As much as Alice found it comforting to be in a room with someone that was not as drop dead gorgeous as the many women she had spoken to, she could tell from her companion's expression that he was not as happy as he was.
Perhaps that stemmed from his military background. From his posture and haircut, she could tell that he used to be in the military or still was.
There were too many questions swirling around her mind right now.
"The most important thing you need to know," he said, breaking the silence of the interrogation room. "is that you're not on Earth. This is a world that bears some resemblance to ours in terms of the flora and fauna, but has significantly less landmass than Earth and has more water."
"Ok," she nodded, listening. This was an admittedly jarring thing to say so casually, but she took it in her stride. If she were to burst out now, it would only cause trouble for her.
"Since you're a civilian, we can't involve you in any of the other activities," he continued, seemingly deep in thought.
"Where did you say you're from again?"
"Long Island," she replied "I know that this is a military base of some kind. Maybe I can help."
"No there's no need for that," he said, getting up "we've already got a system in place. You're free to tour the base within reason of course. One of my comrades will give you a schedule of when we serve breakfast, lunch and dinner."
With that, he left the room and was greeted by Enterprise, Belfast and Yorktown.
"Well?" asked Yorktown, voicing the question on everyone's mind "is she a Siren?"
"No," he said, "she knows too much about my world for starters."
"But you don't sound convinced," said Belfast.
"Because there's always the possibility that the knowledge she has from my world could have been implanted into her mind," he added "but if that's true, then it only raises more questions than answers."
All he knew about the Sirens was that they were an alien race that came to this world years ago, were defeated and had returned once again to finish what they started. With the technological advancements they possessed, it wouldn't be far-fetched to assume they'd be capable of installing fake memories into some kind of new infiltration unit.
But if that were true, then the only way for them to do that is if they had an actual human being kept their prisoner. This begged the question of how did the Sirens get an otherworlder? Did they know about his world or was their knowledge limited to this reality?
And if none of that were true, if she were a normal human girl from Earth, what does that mean? Is she supposed to be the actual leader of the fleet? Did Hood make a mistake summoning him? How'd she even come to this world?
'Of all the times there had to be a curveball,' he thought, looking at Alice through the looking glass.
"Should we keep a patrol on her?" asked Enterprise.
"No," he replied "for now let's give her the benefit of the doubt. Keep a patrol on her, but don't make it too obvious. Let her do what she wants but keep her away from anywhere important."
"Important?"
"She isn't allowed near our research facility where Akashi, Purin and Buri are, she's definitely not allowed near the main building and she's not allowed near Yorktown's class."
"Why Yorktown's Class?" asked Enterprise, only to get an accusatory nudge from her sister.
"Now if you'll excuse me," he said, heading to another door "I'm going to do the impossible."
The trio watched him leave, all of them wondering if he could indeed do the impossible.
Revive the Azur Lane.
Despite his best efforts at keeping a lid on the wisdom cubes, the high-ranking members of the fleet i.e, Enterprise, Wales, Illustrious, Eugen, Belfast, Yorktown, Hornet, Z23, Friedrich, Saint Louis and Akagi all found out. Since his last interaction with the otherwise unknown material resulted in the return of many of his high-ranking fleet members, the group was eager to see if he could repeat his achievement once again.
"If he does do it though," said Friedrich, sipping a cup of coffee "what does that mean for his role as the leader of the fleet?"
"I wish I knew mother," said Z23, looking concerned.
"Odd," said her mother "I'd expect that you of all people would be happy for this to happen. You loved playing with Bismarck when you were little and I hear you were on good terms with Hood as well."
"Yeah, but…" said Z23, twirling the spoon in her coffee cup.
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"Psych yourself up dude," he said to himself "just visualize their images and the cubes will do the rest."
He had asked that no one else come into the warehouse while he did what he did. Although the group agreed to his request, a number of them had turned up and were standing outside the warehouse, eagerly awaiting the results.
All that he knew about the Wisdom Cubes were thus: they were a tool capable of transmitting his voice to 'the other side', a form of afterlife that existed in this world. How this resulted in the revival of the dead was something that the team working at the research lab could not explain, but the important part was this: if he concentrated on them hard enough, he could bring them back. He could bring all six of them back.
"Alright then," he declared to no one in particular "time for an encore ladies."
He pointed his right hand to the cubes, imagining the six members of the famous fleet. Now was the time to bring them back.
"Come on," he said, closing his eyes, expecting to be completely engulfed by a white light.
After a few minutes of there being no light, he opened his eyes and found that nothing happened. The cubes were still glowing, his hand was outstretched and there was no one else.
"Come on," he said, to the cubes and got nothing.
"Revive," he said, but was met with silence.
"Heroes never die," he said and still got nothing.
"Damn it," he shouted and stomped from side to side "there has to be something. Something I'm missing here."
"Think, what happened back then. You were fighting Hornet, Z23 was facing overwhelming odds, you were in dire straits."
Suddenly hit with an idea, he darted to the warehouse entrance, flung the door open and stopped when he saw Enterprise, Akagi and Belfast outside, looking like they got caught with their hand in the cookie jar.
"No time to argue," he said "Belfast, come inside."
"Wha-" but she was already being dragged in before she could say anything else.
"I want you to shoot me," he said, now that they were inside.
"Master, are you joking?" she asked, seriously wondering if he said what he said.
"No I'm not," he replied "I've been trying to make these cubes work but I've been getting nothing from them. I figured the best way to get a response is to recreate the scenario from the first time. And in that first time, I was being attacked by Hornet."
"Then why not ask her."
"She isn't here"
"Why ask me?"
"Because you're my maid. Maid's are supposed to listen to their master's, right?"
"When it comes to stupid things like letting them lie on your lap or feeding them their meals," said Belfast, sighing "no maid would ever do something this crazy."
"Then be the first."
"No."
"That tiara makes your face look fat."
"I will not," she said, her eye twitching angrily "succumb to these underhanded tactics."
"Fine, I'll go get Z23. She always loves to take potshots at me."
"Master it's not the situation that counts," said Belfast and he stopped "maybe it's you."
He didn't say anything to this. All he did was turn around.
"Are you," she said, looking worried "are you really trying to bring them back?"
"Of course I am, how could you even suggest I'd halfass this?"
"Because Commander," she said, "if they come back then you'd have to give up your position."
At this point in time, Both Akagi and Enterprise had snuck into the warehouse and were watching the conversation. As they watched, the two of them tried to recall the last time they saw the Commander looking so visibly angry.
"If you think," he said, his fist trembling "that my pride is more important than the lives of six women… then you don't know a damn thing about me."
"Master…"
"If them coming back means that I have to step down then I will gladly do that," he continued "and I don't give a damn if my pride takes a hit or two. The only thing…. THE ONLY THING that matters to me is ending this war and if that means bringing them back then I will gladly give up my position and pride to make that happen."
"And if you can't help then leave," he said, marching to the Wisdom Cubes.
Belfast watched silently as the Commander continued calling out to the six heroes, only to be met with silence. As much as it hurt her to get yelled at like that, this was a test she needed to know the answer to.
It was a growing concern that the high-rankers in the fleet had had. Should the process be successful, the Commander would have to step down and he might not agree with that. There was every possibility that he could try something to keep from losing his position.
Considering the amount of times he put his life during all the missions and his work in helping the fleets work together, suspecting him was nothing short of a slap to the face. But they needed to be certain.
The trio watched him yelling at the Wisdom Cubes in the hopes that something might happen, but there was nothing. As minutes turned to hours and time passed, the only thing that happened was his voice grew weaker and tired from shouting so much.
"Why," said Akagi, coming out of hiding.
"Akagi, what are…" he said.
"Why can't you bring them back?" she asked "why is it so hard for you to bring them back?"
"What's so different between Enterprise and Amagi that you'd have no trouble bringing one back but struggle to bring the other back?"
"Akagi," he said, reaching out to her but she took a step back.
"Why?" she said, now crying "do you hate me and Kaga? Do you enjoy seeing me suffer?"
"No, of course not."
"Then why can't you bring her back?" she shouted "why can't you bring back Amagi? Why can't you bring back my sister?"
As much as he wanted to answer her, he could not. He was trying his damnedest to figure out a solution but had nothing. He wanted to, he truly wanted to bring them back in the hopes that the six of them could lead this fleet to victory, yet for some reason, he struggled to make that goal a reality.
"Akagi," he said, but she shook her head.
"I… I have to go," she said, turning around and taking a few steps forward before running and leaving the room.
"You two should go as well," he said, referring to Enterprise and Belfast, who had witnessed the exchange.
"But.."
"Please go," he said, covering his eyes "or else I'll say something stupid that I can never take back."
The two nodded in understanding and quietly left the warehouse. This was to be a miraculous moment, something that would go down in history as a triumph of sorts.
Yet as he trudged towards the glowing cubes, there was no achievement or victory. There was no triumph, all he felt was a sinking feeling that he failed them. When push came to shove, he could not do the impossible.
Sitting down, he tilted his head back and let out an exasperated sigh. He could understand why Akagi was mad at him. She may have said that she got over what happened, the possibility of seeing her sister again got her hopes up. She probably felt jealous whenever she saw the Yorktown trio hanging around, wanting to experience that same familial wholeness she had when she was young.
Because of that, he slowly crawled forward, put his hand on one of the cubes and quietly said "please, come back. This world still needs the six of you."
But no answer came.
Frustrated at this, he rose to his feet and kicked one of the cubes. Unfortunately for him, the material bounced off the wall and came back to him, hitting him in the face and knocking him out.
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The Commander let out an annoyed groan as he opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was a clear blue sky, which was markedly different from the warehouse he was in.
"Okay I definitely don't remember this," he said, getting up and seeing that he was in a field of different colored flowers.
Almost immediately he became concerned. Could getting hit in the head by that Wisdom Cube caused him to get teleported to another world?
"Oh god," he said, the color draining from his face. He looked from left to right, spotting three figures in the distance. Relieved that he was not alone, he ran towards them. As he grew closer, his eyes widened in surprise upon noticing one of the trio standing in the distance.
"Hood," he shouted and was greeted by her familiar, warm smile. He wanted to hug her right away, but quickly came to a halt.
"This is a dream, isn't it?" he said, looking at her.
"Yes," she replied "what gave it away?"
"Because three beautiful women saving my skinny butt at the last second is too much of an ask."
"That's a pretty bold thing to say," said the woman on Hood's left "you know who you're talking to?"
He turned to the blonde-haired woman, dressed in black and red. "You're Bismarck. Lion of the North and one of the strongest women of your generation."
"'One of the?'" she repeated.
"Because the only one to have ever matched you in combat is here too," he said, turning to the woman on Hood's right. She wore a light purple kimono with a belt on her waist, bearing a gold flower. Atop her kimono, she wore on a long red coat. He didn't even need to look twice to confirm who this woman was.
"Amagi, the Goddess of Victory," he said, addressing the woman.
"You know who I am otherworld?" she asked.
"Yes. I'd recognize that radiant smile anywhere. It's the same smile Akagi and Kaga have."
Then, he took a step back and to their surprise, he bowed deeply to them.
"You've all gone above and beyond the call of duty for your faction and for this world," he said, "the sacrifices you made allowed the next generation to live a long and peaceful life."
"But that peace has now ended," he said, rising up "the Sirens are back and fiercer than ever. Right now the world doesn't need a crippled, weak otherworlder like myself. They need the Azur Lane, so please come with me."
The initially hostile expression that Bismarck gave him had changed after hearing his words. She looked at him with a pained smile, unsure of what she wanted to say.
"First, let's have some tea," said Hood, gesturing to the white table with four seats conveniently behind her "you must be tired from all that shouting."
He didn't want to, but he nodded in agreement and took a seat at the table.
"Avrora, Atago and Jean Bart won't be coming," said Amagi "I hope you understand."
"Getting to the point," said Bismarck, while Hood gave everyone their cups of tea "I'm sorry Commander, but we cannot come with you."
"Why not?"
"Because we know that you'll protect this world in our stead," she replied "that is why you're called the Will of Azure."
"Yeah but the three of you would do a lot better at leading the fleet than I would," he said, voicing his objection.
"Everyone I've spoken to speaks highly of you. Everyone remembers the fall of Neon Gate, the battle of the Crimson Waterfall and the three-minute showdown."
"But more than that, there are people who love you and want you back. Akagi, Friedrich, Z23; you weren't just heroes to some of them. You're family…. And they need their family."
"He really is as kind as you said Hood," said Bismarck, turning to Hood, who chuckled a little "makes it almost impossible for us to deny a request as earnest as that."
"The thing about history Commander," continued Bismarck "is that it tends to glorify or romanticize the past and leave out certain important details."
"The battles you spoke of," said Amagi "you talk about them like they were these triumphs of justice in the face of tyranny, a victory of good versus evil; yet the truth is vastly different. History often forgets the blood spilt and the lives lost in service of those victories."
There was a dark truth behind Amagi's words. Just like in this world, a lot of human history is often romanticized and made poetic, often leaving out the darker, gorier details. There are many battles in human history that saw a tremendous loss of life but these battles were used as an example of human triumph in the spirit of adversity, when it was anything but that.
History often labels the people that emerge from these horrible moments as heroes, yet more often that not, they were simply people trying to survive an impossible situation.
"The thing of it is," said Hood "we fought as hard as we could Commander. We fought, bled and died in order to bring peace to this world."
"And the dead deserve their peace," he said.
The situation he was dealing with was different from what happened with Illustrious, Wales, Belfast, Eugen, Enterprise and Unicorn. Although they died, they wanted to keep fighting and so when the chance came, they took the opportunity.
But that was not the case for the six heroes.
"We fought the good fight," said Hood "with all our might. And now, we deserve our rest."
She had a point. Soldiers who have done their part, fought their enemies and did their time had earned their right to peace. To bring them back into another war was asking too much of them.
"Commander," said Amagi, holding his hand "our decision to stay here is proof that you were the right choice to join the factions together again."
"What do you mean?"
"If you were as incompetent as you think you are," said Bismarck "then we'd have returned long ago. Yet, day after day, you've proven yourself."
"There is a strength to you," added Hood "not a physical one, but an inner strength. You have an earnest desire to protect this world and everyone who sees that is ready to fight alongside you. They know that they can entrust their lives to you and you would never betray that trust."
"Of course that doesn't mean you're useless on the battlefield," she added "I'll admit I cheered a little when I saw you and Z23 slice that Siren up."
"Cheered is putting it mildly," muttered Amagi, smiling a little at Hood, causing the latter to look away flustered.
"There is one more thing I want to tell you Commander," said Hood.
"What is it?"
"You need to let go of that guilt in your heart," she replied.
"Its true kid," said Bismarck "all three of us can see it, plain as day. You're blaming yourself for what happened to Hood."
"Can you blame me? If I wasn't struggling to come to grips with everything going on… "
"You did the best you could," said Hood, interrupting him "what happened to me was…. Necessary. But you need to stop thinking it was your fault."
"Heh," said Bismarck, chuckling when she noticed something "looks like your times up."
He noticed his arm starting to fade
"Commander one last thing," said Amagi "I need you to pass on a message to Akagi."
"Hey wait a second," interjected Bismarck "if we're passing messages here, then you can pass one on for me as well."
"Girls please," said Hood.
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Akagi heard the sound of the door knocking, followed by a familiar voice.
"Akagi," he said "can I come in?"
If she were being honest, she wanted to say no. Last night she showed a side of him she didn't want to and feared that she had done irreparable damage to their relationship.
Worrying that he had decided on an appropriate reaction, she covered her ears with the pillow, trying to block out the sound of his knocking.
Then, resigning herself to her fate, she threw the cushion off, got to her feet and headed for the door. She turned the doorknob, opened the door and saw him standing outside. He didn't have the normal, jovial smile he usually had. This time he was serious. All things considered; this was a serious moment.
"Good morning Akagi, sorry for waking you up," he said, when she opened the door.
"It's alright Commander," she said, taking a step to the side "please come in."
"Thanks," he said, coming into her room "there's something I wanted to tell you."
'Here it comes,' she thought
"Last night after everyone left, I got so mad at those Wisdom Cubes, I kicked one of them and in turn got knocked out," he said, confusing her.
"When I was knocked out, I dreamt that I was speaking to them, half of the members of the Azur Lane. I saw Bismarck, Hood and Amagi."
At this, Akagi's eyes widened in surprise. She stared at him wide-eyed, wondering what he was going to say next.
"Amagi wanted me to pass on a message to you," he continued "She said: 'I'm glad you found your cherry blossom. Now hold onto it with both your hands and never let it go.'"
Akagi was stunned upon hearing this. She knew immediately what he was talking about. It was that story, the last story Amagi read to her and Kaga before departing. She remembered how the story never reached its conclusion and that she kept that book safely tucked away, in a part of her castle that only she knew about.
This meant that there was only one way he could have known those words and how it would affect her and no one else.
"You saw her," she said, tearing up "you really saw her, you saw Amagi."
"Yeah," he said, lowering his head "she is just as you and Kaga described her. Beautiful and radiant."
"Commander," she said, putting her arms around him and pulling him into a deep hug.
"I'm sorry for what I said," she added, resting her head on his shoulder "I just…"
"You have every right to be made at me," he said, stroking her hair "I just hope that what I said helped you."
"It did," she said, nodding a little "it helped. More than you know."
There was a calm silence filling the room as Akagi continued hugging the Commander, honoring her sister's request.
"Um Commander," she said, sensing the mood.
"Yes?"
"Can we stay like this for a little longer?"
Glad that their relationship was on the mend once again, the Commander was glad to have stayed there and kept her company for a little while longer.