Chapter 1- New Beginnings

Ethan had been driving for 5 hours and 37 minutes since he left Charlston, South Carolina to make the final stretch of the journey to Wilmington, North Carolina to settle down at his new house and his brand-new job. He had bought the house a few months before the position he was now being granted was posted for openings. His original intent for the house was to use it for him and his family when they were on vacations to rest on their way back from going up the East Coast during Summer Break, but circumstances now meant that this "vacation house" would become his new house that he would live in, at least for the time being if he could find a bigger house to live in or better, build a brand-new house for himself and those who visited him.

His new job position, however, meant that it might take some time before he could consider building a new house all together, as it was the night shift position on the Battleship North Carolina, along with a side position for some extra bucks as the person who directs getting things ready for the day of tourism. The combined positions would provide a hefty payout for him if he kept up a good pace of work. However. Ethan was aware of the activities that happened at night on the North Carolina, because he knew of her being the "most haunted battleship museum" in the United States, as the video he watched all that time ago in which he learned of her being haunted said.

Ethan wasn't the bravest of men by any means, but since he knew he would be working nightly on a very haunted battleship that was known for noises and bumps in the night, he would have to try and deal with it if he was going to do a good job and get paid. In the end, it would just be little bumps here and there in the night when he was going around his job, maybe a whisper every couple of nights that he could hear in his ear, which might freak him out a bit, but he was able to recover from a lot of things quickly, situations which might take others much more time to recover from and go back to normal.

As Ethan entered the road that his new house was supposed to be at, he checked the time. He had left Charlston, South Carolina early in the morning, 5:48 am, in fact, getting his breakfast from a nearby McDonalds which the employees kindly allowed him to eat his meal in the restaurant so he didn't have to eat a bunch of hot cakes in his car, and the employees were kind enough to give him double the hashbrowns he had ordered because of the journey ahead of him, so Ethan tipped them 38 extra bucks along with the money he owed because they were that kind to him, before he set out on his long drive to Wilmington, North Carolina. He had traveled for quite some time for now, and was driving in the neighborhood he believed his new house was at.

As he carefully scanned the houses for the number which was assigned to the house he bought, he thought of his family back at home, in Florida. It was brief, but it was enough to make him miss home already, since he had lived his whole life up until now in his home state. Now, nearly 31 years old, he was to leave his home state to work on a warship he loved, sure, but one that was haunted nonetheless. That was when he spotted the house he had bought all that time ago: 211 S 2nd St, Wilmington, NC 28401. Ethan pulled into the parking spot on the street and got out, looking at his Fitbit's watch for the time: 11:28.

He still had a couple of hours before he would have to report to the North Carolina for duty, since he didn't have to report until 6:20 pm to get ready for the job and night. So…

"What to do?" Ethan asked himself as he entered his house to settle down.

He had already had a moving company move all the furniture into the house well in advance of him coming so he didn't have to deal with the pains and struggles of moving furniture on the exact same day he was going to report to a night-shift duty job for the first night, so having all the furniture and his personal items put in place before he got there was a relief. He went to the living room and settled down on the couch, pulling out his phone and turning on the TV to see what channels he could access. To his relief, the channels were all pretty much the same ones he had known growing up in Florida, with some ones that were probably more known in the Northern States judging by how they seemed to be new channels he had never seen.

"Hmm. I'll just put this one on, I usually watch this one," Ethan said as he put on a channel that usually put on anime shows.

The anime that was airing at that moment was of a game he liked to play all the time when he wasn't busy, that being the original Azur Lane: The Animation anime, which he liked for reasons that many others disliked it for. He didn't know why he liked it why many other didn't, even if some were coming around to it even after the newer anime came out, he just liked it for reasons he couldn't explain. Maybe it was because of the theme of it, girls birthed from warships born to fight against an enemy outnumbering them plenty to one, or maybe because of the stories it explored, the conflicts between enemies who find common ground on a field where everyone else doesn't see eye to eye or wants to obliterate the "enemy" at all costs, not realizing they were being played into a bigger game by their true enemies.

Whatever the reason, he turned on the show and it appeared that it was the first episode of the anime, nearing the part where Unicorn, Javelin, and Laffey meet Ayanami, a part he personally enjoyed, as they came back to the area in a later episode and resolved the conflict between the Azur Lane girls and the lone Crimson Axis girl who then realized that there was more than an "enemy" to the Azur Lane than she thought. Ethan then realized that his shipgirls were probably wondering where he was at. He had always believed that things on-screen in video games, movies, and everything in general that had a personal connection to somebody and was something like a poster or body pillow of a character in a game or movie or show could see and hear what was happening in the real world, and he probably was never going to stop believing in it, just like his many other wild beliefs about the universe and how it worked, it was just a part of him.

He turned on his phone to see a bunch of notifications from many places on his phone, but the main ones were from Azur Lane, the main game itself which inspired the anime's after it. He clicked on the notification bar that showed a single one, which turned into several which were saying about commissions being completed, skill sessions being completed, and research projects also being completed. But the main one he was focused on was that of one which he always felt guilty when it popped up: that his shipgirls were starving and his dorm needed to be restocked.

Ethan's POV:

"Shit" is what I first thought when I first saw the notification for Azur Lane that my shipgirls were starving, and I almost said it out loud, but stopped myself before I had a chance. I knew I had left early in the morning so I could get here as soon as possible, but I didn't realize I had forgotten to restock dorm for my ship girls for the trip on the way here. I hadn't even stopped to check when I stopped by a gas station to pick up some fuel for my vehicle in the morning, not even when I was getting something to eat at McDonalds in the morning before I headed off, but I think I was distracted by the kindness of the employees who had given me extra stuff for me before I left, and me giving them an extra big tip because of it.

I tapped the notification for the shipgirls starving and opened up Azur Lane. As the game loaded, I watched the anime as I was waiting. Currently, Azur Lane was getting attacked by the newly formed Crimson Axis at their new base, and it reminded me of how Pearl Harbor was attacked all that time ago, considering that this opening attack was supposed to represent the Pearl Harbor of this version of the Azur Lane world. The men, the ships, the blood that was shed that day, the day that went down in infamy. I loved history, but I loved it not because of the death and carnage that was spread about history, but by the facts and the knowledge we gained from those conflicts of the past, even if that one Fallout quote was true: that war, war never changes. As I thought back to Pearl Harbor and the reason I loved history in the first place, I had not realized that Azur Lane was ready for me to play.

I looked down and realized I needed to insert my headphones into my phone if I wanted to hear any sound. It was a glitch that had occurred a while back, and it forced me to have some kind of headphones or earbuds in in order to hear the sound of the game. I don't know why it happened, or how, it had just occurred and was never fixed. I grabbed my headphones from the table and inserted the adapter for headphones into my phone, then inserted my headphone jack into the adapter, and then put on my headphones to hear the sound. The sound came in loud and clear, almost like a speaker, so I turned down my headphone's volume to a comfortable mid-point in volume. I tapped on the screen of my phone twice and entered the game. I was taken immediately to the dorm since I had tapped on the notification and restocked my ship's dormitory so I could keep them fed.

After I had stocked the dorm and felt better that my shipgirls would be getting fed, I moved to clear up all the other things that needed my attention. After I had cleared up all that stuff, I played a couple rounds of sortieing to get some daily missions done along with some weekly mission progress. After I had felt good on my progress for the time, I switched off of Azur Lane, double tapping on my home button so I could turn off the app, then put my phone on the charger next to the couch and laid back the recliner so I could watch the anime.

I didn't have to report till 6:20 pm at the latest to begin the night for my first night of duty on the North Carolina. Sure, ghosts may be scary, but it was not like the ghosts on the North Carolina would or could actually harm people who where still alive. If anything, the only thing that could actually get me to react real good was if the "ghost girl" that Jake the Viking had found out about in the video I watched showed up and started doing her usual things. Now that, would definitely get me to run.

So, for now, I just get to sit back and relax while I wait for the night to come.

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6:15 pm

That's what the time read when I arrived at the parking lot for the North Carolina warship museum.

I arrived a little bit early considering that traffic wasn't that bad coming over and me having left a little bit early in case of traffic being worse than good, but luckily traffic was pretty smooth coming over. I thought about what to do as I arrived. Did I go in now and get ready a bit early for my shift, or did I just wait for the time to turn to 6:20 to get ready for my shift on time?

I decided it would look weird just sitting in my car waiting for the time to strike 6:20 to start my shift. Besides, it was only a few minutes early, so what was the harm in it.

I turned off my car and got out as I parked it in an employee's only parking spot. I looked up past the administration building to see the figure of the North Carolina's superstructure, the imposing figures of the radar dishes and fire control station on top of the superstructure catching my eyes.

"Well, this is where I work now, haunted but awe-inspiring," I murmured to myself as I walked to the administration building's doors.

I opened the doors as the bell churned it's jingle to let the employees know that somebody had entered. I saw a person at the counter who looked up from what they were doing.

"You the new night shift guard that got hired?" the woman asked me. She looked like she was in her 30's from glancing at her.

"Y-yeah, Ethan Jones, I'm here for my first night on the job," I replied as she smiled and nodded, talking into her walkie talkie to inform the curator that I had arrived.

I walked over to a set of photos of the North Carolina that were hanging on a wall near the counter, the pictures all looking like they were genuine photos taken during the Second World War of the "Showboat of naval warfare", as Naval Legends put it, a series on famous warships and their classes, even some lesser-known ones that I had never heard of.

"Into naval history?" the woman asked me as she noticed I was staring at the pictures of the North Carolina.

"Yeah, I'm probably the most knowledgeable person in my family about naval warfare and the ships used in the wars that we have fought, especially in the WW1 and WW2 eras," I replied as I turned my head to look at her. She seemed to have completed what she was doing before I arrived and had a bottle of water in her hands, probably one for staying hydrated while doing work.

"Huh, then I bet that you'll love working on this ship if you're that interested in naval history, especially if we get some people looking to stay the night to try and catch some paranormal evidence, then you'll be able to tell them all sorts of things about this ship when leading them to different places," the woman finished as she and I turned our heads to the sound of a door opening, presumable the curator of the museum coming to get me set up for the night.

The person moved across the floor as she entered the row against the counter, seeming happy to see me.

"Welcome to the Battleship North Carolina, I'm presuming your Ethan?" the curator welcomed and asked me as she came right up to me. I was 6'5 inches, so I was somewhat average for my age, and the woman standing before me reached to around my mouth area from her forehead if we were to be standing straight side by side.

"Yup, that would be me," I replied to her question as she smiled and nodded at my answer, extending her hand in a gesture to a handshake.

"Glad to have you on board, I'll get you set up with the necessary supplies to get started for the night. Oh, and my name's Mary Ames Booker, I'm obviously the curator of the museum," Mary said as I shook her hand, turning to get me started for the night.

"If you're finished up for the night Carrie, then you can leave, I'll take care of closing up the main building," Mary said to the woman I had said when I first entered, who's name was apparently Carrie.

"Very well, hope you two have a good night, and hope you don't get too scared of being on the ship at night, Ethan," Carrie said as she bent to get her stuff from under the counter and then walked to the exit of the counter area.

"Alright, good night to you as well," I said as I walked with Mary to get me set up for the night.

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5:22 am

As I was walking around the halls of the North Carolina, I kept checking my back and the rooms to the side of the hallways to see if what I had seen earlier in the night was my imagination or if I had actually seen something.

I was supposed to be the only night guard on the ship during the night, and there weren't any planned overnight ghost hunters supposed to be on board during the night. The reason I was the only night guard on duty was because the person who was supposed to stay the night on board with me in case I needed anything became sick the day before I was supposed to start my night, and they weren't able to find a replacement in time before the night started, so I was the only one on duty this night.

I hadn't bothered calling the Curator, Miss Mary, because I didn't want to have her come all the way back for nothing, if what I had saw was just my imagination. I thought back to the moment that had happened early in the night, stopping and putting my back against the wall to rest up as I thought back to what I saw.

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8:15 pm

I was walking about the deck of the North Carolina, checking in the windows and around the deck to make sure that no trespassers had made their way onto the ship and in general make sure that everything was in its proper conditions.

As I was walking about the main deck, I looked up to one of the windows to check it, thinking nothing of it, about to move my light away to another window before I stopped myself and refocused my beam and eyes on the window I had just checked, thinking I had seen something in the window that was looking down at me.

The figure in the window didn't look like a shadow figure, otherwise I would have ran the other way to the bow as fast as I could the moment I realized something was there and staring at me. No, the figure wasn't a shadow figure for sure, as it didn't retreat for how long I was keeping my beam on it. It was hard to make out the figure in the window, but I thought I could see, eyes, reflecting the beams light off of them through the glass.

As I was starting to get a better feel for what the figure was, the figure seemed to jump and then, disappeared, retreating to a side of the window where I wasn't able to see the figure.

I jumped as well, the sight of a "spirit" jumping and having eyes seemed like something was, off, to say the least. I switched my beam to the other window to the side which the "spirit" went to. Nothing popped up even after waiting a minute to see if something would happen. I switched my beam to face where I had come from, then switched it forward to the direction I was headed. I was a little on edge after having seen a maybe "spirit", but I put it off as my imagination just getting the better of me.

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As I came back from my thoughts, I thought I heard a noise in one of the nearby rooms, around three rooms down the hall from where I was. I immediately pointed my beam to the room where I thought I heard the noise and got up from the wall. I made a move which many would probably consider stupid.

"H-hello? Is anybody here with me in that room?" I asked as I stood there, thinking it was probably just a ghost of sorts.

That's when I heard a women's voice.

"So. Did you figure out what happened earlier or not?" the voice asked me, it being calming and soothing. I wondered about what the voice was talking about, then it hit me.

"Umm, not really? I don't know, I think I saw a spirit but I don't think I did at the same time. It's weird," I replied to the voice's question. The voice sounded familiar for some reason, but I couldn't put my finger on it.

"Hmph. I thought you would have figured it out by now. Oh well, I guess I can't blame you, commander," the voiced finished in a teasing tone, which got me to jerk my head back slightly.

The only people I knew who would ever call me commander were, but, it couldn't be.

No sooner was I brought about to the revelation that one of the shipgirls from Azur Lane could be here did the person step out of the room, to reveal none other than North Carolina herself.

My jaw dropped, and it would have dropped all the way to the core of the Earth if it could, but that didn't happen, and my eyes were filled with astonishment at the sight of a shipgirl from Azur Lane being in real life. Then something dawned on me. What if she wasn't the actual North Carolina from the game and instead this was just an elaborate set-up.

"Now that I think of it, how can I be sure that you are the real North Carolina from the game, and that you aren't just setting me u-" I was in the middle of my sentence when she summoned her rigging and, my god, was it as imposing as it looked like it did in the game.

"Umm. Are you done staring yet or do you not have enough evidence yet?" North Carolina asked me as she snapped me back to reality. She looked a little uncomfortable with having her rigging on in the hallway.

"Huh? Oh, uh, yeah, I think you've, proven yourself," I said as I got a little embarrassed at having to force her to bring out her rigging in a place she probably didn't want to.

"Great! Since I don't have much more time to spend with you now, do you want to meet up again tomorrow night to chat and get to know each-other better? I think I know of a couple of outfits I could bring to "satisfy" you, hehe," North Carolina said as she vanished her rigging from her, her voice getting a little seductive and playful at the end as she walked right up to me.

"Huh? Uh, yeah, I guess if you want to, then I'm ok with it," I said, not really knowing what I was getting myself into.

"Hehe, Great. Then, meet me on the bridge tomorrow night when you get on duty. I hope you'll be the only one on duty again like tonight so that we have nobody to bother us," North Carolina said as she gave me a light kiss on my cheek.

"Oh, I've gotta go now, it's almost morning and I don't want my friends to be kept waiting, so I'll see you tomorrow, commander,"

North Carolina turned to go back to her Azur Lane home world, and before I could say anything, she disappeared in a wave of fire which crossed across her body from head to toe in the blink of an eye and disappeared, leaving me there dumbfounded. As I stood there, my mind ran over the events that had just happened, before I broke out into a light chuckle as I made my way back to the visitors center to get ready for the morning job.

"He, looks like I'm right. Me: 1, Everyone else: 0," I said as I chuckled some more and opened the door to the main deck.

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North Carolina's POV:

As I returned to my home world, I was greeted by the sight of my sister and Enterprise, who both seemed to have a keen ability to know where I would be coming to from my previous location.

"How'd it go? Did he freak out or stay normal when you first appeared to him?" my sister, Washington, asked me as Enterprise smiled slightly, as though she already knew the answer.

"It went pretty well. If you two were betting, then I think Enterprise won," I said as Washington's face dropped.

"S-so, he stayed normal after seeing you, and your rigging!?" Washington looked back at Enterprise as she was smiling from ear to ear now, shaking her head trying to hold in a laugh she had been building up.

"Pretty please can I pull out of this one?" Washington asked weakly, her already knowing the answer.

"Sorry Charlie, but I think your out of luck, and of time," Enterprise laughed out loud, me joining her in the spirit of it.

"Come on, sister, you know you've gotta pay up, otherwise, I think I might have you do something that you don't really like again," I said as Washington got an alerted face towards me, then sighed in defeat.

"Ok, here's the money I promised," Washington said as she gave the money to Enterprise, wincing as Enterprise took it, even though she took it gently.

"Hmm, spending your money on things without me knowing, sister?" I asked as I turned to her, my face with a slight frown on it.

"Look, it was a, a, a… a…" Washington started but then stopped on "a" as though it was something she didn't want me to know about.

"Washington, don't lie, what was it?" I said as my frown turn into a more deeper one, my arms crossed.

"A BUEATIFUL PAIR OF PANTIES THAT I COULDN'T RESIST BUYING!" Washington yelled at me as I and Enterprise reeled back in shock at her statement, Washington covering her face from embarrassment, probably wondering if it was possible to die of embarrassment at that very moment.

"Y-you, of all of us, bought, panties?" Enterprise asked in confusion, me sharing her state of mind.

"Yes," Washington simply replied as she stood there, still embarrassed.

"Hmm, so that's why you only gave me $43 instead of $50. Ok, pay me the rest next week and we'll call it even," Enterprise said as she put the money in her jacket pocket.

"Also, I believe you know what may happen next, so I'll leave the two of you to it," Enterprise said as she turned to leave.

After she had left, I turned to Washington, who still had her face in her hands.

"Sighs heavily So… how should I go about punishing you, sister, for spending your money carelessly," I said as I grabbed her right hand and began to drag her to the lingerie store to make a point to her.

She protested but I held my grip firm as we made our way there, her eventually giving up and just being silent as we entered.

I was going to have fun with her.

Chapter end