"The world was shattered by the constant war Humanity had with a mysterious race named the Sirens, due to their origin being traced back from arriving from the sea. Economies crashed; Countries collapsed, life was miserable, and riots were the new routine throughout cities. Countless lives perished fighting the Sirens with naught results- hope was completely lost. As the Sirens were on Humanity's Doorstep, Humanity gave into the sickening thought of being dominated once and for all. But then, a visage of hope appeared to the Humans as they were just facing extinction...the Wisdom Cube had appeared in the confines of a highly decorated laboratory. To this day, Humanity still doesn't know where it came from, but what they did know was that it held potential. Potential beyond their belief."

"The nations that manage to preserve through the grueling war began to make copies of the Original, then they made copies of those copies, and it all began to seem like an uphill from then on. A new technology-boom bloomed in the midst of their suffering: a Digital and Industrial revolution of which the world has never seen before. Most importantly, new weapons and theories were created by incorporating the data they gathered from the Original Cube, and those they copied from it. Eventually, whatever remaining Warships they had, preferably old ones, also began to feel the effects of its arrival. Kansen, as they are called, were born from merging a Cube and a Warship. Fueled by the thoughts of Humanity, be it Somberness; Joyfulness; or Hostility, they manifested to bear the size and appearance of women and female children, yet carried the equipment of a fully-loaded warship on their person. Their invention- no, their gift was revolutionary."

"Humans were now winning against the Sirens. All lead by a single fearsome Commander, they swept through the seas destroying every single Siren they found, a feat never thought possible. Due to world-wide communications being suppressed by the Sirens, it took some time, but when the rest of Humanity got wind of their repeated victories, victories since a decade ago...Humanity was ecstatic."

"Finally, the Sirens, having been backed up into a corner, launched their final, desperate, and messy counter-attack. As it's called now, the 5 Hour War formally took place on the East Coast of the Eagle Union, and officially marked the turning point in the Human-Siren war. The Sirens, once the predators pushing extinction, were now facing possible extinction themselves...that was until he showed up."

"Regardless of that, this...Original Wisdom Cube, what it had done for Humanity, how it pulled them through the darkest of times- it is the sole item that prevented their very extinction. Though, what wasn't foreseen were the various issues brought forth. Certain copies of the Original began to harbor the same data it carried. Issues arose within those Kansen and Warship that housed these Cubes, and were promptly disposed of before they could cause issues...except for few who had escaped the tests."

"Their Power was unchecked and for that, even I fear them."

Time had rapidly slowed to a stop.

Before he knew it, the Commander was on his back and was gazing wide-eyed at the greyed out sky. His shallow breaths now being the only noise; he was reminded of the fear he unwittingly felt as the Battleship was consumed by a bright flash of blue. "What the shit?" He suddenly shot up to see what had happened only to be met with a confusing image.

The Battleship and the bright light that came with it vanished.

"Ohhh, man…" He moaned as he lay back down, massaging his temples, getting his breath back. "This is so crazy. All of this is crazy." He whispered quietly while trying to relax his beating heart, as the past 20 minutes were finally start set it in. He popped his knuckles as he focused his thoughts, as they slowly began to branch out too much more serious matters, at least to distract him for the meantime. "My commander is that you? Why did you betray us?" He repeated in a whisper while slowly standing up and looking around. "Why did you betray us...betray...us?" He repeated again, sounding like a broken record, as he narrowed down the words to those last two.

I need to figure this out, fast. Deciding that staying quiet wasn't going to help much longer, he pointed his confusion to a being of an even higher power.

"Hey! I know you're the one who did this, what's going on, man!?" He suddenly shouted into the air, referring to the frozen world. Though, when the Voice didn't respond after a minute, he threw his hands up in exasperation with a curse.

He began to assess his surroundings. He first looked at Observer who was initially turned in his direction and appeared to be throwing her hands up, her right leg lifted ever so slightly in the middle of a jump. Her face was caught in the middle of a yell, and he quickly took note of all the couple dozen tentacles emerging from who-knows-where, but they did appear to be surrounding him halfway. Was she going to shield me? But...from what? As far as he knew, the Battleship didn't blow up or anything. He passed it off as a precaution.

He walked towards Observer and inspected her face. It was creepy to do so, to say the least. He quickly shook his head before heading towards the edge of the Kraken's head and noticed the Sirens below were turned away from the flash, or from when it actually happened.

Tester was in the middle of a jump that seemed to be pointed at the Kraken, her arms planted back into her rigging that seemed to allow her to fly. Arbiter actually didn't seem to care about the flash as she simply had her arms crossed, and an annoyed look on her face.

Dreamweaver was the most simple out of them all. She turned around, again, with a disinterested look.

"Where's...Purifier?" He pondered as last he remembered, she was with him and Observer before the flash took place. He quickly looked around and tried to find the peculiar Siren, before landing his eyes on Observer once more. He tilted his head, leaned to the side, and with a laugh, he noticed that Purifier was actually hugging Observer from around her waist, planting her head so firmly against her back it was enough for him to not notice her the first time around. She was also caught in the middle of a scream, funnily enough. Strong-faced in front of Alty...yet afraid of some light…?

He looked around the Kraken before humming in thought. "Can I get down from this thing?" He pondered randomly as he approached the edge of the Kraken and noticed the drop. A good 20 feet. "That's gonna hurt," He said without a doubt. "Should I still try it though? I dunno what I'm going to do...though…?" His attention was slowly drawn to the sides as, in a message, the tentacles that were going to shield him, slowly began to shift themselves in front of him, forming a set of stairs. Be it they looked shoddy and constructed by someone who doesn't even know what stairs are.

"Um." The Commander didn't know what to make of it, except for one thing. He looked into the sky with a narrowed look. You want to show me something, don't you? Using these tentacles. He smiled smugly in thought.

"Alright. I'll play your game then," He said, before beginning to walk down the stairs as it was being made.

While he did so, he looked at Observer's Kraken in genuine interest, noticing the many cracks and chipped skin it had throughout, what he presumed, it's body. Is this thing organic or a really convincing robot? Though, he put it aside as he neared sea-level, giving it his attention, before rolling his eyes. You'd think the water would be flatter than this but apparently, no. He grumbled in his head as he reached the last step and noticed the rough waves that were kicked up before the time-freeze.

He crouched down, tapped the water, and to his delight- he felt a calming sensation. A memory then arose; an analogy of sorts came forth.

"It feels like jello!" He chuckled slightly as he put his whole hand in and move it around, basking in its comfort. Realizing he was acting like a child, he looked around before clearing his throat and standing up properly. A motion to his left caught his attention as he watched a tentacle rise from the sea before pointing forward, at the scene of the once bright, now seemingly missing, Battleship.

He made an audible noise of confusion at its voiceless instructions. "You want me to go to where the ship was?" He asked with bewilderment. "It's gone. What the hell am I going to do over there? I probably won't even make it there..." But the tentacle made no move to respond and only kept pointing in the same direction.

"A gift...awaits you."

His eyes widened as he heard a disembodied voice whisper in his ear, the Voice finally making its presence known. At first, he was surprised, but then his suspicion set in. A gift? He pondered skeptically. ...And for me?

He looked at the tentacle, then the water, then finally back up at the tentacle. Also, when did you sound more female than either two genders? He was reminded of how it sounded as if it were both female and male. But his attention would be drawn back, as it seemed to sense his hesitation, slightly reeling back itself before jabbing forward once more, beckoning him to go. That's not very reassuring...He pointed out in his head. "What kind of gift?" He asked slowly. But a minute passed before the Commander slowly lost hope in getting a response. He rubbed his cheek in slight frustration before looking down. He took a deep breath before committing.

He then very slowly put his foot on the water's surface, and awaited with bated breath, expecting it to go through. But, once again, to his delight, the water didn't budge and actually carried his weight like a normal surface. Putting another foot on the surface, he started walking forth and stumbled around looking like a toddler who barely learned to walk.

He eventually turned back to the Kraken with a wobble, before turning to the tentacle. "Uh, thanks, Mister Tentacle." He thanked the appendage. It waved before retracting back into the sea. He looked around before nodding. "Alright. Let's go." He said, determined to see what he was being led to.

He began to walk forward slowly, still fearing that the surface would somehow give way, almost losing his balance due to that fear. Eventually, he quickly lost that hesitation and fear and began to walk normally. Now in the middle of the Sirens gathered around, he walked around them all and inspected their gear whilst in their frozen state. To a normal person, it would seem like a nightmare but to him, It almost seemed like a museum. At least I know they won't know I'm looking at them like this, he thought thankfully, before pausing, knowing he was just lying to himself. Nevermind, actually. I think they'll like the extra attention. He shrugged before looking at them more.

"...Shit." He exhaled as he looked over them for the 3rd time. "You guys are so fucking badass," he genuinely put out as he looked over them all in greater detail. He paused. "And they're all under my command…" He whispered as the scenario he was thrown into began to settle into his mindset.

Before he could get too far deep into that thought, a tentacle rose out of the sea next to him. He flinched back at the sudden appearance, but when it pointed in the direction he needed to go, he sighed in annoyance. "I'm on my way. Chill out," he reassured. The tentacle retracted soon after his statement, leaving him alone again. As he mutely looked around his surroundings, he shivered slightly as a breeze began to pick up. That's strange…He shook his head before starting on the path he needed to go.

The journey to where he was being led to was, to say the very least, not very easy. Going up and down waves that appeared like hills, he even had to sometimes go around a certain wave due to its sheer height. Eventually, after 20 minutes, he went around a large wave and came out on top of it. This is where he promptly sat down; the fear of completely breaking through the water gone and replaced by a normal thought process: getting what needed to get done, as normal as you can get in this scenario. Although, by then, his breathing was labored, his body tired from having to practically climb some waves to travel any sort of distance.

And he still didn't know what he was trying to achieve.

He looked up at the distance he put between him and his Sirens before he finally understood how far the Battleship was.

"It's pretty fucking far," he concluded. "Was it really this far?" He coughed ruggedly before his stomach churned hard. The cold feeling he had only grew as rubbed his stomach in mild worriedness. The hell am I going to eat?

Since it was so quiet, aside from his own steady breathes, a sudden splash to his side almost sent him into the air from surprise. He calmed down, if only slightly, as he realized it was just a tentacle, and if he had to guess, the same one from earlier encounters.

"You thing…" He said in a whisper as he watched it point in the same direction he was heading, it almost seemed to bounce in place from excitement. Though it was good knowing that he was on the right path. "Yeah, Yeah. I'm going, just give me a minute," he reassured while waving his hand around. It quickly disappeared into the depths of the water, seeming to be satisfied with its check-up. Why isn't the Voice talking with me though? He pondered more seriously as he glanced at the sky. He shook his head in dismissal as he started his journey once more.

Eventually, 20 more grueling minutes would pass.

"This feels really weird," he whispered as he kept walking. I know it wasn't this far from that ship, he recounted with suspicion. But it wouldn't be another minute before he exhaled sharply, and began walking much faster as he started to notice a circle-like formation on the water's surface, almost oval-shaped due to the ship's length. Then a glimmer of hope; a blue shine up ahead that gave off a brilliance was just in the middle of the downward slope. It seemed to get brighter, almost in response to him noticing its presence.

The excitement of finally getting to whatever he needed to be helped his lack of motivation as he laughed tiredly. He eventually started walking down the minor slope that encircled around a certain spot in the sea, signifying that he was where the Battleship once was.

Though, as he got closer to the middle, he narrowed his eyes in confusion, as what he expected to see was not what he even assumed to be.

"Is that…" He got closer. "A…" He got even closer. "...Black-Purple-ish?…" He squinted his eyes and got even closer. "...Wisdom Cube?" He tilted his head as he was eventually standing over what he presumed was a Wisdom Cube.

Instead of its normal blue-baby blue shine, it had a much deeper darker tone to it. They don't usually look that right...do they?

"Oh wait...is this the Battleships' Wisdom Cube? Aw fuck, haha." He facepalmed and laughed at himself for not realizing it earlier, before picking it up with two hands. His eyes widened slightly. "Wait. That's even more confusing. Why does it have this type of Cube, then?" His confusion kept rising. He shuddered heavily at its icy-cold feeling and dangerous aura. Something told him to drop it, but he shook his head and narrowed his eyes again.

He inspected the Cube further, feeling around it, as his mind became cloudy overtime. It feels weird holding it. In my hands is what I know to be the very foundation for why these ships and Kansen exist...and why this war even keeps ongoing. But why does this Cube look different from all the other ones? I thought only Observer can make these- He widened his eyes momentarily as he rubbed his finger over a noticeable crack on one of the faces of the Cube. He began to theorize in his head as he received flashbacks to a certain in-game scene of Observer giving Bismarck a similar-looking cube. Remembering what happened to Bismarck as a direct result, he slightly outstretched the Cube away from himself. Then he quickly understood what this meant. Did Observer give...

He upturned his head, before lifting the Cube ever so slightly. "Is what you wanted to show me? Just a random Wisdom Cube?" He questioned the cold sky, but once again, he received no answer. The cold breeze that he only felt once and a while, now became more constant, enough to make him now worried. At the same time, the Cube in his hands vibrated and began to glow much more brightly.

Instead of getting that response he wanted, he noticed that he was getting shorter ever so slightly and that his feet were starting to feel wet. At first, he was confused, before his eyes widened as a pang of fear rang through him. I'm not getting shorter…time is just going back to normal! He realized as the water below him began to become less solid and more liquidy. He panicked slightly and looked around as the waves began to resume their crashing motions ever so faster.

"Shit, I gotta get back to the Sirens!" He exclaimed loudly, before quickly gaining an idea. I can't lose the Cube… he quickly took off his shirt, apologized to himself due to his sudden fondness of it, before wrapping it around the Cube and tying a knot. He held it by the knot and began to run up the incline, as the more time that passed, the more the water lost its solidity.

He was nowhere close to the Sirens as he was eventually waist-deep in the water, and by then, the water was just that: water. He tried to float but due to carrying the Cube, he struggled somewhat...immensely. It didn't help either that it weighed a good 20 pounds. And no, he didn't want to let it go.

"Shit! C'mon!" He yelled in frustration as he kicked his legs furiously and tried to hold onto the Cube at the same time, but his attempts were in vain as the water was threatening to enter his mouth, while it rocked his body mercilessly. I can't...I can't just leave it either! He thought with determination, compelled, to bring back the Cube. He gasped as a shadow in front of him made him turn around with wide eyes before a wave has crashed into him, giving him no chance of getting out of the way. But because time was still slow, it held more time with him inside. He was now suffocating.

He thrashed around as his body sunk rapidly into the depths. His body was being deprived of its most important necessity. Trying to swim up was almost impossible, his untrained body and already present fatigue haunting him entirely. His grip on the uniform finally gave way as he slowly lost consciousness, water now entering his body. He ever so slowly floated down into the depths, his eyes half-open. That...was not how I wanted this life to go...

"My Commander. You came to rescue me and for that, I will rescue you too~. Now, no-one can bother us! Ahahah!"

A voice suddenly cackled throughout the depths as the Cube began to rumble violently, before shining brightly within its confines. It shot a bolt of dark lightning at him before he was suddenly dragged in its direction, its shine became blinding.

To the Commander, all he saw a blurry splotch of color before everything suddenly went dark.

Then he felt someone hold him tightly.

"Commander!" Observer finally finished her scream, her tentacles with their formation, and finally her jump. But then she hit nothing but the air then the surface. She blinked multiple times while on the floor, before looking around with wide eyes, as any trace of her Commander was long gone.

"He's not here," Observer whispered with wide eyes as she scanned the nearby area and only found faint traces of her Commander. Yet, the traces were all decaying at the same time, as if he had been in these areas but all at once. The dome protecting them quickly unraveled as Tester soon took her side before she looked around. "Where's-"

"He's not here," Observer repeated, this time in an empty voice, before feeling Purifier lay off her back. Observer's cold tone made her two guests look at each other in uneasiness.

"What do ya mean he's not here. Can't you just find him?" Purifier questioned slowly as she too looked around.

"He's not here! He's not in even this very dimension, goddammit!" Observer shouted angrily before standing up and facing the two with a scowl. Tester and Purifier both backed up as the anger Observer radiated was palpable, her very body aglow. "But he's not gone…" She said before getting on the edge of her Kraken, and looking forward as the other Sirens were recovering. His trace, albeit mind-boggling confusing, ended in one point. Somewhere deep in the ocean.

She slowly pointed at an almost random spot in the sea, and to everyone's eyes, she disappeared. A second later, a huge column of water was thrown into the air some distance away from them.

Meanwhile, Observer, who was running on her last reserves of power, dove quickly into the depths of the sea. I knew that Battleship was nothing but a future pain in our ass! I should've destroyed it when I had the chance! She said in her head, mentally beating herself up for not noticing the signs more quickly.

Her eyes shone brightly as the rest of her body conveniently glowed in the dark. The further she swam, the darker it got, but eventually, she found what she was looking for. As if knowing it had been caught, the Cube pulsed, before it shot a bolt of lightning at her, before firing dozens of more after. She grinned widely before opening her arms wide open as dozens of portals spawned next to her, before each shot out a tentacle out towards the Cube, not arming them with any weapons to conserve her energy. You are going to lose no matter what! She screamed in her mind as she felt her Commander just in front of her, despite the Cube being a good half-mile away. You'll give him back no matter what!

Her tentacles soon intercepted the bolts shot at her, each coloring the darkness in glorious yellow and purple explosions that destroyed both the tentacles and lightning. Though, the Cube would furthermore display its capability by firing even more bolts of lightning at her, at a much more rapid pace. Observer began to shake slightly, yellow blood beginning to seep out her nose, as she spawned more portals, the strain she's putting on her body finally taking its toll. Damn this body and mere Copy! More, More! She demanded mentally as eventually, 50 portals spawned behind her, each shooting a tentacle out, some armed with lasers to further increase their chances of survival, going against her own code of conservation.

"You're hurting me...Observer"

Observer froze up, and so did her tentacles, as she heard her Commanders voice full of hurt in her ears. But her eyes went wide, as she gazed upon a bolt mere feet from her body. Her tentacles would be too slow, and so would her reflexes. She closed her eyes and braced herself, for she herself knew she had been tricked.

Explosions dotted the depths, their tremors even being felt on the surface, it almost seemed like a surface fleet battle but underwater. The rest of the Sirens, now being led by Arbiter and Tester, looked at the rest of the Sirens. "We need to help!" Shouted Arbiter.

"For our Commander and Future depends on it!" Tester followed up. We're fighting one in its prime body, nonetheless an awakened one. But this is the only chance we'll get at beating one without its support! She nodded to Arbiter and she nodded back. At once, the whole Siren Fleet dived into the water and raced towards Observer's location.

But Observer would be saved by a Destroyer-Class Siren who pushed her out of the way...and took the bolt for herself, her body being destroyed instantly. Observer gasped, before looking up and watched as her allies began firing at the Cube, diverging it's attention away. The Cube, now being fought from multiple angles, strained itself to keep the Sirens away, firing bolt after bolt of lightning as it began to throw itself around violently.

Observer steeled herself as her portals began opening themselves again, her Kraken finally reaching and positioning itself behind her. Dreamweaver, someone Observer hardly talked to, took her side, and looked at Observer. She returned the gaze and instead of seeing a disinterested and bored expression, Dreamweaver now had a narrowed and focused gaze. They nodded at each other, before Dreamweaver shot off somewhere else, the plan set in both of their minds. Now they just needed to execute it. Observer threw her hand forward and all her tentacles raced towards the Cube. Deciding that getting shot was a better option, the Cube focused all of its attention on Observer once more.

She cackled wildly at its choice. You fell for it! She yelled as she watched Dreamweaver come up behind it, quickly opening her arms as a large aquamarine-colored Jellyfish spawned in front of her, it's bright blue shine drowning out the Cube's shine. it's stingers quickly latched onto the Cube before the rest of its body enveloped it entirely, before quickly squeezing down hard on it from all angles. The Cube began to panic, and not knowing where it's enemy was, began to fire it's bolts everywhere. Though, it wouldn't be of use as the Jellyfish absorbed the blows converted it into its own strength.

Knowing it was losing, the Cube used one last-ditch effort to save itself. "It...hurts…" Dreamweaver heard a man protest in pain, and it made her pause. "Stop...Lyn." The voice cracked and she instantly ordered her summon to squeeze down even harder. How dare you imitate our Commander…and use his memories! This time, instead of her Commander, she heard a woman scream loudly. Her shrill shriek carried it's weight under the water clearly and traveled for a great distance. If Dreamweaver hadn't heard worse, it would've haunted her. Her jellyfish doubled down for the final time as the whole Siren Fleet heard a loud crack boom throughout the depths. The scream abruptly ended just as Observer just reached their position. The Sirens held their breath as it wasn't over just yet, not until they saw him again. Dreamweaver looked at Observer, and nodded, before ordering her Jellyfish to back off.

As it began to unravel itself, the Jellyfish revealed what the Sirens were looking for- what Observer had found, lost, and found once more. The Sirens cheered in the background as Observer swam forth, pushed the dying shards of the Cube away, before wrapping her arms around the Commander, who was missing his coat. He hovered idly, his eyes closed, he almost seemed lifeless. But she noticed his chest rise and fall, yet no water entered his mouth. She grinned widely with pride as she felt a pulse within his body.

"You've become one with the ocean, Commander," Observer whispered in his ear, bubbles coming out from her mouth. "Don't worry. You're going to be safe," she promised before looking at Dreamweaver. "Order the others for the mass retrieval of the other Cubes. Bring them straight to me. We're..." She paused, before looking up, and noticing through the surface that sunset was imminent, before looking down. The darkness, though eerie to Humanity, was home to the Sirens. Observer looked at Dreamweaver as her decision was final.

"We're reactivating Agartha."

Fin.

A/N: This was supposed to come out sooner but I had an inner conflict. Mainly because this chapter had 3 variations, and well, this one came out on top.

Now, we're going to be leaving the surface for a bit and journey somewhere else, somewhere deeper.

Anyways, the ending bit of this chapter was the most fun to make, especially if you picture a bunch of lasers, explosions, and lightning bolts dotting somewhere underwater. My Analogy was that it kinda looked like a laser-show type of rave.

Alright! Last message for now. I would like to thank those who are interested in this fic as it is gaining attention beyond my expectations. Maybe it won't be so much for you but to me, it's a lot. My gratitude is immense and for that, I will be focusing on this more than usual.

I hope you enjoyed the Chapter!

'Til next time!