi remarked, before she then straightened her posture. "Have I finally passed on, bed-ridden for so long? But this does not seem to look like the heavens… And my condition still plagues me…"
"Easy there, you're safe here." Richard assured Amagi. "What is your name? You seem like you're lost in this place."
"My name… IJN Amagi…" Amagi answered back. "You all seem like you are residents of the Sakura Empire, and yet you look so different. How long has it been since I last was conscious?"
"I do not know for sure." Richard responded back with a gentle frown. "But I assure you that we'll take good care of you. You speak about your condition, as if it is debilitating. We'll try our best to heal your health as much as possible. My name is Richard Liu, I am the commander of this place. I heard that summoning you binds you to my service… however, I do not wish for servitude. I wish for your trust and friendship genuinely. The one by the machines is Nitori Kawashiro, she is a great engineer who created the device that brought you here. And with me… are Yae Sakura and Himeko. They are here to ensure that there is a sense of normalcy for you, since you might find them closely resembling of your nation's people."
"You mention your bed-ridden illness…" Yae Sakura said as she looked at Amagi. "I can cure many diseases, and yours may not be too difficult for me. Tell me, can you describe your condition to me?"
"You are too kind… to do such a thing for a person you barely know." Amagi answered back with gratitude. "However, it is not the illness that concerns me so. Illnesses come and go easily, with my current state. And it is my current physique that I am concerned about. You see, I've-"
Amagi then erupted into a coughing fit, which caused Yae Sakura and Richard to move into action, as Yae Sakura made a quick chant to alleviate Amagi's coughing, while Richard rushed up to her, and slowly placed his hands on her shoulders.
"Are you alright? You seem like you need to rest a little." Richard answered back. "The nearest medical bay is nearby, you'll feel much better when you rest in one of the wards."
"I know this illness…" Yae Sakura said, seeing this happen after she was done chanting. "I may be able to make a remedy to heal her near instantaneously, and while her physique may not improve, her overall health will. Richard, see to it she rests well, I shall gather what I need from around the Ryujin."
"Do so. I think that it'll help her get well enough to start her path to recovery… And I have a plan to help her get her body back to her original health." Richard answered back, before Yae immediately left the room, as Richard turned to Nitori. "Any more people coming?"
"None so far." Nitori responded back. "Go ahead, I'll finish up tidying his place for future use."
"Alright, Amagi, I need you to rest on my shoulder." Richard answered back, before slowly moving Amagi to support her. "Try to keep yourself steady and well, and we'll get you rested soon enough."
"Many thanks, Richard-san…" Amagi answered back gently, before she did what she was asked. "I sure hope that I'm not a burden for you."
"No-one under my command is ever a burden, even if they feel like they are. You'll be much better under our care, and I will waste no effort making sure that happens." Richard answered back. "Himeko, come with me." he added, as Himeko nodded and followed.
Richard then escorted Amagi out of the research sector, before they reached the spanning corridors, as they passed by the UGF soldiers patrolling the base, as they eyed Richard and Amagi. Richard usually gestured for them to carry on, in which the soldiers obeyed crisply with a 'Sir!' or a salute, or both. Amagi noticed when she passed by the corridors, the various youkai species she was encountering.
"I might be in a state where my vision might be slightly off from my condition… But I can see that there are people much like my fellow comrades…" Amagi muttered gently. "Am I imagining this?"
Richard took a moment to place a gentle hand on Amagi's forehead, to test for a fever, which he found that she didn't have one. "It's not your imagination… I'd explain, but it's best we continue this discussion when you're resting well." Richard responded back.
They soon made their way to the medical bay, where the doctor on duty, a human doctor, noticed them arriving.
"My word… Is this someone who is in need of medical aid?" The doctor remarked. "Commander, just leave her in my care, and I'll ensure that she'll recover soon enough."
"Thanks for the offer, doctor, but someone else is already preparing to take care of her condition." Richard answered back. "All you need to do is to make sure that her condition doesn't worsen when we look away for a moment to deal with other matters. Just take her to the nearest ward, one which is sound-proofed sufficiently enough to give her a proper environment to rest in.
"Follow me." The doctor remarked back, before he then led them inside a small ward, which was overlooking the space outside, which Amagi noticed.
"Space… So we are outside of the earth itself?" Amagi weakly remarked, which Richard noticed.
"You seem like you're about to faint again. Can't let that happen to you, before you're in a proper position to rest." Richard answered back, before he then moved her over to the ward's bed. Amagi then slowly slipped herself into the bed, as Richard prepared what was needed for her.
"If you need someone to help you, just press the request button by the bed-side. If you need me in particular, use the blue button below it,and hold until you hear a crackle. It'll connect you to a comms officer, who will notify anyone you need to speak with, and call them here." Richard told Amagi, as he quickly placed a jug of water and a glass cup on her side, for her to drink when she recovered. "I know that it's irresponsible to abandon you for other matters, but as a commander, I have to check on the state of the base."
"No, I can understand… I admire your devotion to your own base…" Amagi smiled back weakly, as her eye-lids fell. "I hope that I'll get to know you… soon…"
"Same here, same here… Amagi." Richard muttered quietly to himself, as he saw Amagi was resting soundly, before turning to the doctor. "Make sure that only Yae Sakura comes in, unless it's an appointment. She's currently making something to help Amagi's condition."
The doctor nodded, as Richard headed out of the medical bay.
After a while, Yae Sakura indeed had her remedy prepared, as she soon walked in to see Amagi was awake, though barely, as Yae Sakura soon walked to her side.
"Are you feeling rested, Amagi?" Sakura asked as she had her remedy in hand, which appeared to come as a medicinal soup.
"I feel much better having taken a good rest…" Amagi answered back, before she then slowly sat up, before she then saw the medicinal soup. "Is that medicinal broth for me?"
"It is. I warn you, it is bitter, but a few good gulps of this soup and you should be cured of your illness in a matter of a few moments." Yae Sakura said. "The good thing is that this soup can be properly stored for later uses, in case this should come back."
"I have tasted much more bitter things for my health." Amagi answered back, before she then took the soup and slowly drank it in. When she finished her fill of it, she felt that it was indeed soothing her body. "How strange… Never before have I felt such a soothing sensation from drinking this. Yae-san, what did you use to make this?"
"This may surprise you, but it took just a mere variety of common herbs." Yae Sakura said. "Most herbs that you can find in nature were used in making this. Quite fascinating how a combination of herbs one sees every day can make such a potent medicine, isn't it?"
Amagi was silent for a moment, before she then chuckled lightly to herself. "It seems that I am quite fortunate to meet people like you then." Amagi answered back. "It's a shame that we didn't have people like you back in the Sakura Empire. You would have been a great help for them."
"Hm. You make a valid point." Sakura remarked, soon sighing with a slight smile. "I've done this because of a promise I made to my sister, who was ill since her birth… her dying vow to me was… to make people happy… to heal people when they needed it… I've followed her words ever since."
"That's… So that is how you are so proficient at creating that medicine." Amagi remarked, as her eyes widened a little, before she then had a sympathetic expression on her face. "I'm sorry for your loss, Yae."
"Please, call me Sakura. I introduce myself as Yae Sakura because it is of tradition in my culture to express your last name before your first." Sakura said. "And… don't be, Amagi… Rin is dead because… because…" Sakura said, choking on her words as the memory was clear to her still, tears beginning to form. "...Because… in order to save my people… I had to kill the one thing I had left to cherish in my life… Rin…"
Sakura couldn't speak after that due to trying to suppress her emotions, as silent tears streaked from her eyes. Amagi, seeing the situation, slowly rose from her bed, before she then embraced Sakura, and slowly rested her head against her shoulder, before slowly stroking Sakura's back to soothe her.
"Such a poor fate that you have been forced through. It is alright, if you have any sorrows, I am willing to listen, and I am willing to give comfort to you." Amagi answered back in a motherly tone. "It must be terrible to have been forced to take the life of one that you cherish, but to see you be so strong for her sake, I'm sure that she would be proud of you, no matter where her spirit may lie."
Sakura's eyes slightly widened at the sudden warmth surrounding her, before she gave in, as her sorrow was now audible to Amagi in her wailing sobs, as she clutched Amagi tightly for comfort of her pain. Himeko, who was outside and watching, looked away painfully, reminded of the sorrow that all of those from her universe shared, though each one of different circumstances.
After a while, Amagi let Sakura go, as Sakura got up, eyes slightly raw from the sobbing. However, Sakura had a slight smile on her face as she looked at Amagi.
"Thank you… thank you for letting me confide my troubles to you, Amagi…" Sakura said. "I… I will do whatever you request to repay you for such kindness to allow me, a stranger to you, to confide my sorrow and past to you."
"It is the best of what I can do for you, Sakura-san." Amagi admitted. "I suppose that I shouldn't take up so much of your time now. And I'll need to take some more time resting, if you won't mind."
"Of course, Amagi-san… I'll leave you to your rest… Rest well." Sakura bowed politely with a smile as she left the medical ward Amagi was residing in, before she remembered what Amagi had said before, about her condition.
"Perhaps… perhaps if I can find those ingredients… I can make a potion that can return Amagi-san's physique where she wants it." Sakura said as she looked down in thought.
"What do you suppose you might be doing, Sakura?" Himeko asked, with a questioning look on her face.
"Himeko-san, I am merely repaying Amagi-san for her motherly kindness she has. She is a valuable person and should be kept in top shape at all cost, so she might be able to keep herself from falling in battle." Sakura said.
"Well in that case let me help you. I'm not about to let Richard down and have Amagi meeting an undesired fate." Himeko said. "What do you need?"
Sakura would explain to Himeko what she needed as they walked, both determined to ensure Amagi would be in top shape before too much longer.