Hello! It has been a while since I updated this story and for that, I would like to thank all of you for waiting. Before we start this new chapter, I want to say that the story is still being worked on. I have made some progress in it and have a good amount of chapters already finalized. The ending is also mapped out and getting there is the tricky part, but also the fun part. So, I'll be uploading on a weekly bases and hopefully, I can keep that rhythm until the story ends.
I did mention that I was going to release this when it was fully done, but speaking honestly, I found myself wanting to write other stories relating to Enterprise and Belfast.
I planned to have it done by June and a multitude of reasons happened. I either took time to write my Coffee Leaf one-shots or I had a severe case of writer's block with twin seas that made me shift to other things. Since June has gone by, which was my internal deadline to finish the story, I'll be uploading what I have done and going from there. I figured getting the ball rolling is the much-needed healthy pressure to motivate me in keeping the one-week upload goal. Please enjoy the chapter!
Chapter 26: The Scourge
A month had passed, and the omen felt by Nagato had not seized. It stayed like a lingering smell found in a body that had long since died. Unnervingly, that's all it imposed, and no further actions proceeded the noteworthy aura in the air.
(Enterprise)
Outside and near the harbor of Azur Lane, numerous floatation targets faced a white-haired woman. She stood against them at a distance of 19 meters. Her bow was raised by her left hand, and her right arm extended to her side, revealing a black-gloved hand under her black sleeve. That same hand materialized an arrow from thin air and aligned it onto her bow.
Her breath held steady, along with a barely noticeable shakiness from her gloved hand. The motivation she had been feeling for the past month fueled her body and mind. It was the desire to return to something normal and what stood before her was her normal she yearned to get back.
The arrow released without any added energy and hit its mark. More arrows were quickly created, and they each connected with the other floatation targets that were equal to the same distance. All of them had fired with the normal mundane force of a standard arrow.
A blonde light cruiser held her hand above her eyes, shielding herself from the sun to get a better look. "Alright! Looks like her arm is getting the swing of things again." She directed her cheerful comment to the medical ship that resided next to her on the edge of the harbor.
The lavender-haired medical ship remained watchful and silent, holding back any paranoid concerns for when they would regrettably manifest.
"Further!" The archer commanded, her voice showing dislike for the closeness of her targets and itching for a challenge.
The light cruiser blonde flinched slightly at her friend's eagerness, but she grinned, ultimately liking the energy she exuded. "Ah... you got it, Ent!" Cleveland pressed a button from a control she had, activating more floatation targets that ballooned out at sea.
55 meters became the target now, and a notable smile formed on Enterprise's lips. Her arrow pulled back; energy being packed into it this time around. It tore across the sky like the visage of a holographic eagle and popped floatation targets, one after the other. Her half-energetic smile remained. It had been a while since she had felt this wonderful, this independent.
"Further!" She called out, again.
Cleveland scratched her head, feeling nervous suddenly. "Ent, you'll let me know if your arm is hurting, right?"
Vestal looked concerned yet held her posture straight and her words vacant, knowing that the archer needed this victory. She was not about to add her complaints and sour Enterprise's time under the sun.
"Yeah..." She said with a heavy breath, her gaze no longer with them and out at sea with the targets. It calmed her mind which was the first time this whole month that allowed her mind to completely focus on one singular thing, without feeling like she was being pulled in different directions.
91 meters now stood between her and her targets yet her sharp eyes could see every detail. "This is what I've been waiting for." She pulled back her bow, her energy surging like the days before her injury marred her life. She released the arrow and it wildly glided across the ocean, hitting the target way out at sea.
Where the floatation balloon stood, anyone looking from that point of view would see a flash of light ignite, followed by the target exploding seconds later.
A sparkle of amazement painted the blonde's eyes. "Wow... Ent's back in business! Do you see that!? That's football field distance! We're talking 100 yards—so cool!" She hugged Vestal who went with the flow of the blonde and jumped for joy.
The medical ship softened and a tear rolled down her eyes, feeling pride in her work that she was able to revitalize the damaged body and spirit of the Yorktown carrier. "Just look at her Yorktown… she's back…" She gained comfort when she internally spoke.
A peaceful joy relaxed the archer's shoulders, and she would be lying if she said that she didn't miss this feeling of independence. "I feel like I can aim further..." she whispered to herself. She felt her right-hand twitch along with a hot flash of pain. A few quick hand stretches did the trick to rid herself of the discomfort.
Vestal's warm thoughts halted and her eyesight zeroed in on the hidden hand motion that had been casually hidden by the carrier. Donning her harsh but fair mindset, she cleared her throat. "Ahem, Enterprise! Let's stop for today. You keep pulling the bowstring further and I'm not sure what's going to break first; your fingers or the string."
Enterprise glanced at her, a face that spoke dislike for the idea. However, she relaxed her shoulders and casually placed her right hand on her hip. "Yeah... sure." She glanced back at her rapid progress, letting herself bask in the accomplishment one last time that seemed to be the only good thing going on in her life.
"Ent... so... how do you feel?" Cleveland's eyes held a hope in them that quickly grew brighter when Enterprise smiled at her as she used to before the injury.
"I feel... independent." She said with her warm smile as genuine as ever.
After the archer had arrived back on base, she sought her friend and asked her for her forgiveness for pushing her into a window. A long story shortened, the blonde shrugged it off and gave her a massive hug that cut the archer's depression that had festered her heart.
Cleveland placed her hands on her hips and playfully gave her a serious look. "Good. You needed this victory, and you'll only improve more. Maybe next time we can aim for 150 yards or about 137 meters?" The blonde's grin sparked motivation inside the heart of the archer.
"How about 200 yards?" Enterprise said with an honest smile.
Cleveland laughed and placed her hands behind the back of her head. "182 meters?! Well, let's get to that milestone then," said the light cruiser with a fist pump into the air.
Vestal approached the carrier. "Let me see your arm." She received no backtalk from the archer and Vestal held a short telescope/monocle-like device close to her face.
The black coat of the carrier rolled up, exposing the full length of the glove. "Hmm... skins coming along good, the nerves are radiating as expected, and your muscle fibers are coming along nicely." She removed the device and slid her hand across the black glove to her shoulder where it ended.
Enterprise blushed slightly and gave a general moan as she looked away. "I felt that."
Vestal happily smiled and glanced to see Cleveland eagerly pleased at the results. "Good, sensations have not dulled either. Keep this specialized arm warmer on and you'll be back in top shape." She then made her exit when her phone alerted her of an incoming call.
Enterprise observed her black glove with a silent stare, unaware that Cleveland had snuck up closer to her.
"Not going to lie, that black arm warmer... or glove—whatever, is kinda snazzy. It makes you mysterious and alluring, like something out of a noir film."
The carrier's eyes widened, and she shyly turned away. "Alluring..." That was a word that resonated with her, and it wasn't lost on Cleveland that the carrier found joy in that.
"Sorry, didn't mean to make you blush," she stated with a grin. Cleveland's phone then rang and she glanced at it. "Ah, give me a minute, Ent. It's Helena..." She whispered that bit with a lovesick smile.
It was news to Enterprise when she found out Cleveland was in a relationship with the blue-haired woman. It didn't reveal itself naturally, though. It felt like a parallel universe when Helena stomped toward her and demanded to know what had happened to Cleveland when she heard three wild stories from Cleveland's sisters. Regardless, she managed to make amends with all of them and start fresh. That was all thanks to Cleveland who stood by her side like a true irreplaceable friend.
Enterprise's gaze then wandered from her hand and her eyes spotted the frills and apron of a maid outfit that hid behind a shipping container.
Her world grew focused, and her heart skipped. She couldn't tell when she started sprinting, but her legs were already in motion toward the owner of the maid outfit.
"Belfast!" Her heightened emotions died when the maid figure she saw turned out to be a shocked Edinburgh.
"Ah! M-Miss Enterprise?!" She shivered; feeling small as she pressed against the metal of the shipping container.
A despondent expression was visible on the carrier's face. "Sorry... I thought you were... never mind."
The maid with glasses blinked a few times until her mind hammered in all the details. Her body detached from the container, and she grew relaxed. "Ah, I see."
Purple eyes from the archer landed on the vibrant red roses present in the maid's hands, and her eyes widened. "Are you..." she caught herself and looked away. A wave of disgusting anger, one that was part of her jumbled thoughts that had been attacking her all month reared its head out. Internally, she wished to say these words: "Your love will never be realized."
Instead, the carrier focused her mind and pulled out the thoughts that sounded more like her. "... are you ready for what may come?"
The maid gulped hard, still finding ominous undertones even in that question. However, she was compelled to be honest with herself. That honesty brought her to a sad expression while she traced a finger across the petals of the flowers. "This was supposed to be a cake…"
Enterprise let up on her stern expression and was lost to respond.
Edinburgh grew straighter and her sad eyes morphed into a set full of determination and love. "I originally had a wonderous cake I wanted to give to her, but like a clutz, I smashed it onto my face when I tripped so carelessly. Needless to say, I lost my ace to help me get my feelings across. Funny enough, it took me this long… and a very stimulating conversation to understand that you need nothing but yourself when it's time to strike true."
"It can't be that simple…" whispered the carrier, but still loud enough to grace the ears of the light cruiser.
The royal giggled, feeling a case of déjà vu as she had this type of conversation a month ago. That same thought brought her back to a somber mood, hating that she had let so much time pass, and she truly was like her sister when it came to matters of the heart. Not anymore, was what she told herself with renewed confidence. "Yes or no, at least I'll get an answer." Her steadfast resolve mirrored Belfast, making Enterprise melancholy.
The disgusting words that fought to escape from Enterprise's mouth desired nothing else but to break the heart of this lovesick maid so that she could feel how her own heart was feeling. She wanted to shout with ravaging force similar to her arrows, yet she held the wave back that took all her strength. She thought back to when she pushed Cleveland, and when she insulted her friends out at sea and knew that these negative thoughts were born from the same source as those other actions and thoughts. "I see... best of luck." She tiredly exhaled over her unsung victory and moved away quickly before her polarizing mind could undo all she had done so far.
"Miss Enterprise... my sister... have you talked with her?"
She froze like a statue and Belfast's wonderful smile and appearance invaded her vision. She shut her eyes, feeling unworthy to look at her even in her mind's eye. "She... no. I can't seem to pin her down long enough for a conversation."
The maid with glasses suddenly grew rosy cheeks and a sympathetic smile graced her face. "Pin down... what a bold choice of words," she said meekly, secretly squeezing the base of her flowers with excitement.
Enterprise let out a fright and coughed. "It's just a figure of expression," she defended. Of all the words she could have used, she went with a set of words that invoked a payload of feelings.
A frown formed on the maid. "... Miss Enterprise, you're not trying hard enough. You and I both know that if you wanted to find her, you know what to do." Despite the archer's bold words that proclaimed an unyielding desire to talk to her younger sister, Edinburgh could sense that there was an equal unmovable force in contrast to her unyielding words.
Enterprise, feeling uncomfortable along with her harsh words that clawed from within, decided to end the conversation. "Again, good luck."
She watched the maid walk away, knowing in her heart that the love the maid felt would never be realized. While they never openly stated what "Strike true" meant in their conversation, the flowers and declaration of a long-lost cake coupled with Edinburgh's flushed face had been all the carrier needed to know that their conversation was about love. Roses were also meant to symbolize love, after all. Her eyes narrowed in anger, hating herself for not being this knowledgeable when it mattered.
As she watched the inevitable train wreck ensue from behind the shipping container, it never came. Edinburgh slumped her head in defeat while Cleveland expressed a sincere apologetic look.
"You see? She's with Helena… and your strike was useless." Her purple eyes then wavered from her cold logic as she watched Edinburgh hold her head high and returned to her proper maid self.
Enterprise gasped, not being able to understand why she didn't look destroyed. "Why wasn't she destroyed over it?" If she was in that situation, she would have been devastated.
Devastated. That word bounced in her mind. All this time, the knowledge she accumulated while studying in her downtime was telling her how such a rejection was considered terrible while the primary act of love still eluded her. Her sour mood returned from her inept mindset, and she stepped away.
What could she do now? All she could do was head back to her room and finish off whatever she had been doing last, with her loneliness being her only companion.
(Alt)
Separated by the heartless sea, the doppelganger of Enterprise had just finished another experiment overseen by her friend, Akagi. The runic lights on the table she was on powered down, and the machine sounds in the room died down.
"How do you feel, Alt?"
The reflected carrier lifted her body from the operating-like table that had become synonymous with her from all the deep-dive studies that Akagi had her undertake. This month had been fruitful for Akagi and Akashi while nightmarish for the nearly restored carrier. As long as they were able to gather bountiful data from her inner mind and body, she would endure.
Alt fluttered her eyes sleepily, bags visible under them. "Tired..." She responded, speaking with a lack of energy that made the other women stop what they were doing.
Akagi furrowed her eyes in concern. "I see. Bad dreams again?"
An annoyed expression showed on the wild-haired archer. "I wish I had a bad dream. All I get are restless nightmares," she bitterly spoke.
"Yeah, you got me there." Akagi walked up to her, with a clipboard in hand that was feeling a strong grip from the fox carrier. The dark-haired woman hesitated yet grew determined. Her hand extended out, along with the clipboard. "Alt, take a look at these results—but… please, keep an open mind to what you are about to see."
Akashi ducked under a table, knowing that the proverbial sea mine was coming.
Alt grew more alert, the ominous words of the fox woman dispelling some of her tiredness. She looked unsure while gazing at the foreboding clipboard. With glaring eyes toward the clipboard, she snatched it, and her eyes immediately grew large in horror at what she was seeing. "What the hell!? What are these red things connecting to my eyes and brain?!" An unsteady, black-gloved hand ran across the sketch, generated by whatever computer Akagi had pulled this out from.
"Circuitry… or at least to our understanding, something similar to that." Spoke Akagi with a grim tone in her voice.
The revulsion was evident on Alt's face. "Like a machine?!"
"Nya!" Cried Akashi, who hit her head under the table, causing bolts and wrenches to jump, when she grew startled by Alt's fiery outburst.
"Alt, relax. When we reached another threshold in the layers of memories from your brain during this session, I ran full scans all over your body while further analyzing the connection you share with Enterprise. Those are the only parts of you that are… machine-like."
"What the hell..." Despair clouded her and she jettisoned the clipboard across the room. Her body shook fueled by misery and her eyes held back tears that desired to wash her cheeks like rain.
The Sakura carrier sighed grimly while rubbing the back of her neck. "I... didn't say anything before because it was only a hunch. I wanted to truly make sure what caused your eyes to glow. Your healing trait related to your eyes seems to be related to this as well."
"Please take it away. I don't want it inside me," she begged the woman when she lifted her head and revealed heavy tears that surprised the Sakura carrier.
Akagi held her hands with hers and the two looked at each other. "This doesn't change anything. You're still the you that we have grown to understand and care for—"
The cat merchant girl suddenly popped out from under the table. "Nya! She's right, you're still 99.9 percent organic, and just see this as wearing glasses!"
A death glare shot toward the small girl from Alt. "Inside my head?!" She declared with a fit of fowl anger toward the cat shipgirl.
Akashi suddenly felt small and timid. "Okay... maybe like the least noticeable metal plating in the world... that's also undetectable!"
An unhidden loud sigh resonated from the Sakura carrier. "Akashi... that's enough!" The omni-tailed woman then felt a hand on her arm that forced her back toward the devastated carrier.
Alt's tears that had formed when she found out this revealment had stopped and a concerning fright replaced it. "Can... they see through my eyes? Can the Sirens hack my eyes and see what I am seeing!?"
The fox woman grunted and sighed understandingly. "No, take a look at this." She retrieved the clipboard and lifted the page that showed a bunch of esoteric information that Alt couldn't understand. Akagi filled her in on what it all meant. "You seemed to be running on a private network... or wavelength compared to them. Sorry, if that made you feel like a computer just now. Regardless, this means that they are limited to what they could do with you. I strongly believe, with my data backing me up, that they can't see what you see. This also comes full circle and tells that you can't interact the way they do with their eyes, like space distortion, teleportation, mind manipulation, etc. The only possibility that they can see what you see is if you grant them access."
"—Fat chance!" Yelled Alt from the bottom of her heart.
The dark brunette carrier proudly smiled with a smirk across her lips, loving that her friend was devotedly defiant.
"That's right, nya! You're totally unlike them in every way except… you can see through constructs and conceptions that they create, which is pretty cool to have. Also, you aren't affected by anything that they can throw at you like… slowing down time and some other potentially possible related things." She closed her eyes, pondering the full gravity of possibilities with a scratch of her chin.
Alt made a noticeably confused expression that was evident by her slack jaw. "I'm a little lost here, what does that all mean?"
"Well… your—ahem—Siren eyes can see the world in its unaltered state which is perfect for countering Siren illusions that the rest of us have to stomach through when it happens. You're immune to space-time manipulation, so let's hope that they never pile enough energy to stop time in an area or you'll be the only one that could save our skins, nya!"
Akagi smiled and rubbed her friend's back while Akashi continued listing more of Alt's perks. Regardless of how grand they sounded or how energetic Akashi acted, the doppelganger's eyes grew more and more hollow with sadness. She was nothing but some science monstrosity just like them, the ones that she hated with every living cell in her body.
"—Oh! You also have that weird spiritual connection with that eagle of yours that lets you see what he sees. I'll dub it eagle vision, nya!"
Her purple eyes shot up toward the small green-haired ship, giving her a hesitant grimace. "Hmm, well… it's not… inaccurate," stated Alt with a sweatdrop.
"Hehe, I tell ya, it came to me when I saw it in one of Ayanami's video games," she said pridefully.
"You don't have to call it that," whispered Akagi, earning her a relaxed and soft chuckle from Alt.
Akashi then grew serious and moved slightly closer. "This next one is more of a debuff if you ask me, but… while your wavelength might be independent, they can still try and communicate with you in real-time, but you can't communicate back. Again, they can't spy on you and only communicate, and it should be painfully obvious when they do, nya!"
Alt thought back to when she first met Tester that night at the warehouse and it made a lot more sense now. "I won't be doing much of that. Phone calls like those are rather painful," she said dryly. "Hmm, Tester... did mention that she wanted to reconnect me to the Siren network, so what you're saying about being in a different wavelength does make sense."
Akagi sat with her and merely stood there as a source of comfort.
Akashi nodded with a pleased smirk. "No worries there. You're all private then, nya! That reconnecting to the Siren network thingy sounds ominous though."
"Still... having circuitry running across my brain and eyes is a bit unnerving." She felt a hand on her shoulder and moved her head to see Akagi.
"We're all here for you, Alt. If anything were to try and mess with you, your eyes will inform you and protect you. And this doesn't change how all of us see you."
The Sakura carrier's words were too kind for her, as she harbored a dark secret of her origin, of the individual she once was before melding with the idea of Enterprise. That burden that sat on her chest like a pile of metal made her anxiety rise. All she could do was nod toward her friend and live with her knowledge. "Yeah... tell me some good news now, please. Is there anything like that at all?" She asked desperately.
Akashi and Akagi both silently looked at each other with the same thought in mind. "We're close to severing you from Enterprise," they both said, amplifying their voices like an unintentional echo.
Alt jumped up from the table and gazed at both in wonder. She wanted to express her feelings with many words, yet they all crashed in her throat and what resulted was her smiling hopefully.
Akashi's phone had been ringing yet she had been distracted by the happy aura in the air. Her phone then beeped and her voice recording sounded off. "This is Acatshi speaking, this lovable merchant by day and techy by night can't come to the phone right now, but if you—"
"—Nya!" She dashed across the room and snatched her phone. "H-Hello!?"
The fox woman ignored the silliness of her ally and stood up. "I can go over the details over dinner later. Are you up for Udon?"
Alt's face turned doubtful, and she nodded. "Sure… I don't mind it."
That lie was as obvious as ever. "Really? Good grief, you've been eating Sakura cuisine this whole time and you still haven't developed a taste for it?" She asked with a fake look of disappointment.
"Akagi, I don't know what to say. I hate it, which means… I love it."
The Sakura carrier blinked a few times until it registered with her. "Wow, you need to be more decisive. Just because she likes certain foods, doesn't mean that you should dislike that food like some contrarian. The Sakura Empire does have restaurants that serve a wide variety of overseas cuisine including Eagel Union ones."
"But I want to be my own person, and I rather not have to cross Eagle Union girls unless I have to. My tastebuds will change, the memory of foods I was conditioned to like will fade over time and I'll choose what I really like in the end. Hate was a strong word, Udon is perfect," she said with a headache approaching from her mental gymnastics about what she liked.
Akagi would say that Alt was lying to herself, but this went further than trying to be right or make her honest. Alt's road was indeed thorny, and she would be there to support her on what conclusions she desired to believe.
"Kya, nya!"
Compared to all the loud and random noises that the green-haired ship would throw, this one sounded different and more fearful. "Huh?! What's going on?" Said the fox carrier.
All color was drained from Akashi's face as she slowly turned to them. "Ship reports just came in and a lot of shipgirls have been wounded!?"
(Sakura Empire Harbor)
The harbor was a mess of panic as numerous Manjuu attended to the wounded that mercifully found themselves back on familiar land, being from the allies that had been with them or through their sheer force of will. The wounded had been brought back, that alone was a reason to celebrate compared to a grim sinking, but no one outside the shipgirls that were with them when it happened could fathom the nightmarish ordeal that tested their resolve to live.
The Manjuu began pulling stretchers that rested the wounded girls on them, and one of them happened to be Prinz Eugen. Others on the injured list were Souryuu and her sister, Hiryuu.
"Hurry up already before my sister dies!" A loud cry of despair roared through the sky as Admiral Hipper and Z23 were keeping pace with the group of Manjuu that had the unconscious Eugen.
Eugen had dried blood on her face and her clothing appeared damaged. Her skin appeared pale while something dark, in the shape of soot, moved across the surface of her skin like oil gliding across the water.
The blonde that was the older sister of Prinz Eugen struggled to keep pace. Her leg had been bruised and her right arm was bleeding, yet one couldn't tell as her crimson red sleeve hid it from those who were far away.
She recoiled when she noticed a Manjuu trying to grab her attention while carrying a med-kit. "Grr! Get away from me—I'm not leaving her side!" She pushed the small yellow creature who rolled away comically.
Z23, who looked fine, minus some stained clothing, quickened her pace. "Enough, Hipper! You need to get yourself checked, too, and let the Manjuu and the repair ships do their work!" She fired rapidly, knowing that Hipper would only listen to stern talking.
Hipper pushed her away and quickened her pace as well, despite the pain that eagerly worked to drag her down.
The Iron Blood destroyer boiled in anger. "How dare you act like a brat. I understand she's your sister but acting like this isn't going to help!" Despite her anger and distaste for the attitude of the heavy cruiser, she didn't relent and ran toward Hipper.
Once they got to the medical wing, a group of Manjuu blocked the green-eyed blonde from entering. "What's the meaning of this? Let me through or so help me I'll blow you all away," she winched when the pain in her arm increased.
"Hipper, the Sakura units are going to operate on her and need concentration." Even though Z23's words sounded the most composed, there was no hiding the quiver and strain in her tone, as if she was trying to hold so much weight above her.
This was lost on the blonde, who drowned herself in worry and anger. "You expect me to stay out here and pray good wishes that my sister makes it out of this?" Her words were jagged and sharp, yet none knew how defenseless she felt behind them.
An unsteady breath let out from the destroyer, giving the blonde a strict glare. "I don't care what you do just let them do their work. She wouldn't be in this mess if you hadn't rushed at that unknown enemy even after she said to keep our distance from it!"
Her ally's words cut into her, but she masked it with gritted teeth. However, a few tears started to fall from her face. "I didn't ask her for her stupid help! I could have tanked the shot and still kept on going but she had to play the older sister role and... and..."
"Eugen! Eugen!" An unrivaled tone of agonizing worry filled the air, making the two Iron Bloods turn their heads.
Hipper gazed wide-eyed at the approaching woman that was the last person she wanted to see. "You royal bastard! What are you doing here!?"
Wales appeared, just coming from the harbor, and abject sorrow showed across her face. "Hipper!" Her eyes connected with the green-eyed Iron Blood, expressing how similar their pain and despair resonated.
"I contacted her when we were en route to get here. She deserves to know," softly said Z23 while holding her shoulder with averted eyes.
Hipper's hands clenched, connecting the dots rapidly in her head. Whether the royal blonde had been waiting in the Sakura Empire or perhaps she was near closer waters was irrelevant. She was here because of her younger sister and that pissed her off to newer heights. The look of pity and sorrow from the blonde was one that she hated to see, as she didn't deserve to share her emotions with her. It was undeserving and she had no right. "She deserves a royal kick in her fat ass!"
Wales showed hurt, yet closed her eyes softly, accepting the anger and hate from the older sister of the one she loved. "Hip... regardless of what you feel, it's good that you're here." Her voice sounded happy with relief.
The heavy cruiser's eye twitched. "Hip...? How dare you mock me like that. Last time I checked you weren't family in the slightest! And it's not like I wanted to be in this kind of situation in the first place!"
Wales looked hurt and yet she could tell the harsh words from Hipper were because of Eugen's current state, at least she wanted to believe that. The blonde heavy cruiser always did have a hard time showing her honest side, and her being loud and angry was her limited way of expressing her feelings of worry and general sadness. "I'm not mocking you. I would never mock my future sister-in-law." She went and said the words that angered the other woman even more. Before she knew it, Hipper had grabbed her by her red cape.
"You take that back!" She raised a fist, ready to mess the perfect unblemished face of the royal who her younger sister had fallen for.
Wales shut one eye tightly, feeling the anger of the girl. "Why... why won't you accept me? I've told you time and again that breaking your sister's heart would be the last thing I ever do!"
"So, you do plan on hurting her down the road? That's what pisses me off!" The arm that Hipper raised was her wounded one, and the shakiness of it was evident to the royal blonde.
Getting a better look at the shaky arm, she made out the red stains that were different in color from Hipper's crimson sleeves. Wales tightly hugged her, despite the disapproval of grunts and bodily squirms from the other blonde. "You were with her when it happened?! My goodness, forgive me for not noticing sooner."
Z23 did mention that Eugen had been hurt when she had protected an ally, yet the destroyer hadn't mentioned that it was her sister she had protected.
Despite Hipper's anger and hatred for the royal blonde, the hug she received was hard to reject. It contained love and warmth that gave her a peek as to why her younger sister loved this royal woman so much. The comfort from the royal acted like a warm blanket, making her want to pour her heart out of all the bad blood it held. With eyes closed and brows twitching, conveying her internal struggle, she did just that. "S-Shut up... i-it's my fault. I didn't ask her to shield me when it happened. I should be the one on that stretcher, not her!" Her guilt was the thing that was eating away at her, and the royal continued to soothe her with a rub to the top of her head.
"She's your sister. Even when she proclaimed she was heartless, she would have still done the same that she did now."
Hipper thought back to when Eugen was colder, quieter, and distant. In truth, she had disliked her sister with all the honesty she could muster, yet the day came when her sister's eyes showed a light in them that threw Hipper off. It was a light that had always been there yet Hipper never noticed from the distance they had grown all too familiar with. "Wales... I can't lose her."
Wales whispered back to her, a strained smile coming out. "You won't, she would never allow that to happen. She still needs to berate you and probably throw in a joke in there somewhere."
Through all her pain, the royal's insightful possible future made Hipper grow a shaky smile. "I can already hear her, 'I survived because I had extra padding, but you would have been concaved.'"
Wales giggled and Hipper shot a mean look toward her. The forced hug that had become something they both needed was broken, and the Iron Blood blonde composed herself. "I still don't accept you."
"That's fine, and I wasn't thinking of stopping anytime soon. I will win your approval, big sister."
Hipper blushed madly and darted her eyes from the blonde. "Sure, whatever...!"
The fact that Hipper didn't outright attack her meant there was hope for the future she desired. "She'll pull through, I know she will."
In her moment of calm, Hipper faltered and looked at the royal. She couldn't help but marvel at the blonde's bulletproof resolve that she had for her sister. The devotion and love made her at ease more than she cared to admit. "Of course, she will!"
Z23 sighed yet felt grateful that her decision to bring Wales in had broken through the barrier of the heavy cruiser.
All three were drawn toward the sound of screeching wheels and various footsteps that drew closer and closer.
They all widened as they gazed upon the carrier sisters from the Sakura Empire, Souryuu and Hiryuu, as they were being brought in on stretchers with the help of the Manjuu of the Sakura Empire.
Of course, while seeing more allies wounded was always a somber mood, the gazes of the three women were quickly locked on another three that had entered their field of vision and were the footsteps that accompanied the screeching of wheels.
Souryuu struggled to move her body and gripped tightly on the young girl that was keeping pace with her. "M-My… Lady…" Weak and pained words struggled to come out of her mouth.
"Shh, don't stress yourself," replied the young flagship of the Sakura Empire.
"S-Sister…" The injured Sakura carrier proclaimed that word with despair and fear. She forced her neck to lift yet she immediately dropped it back down.
The young flagship, Nagato, rubbed Souryuu's hand tenderly. "She's right next to us, thanks to you," she softly said, watching the tired and vacant eyes behind the chipped glasses of the carrier close.
Next to the young girl, on her left, Wales noticed a white-haired woman who had her hair covering her face while her mouth made a frown. "Nagato, the damage to their bodies, it's a curse. Even if they healed, they won't be out of danger."
They watched as the Manjuu took the sisters inside.
Wales's eyes widened, knowing that mature and strong voice anywhere. It was hard to mistake it after all, even if that said figure was dressed in old workout clothing.
"Is there anything you can do?" The young black-haired battleship's pleading tone spoke that she had a high level of trust in the one she asked that question.
"No, it's plaguing their bodies and not their minds."
The fox carrier, who was to the right of Nagato, anxiously chewed on her thumb, a method to help ease her worried stress. Her eyes darted toward the two Iron Bloods and Royal. "Quiet, there are others here."
The two Iron Bloods and Royal stood petrified, seeing the woman of myth that had even reached the shores of the Iron Blood.
The wild white-haired woman tilted her head, seeing to who Akagi was referring. Her immediate actions that followed were a pained sound as she forcibly moved her face away from them. She appeared with a hand going up to her eyes.
"What's wrong!?" Said Nagato.
Akagi glanced at the other three women and understood the situation. "Fresh faces, Lady Nagato."
The small girl cluelessly turned and spotted the other women. Despite the awkward air around them, she smiled friendly at them. "Akagi, take her back to her room please."
"Right."
Wales grew determined and stepped forward. "Hold it!"
Akagi and the now hunched-over woman both stopped.
"You, I heard the rumors of a woman that shared Enterprise's face held in the Sakura Empire. My name is Prince of Wales, and I would like to know what you said just now." Her voice was authoritative and strong, yet one could hear a fragile, almost shaky voice. It was in no way out of fear for this woman, but fear that she might be the only one that knew how to save Eugen.
A startled sound resonated from the wild-haired woman that appeared to overcome her sudden pain. "Wales...?" She searched her mind, feeling as if she heard that name before. "Grr... mind your own business. It's not like you can do anything to help."
Akagi and Nagato glanced at the doppelganger, who had reverted to her harsher side suddenly.
Sounds of protest resonated from Wales and her eyes sharply stared at the doppelganger. "It is my business. One of the ships that were carried over here. That woman, Prinz Eugen—she's my lover and I have a right to know what's going on!"
Both Nagato and Alt grew shocked while Akagi was already aware of how much attachment the royal had to this affair.
Alt relaxed her tense aggression and moved her head enough to only allow herself to acknowledge Wales. "She's cursed by a Siren scourge. Whoever did this wanted them to suffer slowly if they had the unfortunate luck to survive the initial attack."
Akagi and Nagato felt saddened and lost by those words. Immediate action would need to be taken soon to spare their allies the ordeal of enduring continuous pain.
Wales expressed mortified horror and disgust at what she heard, and she wasn't alone on that front, as Z23 and Admiral Hipper each showed it, too.
"How do you know this?! This just happened and there hasn't been a report like this!" Shouted Hipper, her fiery attitude replacing the awkward air that had gathered.
The carrier winced, hearing the Iron Blood blonde. "You could say it's a curse for me to know these things. It doesn't matter, and what matters is that I'm using it to make something positive."
"You're going to help?" Said Wales with surprise and hope.
Nagato moved forward, drawing the attention of the other three from Alt. "Lady Hipper and Lady Z23, I'll guess that you were both with Lady Eugen when she was attacked?" Her guess was a valid one as they were the only two among the three that had visible battle stains like oil and cannon soot.
"Yes!" Cried the two Iron Bloods.
"Then could you two come with me to draw up a report on what happened out there. Everyone here looks like they were attacked similarly, by a similar group. Akagi, take Alt to her room." Just as the fox woman was about to place a hand on Alt…
"Hey! The small blonde one with the big mouth…"
The heavy cruiser fired up from the insult. "What did you say?!" Hipper's anger was rendered motionless when a pair of yellow and strained eyes stared at her as if they were inspecting the depths of her soul.
Alt's pain had come back once she laid eyes on Hipper, yet she had her priorities for gazing at the Iron Blood. "Take my advice and check yourself to the medical wing. While it's not as advanced as the others, you have a small scale of the Siren scourge on you. It's not contagious, so at least feel happy that you won't harm others." Her cold words stayed with Hipper as the carrier turned her head away, her eyes losing the glow they had.
Hipper irritably flinched and inspected her wounded arm, causing Wales to deviate her attention back to Hipper.
"Hipper, let's go inside and have them check up on you." She leaned forward and whispered something into her ear.
The heavy cruiser widened her eyes and suddenly nodded toward the other blonde. "Hmm, and here I thought you were all strait-laced." She glanced at Z23 who could only hint at what they were thinking.
"Lady Nagato, for obvious reasons, I'll fill in the report by myself," said the destroyer shipgirl.
"Yes, of course." They both walked together, leaving Wales, Hipper, Alt, and Akagi by themselves.
A pregnant pause filled the air, with Wales sizing up the doppelganger before helping Hipper into the building.
"You showed them your eyes? Was that wise of you?" Asked Akagi with a concerned tone in her voice, almost sisterly.
Alt glanced at her with her purple eyes. "Pfft, I'm sure they saw me as a freak science project before I even showed them those eyes. It… didn't feel right letting that girl not know her affliction. Of course, I wish I could have done more than pointing it out," she said with a frown. All she could do was observe with these eyes and that made her feel like she was lumped together with Observer.
"That pain from earlier, are you okay?"
Akagi's words of concern alleviated the doppelganger's heart, yet the stain of guilt was a different matter. "Yeah, my headache didn't come from that blonde woman but those Iron Bloods."
"Alt, let it out if you have to," said Akagi with caring eyes.
Alt trembled quietly, her eyes replaying the flashes of images that felt like their duration had been longer within her mind. "It's always the same. I find them or they find me. I kill them or they kill me. In these sets of flashes, I… got creative on how I killed them." There was nothing imbued in her words but sorrow and guilt.
"Remember, this is reality. What you saw was nothing but a simulation of people that weren't real."
The doppelganger looked doubtful. "Right… a bunch of ones and zeroes. However, I too was a bunch of ones and zeroes. Data against data is no different than flesh against flesh. One isn't more real than the other when you are the same thing to the one you are fighting."
The stubborn and valid logic from the archer would have made others grow concerned and pull their hair out, but Akagi merely hugged her. "Good grief, all that angst of yours could swallow an ocean." Alt grunted in protest and Akagi gave her a warm smile. "What will you do then? You're no longer ones and zeroes and this is a fresh start for you. Are you going to carry on that cycle and fight them, flesh against flesh?"
"No!"
Akagi released her and rewarded her with another smile. "Good, you didn't even hesitate. Use that answer and press forward."
Alt stood speechless and silently nodded. "Akagi, thank you. Your guidance and friendship have helped me so much." She would not lie to herself; this sole month had been one of her most cherished times. Surrounded by her sister before she had to return to base, Takao, Akagi, and Kaga had made her feel more real than she'd ever been.
"I don't mind the praise, but I can't take all the credit. Hornet has been there also, making time for you and crossing the sea frequently. Takao has been… I guess doing her own form of girl talk with you. I'm not sure if tackling training dummies helped in any way. You've also been hitting it off with my sister, making me have certain thoughts. A few nights ago, I watched you both talking while gazing at the moon." She flashed the other carrier with an inquisitive look, probing her expression for anything alarming.
"You saw that?! I don't know what kind of thoughts you have, but that's only friendship!" She refused to tell Akagi that Kaga had been having restless nightmares. The trauma brought upon the years she experienced inside her mind. A fate she was chained to that had been from the sinister efforts of the 'her' before she melded with the idea of Enterprise. They were the only two who could understand the mental anguish of endless torment.
Neither sister knew the other half-identity that made up Alt, and Hornet was the only other soul who kept that secret close to her. She endlessly wondered what they would do if they found out. They knew she was a Siren but to them, a random Siren.
Despite the tense overall situation, Akagi let herself chuckle and enjoy this moment with her friend. "Okay, I'm forced to believe you I guess, since you do know what passion is from…" She caught herself, not wanting to say anything on the off chance that someone might hear.
A shift from her depressing thoughts to more heart-pounding ones filled Alt's mind. Akagi's words were not needed, and Alt understood where she was getting at. "… do you think she told her?" The previous topic of passion and all that it related forced her to think of a certain silver-haired heavy cruiser.
The Sakura carrier suppressed a laugh. "Told? —No." She silently inspected the unsteady eyes of the doppelganger. "I understand if you feel any type of guilt but be advised, spilling secrets like that to the lover only causes more trouble. I didn't approve of how it went down to save my sister, but it did work… and neither of you felt anything more personal… right?" Her red eyes stood still and focused on her friend's purple eyes.
"Hmm… not particularly toward her—maybe the moment itself. So, take it for what it is?" She thought back to… her first kiss. While it was marred by the Iron Blood, it had stirred feelings that were otherworldly to her. To feel this level of affection based on that kiss was new and, she wouldn't be close-minded about pursuing it, especially now that she's trying to be her own person. However, there wasn't anyone she had an attraction to.
"Who would love an imitation of another woman?" She internally asked herself that question.
Akagi, unknown to how deep Alt was in her own mind, spoke. "I know Eugen, she'll spill her guts out soon enough—um—metaphorically speaking… oh dear, I'll have to make a few wishes and prayers against that ominous flag I raised. Oh, Eugen… stay strong my Iron headed friend," said Akagi with a shake of her head.
Alt returned from her deep thoughts. "Akagi, in all seriousness, and back to the main point, I feel like we're dealing with something more than Siren fledglings. Could Tester be back for revenge?" She hated herself now for letting her survive, and even now, she asked herself why she even let her go in the first place.
"Will have to wait for reports from those who experienced the encounters firsthand, but I'm with you there. In all seriousness, Souryuu and her sister being wounded make me uneasy considering how dependable carriers they are. Could this be only the tip of the iceberg? First-order is figuring out the counter material to rid them of this… Siren scourge. Alt, is there anything else you can tell me?"
Alt looked hesitant yet wanted to be fully honest with Akagi. "Not much. It's a serious, high-level Siren stratagem that no lowly Siren could ever do. That's why I suspect Tester to be behind this. As to how many could have been afflicted by this in so little time while having the firepower to challenge various ships, that still escapes me. This thing is dark, it plays with its host, torturing them with pain, neither making them rest nor find peace. It's been used for torture and death's a side-effect that only comes into effect if the host can no longer go on living with the pain."
"You know this much? This has never been seen before—"
Alt interrupted, her mind taking her to a core moment in her past where she understood this scourge all too well. "—not in this world then, but another I'd imagine… also, they used it against me during my life in the dark sea."
Akagi gasped and held her hand to her mouth.
"It surfaced from the depths of my collective memory when I initially scanned Souryuu's body and identified the affliction. I wish only the info was all it gave me," spoke the battle-worn carrier with bitterness in her throat. She closed her eyes and forced herself to recollect. "I remember, yes… some voice in the sky ordered the affliction and like some wicked god, the sky struck me with lightning. It slowed me down just enough for a Siren pawn to kill me. I wish that memory stayed fleeting without being jogged into my active consciousness."
The archer opened her eyes, giving Akagi a stare that the other carrier could only describe as broken. "I'm sorry, Akagi. That's all my memory and eyes can tell me. The info from my eyes, it's like being in a library with the books flying toward me—I guess it's no different than the memories that are constantly surfacing like bubbles."
Ever since she exited out of Kaga's mind, something inside her had changed. She felt more in tune with the Siren side of her that felt like a bitter pill to swallow. What came with it, was being able to activate her eyes more easily, and having a repository of surface-level information related to the Sirens. She could only deduce it was surface level because the Sirens were a group that valued knowledge and they must have the counter to the affliction recorded.
"The Siren Network." She internally recited, and if there was one way to find the info easily, it would be to embrace their dark knowledge head-on.
Akagi could see the harsh and sour expression that the doppelganger was giving to herself. "No need to beat yourself up. The information is more than enough. They will get what's coming to them, once we figure this out."
(Enterprise)
Enterprise began her journey back to her room. The internally confused carrier's phone beeped inside her black coat pocket. She didn't need telepathy to quickly hint as to who it could be. There was a heaviness to her phone when she inspected the screen and her purple eyes clouded over the obviousness of the one who had tried to call her. In its wake, a string of messages accumulated. A feat that was even grander as those new messages joined a sea of unanswered messages from this month that went by.
Those messages lay on the spectrum of a simple "hi" to "I thought that kiss meant something to the both of us!" The latest messages were as followed "Hey, I gave you some space, so please message me back." "Enty, I know you felt something." "I know I said some harsh things these few weeks now, but please understand that you're driving me crazy with this silent treatment!" "ENTY! I thought I knew you but you're heartless… just like her!"
Tears flowed unsteadily from her vision. It wasn't that she was heartless, it was just that she was scared. She didn't know how to respond to the woman that took her first kiss from her. All that she knew was that she stayed awake at night, trying to force herself to write something—anything.
"Ent! Wait up!"
The crying carrier quickly rubbed her tears with her black sleeve, not wanting to feel weak in front of anyone after feeling strong for the first time in a while.
Her light cruiser friend, who had become like gum on her shoe, caught up to her. Unknown to the carrier, the Cleveland-class ship sensed the troubled demeanor of the archer, making it her mission to stick by her side until she revealed what was troubling her. "Hey, Ent, let's get a bite to eat," she said warmly with her iconic grin that just about made any shipgirl weak in the knees. If they only knew that she was spoken for now.
Cleveland's inviting smile was too much of a comfort for the archer to refuse, and the two of them had made a detour to a nearby shop. With a couple of sandwiches in hand, they both headed back to Enterprise's room.
An insufferable pause in the air kept them without words. This pause was brought upon Enterprise's gloomy behavior, and the carrier wasn't clueless enough to figure out that it was her doing. "How's Helena been?" Her desire to break the silence between them won over her gloomy mood. They walked through the dorm hallway and Cleveland perked up.
A smile, one that was described as blushingly goofy and unintended, appeared across the blonde's face. "It's great. She gets me and it never gets dull with her."
Enterprise took those words in stride and reflected them on how she felt about Belfast. It was never dull with her around, and the maid understood her more than she did herself. That had been one of the things she cherished about her.
"Hey, Ent. Umm... have you talked to Belfast?" The blonde stated it with low enthusiasm and cautious tones to her words.
The carrier nervously fidgeted with the bag in her hands. "W-What makes you say that?"
"I just haven't seen her in a while. You and her... were pretty much attached to the hip if you get what I'm saying." Her implications were responded to by the white-haired carrier.
Enterprise's split thoughts, the ones that were always angry, forced themselves to come out. She wanted nothing more than to tell her to mind her own business, but she refused to degenerate, especially when her friend had never been rude to her.
Because of that, Enterprise looked undecided as to what her answer should be, and her eyes held a heaviness to them. "I don't think I do," she lied before letting some semblance of truth slip past. "Her and I weren't... like that." She couldn't decide what her heart was telling her. She couldn't even fully decide if she should be hurt by those words she uttered.
The kiss that the maid gave her upon her lips had not faded from her memory, just as the kiss Zuikaku gave her also didn't. A desire to touch her lips invaded her mind, wanting to find some anchor of proof that her heart should feel something.
Cleveland nodded slowly; sensing doubts a mile away. "Ah, sorry. Helena tells me I'm bad when it comes to reading people," her words were hard to verify as she casually closed one eye in remorse yet kept the other open to see the reaction of the archer.
"Cleve, who asked out who first?"
The blonde stopped walking, finding amusement in her friend's active interest in her love life. Perhaps, her friend was looking for a ray of hope in the form of motivation or inspiration to help her with her own issues.
Cleveland smiled and began to walk again. "I was the one that kicked it off. Helena... well, she wouldn't have summoned the courage to do it, and I could tell there was something between us. I tested the waters and asked her out. The radiant look in her eyes said it all and I knew I made the right call. If I didn't, we would still be playing a game of 'does she like me or does she like me not?'"
"I see..." The archer's awareness of all the times Belfast had been by her side and all the cute expressions she did when they were together had bombarded her. Seeing how much of a fool she was had caused her face to turn pained. The archer's knees grew weak, and her right shoulder pressed against the wall of the corridor for support.
"Ent!?" The blonde prepared herself for the worse if her friend fell.
The carrier held a hand up to quell the worried look from her friend. "I'm okay..."
Despite the odd circumstance, the blonde sighed and continued to think about her friend's hidden problem that she strongly believed the head maid had something to do with. She had her questions. Like almost the wide majority of the shipgirls on base, she suspected that Belfast and Enterprise were a packaged deal. The fact that the maid had been distant could only spell that there had been some rocky waves in the romance department.
A bad place, mentally, was her conclusion and it then dawned on the light cruiser that Enterprise's room might be a muddy reflection of the carrier's mind and heart. She was already anticipating a bastion of empty bottles, empty food containers, a bad smell, and dirty everything.
"We're here," said the archer very unceremoniously. The door to Enterprise's room stood foreboding to the light cruiser.
Cleveland straightened up and braced herself for the messy room of one whose going through a turbulent time in her relationship.
The door opened and she had not expected this. "Huh?" The first thing that assaulted the light cruiser wasn't a bad smell but the opposite. The smell of vanilla lavender invaded her nose and throat, making her sound off a relaxed moan of contentment. Her knees then grew weak from the aroma. The scent of lavender alone would have been too strong but with vanilla as its partner, it made the aroma of the room pleasantly perfect.
The blonde comedically shifted left and right, seeing a pristine bed, a moderately clean desk, no trash or clothes on the floor, and no ounce of dust anywhere.
The archer placed her bag on the desk and pulled the top drawer. "Do you want to watch a movie? Hammann brought me a few a week ago."
"S-Sure," said Cleveland. Her eyes curiously landed on the things that were thrown about on the desk. Aside from a moderate television resting on the corner of it, movies were messily on display, as if used recently. Books were also stacked messily on top of each other, and one was facing downward with its pages at the halfway point. It didn't take a professional in the ways of love and romance to get an understanding of what type of movie and books her friend was indulging in.
"Young adult, inspirational romance, romantic suspense, romantic tragedy, and… erotic romance?!" The last one made her gaze eagerly at it, finding the allure of an adult perspective on romance too inviting. While she and Helena hadn't joined their bodies and hearts like that yet, they knew it was something they anticipated in the near future.
The purple eyes of the carrier came alive while inspecting a movie from Hammann's picks. It happened so fast when the archer snatched the erotic book from her friend's hands. "These aren't mine! A friend is cleaning their room and told me to hold on to them," she stated while hurriedly scooping up the movies and books from her friend's field of view. She shoved them into a lower drawer under her desk, and she berated herself for forgetting to put them away when she left.
"What if she… had seen them?" She asked herself that maddening question.
A half-smile, one also filled with humorous disbelief painted the blonde's face. As much as she wanted to probe the out-of-nowhere interest in the material the carrier surrounded herself with, she whistled casually and urgently sought something else to talk about.
"Ent... you... you clean up rather well after yourself."
The carrier's movements still looked tense, and her face clearly expressed blushing embarrassment "It's not me. Every time I return, my room is cleaned and dusted without my consent."
"Say what?! Who could have a key to your room unless...?"
The archer stood quiet, her eyes looking vacant as she sat on her bed and prepared to take a bite of her sandwich.
A determined expression filled the light cruiser, understanding a worthwhile explanation was coming. "It's Belfast, isn't it?" Her pinpoint question was the catalyst that would encourage the carrier to talk.
Gloom and fatigue reflected across Enterprise's face, and a grumble formed as she chewed her food. "I would hope so," she said dryly and with food in her mouth. If Belfast were here, she would have set her straight on the proper ways of eating.
The blonde pulled a chair and faced her indifferent friend. "Let me get this straight, just so I have everything in order. You want to talk to her, right?" The blonde unwrapped her sandwich, never taking her eyes away from the carrier.
The carrier placed her sandwich on top of the paper on her lap and genuinely searched her mind for the answer. "I guess I do..." Her sad eyes grew slightly brighter from feeling that solid footing to her heartache.
Cleveland narrowed her eyes and chomped at her food; her eyes still trained like a spotlight. "Yeah, you want to fix whatever trouble happened between the two of you—come on, it's not hard to see that as an outsider." Her unladylike etiquettes shined through as she talked, her mouth full of food.
Enterprise hardly cared about her friend's action and let her thoughts warmly reflect on how Belfast would have handled the situation if she was the one who kissed the maid. Would she have hidden away from the world? Would she grow silent as she did? No, she would have been over the moon, and she wished she could have been like that. "Yeah... I do want to make it right with her," she said tiredly.
Cleveland swallowed and placed her sandwich on the paper resting on her lap. "So, why? Just wait for her to come here and confront her."
The white-haired woman's eyes grew livelier, fear and weakness reflecting inside them. "I... don't think I've earned that right."
"But this is your room! She's like a reverse burglar with this odd situation you both find yourselves in," barked the knight of the sea.
Enterprise averted her gaze and sighed. "Yeah..."
Cleveland's frustrations reached new heights, hating how much her friend's anguish was eating away at her. "Ent... lay it on me, what happened with you two?"
Enterprise then proceeded to tell her about the kiss, of course, be it a combined effort of shame and general confusion, she left out the details about Zuikaku and the reason as to why the maid kissed her.
The lack of detail was noticed, and Cleveland was now on a mission to keep digging until the whole story was revealed. "Whoa, she kissed you. And then vanished like a black cat into the night?"
Her friend's colorful metaphor forced a chuckle to surface. "It was the daytime but yeah, she left my world before I even had the time to get my bearings."
"The part before the kiss is a bit murky and I got to ask, what made her decide to blow her lid after that kiss? Or was she just nervous and ran away?"
Anxiety surfaced, and her uncertainty between Belfast was only rivaled by another. "I kissed Zuikaku... well, she kissed me and... I'm not sure why I did what I did, but I kissed her back as if my life depended on it. Regardless, Belfast saw us when she came to my room and her face... looked wounded beyond belief."
Cleveland placed a hand on her mouth, her red eyes wavering at the sheer implications her mind was forming. "Oh, Ent..." Her words came out heavy and disappointed.
The carrier heard her friend's tone and masked her negative emotions by chomping at her sandwich, using it to release her frustrations constructively. "It's all a mess. I haven't talked to either of them about my feelings toward them. How can I when I can't make sense of my damn thoughts that are all over the place?! I feel like I have voices wrestling inside me, confusing me more."
"So, Zuikaku kissed you, then Belfast found out, and kissed you out of...?" The mental-like gymnastics the blonde went through showed on her face.
"I have so much shame with myself. I hate that I made her like that." A hand was placed on her knee, bringing her attention toward her friend.
"Ent, she kissed you because she wanted you to know her true feelings. Even if she had to play second fiddle to Zuikaku kissing you first. That's common in the game of love and war after all when you have to match your enemy's movements or in this case; love rival."
Hearing it from her friend only further verified the actions of the maid that she slowly started to understand within this month. "She's always loved me and here I am... still indecisive. I don't know what's wrong with me?"
"Do you love her?"
The light cruiser's words were sharp and decisive, yet the carrier still felt lost. "I don't know. I like her. There's a pull I feel toward her, but I haven't had much luck explaining it to myself."
"You won't find the answer in a book or movie, only inside you. Or do you feel something for Zuikaku that's keeping you bounded?"
She had a point. While the romance movies helped her in understanding what Belfast and Zuikaku were feeling, she still couldn't place herself in the role of allowing herself to love them. What did it mean? "Cleveland, when Zuikaku kissed me... I felt something. Something strong and addicting that I wanted to respond to her passion. Is that true love?"
A commotion from outside seized their conversation. Panic yells and naval alarms sounded. It was then that a wave of fear and confusion cemented inside them. Enterprise's issues were forcibly put on the back burner as concern for the chaos outside grew.
Outside, Manjuu and fellow shipgirls were frantically running about in the harbor of the base. A wave of chaos ensnared them with the sight of wounded and distraught allies moving about. Among those wounded was San Diego, Hermes, Sussex, Quincy, Long Island, Newcastle, Nelson, Tennessee, and California, with many more the longer one kept looking.
It all looked similar to when a massive explosion from a building goes off, leaving the streets in disarray.
The two friends immediately stopped their long running journey toward the harbor when they reached the epicenter of panic and despair. Their field of view landed on familiar wounded shipgirls that were being pulled out of the water by Pennsylvania and Arizona. Among them were Indianapolis and Renown who looked stained from the heat of battle while holding a wounded Portland between them.
Enterprise heard her friend suddenly gasp a horrified and despair-induced fright. Where Cleveland had been looking, her sisters lay beaten and unconscious on top of stretchers on the ground. The Manjuu group around the sisters quickly finished preparations and began to lift them.
Cleveland's movements were like a vicious storm, pushing 'obstacles' from her path, be that Manjuu or other equally worrying allies to their fellow wounded like Amazon and Rodney. "Out of the way!" She pushed and pushed with all her might against those who were also lucky to have been spared the aftermath of whatever battle had put them in this state.
Among the frantic and gloomy atmosphere, the blonde noticed Helena who was covered in various battle stains from environmental grime to gunpowder residue from her rigging.
"Cleveland!" Her girlfriend stood straight yet looked emotionally vulnerable as she moved toward her lover. She could only imagine the dark place the blonde had fallen to by seeing a sight that no older sister should ever see.
"What happened? —who did this?!" Her thunderous shouts even made some of the other shipgirls dealing with their woeful world turn to see the light cruiser. The look in her eyes spelled out one that was out for blood.
This unsightly rage that could swallow the mighty of ships hurt Helena to see. She wanted nothing more than to hold her and take away all that negatively weighed her down. However, like an unchecked storm that was her girlfriend, she lacked the power to grab her attention as Cleveland's frantic eyes looked past her toward her younger sisters.
That was when Enterprise grabbed onto the back of the light cruiser's neck, in no way violent, but as a gentle stern force, coercing her to look at her. "Cleve—Cleveland! Don't let your anger swallow you! Anchor yourself tightly and breathe." She felt the blonde violently struggle against her grip, but she could take it—Helena couldn't.
Tears began to form in the blonde's eyes and her agonizing cries poured out. It was all too much as she buried herself into the chest of her friend.
Enterprise remained motionless and stoic. She understood her friend's rage and if things played out differently, she would be with her in that maelstrom of destruction with the way they would be feeling.
Helena caressed the tense shoulders of her girlfriend, seeing them rise and lower from the repeated sobbing that only the vibrations of a Gatling gun could rival.
"Helena, who did this?" Asked the carrier with a barely held together tone of voice.
The blue-haired woman looked frazzled as she ran a hand through her hair. "It happened so fast, and my memory of it is hazy."
Enterprise narrowed her eyes. "Hazy? Sirens…" No doubt some reality-altering underhanded tricks played a part in their struggle.
"T-The f-fleet that Cleveland's sisters and I were in was undergoing an exercise. It was just a standard casual drill in safe waters when…" A disparaging gaze filled Helena as the details started to become too abstract for her.
"When what?" Encouraged Enterprise.
The blue-haired woman closed her open mouth and worriedly swallowed. "When we caught wind of some odd-looking Sirens. Someone in our fleet shot first and despite having the element of surprise, we were quickly thrashed and jettisoned like unworthy opponents."
Cleveland started to calm down, rage replaced itself with only pain. "How many were there? These odd Sirens…"
"It was four, and I think they looked like destroyers," softly spoke the blue-haired light cruiser.
"Four destroyers took out a full fleet?" Doubtfully retorted the blonde.
Shame and sorrow showed on Helena, further making the blonde feel lowly than she already did. "Cleve, there's more. They did something with their attacks. It started to affect your sisters and some of the others. Before we knew it, they were screaming in pain saying that their bodies hurt."
The blonde threw a glance at various other shipgirls that were being carried. An odd soot stain moved across their face and body as If their skin was water. Her eyes followed the Manjuu that were taking her sisters to the medical wing, and the same soot-like anomaly was present on them as well.
"Helena... did they hit you?" Without wasting a breath, the blonde was already checking her over. Not knowing what she'll do if another closest to her heart had been afflicted.
"No… your sisters made sure of that..." Her wavering pink eyes produced tears, hating how useless she had felt in that fight. They were all left useless against those odd foes. There was no uplifting joy that could make her smile at that moment as the painful groans from other shipgirls invaded the air.
Enterprise's eyes wavered anxiously, having never seen this many of her wounded allies and friends beaten and discarded like playthings. The level of sadistic nature was second to none and she understood what this meant. It was a message. A calling card. From the Sirens who seemed to proclaim a new level of perversion. She silently took comfort that Hornet or Belfast wasn't among the wounded. That didn't comfort her much as this felt like an escalation of things to come.
"Hey, I need help over here!" An agitated voice pulled the carrier out of her 1000-yard stare and focused on a silver short-haired Eagle Union. Her vibrant light blue eyes were filled with fatigue and sorrow as she held onto a wounded blonde shipgirl as if her life depended on it. "Enterprise! Get over here and help me with Carolina!"
"W-Washington?!" She left Cleveland to comfort her girlfriend and the carrier raced forward, past working Manjuu and wounded shipgirls that were already being aided. She reached the edge of the harbor where the other two women were at.
The silver-haired battleship sighed tiredly and gave the carrier a friendly half-smirk with the other half full of dread.
Enterprise acknowledged her appreciation and lifted the unconscious blonde's right arm, hooking it with her neck.
"Hey, help me keep her head from slanting. It's bleeding pretty bad," she declared through tones of worried fear stemming from the level of injury her sister had sustained.
"You two were also caught in the attacks?"
Washington acknowledged the despair around her for the first time and her eyes lowered. "Damn, now I get what that tech-nut lady was yammering about."
"Tech-nut? Wash... do you know something?" Stated the carrier with serious eyes.
The silver-haired woman locked eyes with the carrier. "Ent, help me get her to Vestal, then I'll get down to business. For now, all I'll say is that this is some serious hot water we find ourselves in."
The event that transpired had been like a destructive tsunami that pulverized the morale of all the shipgirls on base. The shopping district, the academy grounds, the beach, and the restaurant shops were all vacant as everyone was either inside the medical wing grounds or were probably inside their rooms, sulking and dealing with their despair individually.
It was nighttime now, and once Washington's sister had been stabilized, both she and Enterprise took a walk to the nearest open coffee shop. It was mostly empty minus the owner and the two stood under a lamp light with Washington sitting down on a bench and watching her coffee cup. "Thanks for taking me here. I needed something to ease the nerves, and that coffee in medical always tasted like crud and oil. Pfft, figures for a place cold and sad, eh?" Her casual tone did little to hide how worried she sounded. If that wasn't enough, she aimlessly scratched at her cup in a fidgety manner.
Enterprise nodded silently, finding unpleasant words forcing themselves to come out. She had no time to entertain the woman in front of her and she'd much rather reach the point of the main issue. However, that wasn't her. The dark and unorganized voices inside her were not indicative of how she should feel, of how she wanted to feel. "So, what's going on?" She tried to sound comforting, yet she couldn't help the annoyed and hurried tone that slipped out.
The other woman hardly looked offended and chuckled with a nod. "Well, sis and I had just finished our joint contract with the Iron Blood. You know, one of those long-distance missions that you find yourself missing home more and more. Anyway, Bismarck relayed an odd message to us before we left. She said this, 'Out of fear that this message might be intercepted, let command in Azur Lane know that a scourge is approaching our shores. The waves tell of a change in our enemies' hierarchy and the key to our salvation lies here...'" she pulled out a piece of paper tucked behind her black vest.
Enterprise took it with her gloved hand, letting the other woman drink in the curious alteration to her standard outfit. The carrier unfolded the paper and her eyes widened. "What the...? This is just happening right now, how can they even know this when they wrote it?" She continued to scan the paper, absorbing all the earth-shattering information and shedding light on the chaos that transpired today.
The silver-haired woman sipped and gave off a relaxed sigh once the coffee had begun to relax her nerves. "This is Iron Blood, those secretive wackos just know, I guess. I wouldn't put it past Bismarck if her saying that much to sis and I was making her writhe in pain internally."
The carrier lowered the paper, fondness and respect coming in when she remembered that day when Orochi fell. "Bismarck... while I can't defend her on the means of her info gathering, she bled all that Siren fanatic blood away. She no longer wishes to find any sort of co-existence with the Sirens. Her assistance in the Orochi battle helped me get close to it in the final moments of that fight."
Washington leaned forward. "Wow, you think rather highly of her for only knowing her briefly. Sis and I had to be her errand girls for a while, and we still couldn't make heads or tails about what kind of woman she is."
Enterprise scoffed; a straying mannerism brought upon by her unstable mindset. However, the other Eagle Union hardly noticed the action. "In battle, I knew all I needed. I refused to accept her endgame... her future, yet I understood why she would choose such a soulless existence. But it couldn't be. We were molded in the shape of humanity and given human emotions that taught us better. I don't wish to sound grander than who I am, but my words shattered her resolve, and we stopped our needles fighting, coming together to help open up a brighter future for humanity."
"Ah...! You're making me feel left out! It's bad enough sis and I were on the other side of the world when that fight went down, and then we suddenly got thrown into another adventure with our new re-established Iron Blood buddies." She looked at Enterprise's black glove and her curiosity could no longer be held back. "So... is it true? About the rumors that some evil twin of yours got you good?"
Enterprise brought her up to speed on everything that happened. From the day she wounded her arm to the day she assaulted her twin on the shores of the Sakura Empire.
Washington whistled in disbelief and shook her head. "Sounds like she had it coming," she casually stated.
"Yeah..." Expressed the carrier with a solemn tone.
The battleship stood up with a sense of swagger in her actions. "Well, if she comes looking for a fight again, sis and I got your back. Once she's all patched up and the like. Now... time's ticking and we're going to need a fleet to get Bismarck's game plan executed. I don't want to see more allies fall into the sights of those odd Sirens that sis and I fought."
"Odd... Sirens? Helena mentioned something similar, so it's all connected. Every single shipgirl that either got wounded or inflicted by that soot anomaly had faced an odd Siren."
Washington nodded. "Before getting here, I thought it was bad luck, but it all makes sense that this was a wide-scale attack. I only imagine how the other factions handled the situation."
Dread and caution poured into Enterprise's heart. "Bismarck… what are our enemies thinking? This is too out of the blue for a new type of enemy to be thrown at us," she said while gazing into the night sky.
"New enemy is right. They smelled of upgrades. Why else would sis and I get the beating of the century otherwise?" Stated the battleship.
Enterprise nodded and she stared at the paper once more. If the information on the paper was true, they needed to carry it out for the sake of all their friends.