Chapter 14

Two days had passed since Hood returned. Two whole days of nothing but boredom.

In the past, serving on a ship would mean you would be nigh constantly busy, from fixing electrical faults, repairing broken pipes to preforming all kinds of never ending tasks so the ship would stay afloat. However, this ship was unlike any I had been on before.

There was no need for repairs, any damage would slowly fix itself. You didn't need to inspect the boilers or engine as she would just tell me if something was wrong, the only real maintenance the ship needed was to give her frequent hugs, kisses and headpats.

A ship that once needed a crew of nearly two hundred sailors, was now condensed down into one small girl. To say my old job was redundant would be a understatement.

Everyone had been trying to occupy their time while we waited for Warspites condition to improve.

Hood had spent most of her time in her room. She had procured a needle and thread when she went on her supply run, and was now slowly repairing Warspite's torn clothes. Any time she wasn't doing that seemed to be spent teasing me.

Javelin and Z23 had become practically inseparable, they spent most of their time sitting together on the bow of the ship talking to each other, mostly about what Javelin had seen in Liverpool and London.

Z23 had slowly started to settle, she would still occasionally jump at shadows or start staring off into the distance. Javelin had wanted to spend the first night with her, just to make sure she didn't have any nightmares like she did, and when it the time came to turn in the next night, I found them already fast asleep in her bed together.

This along with Z23 occasionally coming over to me asking for a hug had a positive effect on her mood, we were seeing her smile and laugh more and more. However, I discovered that without Javelin sleeping beside me, I started to get harrowing nightmares that would have me jolt awake in the middle of the night covered in a cold sweat.

U-556 Just napped all the time, in increasingly stranger locations.

And finally, there was Elizabeth. While she seemed to keep a positive mood, it was obvious that her sisters condition weighed heavily on her. She spent most of her time sitting at Warspite's bedside holding her hand and waiting for her to awaken again. I would occasionally head down to convince Elizabeth to spend some time out on deck or to get some sleep.

Which is what I was currently heading down a corridor to do. Dinner had been served a few hours ago and night had fallen. We still kept the watch rotation on Warspite, with Hood replacing Javelin's shift so she could look after Z23. Elizabeth had the first shift, but with how she had been the last few days I was going to try and convince her to let me take her watch.

"Hey." She casually spoke after seeing me enter the sick bay alone.

"Evening. Everyone's turned in for the night, how's it going here." I pulled a chair over and sat next to her.

Elizabeth ran a hand through her hair. "Her body, its stopped healing. Look." She moved the sheet aside slowly, showing a small cut on her shoulder that I had seen a few days ago. "I accidently cut my hand yesterday while you had me peeling potatoes, it was a similar size and it was gone within minutes. What could this mean?"

Everything about these girls was a mystery in one way or another. I figured even the best doctors in the world would struggle to understand. But I could tell that wasn't the type of answer Elizabeth was looking for. "Maybe her body had just prioritised healing the more severe injuries. She's already in a far better condition now than a few days ago. A human would have taken months to heal this much." I gave her a pat on the back. "Her condition is stable; she just needs some rest."

She sighed. "I'm sure your right, it would take more than this to do her in." Elizabeth turned to look at me. "However, we can't remain here forever. While our supplies look plentiful now, they will soon start to wear thin. I know you wanted to come here as if we were caught out on the open sea with Warspite still wounded, it would be an impediment to our combat ability. I will be the big sister I'm supposed to be and carry that burden, my ship is more than capable of accommodating her.

Elizabeth was right, we couldn't just stay here, I had said we needed somewhere safe but even here we rolled the dice every day. But where would we go, what would we do? These were questions that I kept thinking about but could never come to a definitive decision.

"I'll think about it. For now, why don't you get some rest. I can keep watch for you tonight." She went to refuse. "You know she wouldn't want you to just spend all your time waiting for her, and if you want to be a big sister, you're going to need your strength."

Her shoulders dropped. "You are right, I have skulked away in the darkness for far too long. I dread to think what it has done to my complexion." She stood up from her chair, turning to me Elizabeth opened her arms slightly. "May I have one for the night?"

Nodding I got up and pulled her into a hug. "You don't have to ration hugs and only ask for them when nobody is around, I'm more than happy to give you them whenever you want."

"It would be most improper for a lady such as myself to act so cordial in the view of others." She gave a tight squeeze before letting go. "Not to mention, I've born witness to how affectionate you and miss Javelin have become. If I were to commit such brazen acts in public, it would sully my image."

I noticed a slight movement of her lips while she looked at mine, before I could just make out a whispered "Although..." before she shook her head. "Nay, one shall retire for this night. Please inform me in due haste if the situation develops."

I had to back a chuckle at the sudden return of her usual royal tone. "I will. Goodnight your majesty."

Stopping at the door, she turned and gave me a smile. "Goodnight, James."

Yesterday I had found my binoculars to still be in my cabin, it was a good confirmation that objects would remain in the ship, even if the girls used it as rigging. This should hopefully mean that everything I left on the Warspite would still be there, barring if it had been destroyed when her ship was hit.

With nothing to do for a few hours I pulled over a small table and started to take the binoculars apart, they were designed for use at sea, but evidently not designed to be completely submerged. The saltwater had gotten inside and completely fogged up the glass. It had also started to rust up the springs and pins.

If my experiences at sea had taught me anything, it was that saltwater was the bane of anything metal. It took me a long time to slowly scape off the rust, especially because I didn't have the right tools.

Taking things apart and fixing them had always been a hobby of mine. Having my attention focused entirely on the binoculars helped clear my mind of all the stresses and worries of our current situation.

Finally removing all the rust, I went and made myself a sandwich in the mess before moving onto the lenses. Using a rag, I slowly tried to polish the glass, I knew they would never give a clear view and would need replacing, but it would make do for now.

I was putting the binoculars back together when I started to feel a nudging feeling at the back of my head. My breath caught in my mouth as I watched Warspite slightly move as she started to awaken.

Her eyes started to move under her eyelids before opening them, after spending so much time closed her eyes had to blink a few times to get used to the light of the room. Tilting her head, she looked round before seeing me and smiling. "Not dead then?"

The words broke me from my shock, it felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders. If I had been standing, I probably would have fallen to the floor. "Warspite." I rubbed my eyes trying my hardest not to tear up. "It's so good to see you again. We've all been so worried."

"Don't start crying now, my opinion of you as a man will diminish." she Joked before trying to move only to wince. "Ah, everything hurts. Heh, Now I wish I was dead. So, how long was I out for?"

"It's been about six days since we were in Inverness, we're onboard the Javelin right now. We tried our best to treat your wounds, if it wasn't for you girls and your crazy biology, I dread to think what would have happened."

"Six days eh?" she rolled her head back and looked at the celling. "Would have thought that resting for a hundred years would be enough."

A look of curiosity grew on her face as she wiggled slightly. "This feeling... am I... not wearing any clothes?"

"Ah well." I scratched the back of my head, the feeling of embarrassment slowly eclipsing the joyful elation of seeing her awake. "They were torn to shreds, and we had to get at your wounds. Hood's trying her hardest to re-stich what she can."

Warspites face turned slightly red. "D-did you see?"

Now it was my turn to feel my face heat up. While I had been too preoccupied when she was first injured, I always felt a twinge of guilt whenever I had to change her bandages. And then there was the time Elizabeth had washed her, the sight of how the water made her fair skin shine in the light had burned itself into my memory, and was now once again at the forefront of my mind.

I coughed, trying my hardest to brush away the memory. "I'm sorry, we only removed what we needed. If there had been any other way we would have taken it."

"it's fine. You did what was required. I'm sure that if the roles had been reversed than I would have, done th- well, you know." The air in the room became awkward as I felt her eyes upon me.

My mind raced as I tried to find something to change the subject. "Ah, Elizabeth!" I practically shouted. "I'll go get her."

"Nay." She slightly raised her uninjured hand to stop me. "While I wish more than anything to see my sister again, I believe there are some pressing subjects that must be addressed first."

She nodded towards the glass of water and remaining half of the sandwich. "May you? My thirst and hunger are overbearing."

I understood what she was suggesting and picked up the water, carefully holding the glass I put it against her lips and tilted it. She drunk the entire glass. Then I did the same with the sandwich, she took large bites, a look of satisfaction came over her as she chewed.

Swallowing she let out a sigh. "I may not know what sex feels like, but this has to be close, I didn't know what true hunger was until now." with a new energy she sat up slightly, holding the blanket to ensure it didn't slide down. "Anyway, first of all you said you had to tend to my wounds. What's the damage report look like?"

"Well, where to start." I scratched my chin. "Your right arm was broken, along with a deep wound in the shoulder. The armour plate you wear was bent and stabbed into your chest." She looked shocked and put a hand on her chest. "Don't worry their fine. It was on the side of your chest. But you may have some cracked or even broken ribs."

"You probably also have a broken leg from where that siren grabbed you, it's was rather swollen. Apart from that you have a bunch of cuts and bruises all over. They seem to have healed a fair amount but try not to move too much." I was thankful that none of the injuries looked like they were going to cause permanent damage, it would be a sin for a body as nice as hers to be scarred.

I mentally kicked myself for letting my thoughts wander again. "However, we don't have the right equipment and I only have the most basic medical training. So, there might be some internal injuries we don't know about."

"Well my teeth feel a bit loose and my jaw aches, but hey at least I didn't break a nail heh." She winced again. "Ah, hurts to laugh."

"What about your ship? How does it fair."

"Badly, you wouldn't happen to have a spare dry dock knocking around that I can rest in for a few months?" She sighed. "My B turret is practically destroyed, I had to flood my forward magazine to stop the fire reaching the cordite, so that's going to take some drying out. There's a rather large hole below the waterline that needs patching. Most of my boilers are broken along with my fire control, radar and rangefinders. And it wouldn't surprise me if my steering is jammed again."

"Oh." I felt down. I knew how much the ships meant to the girls. Javelin nearly started crying yesterday when she accidentally broke a pipe.

Warspite however, didn't seem to overly care. "Don't worry about it. I'm designed to take a pounding, and I've taken far worse damage before.

"Yeah, and that's something I've been wanting to ask you about." I had refrained from mentioning to the other girls about how I had never even heard about the humanoid sirens, or about how history had been manipulated.

She hummed and thought for a second. "Tell me. What do you know about the early to mid-twentieth century?"

"Not much is known about then, just that the sirens appeared around half way through and destroyed everything."

"Figured as much." Warspite sighed as she looked down. "You know. When Elizabeth and I first came upon a human port we had figured it had been nigh but a few years since we last sailed, for everything was practically the same. It was a shock to find out an entire century had passed."

"At the turn of the last century the continent and eventually the world was consumed by war. It was a long time coming, an arms race headed by the most powerful nations in the world had reached boiling point. I don't know much about the war on land but I know the death toll reached into the millions." A cold chill ran up my spine as she recounted the lost history. "We had declared war on Germany, the task of the royal navy was to blockade their ports and destroy their navy if they tried to make a run for it."

Warspite seemed to fidget slightly, whatever she was trying to recount was obviously making her uncomfortable. "By either order of the kaiser or because of their dwindling supplies, the High seas fleet slipped their moorings and tried to take us on. A mere ninety-nine ships versus our one hundred and fifty. It should have been a cakewalk." She sighed again. "Lack of training and cutting corners meant within minutes some of our strongest ships were consumed by fire. I was turning off from an attack when my bloody steering had to go and break. All the ships in range pounded me with everything they had, trying their hardest to secure another kill. But by focusing on me, other ships that were heavily damaged could slowly slip away into safety. By some miracle our fleet was eventually able to regroup and force them to retreat. I eventually limped back to port; my crew were hailed as heroes and I was considered to be an unsinkable ship."

My mind was racing at everything she had said. The entire history of the last century had been supressed, and it was all too clear by whom. "The sirens. When do they tie into all of this?"

"Those wenches." she coldly spoke. "Few months after the battle I, along with a few other ships was on a post-repair shakedown. There had been reports of convoys vanishing into thin air, it was originally thought to be just submarines, but ships were disappearing far from what we believed to be the subs maximum range so we were sent to investigate."

"Dreadnought..." Her voice cracked slightly as she spoke the name. "Dreadnought was the flagship of our ad hoc fleet. That girl was a legendary one. Barring my sisters, there is no ship I wish has been granted a body of her own more than that ship."

"We were deep within the Atlantic, following the route of a missing convoy. Spotting a large smoke cloud, we entered battle formation and sailed towards it." A tear rolled down her face. "Two small ships, no larger than a destroyer were hiding among the wreckage and before we knew it three of our ships were hit perfectly in the magazine. Returning fire proved useless against their shields. Our formation had consisted of twenty ships, but after a mere five minutes only four of us remained. By pure luck one of my salvos seemed to pierce the shield and scored the first kill of one of those dammed machines. Any celebration was short lived as the deck of my stern up to my rear funnel was destroyed by a single hit from the second."

I put a hand on Warspites good shoulder. While she wasn't crying, tears continued to appear whenever she blinked. "While most of what I can recall from then is fuzzy, every feeling of hopelessness my crew felt as a seemingly inevitable death approached is there, perfectly clear." I remembered the feeling I had when I spotted the siren ships approaching the Endeavour. Warspite could feel the same hopelessness from her crew of hundreds of men. I wanted nothing more than to be able to take the pain away from her. "Out of the fire came Dreadnought, her horns blaring a challenge to the gods. Ramming the siren at well over her maximum speed, consuming both the siren and her in a fireball."

"We looked tirelessly for survivors but were unable to recover any. The three other ships and I made our way home to deliver our report. I was once again adorned with honours for my kill while the world scrambled to figure out who these new ships belonged to."

"I don't understand, why would the sirens want to hide the fact that the world was at war when they turned up?" I had been curious about everything when I was young. It was always odd how there was very few sources of information regarding their appearance. "I'm guessing it wasn't long until we had lost the sea."

She shook her head. "Far from it. After that battle ports of every nation started to be attacked. It became so desperate an armistice was signed. Being held accountable for the wars escalation the German empire was completely disarmed. Barring them, every major nation on earth banded together to combat this foe, but after a few years they just vanished as suddenly as they had appeared." Coughing slightly, she pointed towards the jug of water. "Could you pour me another?"

After having another glass, she continued. "Suddenly everyone had a bunch of weapons and nobody to use them against. Old grudges started to come forth and it was feared the world would once again descend into madness. Treaties that massively reduced naval power were quickly signed to try and combat this, it looked to work but only for a while."

"Twenty years after the sirens had vanished, they appeared again, this time in far greater numbers and now the humanoid sirens showed themselves. An alliance was called for again but tensions between nations had been at a boiling point, it didn't take long for the sirens to make quick work of everything, I fought in countless battles, but eventually even I was sunk. I don't know what happened after."

With her story seemingly done she laid her head back down. Figuring that she would have the same reaction as her sister I gently gave her a pat on the head. "Don't blame yourself. I'm sure your crew did everything they could."

Warspite smiled slightly as she enjoyed the headpat. "Now I see why Javelin enjoys these." She sighed again. "It's not that I blame myself, I just realise how hopeless the fight was. Seeing that siren disguise herself as a human probably meant they were doing the same back then, it would make sense why polices and treaties were signed that actively weakened us. And that everything we did was forgotten."

"Well, maybe one of the reasons you were given this body was to retell their story. And this time we will be strong enough to fight back."

"Yeah." She still sounded down. "Oh! What of that girl we recovered? I do hope she is ok. And I can't feel the ship moving, nor can I hear the usual rumblings of a port, where are we?"

I realised I hadn't mentioned Z23 yet. "Oh yeah sorry. I forgot to mention, where currently at Scapa flow, we needed somewhere safe where you could recover and Hood mentioned this place. As for the girl, she woke up a few days ago. Her name is Z23 and she's a destroyer."

Warspite laughed again, I saw her wince at the pain from doing so. "Figures I would nearly be sunk saving an Iron blood. But I don't regret it, the screams I heard, whatever they were doing to her, I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy. But Scapa flow... Never thought I would be here again, how is she and that submarine taking being here."

"There both doing well. U-556 has decided to join the fleet. As for Z23, she and Javelin have become inseparable. They both seem a bit down being here but I haven't had the heart to ask them why."

"One of the conditions of the armistice was the German fleet had to surrender themselves over to us. The reason being that if the royal navy was out hunting the new foe, we wouldn't want them to stab us in the back. Their entire fleet was moored here awaiting transference, German pride being what it is, they decided to scuttle their entire fleet. It's obvious now that the sirens probably had a part to play in all that."

It was clear now why They were acting odd, all around them were sunken hulls of their predecessors. I had effectively brought them to a mass grave. It may also be the reason why I keep having strange feelings.

I noticed that a cut on the side of Warspites face had disappeared since she woke, the food and water had probably given her body the energy to continue healing. "Well with you up again we can get out of here soon."

"Good stuff." Warspite nodded and gave me a smile. "I think it's time to break the good news to my sister, would you be so kind as to fetch her for me."

"Will do, just wait here."

I started to walk out of the sick bay as she jokingly called out. "Well, I was planning on going for a run, but I guess I will just have to lay here." I laughed to myself as I walked down the corridor. There still was a bunch of questions I wanted to ask, but we could get to them in due time. I found myself looking forward to seeing Elizabeth's reaction. I was curious if she would use her noble act towards me Infront of Warspite or would be more casual when it was just us three.

"Your majesty." I lightly called out as I walked into her cabin. It was a full moon so the room was bathed in a soft blue light, that along with the light from the corridor made it easy for me to make my way over to the bed.

I kneeled down beside the bed and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Elizabeth." I slowly rocked her, trying my hardest not to suddenly wake her.

Her eyes slowly opened. "Mmm, James? I was just." She noticed it was still night. "To seek me out in the middle of the night. I don't think my heart is ready, but..." She held her breath seemingly in anticipation of what was to come.

My tired brain didn't fully comprehend what she was saying, so I figured she was still half asleep. "Warspite is awake."

"Oh." She sounded disappointed as her body relaxed, only for her to suddenly sit straight up. "Oh!" In a flash she had already jumped out of bed and was running down to the sick bay. Her shoes and gloves still in a neat pile beside her bed.

Deciding to leave the two sisters to their reunion, I made my way over to Hoods room to tell her there was no need for a watch anymore. As I went to the door, I decided that this time I wouldn't lean so close when I woke her.

"Ah James, and for what do owe for the pleasure of seeing you at this fine hour." Hoods voice softly spoke out as I opened the door, the room was still lit, a board had been placed over the window to prevent any light from shining out. Hood Was sitting on a chair, Warspite's clothes in one hand and a needle in another. Her hair was undone and spilled down her shoulders like a blonde waterfall. Even in a casual setting she still radiated beauty and elegance.

Hood tilted her head, I realised I was staring. "Ah, right. Warspite has woken up so there will be no need for you to be on watch."

"That's wonderful news." She gave a warm smile. "I'm guessing that was her majesty who's rushed footsteps passed by my door moments ago, this news is surely to uplift her mood. I will have to redouble my efforts in repairing her outfit. Is there anything else you require of me?"

"No that was it. Have a good night, Hood."

She looked towards a book that was resting on her bedside table, I had spotted her reading it a few times now. When I asked, she said it was the one from the university, she had it on her when the Warspite had opened fire. She looked as if she wanted to say something before letting out a sigh. "And may you have a good night also." with that I smiled and left Hood to her work.

I checked U-556's room and discovered it to be empty, I guessed she had found somewhere else to sleep tonight. Without Javelin to tell me, the small dark corners she like to nap in are nigh impossible to find.

Finally, I slightly opened the door to Javelin's room and listened. After hearing the girls soft breathing, I begun to make my way back down to the sick bay, swinging by the canteen to pick up some food first.

The sight was exactly how I expected it to be. Elizabeth had buried her face in the blanket with both hands wrapped around her sister and was crying her eyes out, Warspite was trying her hardest to return the hug with one hand. Despite all the horrors and hardships I had witnessed, this sight alone made it all worth it.

I walked over to the bed, Warspite had seen me the moment I entered the room and had given me a smile. It wasn't until I stood beside her that Elizabeth noticed.

She stood and wiped away the tears before pulling me into a hug. "I can't thank you enough for bringing my sister back to me."

I returned the hug. "I didn't really do much."

"Nay," said Warspite. "Had it not been for you taking up my sword and attacking that siren, I certainly wouldn't be here."

This new information made Elizabeth tighten her grip on me. "Whatever it is you desire. I shall see to it, just give me the word."

A smile crept across Warspites face. "Oh? What's this. First my sister talking normally and now offering an open boon. What have I missed these last few days."

That seemed to bring Elizabeth back to reality. Quickly breaking the hug and trying to hide the blush on her face. "N-nothing transpired between us while thy slept. One was just wishing to repay him for his services to the crown. Thy are one's sister and thus a member of the royal court." She had returned to her royal way of speaking, interesting.

"Don't worry about boon's, I only did what anyone would have done. I just came down to drop off some food for you girls before I turned in for the night. Your majesty, try to get some sleep tonight. Tomorrow we'll have a discussion about our next move so make sure your rested up. And Warspite, try not to move too much until we can have another look at your wounds, we wouldn't want anything to reopen now." Placing the plate of food on the table I started to leave, it probably wasn't the best idea to give food to Warspite after going over six days without eating, but her biology would probably be able to take it.

I was walking down a corridor when I heard Elizabeth say "wait." behind me. She walked over to me.

We were completely out of sight of the sick bay. "Oh, why do you have to be so tall." She put her hands on my shoulders and pulled me down into a kiss. Her movement hadn't been as rapid as when Javelin had first done it, giving me a second to realise what she was doing, giving me time to put my hands behind Elizabeth and pull her the rest of the way.

Her lips were soft and small, I figured I would just ask for a reason why she wanted a kiss after we were done so I just enjoyed it. After a few seconds she pulled back with a rather satisfied smile on her face. "What about your image?" I asked.

"My sister means more to me than my image. And I figured that could be your reward." She took my hand. "I know I have already said this, but I will reaffirm that the Dreadnought, Queen Elizabeth will sail under your banner, serving within your fleet however you see fit." The grip tightened slightly. "Though I will warn you now, if you speak of this to anyone, I will have your head."

After threatening me she simply let go and returned to her sister. I looked over at an internal window where I could see my reflection slightly. The sailor in me came out as I grinned. "Yeah, I've still got it."

(A/N)

Well that was defiantly a fast turnaround. I had a ton of free time this week and along with this chapter mostly being about the worlds history, which I had already planed out.

There also might be something coming down the pipe involving this story that I'm working with someone on. I won't say too much as its still in its early stages, but it was what motivated me to get this chapter out.

As I always say, thanks for reading and any feedback is more than welcome.