Thank you all so very much who have read, favorited, followed, and reviewed this story. You're the best and you better believe it, especially after having waited sooooooo long. That said, let's carry on with this party.

Disclaimer: I don't own Azur Lane or any other properties I make references to.

"But I don't want to go among mad people," Alice remarked.

"Oh, you can't help that," said the Cat: "we're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad."

"How do you know I'm mad?" said Alice.

"You must be," said the Cat, "or you wouldn't have come here."

-Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Chapter 24: The Looking Glass Part 2

As it turned out, the three Royals that had accompanied Las Vegas took the knowledge that there are literal sea monsters lurking in the depths and that there's a cult worshipping them pretty well.

"Verily, 'tis worse than I supposed! Thy calling is to pass through the circles of hell itself, and we are thine unwitting companions," mused Duke of York aloud in reference to the renaissance epic Dante's Inferno.

Well. They took the news relatively well.

Calico Jack sighed and then responded, "I understand that it sounds tough, but please understand. This has to be kept secret from as many people as possible. I wasn't told what the mission was either until I accepted it."

Duke of York agreed with that statement. "Aye. Wisdom guides this decision for secrecy. And it consoleth me to know of thine own ignorance in the beginning." She stopped speaking momentarily and then she continued, "Yet again, I affirm my oath unto you. I shall remain beside thee until the threat is eliminated, or until we meet our dooms."

"Thank you," responded the codebreaker. But then he looked over his shoulder to Sirius and Javelin. He asked, "And what do the two of you think about this?"

Sirius was deep in thought and truth be told, she was further perturbed about the demise of her sister, Dido. Sirius—and most ship girls, for that matter—recognized that the chances are that they aren't going to leave this life peacefully. But there was a special sorrow and negativity that she empathized for Dido. Sirius knew her sister well enough to conclude that she had died while fearful. But then a fire was lit inside of the maid. Dido was her sister, and she loved her sister just as much as sisters should. Sirius swore to herself that she would avenge Dido. She would do her part and then some to see to the destruction of these Siren super weapons. Sirius would fight for a peace that her sister can no longer enjoy. And even though nobody very much understood the connection, Sirius also pledged to do all in her power to vanquish the treacherous humans that ally themselves with her sister's murderers.

Sirius looked at Calico Jack and gave her answer, "Honorable Master. I swear that I will abandon neither you nor the cause. For Dido, I will brave this madness upon us."

"I'll gladly accept the help," he said. He also noticed that Sirius hadn't pressed him for more specific information about Dido's death. Maybe she was scared to know too much of the truth? But he didn't dwell on this because he had to tend to one other person. "Javelin. You've been quiet. Are you alright?"

"I'm scared," admitted the destroyer girl quietly after some hesitation. Javelin had been passing all of the explanation of the past few minutes in a state that was near shock. There was so much that she didn't know, and now that she knew, she wished that she didn't. But here she was, now committed to see whatever this terrible task was before her to it's end.

Calico Jack slowed a bit from where he led the group until he was directly beside Javelin as they were walking. "It's okay to be scared. It is a scary thing that we're up against. But you aren't alone in this. Please don't forget that."

Javelin looked up towards the taller officer. Even though she had liked him ever since they had met, the more time she spends with him, the more she found herself actually respecting him. In her eyes, he was smart, brave, kind, and he always knew what to do. Javelin wanted to be like him. And while she might not know him super well, Calico Jack seemed to be the perfect officer in her opinion. Then she looked over to Duke of York and Sirius. Javelin wasn't important enough to associate with either of them unprofessionally. Nevertheless, Javelin had seen both of them in action over the years and she could attest to how capable they were. Right now, both the knight and the maid were sending reassuring smiles her way as if to confirm that Calico Jack was speaking the truth that she wasn't alone.

Calico Jack got her attention when he spoke again, "I promised you that I would do all in my power to make sure that you make it. I still stand by that."

Finally, Javelin was able to smile thinly to the man. She voiced, "Okay. I believe you. I promise to stay close. It feels safe by your side."

"Excellent. I'm happy to have you here," he said. Then having finished that, he looked down to check that they were still going in the right direction. They were.

A question came to Sirius about the parameters of the immediate mission, but she was broken off when in the distance, a few gunshots were heard.

Everyone's attention snapped up to try and pinpoint where the shots had come from. Based on direction, it came from their destination. Calico Jack ordered, "That's got to be the other group. Come on, let's pick up the pace a bit." After they had gained a bit of speed and the sound of gunfire grew, Calico Jack had some more instructions to give, "Our primary objectives are to secure any intelligence that The Heralds of the Deep may have and to reinforce the other group. Also, stay alert to keep any civilians out of the crossfire and be ready for anything. We don't know what these people are capable of when backed into a corner. Questions?"

"How do we know what's intelligence and what isn't?" asked Javelin.

"Since this amounts to a quick smash and grab, we're looking for any documents, computers, radios, or artifacts that they may have. If it looks important, take it, just so long as it doesn't look hazardous. And while I'm not counting on it, if anyone surrenders, we'll take them prisoner."

Affirmatives resounded from the women and the group made a good pace for a minute. Then something odd started to happen. Duke of York started to get a bad feeling. It reminded her an awful lot of the occurrences of the Winter's Crown Event. She recalls being the hunter chasing down and then vanquishing her foes, but then suddenly she was the hunted.

Duke of York found out that her fears were well placed when the group rounded a corner to see a giant wall of fog rolling rapidly for them.

The group stopped suddenly, and Calico Jack asked somewhat unnerved, "What's that?"

His question was a long enough delay for the fog to overtake the four people. In nary an instant, the atmosphere turned from the familiarity of the London Streets to the oppressiveness of a creeping evil. They couldn't hear it when they were outside the fog, but now that they were inside, screams could be heard from various places. Some were close and some were far away. Duke of York knew exactly what this was, and though it was supposed to be impossible inland, here it was.

"'Tis a mirror sea," she spoke the alarm clear in her voice.

"It can't be. It shouldn't be possible," countered Sirius even though she knew that Duke of York was right.

As if in mockery of her denial, soft yet penetrating sounds started to emanate from what had to be the air itself. It was whispers. What they wanted to say escaped the group because whatever was being said wasn't English, or any tongue spoken by man. But it put the group on edge.

His fears were starting to act up again in spite of his earlier firmness, but Calico Jack forced himself to ask, "What's a mirror sea?"

This time Sirius answered for him, "It's a pocket dimension that the Sirens control. They use it for testing because within it, they control reality."

The gravity of this new situation was starting to sink into Calico Jack's mind. His mind was dominated by logic, and he saw the world in numbers and constants. At least when he wasn't dealing with people. But still, a reality where two plus two doesn't equal four terrified him. Likewise, he was reminded of his mortality. He was just a man, and he didn't know what was contained inside this nightmarish mirror sea.

His initial resolve started to falter until it abandoned him entirely. He wasn't cut out for this. He wasn't some hotshot special forces operator. He wasn't anything special. He was just an over glorified pencil pusher. He should have a desk job, and not be dealing with the breakdown of reality at the hands of literal aliens.

But there was one reality that refused to breakdown along with everything else that threatened to fall apart. He and those along with him were the only ones in the position to do anything. So, they had to do something. But without courage, what good is he?

He began to comb his memories for something, anything that might help him bring himself together. He found something.

The Eagle Union's Wild West Era didn't go out with a bang, but with a whimper and in those years that the era was coming to a close, many men who had made livings on the open ranges and in frontier towns had to seek other places to find employment. One such man was Bartholomew William Barclay Masterson. Though he was more well known as "Bat" Masterson during his days as a lawman and gunfighter, he found in himself a knack for journalism. He would be one of the few to actually write down the things he witnessed firsthand as a contemporary to some of the biggest names in the history of the western gunfighters. While Bat Masterson was notable for his own skill with a pistol and grit in a tight spot, there was a particular man whom he held in high regard. Of this man, he wrote:

"Thirty-five years ago, that immense stretch of territory extending from the Missouri River, west to the Pacific Ocean, and from the Brazos River in Texas, north to the Red Cloud Agency in Dakota, knew no braver, nor more desperate man, than Wyatt Earp, the subject of this narrative. Wyatt Earp is one of the few men I personally knew in the west, in the early days, whom I regarded as absolutely destitute of physical fear. I have often remarked, and I am not alone in my conclusion, that what goes for courage in a man is generally the fear of what others will think of him. In other words, personal bravery is largely made up of self-respect, egotism, and an apprehension of the opinion of others. Wyatt Earp's daring and apparent recklessness, in time of danger, is wholly characteristic. Personal fear doesn't enter into the equation. And when everything is said and done, I believe he values his own opinion of himself more than that of others, and it is his own good report that he seeks to preserve."

The man from Las Vegas brought himself back from the verge of panic. Surely the likes of Wyatt Earp didn't become fearless overnight? Earp had to start somewhere. He had to conquer his fears, and only then could he start solely caring about his own opinions because he no longer had anything to prove to anyone else except himself. There is no apprehension and no hesitation when there is nothing to prove to anyone else.

Las Vegas's will began to sharpen. He might not be particularly qualified for the task at hand, but he was in a position to do something. And he refused to have inaction on his conscience. He had good allies in his corner. He had a cause that if successful, would save humanity. And most of all, there was someone important to him that he needed to be there for.

His expression hardened and he made a decision. He would progress forward. He would become the master of his fears. And he would do it for himself and the things important to him. The question went from, "Who is going to let him?" to, "Who is going to stop him?" He was going to stop this mirror sea and find Nashville.

Let The Heralds of the Deep and their Siren cohorts resist. Let them fight with all they have. They cannot win. They just don't know it yet.

He didn't know it at the time, but this was the moment that a certain ritual was put on hold by the force of his will. Most of England was spared, but London was poised to become a hellhole in little time regardless. They had to move quickly, or the body count would rise.

He looked around and he found an alley nearby to where they had stopped. Then he gave an order to those with him, "Follow me into the alley."

The group found the place and when he looked back to his companions he said, "The mission remains unchanged. I have a hunch that where we're going is the source of the mirror sea, so we're going to stop it in addition to our other objectives. And since this just got a lot more dangerous, I want weapons drawn and general quarters. We don't know what we're up against since this has never happened before, but I have firm confidence that we will win, and our enemies will fail."

Small bits of wisdom cubes flew from palms to form weapons. Duke of York drew her black-bladed long sword from where her scabbard had formed on her hip. Sirius's great sword materialized straight into her grip, and she posted it over her shoulder. Javelin's spear appeared in the same way as earlier.

Finally, from his concealed holster, Las Vegas drew Giovanni. The heft of the familiar weapon emboldened the gunfighter further.

"It's time," he said to order them to get moving.

XXXXXXXX

Belfast prided herself on her intuition. And while it isn't perfect, as the past few days have demonstrated, she still maintained confidence in that aspect of herself. Truly, she had Calico Jack's words to thank because they had kept her from starting to reconsider relying on that intuition. She just had to learn. But right now, she had a bad feeling. A really, really bad feeling. Sheffield remained in the doorframe, and she kept firing at the cultists further in the building, but from how much Sheffield had been firing, she was bound to run out of ammunition eventually. And Belfast hadn't seen Nashville nor Cheshire since they burst into their own room, but she did hear some screaming so that meant that they were keeping themselves busy. Nothing had gone catastrophically wrong, even though progress was slow. So, what could be making her intuition go insane?

She was blissfully unaware of the hell that was brewing above their heads.

But in the immediate, she had to find a way to break the tactical stalemate that the four ship girls had found themselves in. The cultists still held the final two rooms on the bottom floor and they also yet controlled the staircase to the next floor up. Fortunately, Belfast had the answer to that conundrum.

The tactical advantage of a ship girl over a normal warship can be attributed to a few factors. But the most immediately useful was the fact that all ship girls have abilities. Of course, these range from powerful attacks to the ability to support their allies or even heal themselves and others. But one attribute that made ship girls particularly formidable combatants is their ability to use these abilities not only with their riggings, but completely out of water with just themselves. Of course, there were limits with this capability to us their abilities out of the water without rigging. For example, using an ability that fires a barrage isn't very feasible without at least rigging. But in this regard, the head maid was lucky. She could make a thick smoke screen completely independent of her rigging or her hull.

Belfast's plan was simple. She would fire off her smokescreen and then with Sheffield and the others in tow, they would advance through the smoke. Then when they were close to the enemy, they would begin with would be referred to as a "beat-down." What's more, in touching-distance close quarters, fully automatic assault rifles become particularly hazardous when allies are close.

She radioed the other ship girls in the group with her plan. On command, she would make a smokescreen appear in the hallway, and then the four ship girls would charge through to close the distance with the remaining cultists.

Sheffield immediately responded to the affirmative with a simple and curt, "yes." She was comfortable with this sort of plan from her own experiences fighting alongside the head maid.

Nashville and Cheshire didn't respond immediately. What was happening in the other room across the hallway, was another consideration. Nashville knew that she was fast and from what she had seen over the past few seconds she was faster than Cheshire. But still, Nashville didn't feel particularly confident of the chances of success with four people charging down a hallway against a wall of supersonic lead. Nevertheless, they had to advance. But how? A quick glance around gave Nashville a crazy idea. The next room—the third on their side—was still held by the cultists. And from what she had seen of Cheshire's strength, why use doors? She turned to the PR heavy cruiser and asked, "Can you bust through this wall?"

Cheshire can literally tear Sirens limb-from-limb so any given wall in an apartment building stands no chance. She nodded her head deeply and responded, "Point the way Nashville, and I'll break it down. So, Belfast and Sheffy will go down the hall, but we go through here?"

"Right," said Nashville with a nod before she elaborated further on this plan. "The others will go down the hall and handle the stairs and side entrances. If you take care of the room on this side, I'll take care of the one on the other side of the hall."

"Okay, I'll break it when you give the signal," consented Cheshire.

Nashville radioed back to Belfast with the new plan of her and Sheffield taking the hallway while Cheshire and Nashville handle the rooms. It was accepted and Nashville was given the go ahead to give the signal to spring into action. She waited a few seconds to listen for the gunfire to die down as much as it could. She was hoping to choose a moment when there are as many cultists reloading as possible. The moment came after not too long and she yelled over her radio, "NOW!"

Across the hallway, Belfast leaned out behind Sheffield, and she snapped her fingers. Right in between the last two rooms and the staircase a dense cloud of smoke appeared as if by magic. She remarked, "Dear enemies, this is going to be a little bit painful." Then with that the two commando-maids poured from the room and they charged in an erratic pattern to avoid the gunfire that came as a response to this trick. They were upon the cultist's defensive line in seconds, and by the time they were upon the defenders, they were already too close for assault rifles to be used and not expect friendly fire. Confusion and screams of fear mounted as the maids started to pick apart the cultists.

But as Belfast and Sheffield began their charge, Cheshire got a running start and without any measure of finesse she used her shoulder to break through the wall that had been made of bricks and plaster. A dense cloud of dust entered the room that Cheshire crashed into and while she took a moment to gather her bearings and clear the dust from her eyes, Nashville was already in there. She bought Cheshire a moment by again collapsing a cultist's ribcage in on itself with a brutal body shot. Screams followed once Cheshire regained her bearings. Nashville didn't stick around to see what would happen as she pushed open the door of that third room into the hallway. As planned, she darted across to the other room while a man in the doorway was pointing his weapon in the direction of the stairs looking for the maids. But alas, the maids weren't the biggest threat to him. With a leaping hook punch called a "Gazelle punch," she snapped his neck and quite literally broke his face and throwing him back into the room. Only one other cultist guarded what she found to be a radio room. He had his rifle poised to fill the equipment with bullets to destroy their usefulness to his enemies, but he only got one shot off before Nashville ended his life with an uppercut to the chin. Her quick inspection showed that the bullet had gone through the computer tower's housing. She really hoped that this wouldn't impact the intelligence gathering. But she wasn't a computer person, and now wasn't the time to inspect the damage fully.

Nashville and Cheshire emerged from their respectively cleared rooms at about the same time. Splotches of blood featured on the attire of the cat-like woman but her hands were coated in red. As of yet, Nashville remained clean save a few drops here and there on her hands. Both of them turned to the direction of the screaming and the occasional erratic shot as the smokescreen started to clear.

Nashville was taken aback at the carnage. For some odd reason, she could tell that the maids were skilled in the art of combat, but never did she consider how skilled they truly were. What she saw was the product of a one-sided struggle—if it could be called that. What had to be heaps of men and a few women were upon the ground with their limbs bent at odd and unnatural angles, but as Nashville joined Cheshire to get in to the "brawl" she could inspect the bodies with glances. Belfast and Sheffield had preferred styles of delivering death. A lack of bullet holes showed that Sheffield had likely holstered her pistol. But from there she couldn't tell which cultist fell to which maid. Very nearly half of them had already reddening wounds on their necks despite recently dying to show that swift and precise blows broke their spinal columns. The other half seems to have been much more knocked around then the others. The most common theme was blood from fractured skulls and noses to show that as opposed to a direct blow to the head, these cultists had their heads slammed against something solid. The blood spatters on the ground and walls pointed to the fact that these were the solid objects in question.

Nashville heard calls of retreat from up ahead on the stairs. As she and Cheshire passed through the last of the smoke, they finally caught sight of the maids. And what a sight it was! Belfast had a firm grip on one man's forearm and with her other hand she slammed his head against a wall and his skull visibly deformed to celebrate his death. But Sheffield wasn't to be outdone. With a spinning round kick, another cultist's neck snapped in what would have been audible if there wasn't so much shouting.

Nashville and Cheshire caught up just as the last cultist managed to get up the flight of stairs. Now the cultists had a much more defensible position in what would be called, "The Fatal Funnel." Such a position is called that because the entrance is small enough that anyone hoping to enter has to go through a single opening that's too small to dodge or get cover in. An apt saying from the Eagle Union to illustrate further would be, "Like shooting fish in a barrel." Perhaps the Siren equivalent would be, "Like torpedoing a cruiser in a river?" Doors and in this case, stairwells, are the most common fatal funnel.

Now things truly were at a stalemate. Belfast could use her smokescreen again, but then with nowhere to dodge or move erratically as they advance, there might as well be no smokescreen. They had to find a way to go forward, or the cultists might try something.

Suggestions were passed around the ship girls as they tried to come up with some strategy to break the stalemate without having to do something that a civilian would notice like going outside to jump up to a second story window.

All this time Belfast still had that really bad feeling. It wasn't going away as they were making progress. In fact, it was getting worse. But still, she had to stay focused and, in her experience, the best way to make the feeling go away is to make the enemy go away.

Belfast's fears came to fruition as shouts were replaced by cheering from the cultists. Any attempts to figure out a way to break the stalemate from the ship girls was cut short for a few seconds in response. Then from their positions on the bottom of the stairwell, they saw an incredibly ominous mist slink towards them a few inches off the ground. The four women took a step or two backwards as the mist poured over the stairs like a waterfall. It was only a few steps up from the bottom when the slow pace suddenly changed. The mist charged forward with a mission, and it rapidly overtook the women and it flooded through the building and it left through the open door.

Belfast knew what it was but a part of her was fearful to admit it aloud. But as the head maid and a professional with standards, she had to speak. "It's a mirror sea," she said in fearful awe.

"What the hell's a mirror sea?" asked Nashville with growing alarm as her eyes darted from one direction to another all over the place. She had a feeling like she was no longer among the strongest here. The hunter had become the hunted.

"Dimensional rift where the Sirens test different conditions on us ship girls," answered Sheffield. She had taken out her pistol again and while Nashville had taken to throwing her gaze roundabout, Sheffield pointed her gaze and aim directly at the top of the stairs.

"This is not good at all," voiced Belfast. "There is either a humanoid Siren close or somehow the cultists are doing this. We have to be extra careful and finish this as soon as possible."

Even though she had been fearful before, now Cheshire found herself fill with resolve. "I'm not about to let my owner down!" she declared to any who would hear, be they ship girl or cultist.

"Warm up's over ladies," stated Nashville with a level tone having enjoyed a boost of morale from Cheshire's sureness. "It's time to play for keeps."

Before the ship girls could again start to plan for ways to progress another voice began to boom. But this voice came from the top of the stairs beyond the landing where they curved out of sight. The distinctly masculine voice rose above any cheers to quiet his evil congregation. The ship girls didn't know, but this was the cultist that had warned the priest of the demons. He began to preach only instead of speaking in gibberish, it was plain English. "Brothers! Sisters! The long-foretold day of reckoning is upon us! The visions and plans of our holy Deep Seer are coming to fruition and we will lift humanity to a new dawn! A dawn that comes from the Deep and we as it's heralds! Now! Let us cleanse our Holy House of these foul demons who have desecrated this hallowed place!" The voice paused for a moment to catch it's breath before it bellowed, "YOU LOT! START FIRING!"

What had been happening upstairs was much a reflection of what the ship girls had been doing. They had been putting together a plan to win this encounter and with that signal, the first part of the cultists' plan to defeat those that they saw as demons.

From the ceiling above their heads, fully automatic fire began to rain through the barrier between floors. Aiming impossible, the cultists on the middle floor would pour down their fire through the flimsy floorboards to blindly try and hit their enemies, or at least shove them off balance for the second part of the plan.

As the leader of the raiding party, Nashville played into their hands when she shouted the command, "SCATTER!"

Cheshire dove for the room that she had cleared when she busted down the wall earlier, but during her dive a bullet tore it's way through one of her calves. But she didn't notice her wound immediately in the panic to get out of the firing path. But the pain would hit her a few seconds later and it wouldn't prove debilitating for the time being.

Nashville retreated about halfway down the hallway that had just been won by hard fighting. She wasn't hit by anything, but she quite disliked how her looser style of hair got in her eyes while she was trying to dodge erratically.

Belfast successfully made it to the side entrance hallway nearby the foot of the staircase without getting hit, but unfortunately Sheffield wasn't as lucky as the head maid.

Having never had anything like this happen before, Sheffield did what was natural to her and as she moved her way to where Belfast was, she raised her pistol to the ceiling and sent her own shots into the next floor up. She didn't see it, but she did kill one cultist at the cost of giving her exact position away.

Weapons fire poured in Sheffield's direction. Getting hit was an inevitability and she caught a shot right through her chest that like the cultist Albert from only about a half hour earlier, punctured one of her lungs. Luckily, that was her only hit but it was the thing that finally motivated her to throw herself in Belfast's direction in the side entrance hallway.

Belfast only noticed that something was wrong when Sheffield landed without any of her usual grace. Sheffield nearly fell as she landed in front of Belfast. "I'm hit. Upper right chest," informed Sheffield through gritted teeth. It hurt a lot but as a professional, Sheffield wouldn't let this impact her performance. Internally though, she was quite angry at herself for her foolishness. It might just cost them the mission—not to say anything about her life now being in jeopardy if this should go on untreated.

Lacking in proper medical supplies, Belfast said what Sheffield already knew about treating a gunshot wound. The head maid grabbed Sheffield's wrist and placed her hand over where the entry wound was and she ordered, "Put pressure here. Use only your sidearm from here on. And turn around."

"Understood," she answered plainly, also turning around for the head maid to do something else.

Constant pressure would indeed help the entry wound on Sheffield but that left an exit would open to the world to continue bleeding. From her already short skirt, Belfast tore a strip off the bottom to make it come dangerously close to the line of indecency, but flashing some panties was secondary in Belfast's priorities to helping her close friend. "This will hurt, Sheffy," forewarned Belfast.

Without any further words, the head maid wrapped the strip around Sheffield's chest and tied it firmly to put at least some pressure on the exit wound. Sheffield sucked in a breath but remained steadfast until it was done in a few seconds.

No words could be exchanged because the gunfire stopped and not a second later the voice started to shout again, "FOLLOW ME! LET US PURGE THESE DEMONS! CHAAAAARRRGEEEEE!"

Thunders of heavy footfalls and the war-cries of who knows how many people charged down the stairs and Belfast leaned out from the side hallway to snap her fingers again for a smokescreen.

Nashville answered with her own challenging shout, "YOU WANT SOME OF THIS! WELL, COME GET SOME!" With her own war-cry Nashville charged into the smokescreen and not two seconds later, Cheshire's voice joined Nashville's side to signal her own entrance into the fray.

"Stay here and stop any stragglers," ordered Belfast to Sheffield. Belfast didn't see or hear Sheffield's response, but she too jumped into action, but without any shouting. Such incivility wasn't her style.

But meanwhile on the top floor, the priest found himself in a precarious situation. While the Magician could absolutely resist the ritual, letting the demons reach the top floor is a good way to have the ritual stopped altogether. He had to reinforce his brethren in their struggle against the demons. He had only one immediate option because he didn't have complete control over the mirror sea courtesy of the Magician.

He turned to his aides and said, "Go. Slay these demons. Leave me to tend to the ritual and resist the Magician, but do not perish, for without you both, success will likely flee us."

Wordlessly, the stand-ins for the deep and the heavens deeply nodded their head and they turned to leave the top floor to join the fight below.

But the worst part of them leaving only occurred as they left the room. From the wisdom cube on it's altar, small red fragments of it flew off into the hands of the aides. In the hands of one appeared a wicked looking harpoon and in the other's hands materialized an equally profane looking cutlass.

Thanks to their control of the wisdom cube along with a few other factors, these humans were able to materialize their own, "riggings." But how powerful were these "riggings?" Only time would tell.

Once the aides left the room, the priest spoke aloud to himself. "Let the Magician fight something of his own creation."

XXXXXXXX

With the business in the alley concluded, and their weapons drawn, the group that had gone alone with Las Vegas departed to continue towards their mission. But now there was a thick fog and an oppressive atmosphere that served to heighten the tensions of all that were present. All heads were already on swivels to see the smallest hint of trouble.

They progressed about a half block in the direction that they were going until Las Vegas needed to take out Mr. Bond to check and make sure that they were still on the right path. He took it out and he woke up the device to check the screen. At first, he noticed that it couldn't connect to a satellite for the GPS to function. A second glance showed that there was no signal for anything. He asked, "Is it normal for electronics to go haywire in a Mirror Sea?"

"Yes. Communications, radar, and other sensors all go down in a Mirror Sea," answered Sirius.

That wasn't what he wanted to hear, but still, he preferred the truth. It allowed him to start making a plan to compensate.

By now the group had stopped, noticing that their leader and navigator no longer knew the path to their destination. So, they stood there for a few seconds. Nobody spoke to Calico Jack, but for different reasons. Javelin was only just keeping it together in the face of whatever she swore was shifting in the darkness and her silence was a symbol of her high-strung alertness. Duke of York and Sirius though, were much more disciplined and it wasn't in the nature of the royal ship girls to question their leadership. Besides, both had confidence that Calico Jack would think of something.

If only that were true. The man among them was drawing a blank for what to do. Going back is not an option. Going forward without any directions other than what he could remember of the twisting path was possibly fruitless, but it was an option. Furthermore, he still had to find Nashville, but even if he was blindfolded, he would still find a way to find her. Even now the sound of gunfire continued in the distance and that filled him with resolve to do something to progress to aid the others. Whatever he was to choose, he would have to do so quickly.

Even with his sense of direction shrouded he decided that he would go forward. Even if he had to start tearing buildings from their foundations, he would find Nashville. Because she was the most important thing to him, and certainly the foremost thing in his mind.

It was an odd feeling to the man with no name; the void that had previously been occupied by fear for his own life was now filled with fear for the life of his very best friend and companion. He had to find her and drag her out of whatever thing she charged into without thinking it through. Even if he had no direction he had to get there and if need be, save her.

At this point, a most peculiar thing happened that the codebreaker couldn't decipher. Javelin spotted a shape in the shadow take a definitive form. She pointed with her off-hand and said, "Look over there! I see something moving!" She paused as the others looked to where she was pointing then she continued with a fearful stammer, "I-i-i-it's coming closer!"

Indeed, it was coming closer, and down from another alley, the shape took the form of a mid-sized canid in a trotting speed. The group brandished their weapons further waiting for anything to happen in a mirror sea and a few seconds later, their tentative curiosities were put to rest. From the alley and into the light of a streetlamp, emerged a dog.

"A dog?" asked Sirius. "But I've never seen a dog quite like that before."

Sirius's appraisal occurred with good reason. The dog itself had sharper features and was dominated by a sandy brown coat that had dustings of black and white sprinkled throughout it's fur. It had a bushy tail and it's ears stood upwards. It was quite unlike any sort of domesticated dog, and Calico Jack identified it quickly. He inquired to nobody in particular, "A coyote?"

Putting context clues together with a word that she had seldom heard before, Duke of York commented, "Methinks those are not native to England."

"And you'd be correct. I've only seen a few before back home," replied Calico Jack as he fixed a stare upon the creature. The coyote stopped it's trot a few yards ahead of the group and looked upwards to meet the gaze of the man. It has been said that the eyes are the windows to the soul and as the coyote and the codebreaker exchanged stares, Calico Jack began to like—even trust—this strange animal that had no reason to be in East London. To make it's final case to Calico Jack, it whined lowly and it wagged it's tail for a few seconds.

Calico Jack found himself smiling a little and that seemed to be a signal to the coyote to finally move. It turned around and it began to trot down the road in the direction that the group had been going. But as the coyote went, it clearly looked back towards the group and after a few seconds of looking but not being followed, it stopped, turned back around and yipped towards it's onlookers.

Coyotes are looked down upon because they are often considered pests in the modern-day Eagle Union. And for centuries before European settlers went westward, indigenous peoples of the Eagle Union would often have coyotes as the trickster animal in a lot of their stories, not all that dissimilar to foxes in other cultures. But right here, right now, cogs were turning in the head of Calico Jack. Coyotes are purported to be tricksters by nature, but then again, so were codebreakers. The man and the animal shared a camaraderie because they weren't that different in that regard. After a few seconds of silent appraisal, one trickster deciphered the intentions of the other. "The coyote wants us to follow it. I think it'll lead us where we want to go."

"Surely thou cannot be serious?" questioned Duke of York somewhat pointedly. This seemed solidly in the realm of ridiculous to her.

Calico Jack was only half paying attention to Duke of York's statement of doubt because he was looking at the coyote, so he replied with a gesture, "I'm neither Sirius nor Shirley. But we are definitely following that coyote."

With that declaration of fact, Calico Jack waited for no more questions or disagreements as he stepped forward to follow their new guide dog. Then having seen that there was no room for further discussion, the three royal ship girls followed the man. While this action did rank high on the list of ridiculous things that they had done, it didn't seem outside the realm of possibility inside a mirror sea on land.

However, none of them were privy to how this had come to be. With the failing of Mr. Bond as a tool for navigation and coupled with Calico Jack's iron will to find Nashville, a guide that was in a form familiar to the codebreaker materialized in response. It would lead them on the path that was ahead of them, and in a non-sensical bubble of reality made and ruled by madmen it would be one of Calico Jack's few things subconsciously willed into existence in this mirror sea.

They followed after the coyote who moved at the exact pace that the group was going before the mirror sea formed. The path the coyote forged had them take frequent turns around corners. With each bend into the unknown, the group would always prepare for the worst. What that worst was would be anyone's guess. But the worst never found them and even though they could hear obvious struggles and not a few screams inside buildings that were likely inhabitants dealing with whatever horrors they were being confronted by, it was swiftly decided that the best way to help the Londoners tonight would be to close the mirror sea.

After a few minutes of this, the first obvious distortion in reality appeared before the group. They rounded a corner and stopped. From the street itself, a forest was growing. In between buildings, trees seemed to have been planted, but it was obvious that those weren't there before. The forest was thick, and they couldn't see far into it despite a path beckoning one to enter. The coyote stopped near the entrance of the forest and still trusting it, Calico Jack led the group to where the coyote was standing. Once they got close, it stood up on it's hind legs to plant it's front legs on a sign that Calico Jack didn't notice before. The faded wood sign only about as tall as him said, "Tulgey Wood."

What had appeared was what the cultist priest referred to in his curse for the Magician. "…something of his own creation."

Aside from his association with a number of the ship girls of the Royal Navy, or having been able to see some of the sights around London, Calico Jack still had an unconventional answer to the question, "What do you think of when you think of England?" Thanks to his upbringing, he first thought of Wallace and Gromit. But being invited to tea and a snack of cheese is decidedly unthreatening. What Tulgey Wood represented was something far more sinister. The second part of Calico Jack's answer was of his favorite author, Lewis Carroll. Lewis Careoll was famous for not making much sense in his writings, but Calico Jack could only think of a single reference to Tulgey Wood in any of Carroll's writing.

"Tulgey Wood?" read Javelin, seemingly having forgotten her fear from earlier. "What does that mean?"

There was a single poem that the codebreaker ever felt to memorize for pleasure, and he began to explain to the destroyer girl, and the other companions, "It's from a Lewis Carroll poem about an encounter with a monster called a 'Jabberwocky.'" At the mention of that name, audible chattering whispers of unintelligible speech wafted on an unseen and unfelt breeze from inside the woods. The group gripped all their weapons tighter as their vigilant gazes fled fearfully from one direction to the other inside the forest looking for the source of the whispers.

Calico Jack looked down to the coyote as it stared back up at him. The man knelt down so that he could look at the coyote better in it's eyes. He asked it sincerely, "Is this the only way forward?" Surprisingly, it nodded it's head—a most un-coyote thing to do—and then it stepped froward to give a lick to the man's hand in encouragement. It was a small act, but it refocused the man to the task at hand.

He stood back up to turn towards those who were following him. He met each of their gazes in turn. Javelin was panicking and sweating like crazy despite the rain. Sirius had a look of doubt, as if she was questioning if this was really worth it. Duke of York's face looked to be hewn out of stone, but her eyes expressed hesitancy.

Calico Jack, their leader, figured that he himself likely didn't look any better than the women accompanying him, but he had to say something. He didn't know what though, but he forced his mouth open regardless. He spoke deliberately, "I truly am sorry for dragging you three along with me. But nevertheless, it seems to me that the only way out is ahead, so we will forge ahead undaunted by whatever combines against us. I would have all of you recall the things important to you. By what I've explained to you lot about what the Sirens and Heralds of the Deep are doing, all of those things are in jeopardy right now, so please, be courageous for the things important to you. Fight for the things important to you. Live for the things important to you." He paused and asked, "Now, is everyone ready to enter into the Tulgey Wood?"

Javelin wiped her eyes and she looked pensive for a few seconds while she did as Calico Jack asked about thinking of the stuff important to her. Above all else, she loved her sisters and her friends. She had to protect her sisters, and Laffey had asked her to take care of Calico Jack, another friend of hers. She looked Calico Jack in the eye and as courageously as she could muster, she said, "For my friends, I'll do it."

Sirius's thoughts had been dwelling on her sister, Dido. She recalled the promise that she had made to herself a few minutes earlier, that she would brave whatever madness befell them in this cause of wiping out the Siren superweapons and their cultist worshippers. In response to this memory, she reaffirmed her oath. "For Dido, I will not abandon this now."

Like the others, Duke of York thought of her sisters, and how much they meant to her. She would follow Calico Jack regardless of them though, because of her oath as a knight, but still when it came down to it, she had to admit that she wouldn't have even become a knight if it wasn't to try and be more like Prince of Wales or King George V. George wouldn't hesitate to do what is right. And if Wales had been sober, she would have insisted on coming along. And of course, she wanted to be a good example for her younger sister, Howe. Duke of York stated, "Mine own sisters spur me forth to action. I will accompany thee unto the end."

Las Vegas heeded his own advice and looked inwards for why he was doing this. He had no name, and because he technically didn't exist anymore, he had no vetted interest in any sort of national agenda. He had a mission though, one that could save all of those who thought that he was gone. He was dead to his family, but that didn't make them any less important to him. But above all else, he had Nashville. He had to ask why he was so attached to her though. Was it because she was one of the few friendly faces that didn't question or test him all the time? Was it because he was simply comfortable around her? Maybe it was because she had grown to become in incredibly precious friend to him? Maybe there was more to this? He didn't know, but what he did know was that he had to be there for her, like she has been for him. He spoke, "For Nashville, I'll brave whatever horrors lie ahead."

It's funny really. Despite all of those present holding lofty ideals of righteousness for either their homelands or their principles, it is still the people that they hold dear that would motivate them to stand against death.

Courage filled the hearts of all present. They were ready to go, but before they entered the Tulgey Wood, Calico Jack had some more to say, "Okay. So, in the poem, the Jabberwocky has sharp claws and teeth, and it is described as having eyes of flame. Whether that means it can breathe fire is up in the air. And in a lot of illustrations, it takes on the general form of a dragon, so it often has wings that let it fly. I don't know what else it can do, but naturally, be careful. Also, the poem mentions two other monsters called, 'The Jubjub bird,' and, 'The Bandersnatch." I don't know what they look like or what they can do, so keep a sharp eye out. And if anyone sees something odd, specifically a sword, that's the 'Vorpal Blade.' Take it with us, we might need it to slay the Jabberwocky assuming we can't get through this forest undetected. Any questions?"

Fortunately, there were none and all repeated their preparedness. Calico Jack smiled at his companions. He sure was glad to have them with him. Then he turned and looked back down at the coyote, who had been standing patiently. Calico Jack recalled aloud, "In Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Alice went on her journey because she was following a white rabbit. You might not be a white rabbit, but please, lead the way, and hurry, or we might be late to the party."

The coyote wagged it's tail again, and it turned to lead the way into the Tulgey Wood with Calico Jack and his companions in tow.

Their entrance did not go unnoticed.

XXXXXXXX

The progress that Las Vegas and his group had enjoyed before entering the Tulgey Wood had now slowed to a crawl. For good reason. The forest never let up in the thickness that was apparent when they had first seen it, and it was augmented by a few factors. First, even though the path remained at about the width of two or three people walking abreast, tree roots were a common feature that were eager to trip the wary travelers. Second, this wasn't a normal forest that simply occupied a random street in East London. After trekking for a few yards from the entrance, the forest suddenly became huge and spread out as if it's existence displaced all the buildings and other manmade features, including street lights, so it became very dark. Duke of York being a vampire was a godsend in this circumstance as she could always see the coyote that yet guided them true. Finally, the Tulgey Wood seemed to swallow sound so that nothing could be heard. The gunfire from earlier was gone. The was no sounds of animals, nor the wind. It was a void seemingly occupied only by the group. This eeriness didn't help at all for the group's steadily increasing paranoia.

Regularly, different members of the group would swear that they had seen or heard something. A shadow ducking behind a tree, unnatural shapes that would disappear if one blinked or looked to inspect the corners of their vision. A cracking twig, a slow and sopping hiss, or a staccato creaking call.

Calico Jack dared not stop for anything as they proceeded. The way that he figured, the faster that they were through the Tulgey Wood, the better. As more time was progressing, he was more and more convinced that they weren't alone. But something told him that it wasn't the Jabberwocky, if there even was one, because that particular creature struck him as the kind not favoring subtlety.

"Why hast thou stopped?" demanded Duke of York in a low whisper. Calico Jack looked and the coyote had stopped.

Naturally, the coyote didn't answer because coyotes don't talk. But in the few seconds of silence that followed Duke of York's words, the sound of the coyote sniffing reached the group's ears. The coyote began to growl and finally, Calico Jack did what he had wanted to avoid if at all possible. He took out Mr. Bond and used it's lock screen as a dim flashlight.

On the ground right in front of them was an animal track. But it was only vaguely similar to something that they were familiar with. The tracks were that of a taloned bird, but they were huge, hinting at an animal that was a size that Las Vegas estimated much larger than a man.

A rustle of leaves attracted the group's attention up ahead on the trail. Duke of York went rigid, and she raised her blade into a ready position forward of her body. The coyote began to snarl ferociously. But this aggressiveness from the coyote was quickly drowned out by a threatening hiss from a shape that had appeared in the trail that must have been the source of the rustling leaves.

Having been found by what had to be either the Bandersnatch or the Jubjub Bird, Las Vegas felt a lessened need to whisper everything. He still spoke softly, but he was loud and deliberate enough to be heard over the hissing monster ahead of them. "What do you see, Duke of York?"

Duke of York spoke back in a level tone with the same volume as Calico Jack, "I witness it to have a lion's basic form and size, yet a lengthened neck. Covered in fur and with teeth like swords. What is the monstrosity that bars our path?"

Calico Jack absorbed this information quickly and with the power of deduction, he concluded that what was in front of them had to be the Bandersnatch, and the tracks had to be the Jubjub Bird's. He formed a plan that might just get them out of here alive, so long as everything goes as planned. He began to give his directions, all the while still staring as the hissing Bandersnatch before them. "I believe that to be the Bandersnatch and the tracks to be the Jubjub Bird. If Jubjub isn't here, then something tells me it's an ambush predator. Duke of York, Sirius, I want you two to go off from the path and find the Jubjub Bird. Kill it and return here. Look out for each other and use Duke of York's night vision to hunt it down. Coyote, go with them, sniff it out if you can, and then lead them back. Go on my signal.

"Yes, sir," responded the knight and the maid. They were all business now, and their fears had been forgotten. The coyote said nothing but understood it's unwitting creator.

Calico Jack resumed his directions, "Javelin. You're with me. We're gong to kill the Bandersnatch. Using my pistol, I'll keep it on the trail and cover you, but I'll need you to use my pistol's muzzle flash to see where it is and take the killing blow. Something tells me it's fast, so watch out. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir," replied the destroyer. She wasn't as fearful anymore though because hearing that Calico Jack had a plan really emboldened her.

He had final directions that he gave, "Once we rendezvous here, we're going to beat it out of this freaky forest before the Jabberwocky shows up. One final order though. Survive. We left the pub with four and I fully expect us to return without losses. Now…On my signal." He waited a few seconds to give his companions time to ready themselves beyond what they were before he started talking. In an aggressive tone at normal speaking volume, he gave the order, "Now!"

On the signal, Duke of York, Sirius, and the coyote quickly dipped off the trail to one side and disappeared into the forest.

The Bandersnatch roared and it was only matched in loudness when Las Vegas aimed Giovanni towards the beast, and he pulled the trigger.

As expected, the muzzle flash of Las Vegas's nine-millimeter pistol did indeed give a brief wave of light that penetrated the darkness of the night. For an instant, Las Vegas and Javelin could see what they were up against, and even though they could only get a glimpse, it seemed that Duke of York's appraisal was correct. Then the muzzle flash dissipated. This was going to be tough.

But there was one thing that was most certainly on Las Vegas's side. He knew his weapon, how it sat in his hand, how the sights aligned in front of his eye, it's heft and recoil. It wouldn't be a stretch to say that he could aim with his eyes closed, and funnily enough, that's more or less what was going on. It was dark, and with Giovanni's stock iron sights that were ill-suited to the low light conditions, he couldn't expect pin-point accuracy. But with knowing exactly how the pistol aimed, coupled with the large silhouette of the target, it was well within the realm of possibility to at least hit the thing.

Such was the case. The Bandersnatch's roar was interrupted with a relatively small projectile at high velocity entering it's flesh in a non-vital location. But it still hurt, a lot. And with that, the monster's roar changed from one of trying to be threatening, to a roar of anger. With the relatively small amount of damage done, all Las Vegas had done was piss it off. But this wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Sun Tzu, an ancient general of the Dragon Empery, once said, "If your opponent is of choleric temper, seek to irritate him. Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant."

Las Vegas fired his weapon again and hit the beast. But this time, Javelin capitalized on the brief wave of light to charge forward. Even though it was too hard for an onlooker to see, it was truly incredible to witness the destroyer's speed. As Las Vegas has surmised from back in the pub, she was light on her feet and even without Las Vegas promising to cover her, the Bandersnatch would be hard-pressed to even touch the girl.

But that didn't stop the Bandersnatch from trying. As Javelin approached with her spear's tip pointed for the monster's face, it stopped roaring and began it's own speedy charge. But before any normal lion would be in range to begin snapping it's jaws, the neck of the Bandersnatch stretched to a preposterous degree, easily the rest of it's body length as it's mighty jaws shot open to take a chunk out of Javelin. This sudden increase in closing speed would have thrown off the destroyer to the point of not being recoverable unless another flash of light from Giovanni didn't warn her. That flash came at the right time, and Javelin dodged the bite to the side.

Another shot came, and Javelin took a stab at the Bandersnatch's neck right behind it's head. But a problem with being like a lion is that there was a thick mane in the way of a clean strike. She ended up giving it a crude haircut that tore out bits of fur but left the owner unharmed.

The Bandersnatch retracted it's neck at the same time as it jumped backwards to create a small amount of distance from it's attacker. Javelin saw the shadowy shape move away from her and she assumed correctly that it had put some distance between herself and itself. She also made a second correct assumption. It was still in striking distance. She jumped backwards to avoid any potential strike and she did avoid a strike that she didn't see or hear coming. But a sudden flash of light from Calico Jack showed just how close she was to being chomped in half.

What that flash didn't show her was a tree root sticking precariously out of the ground. She tripped and fell backwards somewhat painfully onto her rear. "Ow!" voiced the destroyer instinctually.

The Bandersnatch was indeed fast, and just as it saw it's "prey" fall into a weakened state, it's own neck retracted and then sprang forward for it's meal.

But this was not to be Javelin's end. From about fifteen yards away, a gunfighter had the Bandersnatch in his sights. What's more, this was a very skilled gunfighter. And he was about to show a neat trick.

A noteworthy aspect of any semi-automatic firearm is that if the trigger is pulled and then held down, the gun will only shoot once. If it fires more than once, that's a problem and generally undesirable. Nevertheless, to fire again, the trigger must be allowed to move forward a certain distance to allow it and it's attached mechanism to "reset." Only then can the trigger be pulled again with the gun firing. On all firearms in good working order, this trigger reset distance is consistent, learnable, and in some cases, adjustable. Most people simply pull the trigger, let it reset, and then pull again without any extra thought. But a problem that happens often is that people will let their trigger finger move much further forward than the reset distance of the trigger, then they must pull their finger backwards through open space before it even touches the trigger. This wasted motion impacts the speed of their follow up shot negatively. The Beretta 92G in it's single action trigger, along with most single action firearms for that matter, have a pretty short trigger reset, and this plagues the speed of the inexperienced.

But Las Vegas was not inexperienced.

He pulled the trigger while aiming at the Bandersnatch in response to hearing Javelin's instinctive word from having fallen. It fired just as expected. And as expected, the recoil acted exactly like it was supposed to and Las Vegas tamed it quickly as his index finger followed the trigger forward the perfect distance to let it's mechanism reset. His finger never left the trigger and with the recoil compensated for almost instantly, he pulled the trigger again. And again. And again. And again. Five shots were fired—the rest of his magazine—and it was done about as fast as one can say, "shots fired," or three-quarters of a second. His skill was so great and so fast that it simulated fully automatic fire.

A fortunate spat of foresight on the man's part was when he drew Giovanni in the alley a while back, he tucked his shirt behind where he stowed his concealed magazines to allow easy and direct access. So, without anything in the way, he executed a reload. At the same time, he called, "RELOAD!" mainly to let Javelin know what he's doing. It only took a fraction of a second longer than his shout to get back to firing. Only this time, he had fifteen rounds in a magazine for his rapid fire instead of five.

Two and a quarter seconds and fifteen shots later, he called, "RELOAD!" again. In that time coupled with the shots from before, the Bandersnatch would have found itself a little under a half pound (0.23 kilograms) heavier thanks to all of Las Vegas's shots hitting the target. To say nothing about twenty-five bleeding holes in the creature, it was starting to have a tough time, and a few seconds earlier, it was so sure of it's victory.

Javelin was standing again, and she kept her amazement in check as she moved to try and stab the Bandersnatch again.

It dodged, barely. But it did decide that this engagement wasn't so worth it anymore. It turned to try and escape into the woods and try again for it's meal further up the path, but it was cut off by another gunshot. Then a searing pain shot through it's side. It had been stabbed in the moment it was cut off.

The Bandersnatch roared again. But it's painful howl shifted to red-hot fury. It was cornered. It was wounded. This was when an animal is most dangerous.

There was still a tough battle ahead of them, but the destroyer and the gunfighter were ready for it.

XXXXXXXX

"Coyote, hast thou the scent of our quarry?" asked Duke of York as she, Sirius, and their unlikely canine ally were moving their way through the thick woods around them. Gunfire from Calico Jack help them orient themselves in the thicket.

Unfortunately, the coyote didn't understand Duke of York. So, Sirius decided to throw her hat in the ring. "Do you have the Jubjub Bird's scent?"

That was understood a lot better. And in response, the coyote yipped quickly as if to say, "yes."

This was interpreted correctly by the two ship girls. And with that revelation, this hunt just became a lot easier. Even though Duke of York could indeed see in the dark, the possibility of needing to hunt a monster down with just sight was unpleasant sounding. Not to mention the fact that Calico Jack mentioned that it might be an ambush hunter. They would have to tread carefully.

This was a thought that occurred to Sirius too. And something else came to her mind. If they were to walk into a trap, the first one that was most likely to be taken out was the coyote, their guide. And if the coyote died, then she and Duke of York would be in for a hard time to get back with Calico Jack and Javelin. So, Sirius told the coyote with some urgency. "Don't go too far ahead, Coyote. We'll need you to get out of the forest."

This was understood and the coyote complied, slowing it's pace slightly to allow the distance between it and the two women to shorten.

As more time and distance passed, the sounds of Calico Jack's gunfire began to die down. There was a moment when he let off a torrent of gunshots quickly and that definitely made the two women wish they could be there to see the spectacle. Nevertheless, the coyote led them on a winding path. Every now and then Duke of York would call out tracks from the Jubjub Bird.

The coyote suddenly began to slow down in it's tracking of their prey. Then it stopped to sniff the air aggressively, as if in confused frustration. The scent hadn't been lost. It was like the scent was coming from everywhere.

"Why hast thou stopped?" asked Duke of York levelly for the second time tonight. She didn't like where they had stopped. While nothing looked out of the ordinary—for a nightmare forest inside a mirror sea—she was getting the feeling that they weren't alone. And she knew what that meant. After a few seconds of looking around but seeing nothing, she ordered Sirius, "Gird thyself with courage and raise thy blade. Methinks we are not alone. Coyote." The animal in question looked to the vampire knight before Duke of York continued, and she tried to speak in a way that could be more easily understood by those unfamiliar with her. "Remain close, and lead on when ready."

The coyote only delayed a moment longer before it tentatively chose a direction to lead them in. It's pace was much slower now, to try and discern the slightest fluctuations in the strength of the Jubjub Bird's stench so that they could go in the correct direction.

Swords in hand, and all but crowding their guide, Duke of York and Sirius followed for the last few steps before something would happen.

A snap of a twig was all the warning that they would get.

A swift whizzing from above would inspire a few different reactions.

Duke of York, with the lighter weapon, raised her longsword upwards with the blade parallel to the ground into a position to parry a downward strike. But her blade wasn't extended so much to protect herself as it was to protect the coyote.

Her blade met something, and the glimpse of an incredibly sharp talon wrapping around her blade filled her view. Her relative unpreparedness for the strike meant that she couldn't put her whole strength into the parry. Her blade was forced aside in what felt like no time at all. The talons continued on it's original trajectory to kill a certain canine.

But this time had been sufficient for Sirius to do something. With a significantly heavier weapon than Duke of York, her defense worked quite a bit differently. Instead of parries against faster foes, she preferred to dodge. But she wouldn't dodge this attack alone.

With her free hand she grabbed the scruff of the coyote's neck, and she yanked the creature roughly out of the way of the talon that had just entered her own view thanks to proximity. She couldn't see in the dark as well as Duke of York, not by a long shot.

The talon sank into the ground right where the coyote had been standing. Dirt flew in all directions from the force of the attack.

Duke of York and Sirius made a short jump backwards to put some distance between themselves and the Jubjub bird, which they assumed this to be.

The talon took itself out of the dirt quickly and the women's eyes followed it for nearly two meters before it disappeared behind a tree. They still couldn't see the Jubjub Bird as it's foot disappeared from view.

Sirius's sword had now been raised and she had both of her hands into the proper place on the grip. She rushed forward and with a mighty horizontal slash and all her strength, she cleaved through the tree and hopefully, the Jubjub Bird behind it.

The tree fell over with a loud crash of snapping branches but there was no carcass behind the tree. It seemed that the Jubjub Bird had gotten away.

The beat of long strides attracted Duke of York's attention to one side of them. She looked and her eyes pierced the night to see the beast running. As hinted at by the range of it's first strike, the Jubjub Bird had long legs that had to be around the supposed two meters long and it's body seemed appropriately sized to reasonably eat a whole coyote. It's neck only stretched another meter or so above it's body. It's beak seemed unusually blunt looking for a predatory avian, but maybe that meant it didn't attack with it's beak? But the silver lining to fighting this thing was the small size of it's wings. It appeared to be flightless.

But still, they had to give chase. Duke of York pointed and called out, "Behold! There flees our foe!"

Sirius couldn't see it though, and to be honest, the call out wasn't so much for the maid as it was for the coyote. Which, having regained it's bearings from having been handled so roughly moments earlier it ran off in the direction that Duke of York was pointing. Quickly, it picked up the freshest scent of the Jubjub Bird and the coyote began to howl and bark as a way to keep the Jubjub Bird from being comfortable enough to set up another ambush.

The Jubjub Bird was fast. It was definitely fast enough to outrun any human, but not a ship girl or a coyote. In fact, when the monster looked backwards through where it had come, it saw that it's pursuers were still hot on it's trail. It had to at least take one of them out—preferably the dog so that the other two with swords couldn't follow—or it would eventually get overrun with multiple opponents in a standup fight. The Jubjub Bird was of course ignorant to the fact that one of the other pursuers had night vision and had never lost sight of it. So, with blissful ignorance, the great bird ducked behind another tree, being careful to not show anything on either side of the trunk.

Duke of York saw this action perfectly. She naturally had the strength to slice down the tree, and her weapon was sharp and strong enough to do so. How else are ship girl swords to cut through the sarmor of other ship girls' riggings? But unfortunately, her sword wasn't long enough to go through the whole tree and expect to hit the Jubjub Bird. So, she shouted orders to Sirius, who had a much longer blade, "Sirius! Twenty meters directly ahead, our beast concealeth itself behind a tree! Hew it down and slay the Jubjub Bird!"

Sirius didn't need to respond to the affirmative. As a Royal Maid, she would always go through with the orders of a Royal Knight. So, ahead the odd trio charged. And as they closed the distance with the tree in question, Sirius posted her great sword on the shoulder of her strong side in what would be appropriately called, "The Wrath Guard."

Finally, having closed the distance with a running start, and with the tree directly between the Jubjub Bird and the swordswoman, Sirius let out a shout as she imitated her feat from earlier, easily rending wood in twain with a horizonal slash of her great sword.

The tree began to fall away, and even though Sirius couldn't see it, she had actually missed the Jubjub Bird who had moved slightly when she began a yell to announce her attack.

But this time was different than before because this time Duke of York was prepared to support the maid. She saw the Jubjub Bird begin to run, but Duke of York was already in striking distance, so she attacked with a downward diagonal slash meant to decapitate the creature at the base of it's neck.

She didn't decapitate it. But a loud and painful squawk showed that she had hit something.

What had happened was instead of hitting it's neck like Duke of York had intended, a deep gash appeared a few inches below and if it were a giant chicken, it could be said that she carved a half decent filet from it's breast.

But she didn't have time to see the damage that had been done because the Jubjub Bird now had decided to finally stand and fight. But just like before, it had to take down at least one of it's attackers quickly, or it would get overwhelmed.

Duke of York was nearest to the Jubjub Bird, so she was the target of it's attack. While Duke of York had noticed that the bird's beak was remarkably blunt looking earlier in contrast to the sharp beaks of most birds of prey, she hadn't thought that the Jubjub Bird's beak wasn't meant for penetrating flesh. It was more like a hammer in function. In a rapid snapping motion that took the knight by surprise the beak came downwards intent on caving her skull in.

To buy herself even a fraction of a second, she lowered her stance and raised her sword into a hastily made defensive guard called, "The Ox Guard." Instead of coming down on the flat of the blade near the cross-guard, the Jubjub Bird's beak was blocked on the cross-guard itself, smashing two of her fingers, spraining one of her wrists, and knocking her to her knees. At least she saved her head from getting smashed.

By now, Sirius had caught up to Duke of York and the Jubjub Bird to make her own attack. Doing this likely saved Duke of York from a follow up attack. From a high guard the maid brought her great sword down for a chop that was aimed to split the Jubjub Bird's body right down the middle.

Despite it's size, it managed to dodge, but before Sirius to wrench her sword from where it had imbedded into the earth, the Jubjub Bird jumped forwards with it's talon raised. Sirius turned out to be reluctant to abandon her sword, and this costed her when her enemy slammed into her and made her fly backwards a few yards, where she slammed into the ground on her back with no sword and the Jubjub Bird on top of her. One of it's feet was large enough to pin her legs while the other kept her torso pinned to the ground. One of the talons dug into her shoulder making the veteran maid-commando grit her teeth in pain.

The Jubjub Bird intended to use it's beak to club it's pinned enemy to death in a single strike. Then it would then run away to set up another ambush for the remaining enemy with a sword.

The bird's beak flew through the air towards Sirius's face. At the last possible moment, Sirius moved her face out of the way, letting the beak slam into the ground. The bird was unharmed but upset by this setback. It would simply try again.

This proved to be it's undoing. Having recovered faster than the Jubjub Bird anticipated, Duke of York advanced on her enemy. Unbeknownst to the bird, it had gone back to being the hunted in this game of cat and mouse. As silent and deadly as an assassin in the night, Duke of York unleashed a mighty swing to once again try and decapitate the Jubjub Bird.

It worked, and the Jubjub Bird's neck was separated from the shoulders to fall harmlessly on the ground next to Sirius's head. And without a head, the body collapsed directly downward onto Sirius, who reacted with, "Oof."

The body was rather heavy, but it was nothing that the strength of two ship girls couldn't move. So, now free from their immediately precarious situation, the duo took stock of themselves. They had light injuries but nothing to keep them out of the fight. But where was the coyote?

"Coyote! We need you!" called Sirius in some amount of desperation. If they were to be lost here, then there was nothing to do about it.

Like the most loyal of dogs, the coyote barked from only a few yards away, having hidden itself in the bushes during the fight. The women didn't begrudge the coyote for doing so, the Jubjub Bird would have killed the canine easily.

Duke of York offered to help Sirius to her feet, and once that was done, the battleship ordered the coyote, "To Calico Jack."

They set of with haste.

XXXXXXXX

The Bandersnatch had been a formidable opponent, but it could never concoct any sort of stratagem to beat it's attackers. It was full of bullet holes, it had several deep wounds in it's body from spear strikes, and it was losing a lot of blood.

It was sad to see a proud predator reduced to such a pathetic state of trying to cling onto consciousness, to say nothing of it's life.

The formula that Calico Jack had come up with was too effective. Every time it tried to get away, it was barred from leaving. Every time it tried to kill the one shooting at it, it would get stabbed by a small human with a spear. Every time it tried to take a bite out of the small human with the spear for having stumbled, it found more painful shots in it's flesh.

It had finally had enough, and it collapsed pitifully by it's loss of blood.

The gunfighter had never needed to move an inch from where he began the fight, and Javelin rejoined him by where he stood.

Calico Jack ordered in a much calmer tone that before, "Okay then Javelin. It looks like we got this in the bag, but we still have to be careful. I'll give one last shot and I want you to land the killing blow."

"You got it, sir," sang the destroyer back. She had regained a lot of her confidence and normal chipper attitude at seeing things go their way for the fight.

Calico Jack lined up a last shot on the Bandersnatch and fired. In the flash of light, Javelin leaped through the air and came down on the beast's neck running it through with her spear, and finally killing it. In the end, the Bandersnatch went out with a whimper, it's rage having amounted to nothing.

With their victory on their minds, Javelin skipped back to where Calico Jack was. He couldn't see it, but she had a big smile on her face.

Still, he inquired, "Are you hurt anywhere?"

"Nope!" she reported happily. "Are you?"

"Not a scratch on me." Then he paused for a moment, and he proceeded to say, "You did a great job, Javelin. I wouldn't have been able to do this without you."

Javelin's smile grew wider, and she crossed the step towards Calico Jack. She threw her arms out to fix the man in a hug. That hadn't surprised him that much knowing Javelin's personality. He returned the gesture.

"You did good too," she congratulated him.

Not saying anything in return, he allowed a moment to pass in contentment before he decided to try something that he was always curious about. The fabled "headpat." He brought one of his hands up and right beside Javelin's crown, he did it. He patted her head gently.

Javelin was unfamiliar with the gesture, but she quite liked it. She declared, "Calico Jack, I'm feeling energetic!"

"That's good Javelin. We're going to need that spirit for the rest of the mission."

Headpats and hugs completed, they separated and only had to wait a minute or two for someone to call out to them, "Calico Jack! Javelin! Art thou successful in thy battle?"

The coyote showed itself first and then right behind it, Duke of York and Sirius emerged onto the path that they had been following before they got into trouble.

The newly reformed group regarded one another. Calico Jack answered the question with, "Yeah we just finished up a few minutes ago. It's carcass is just over there." He pointed lazily to the Bandersnatch and then he asked, "Are either of you hurt?"

"Unharmed, save my hand," answered Duke of York. "But I stand undaunted for more battle should it befall us. And the coyote is yet untouched as well."

"A talon got my shoulder," informed Sirius. "But it isn't bad. I can still fight."

He considered this for a moment before he answered thoughtfully, "I trust that the both of you know your limits. Be careful, but it's a relief to see that for the most part, you two are okay. Javelin and I are both unharmed by the way."

The coyote yipped to get their attentions to get them going down the path again. And not a moment too soon. From the direction that they were originally coming from, the same chattering whispers from before they entered wafted towards them. Then an ungodly cacophony reached their ears. It was like a twig getting snapped, but these twigs were huge. A moment of deduction showed that trees themselves were being snapped in pieces under the strength of something.

Calico Jack knew exactly what it was. And it was something that he wanted to avoid if at all possible. "It's the Jabberwocky! It found us! Coyote, get us out of here!" he pretty much shouted over the nearby sound of trees getting ripped out from the ground.

The coyote took off on the command. The group ran after it as fast as they could. But their pace was limited. Surprisingly, the pace wasn't limited by the fact that Calico Jack wasn't capable of the same superhuman speed of a ship girl, it was because the forest seemed to get denser the further they proceeded, as if it was trying to slow them down. It was.

This displeased Las Vegas greatly. If the jabberwocky finds them, and they can't fight back in such a densely wooded area, then they will never catch up to their comrades. And he'll never find Nashville.

No.

He was going to get to her, and he was going to get to those who had gone with her. He might not have known them for long, but he did consider Cheshire and Belfast, and too an extent, Sheffield, his friends. His decision made, he now knew that he had nothing to fear, he had a will, and so there was a way.

In fact, if the coyote that was guiding them was one of the things that the man's subconscious was able to make in the mirror sea, then what was up ahead was the next.

With no warning, the group burst out into a grassy clearing that had an ethereal light that let all see normally in contrast to the rest of the Tulgey Wood, but it still rained. Naturally, this took them off guard and it made them feel vulnerable from having no where to hide, but it helped them feel secure because they could actually fight back here. The clearing was circular in shape, and it had a diameter that Calico Jack estimated to be about fifty yards across. But the most obvious thing was a large tree in the middle of the clearing.

Actually, that fact was misleading. The tree wasn't the noticeable thing, but rather the thing sticking out of it. A glimmering sword stuck out of it proudly. Calico Jack knew what it was, and with wondrous amazement had gasped out, "It's the Vorpal Blade."

There was still crashing trees behind them, and it was getting noticeably closer, so he ordered loudly, "To the Vorpal Blade!"

With that, the group advanced to the center of the clearing and for the briefest of moments, they got to inspect the sword. It turned out to be another long sword and it's blade was made from the finest metal and it seemed to glow with an otherworldly silver luster. It's blade had delicate looking carvings of vines in it. It's cross-guard and hilt were both made of gold that had designs that invoked thoughts of royalty. Specifically, in a special Alice's Adventures in Wonderland nod, it had carved motifs of hearts, for the Queen of Hearts.

That queen was famous for the line, "Off with his head!" And now with the Vorpal Blade, that would be the Jabberwocky's fate when it arrived in the clearing.

"We're gonna need this for what's coming," stated Las Vegas to those who stood alongside him. He reached out to pull the Vorpal Blade from it's place, and without difficulty he was able to pull it out. He was debating on keeping it to himself or giving it to one of the ship girls for their knowledge of sword play. He really wanted to keep it, but then he thought to himself that it was too bad it was a sword, because he wasn't a swordsman, but a gunman.

In his grip, the Vorpal Blade suddenly became enshrouded in what looked like a puffy white cloud. It's grip changed shape in his hand, and the blade shrank down until it faded away from existence. When the cloud dissipated to reveal the new form of the Vorpal Blade, Calico Jack was met with a feeling that was familiar to him. He was speechless throughout this.

The sword now took the form of a beretta magazine, one that would fit perfectly into Giovanni. It retained it's fancy designs and expensive materials though. A brief inspection showed that the ammunition poking out the top also had the same designs from the blade. He confirmed that it had the normal fifteen rounds in it, so he took out his pistol, dropped the still nearly full magazine to put it in his belt for later, and then he slipped in the Vorpal Ammunition. He finally racked the slide to chamber a round from the new magazine that he just found, all the while catching and then stowing the ejected normal round.

He now turned to his companions. No, these were his friends. So, he began to speak earnestly as one would to friends. "The Jabberwocky has been gaining on us and it looks like we have to fight it. I say that doing it here is better than in the thicket."

The group agreed. Then on the order of Calico Jack, all got ready to fight and the coyote took off to hide in the woods.

The Jabberwocky hadn't arrived yet, but Las Vegas had a thought that made him smile a bit. Since they were fighting monsters out of a Lewis Carroll poem, wouldn't it be appropriate for the group to call themselves, "Carrolleans?"

The crashing in the Tulgey Wood stopped, and that lack of noise snapped the man from his musing to look towards the direction that they had come from.

From the darkness in the trees, eyes that glowed like the embers of a fire glared angrily at them. Penetrating whispers came from the eyes' direction. So, that's where the creepy whispering from earlier originated. A stanza from the poem "Jabberwocky" came to Las Vegas's mind:

"And as in uffish thought he stood,

The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,

Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,

And burbled as it came!"

Las Vegas looked to his left. Javelin stood beside him, but she held herself firm contrary to the shaking girl from earlier. He looked to his right; Duke of York looked defiant in the face of this foe, and Sirius looked clinically in the direction of the eyes. All looked ready for anything. He himself looked back at the eyes of the Jabberwocky. Then lyrics from a song by his favorite band came to his mind:

"See the Caroleans standing tall,

All for one and one for all.

Enemies fall at their feet,

Begging for their mercy,"

With that final thought, Las Vegas had prepared himself. They would stand their ground against the greatest being of this forest. Victory might be unattainable. Victory might cost him his life. But he wasn't afraid of dying—not anymore. He was afraid of never reaching Nashville, his greatest friend. He had promised her that he would be there whenever she needed him and overcoming this was part of fulfilling that promise.

This standoff of staring was finally finished by the Jabberwocky itself. Through the veil that separated the ethereal light of the clearing and the darkness of the Tulgey Wood, a great claw reached outward to grasp one of the final trees that separated the group from this adversary. A second claw reached out to grasp another tree. These claws shone with an infinite blackness like the night sky, and they were absolutely enormous. It seemed like they could easily wrap themselves around a man to render him unable to prevent his demise. And then finally, they were tipped with razor sharp claws that would prove an equal to the sharpest of blades from legend. These were the Jabberwocky's own "Vorpal Blades."

The final two trees crumpled under the strength of the Jabberwocky, who seemed to simultaneously crush them like one would a piece of paper and draw them back with the same ease as one would move a window's curtain. This creature's strength was immense! Even for the mightiest of ship girls, going head on against the Jabberwocky's strength would be suicide.

The last barrier was removed, and the Jabberwocky placed one claw on the ground, and then the other. Finally, the beast revealed itself by stepping into the clearing.

It was huge, easily ten yards tall, and who knew how heavy as it walked on all four legs. While the eyes and the claws were the first terror that the creature unveiled, the next was it's head. Despite being covered in black scales, the shape of it's head invoked thoughts of a cow's skull and it even had jagged horns from the side that arced upwards wickedly with pointed tips. But that wasn't the worst part of it's face. As expected, the Jabberwocky was armed with a veritable armada of razor-sharp pointed teeth that was left exposed for all to see even with it's mouth closed. It's jaws were chattering it's infernal whisper as it came into the clearing, and it's teeth ground against each other.

It stopped and it stood on it's hind legs. The Jabberwocky's immense size became even more apparent, as did it's general form, which was that of a four legged European style dragon. It's ribs were obviously visible as a sort of taunting armor in it's torso, and meaty sinews concealed underneath thick black scales held this mountain of flesh up in it's terrible majesty.

The Jabberwocky wasn't finished yet though, from behind it wings unfurled like a shadowy cape. This thing could fly.

Flexing completed; the Jabberwocky came down on it's fore legs to fix the group with the same stare from it's fiery red eyes. Its gaze went from left to right, and then back again to settle on the one that it had actually been hunting, the only person that wasn't armed ostensibly with a bladed weapon. It's jaws chattered louder in a threatening manner and a great rain of sparks fell as it's teeth ground against each other like flint against steel. Las Vegas supposed this to mean that it breathed fire.

But the Jabberwocky was unaware of the fact that even though the one it had been hunting wasn't armed with a sword or a spear, he was still a Vorpal Wielder, and thus, he was dangerous to this monstrosity. Nevertheless, the Jabberwocky felt that it had nothing to fear.

On the other side, Las Vegas was trying his hardest to come up with a plan to fight and kill the Jabberwocky. In the poem, it's killed with the Vorpal Blade cutting off it's head, but Vorpal Ammunition is not conducive to beheading something, nevertheless he wasn't sure of this. Well, it seemed that it couldn't be killed with a single devastating attack, it had to be killed with bug-bites, that is to say, kill it with a growing number of smaller wounds that weaken it more and more until it finally dies. He finally had some directions for those with him. He never took his eyes off the Jabberwocky and his tone conveyed his will to beat the monster, "Avoid any attacks that the Jabberwocky can punish, if that means a faster, less damaging slash or stab, do that. Don't stay in one place too long and look for any sort of weak spot in it's scales, assuming it's scales are like armor. Assume it breathes fire and be prepared to take cover either in the Tulgey Wood or under the tree the Vorpal Blade came from when it does. We can do this. Just keep it simple. And we'll all make it out of this. I still expect us to get back to the pub with all of us."

The Jabberwocky had been amused by the funny sounds that it's prey was making to it's companions, so it let the man speak without interruption. But once he was done, it was time to eat.

The Jabberwocky let out an earth-shaking roar and then it gave a demonstration of an incredible ability to move fast despite it's size as it jumped forward through the air towards it's meal.

The three ship girls were smart and jumped out of the way, but their leader wasn't quite as smart. At the beginning of the movement, Las Vegas rose his pistol to aim at the Jabberwocky's neck. He did so for two reasons. The first was a possibility that the Vorpal Ammunition could indeed go through it's neck, since the sword could in the poem. The second was much more practical and it was to test the scales to see if they did indeed serve as armor.

It jumped just as Las Vegas pulled the trigger. Normally, a gun goes bang, and a bullet is propelled down range. That's what happened, but what Las Vegas wasn't expecting was for the Vorpal Ammunition to act like a tracer round, leaving a glowing trail that could be easily seen behind the projectile as it was flying through the air.

But this tracer effect was quite telling to all watching that the Jabberwocky's scales were indeed armored when the bullet's trail showed it deflect right off. So much for the Vorpal Blade being the simple solution to this problem.

A more immediate problem, however, was the fact that Las Vegas still hadn't jumped out of the way yet. He decided that now was the opportune moment, and without a single hint of grace, he threw himself out of the way as an enormous claw sank into the ground right where he had been standing, spraying debris everywhere. The claws looked even bigger up close.

Due to the graceless nature of Las Vegas's evasion, he was now on the ground laying on his back with wide eyes towards the attack that wouldn't have just killed him but would have made him a stain in the grass.

The Jabberwocky moved to snap at him with it's jaws but as it moved downwards, a blur rocketed for the side of it's face. That blur was Javelin, and she was going to do her own test of the Jabberwocky's armored scales. As she got within touching distance, she trusted her spear outwards for a stab that was aimed at what she figured to be the monster's temple since she was reluctant to try and stab it's eye because it looked to be on fire. And much like Calico Jack's Vorpal Ammunition, her spear point bounced right off of the scales. It looked like she scratched it but didn't do any real damage. That meant that whatever made up the Jabberwocky's scales were, they were stronger than a ship girl's blade meant to tear through riggings and other metals.

Now turning it's head for Javelin, the Jabberwocky opened it's mouth to reveal that it's inside was just as imposing as the outside. The size of the maw was frankly terrifying to the ship girl, but as the Jabberwocky lunged at her to take a bite, she easily evaded it. She counted herself lucky that her evasion as a destroyer was really good. Glancing to the side she confirmed that Calico Jack had risen back to his feet and was now putting distance between himself and the Jabberwocky. Now it was time for her to get out of it's attack range. Or at least, out of range of it's jaws or claws.

If Calico Jack and Javelin had dodged to one side of the monster, Duke of York and Sirius had jumped to the other side. Both had seen Calico Jack's shot and then Javelin's stab, and both were now well aware of the Jabberwocky's armor. The two ship girls had different thoughts on this.

Sirius was the sort of maid who interpreted "cleaning" as "cleaning out enemies" so she found herself of the mind to test her own strength against the Jabberwocky's scales. After all, she was much stronger than Javelin was and with a heavier weapon, she figured that if there was anyone here who stood a chance of damaging and then getting through the scales, it was her.

At the same time, Duke of York was of a completely different mindset. While she was the strongest one here, she felt that her lighter weapon would produce much the same result as Javelin's trust. She needed to find a suitable target—a weak point. The eye. It was the only part of the Jabberwocky's exposed body that wasn't covered in scales and even if it looked like it was on fire, she would still do it to at least give them some advantage in the battle.

Sirius rushed forward with her great sword in the same wrath guard that she used to fell trees. She was coming up on the Jabberwocky from behind as it was turned towards Javelin and Calico Jack. Then as she reached the appropriate distance beside one of it's hind legs, she threw all of her strength into a horizonal chop, one that she hoped would lop off it's leg.

The chop flew through the air, and it landed perfectly on it's leg. The sword bounced off instead of sinking in, but for just a moment, Sirius could confirm something important. She shouted for all to hear, "I cracked a scale! We can get through it!"

The Jabberwocky had been aware of the swordswomen behind it for this whole time but had discounted them as mere pests. It supposed itself invincible and that all it had to do was be patient, and it would get it's meal. Now it saw the error of this thought process. There was a legitimate threat to it. It roared loudly and then with it's tail, it took a swipe at Sirius. But she was prepared for the possibility of such an attack, and she ducked underneath it to emerge untouched.

The monster pivoted in place to face the one person it now knew definitively to be a threat to it. Another claw was raised, and it fell towards the royal maid, but she jumped backwards to see the ground where she had been standing was now replaced with a hole.

Finally, Duke of York shouted, "It's eyes! Pluck out it's eyes, and we shall outlast this foe!"

From the other side of the Jabberwocky, Calico Jack responded, "Agreed! You and I will go for it's eyes! Sirius! Keep up trying to get through the scales!" Finally, he looked to his side where Javelin had joined him. He ordered, "Stick to Sirius and see if you can't penetrate the scales damaged by her. We're gonna bleed the Jabberwocky dry if we have to."

"Yes sir!" she replied, and the blur was on the move again.

Calico Jack looked back towards the Jabberwocky as it made another claw swipe for Sirius. It's attack met nothing but air as Sirius began to backpedal. But then it saw the one with pink hair begin to run for it's actual prey. It wasn't too privy to be having another swordswoman behind it again, so it decided to try and kill her from the get-go. It stretched it's massive wing to get in the way of the woman and it successfully obstructed her. She slowed down for a moment, not expecting this action. But then the Jabberwocky turned and pounced towards her at the same time. It opened it's mouth hoping to at least eat most of her in one attack.

Battleships aren't known to have the same maneuverability as say, a light cruiser or a destroyer, so she couldn't evade as well as either of her ship girl companions. Nevertheless, Duke of York didn't resign herself to fate. She pooled all the agility that she possessed and jumped forward while spinning around one-hundred eighty degrees to see the jaws of razor-sharp teeth snap shut loudly right where she was standing. She was still so close to the Jabberwocky that she could reach out and touch it, and she felt the wind on her face as it was forced out of the monster's mouth from the act of snapping it's jaws. She likewise felt the heat on her skin from it's literally burning eyes.

Eyes! Her target had presented itself perfectly. How convenient. To make sure that she didn't miss in the stab that she was now determined to go through with, she took her non-dominant hand and carefully gripped the middle of her sword's blade while her dominant hand remained on the hilt. The act is called, "half-swording," and knights of the Middle Ages would use the technique to precisely strike targets between an opposing knight's armor plates.

She went for the stab but was defeated when the Jabberwocky simply closed it's eyes. Off the armored eyelid the sword deflected. But Duke of York wasn't finished yet.

Normally, a sword has no chance at all to go through or even damage plate armor, which is what the Jabberwocky's scales were simulating. Sirius's sword that was as large and heavy as she was being the exception to this rule. But there was another way for a longsword-wielding knight in shining armor could take on another knight in plate armor.

Duke of York's off-hand slid down to grip her longsword's blade close to the tip, while her dominant hand joined the other on the blade about halfway up. By changing her grip, she had transformed her sword into an impromptu war hammer, whose blunt attacks were much better at denting and caving through armor than a sword was at cutting through it.

Now armed with a blunt weapon and a war cry, Duke of York hammered downwards with her sword's cross guard right onto the Jabberwocky's eyelid. This technique is called a "Murder Stroke," and rightly so. Right before the vampire knight's eyes, she cracked one of the Jabberwocky's scales—one right on it's eyelid.

Before the Jabberwocky reacted properly, it's reflexes kicked in as they do for all creatures, and it's eye watered—somehow, despite being on fire—and if blinked a few times as it opened it's jaws to roar or scream or make whatever noise it does when it's in pain.

But as it blinked rapidly, and before Duke of York could get away, a streak of light crossed in front of the battleship directly into the unarmored flesh of the Jabberwocky's eye. The tell-tale bang from a gunshot rang out across the clearing. Calico Jack had made a shot that now officially half blinded the Jabberwocky.

Duke of York was about to yell something about making an excellent shot but was rapidly drowned out by their enemy's ear-splitting roar of anger and pain. This was amplified when it felt something sharp seemingly ignore it's scales right where it had been hit before, and stab deep into one of it's hind legs. It needed to put some distance between itself and it's enemies or it would get attacked from all angles again. So, it's wing unfurled to their full span, which was incredibly large so as to grant the monster flight. It beat it's wings twice, and it was airborne. It was out of harms way for a moment as it crossed the clearing to land opposite it's enemies. But it was driven by anger to decide that eating it's foes could be forgotten in favor of it's new decision.

Las Vegas now saw that all four of them were pretty much exactly on the opposite side of the clearing from the Jabberwocky. The tree where he had gotten the Vorpal Blade was betwixt the two parties. Then with horror in his eyes, the Jabberwocky intentionally ground it's teeth together to create a massive cascade of sparks. "GET TO COVER!" screamed Las Vegas. With a gigantic breath, the Jabberwocky propelled a wall of fire in the direction of the heroes.

Javelin was close enough to the tree line that she dived into the Tulgey Wood to hide behind a tree as the fire encompassed the world around her. She was unharmed. Sirius found the hole that the Jabberwocky had made when it first swiped at her to be just the right size for her to curl up in, and the water pooling at the bottom from the continuing rain was fighting the heat. She covered her face with her arms as the fire sailed overhead. She got off with some burns on her arms. Duke of York and Calico Jack were closest to the tree in the center of the clearing. Duke of York made it perfectly fine behind the tree. Calico Jack was just far enough behind her to avoid touching the hellish flame directly, but it was still close enough to make his exposed skin feel like it got a bad sunburn in less than a second. Then the fire died down as the Jabberwocky roared again. All in all, for a flame that could have turned them all to ash, they got off easy.

Having enjoyed a small amount of success from flying and breathing fire, the Jabberwocky decided to keep doing that. It took to the air again and it rained fire from the sky as it went. It's first stop was for the tree in the middle where it's main prey had been hiding.

Las Vegas leaned out from the side of the tree to watch as the Jabberwocky beat it wings to start flying again. Then when he saw it create another show of sparks with it's teeth, he saw it's plan. It would do an incinerating strafing attack until they were all as barren as this once grassy clearing now was. There was only one thing he could think of that might be able to take it out of the sky. He roared, "JAVELIN! CRIPPLE IT'S WING!"

The destroyer in question leaned out from behind her cover at hearing her name. She saw the Jabberwocky begin it's flight of doom towards her commander. Determination flooded the veins of the destroyer normally prone to fear. She had to save Calico Jack. It's what she promised Laffey that she would do.

It's funny really. Many tell stories of heroes being armed with swords. But what of their gods? It is said that Zeus of Olympus could cast divine bolts of lightning as javelins from the sky. Or what of Odin the All-Father? Tales say that his spear, Gungnir, was so perfectly balanced that it would hit it's target when thrown regardless of the caster's strength or skill. Or what of the two Sakura Kami, Izanagi and Izanami and their spear, Amenonuhoko, that they would stir the seas with to raise the first land from the deep?

Perhaps bits of the gods of old manifested into a small destroyer girl trapped in a nightmare with her fellows? Who knew for sure? But regardless, Javelin reared her arm back with her spear aiming for the Jabberwocky. Her target was the base of one of it's wings. She didn't know if she could get through the scales or not, but that wouldn't stop her from trying. She whispered, "Please work," to herself. And then without any further delay, she drained every ounce of her strength and then forced even more strength into her throw.

A crack like a whip was heard as the spear broke the sound barrier. As it flew, it divided the water that yet rained from the sky. A bolt of lightning arced between clouds overhead. The spear flew true, and it struck the Jabberwocky's wing base right between where a few scales intersected, so it wasn't as heavily armored.

The spear sank deeply into the Jabberwocky's flesh and with a screaming roar, it tumbled from the sky before it could incinerate anyone.

The Jabberwocky had returned to the ground when Calico Jack shouted, "Stick to the plan! We can do this!"

With all giving their best war cries, they charged the Jabberwocky that was only starting to get it's bearings.

With one powerful swing after another, Sirius would crack more and more of the Jabberwocky's scales. And every single one of these scales would be punctured by a purple-tinted tornado called "Javelin" who had retrieved her spear. Duke of York, like Sirius, would use the murder stroke to get through more and more scales.

But the Jabberwocky would fight them ferociously for every little wound it would receive on it's body. Not a few times was a member of the party nearly chomped into pieces or ripped to shreds. But ostensibly, Las Vegas hadn't fired another shot. He was trying his hardest to line up a final shot on the thing's last remaining eye, and then from that point, he figured that they might as well claim victory. But unbeknownst to him, his test wouldn't be one of his strength or his skill, but something else.

That test arrived when the group made their first mistake. Since the first wave of fire that was breathed by the Jabberwocky had burned all the grass, the exposed earth with the rain had turned into a sleek mud that was easy to slip in. Such happened to Duke of York. Her footing didn't cause her to fall after a successful Murder Stroke, but it made her stumble slightly and delayed her reaction to the Jabberwocky's retaliation. It's tail came from nowhere and it slammed into the vampire knight. She was propelled fifteen or so yards from the action and she landed right on her head. She stopped moving.

"Lady Duke of York!" cried Sirius. Then with anger in her eyes, she attempted a hastily downwards stroke into the Jabberwocky's side between it's ribs.

Now with one less enemy to worry about, the Jabberwocky might just be able to win this fight. It reached out and caught Sirius's great sword with it's claw, and it wrenched if from her grip to throw across the clearing. Returning it's claw from the throw as a backhanded strike, the Jabberwocky managed to land a solid hit on a stunned maid. She, like Duke of York, was thrown a significant distance, but she managed to land somewhat softly onto the mud. She was dazed yet remained conscious.

Then there was only one final opponent actively pestering the Jabberwocky, so it turned to a shocked Javelin. It opened it's mouth wide and delivered it's loudest roar yet. That was the final straw that broke the destroyer's resolve. She dropped her spear to clamp her hands over her ears and she felt herself sink to her knees. They had lost. There was nothing more they could do against this monster, except die. She clamped her eyes shut to await her impending doom. Maybe dying wasn't so bad? At least she could meet some of her crew in person.

Though it was overshadowed by the Jabberwocky's roar, a shot rang out across the clearing. Neither the destroyer nor the monster could see it coming as a streak of light plowed into the one remaining eye of the Jabberwocky, blinding it.

It's roar changed to that of screaming in pain again. But now that the Jabberwocky was blinded, it would be possible for some of it's prey to escape, but it still had other senses with which to hunt. Knowing this, Calico Jack's test came. His test was of his mettle, of his loyalty to those who would follow him. The Jabberwocky was blinded, but with just him and Javelin, he seriously doubted their abilities to win. So, he could at least save them. So, he yelled what he thought would be his last order to Javelin, "Take Duke of York and Sirius and get out of here! Tell the coyote to lead you back to the pub!"

He didn't hear Javelin's reply, but it really didn't matter. His focus shifted back to the task at hand. He was the leader. He hadn't contributed much to the fight, but dammit he was going to make sure that those who followed him made it out of this alive.

He aimed Giovanni at the Jabberwocky's head. He didn't know what he was going to shoot at exactly, but that didn't matter anymore. His left hand reached into one of his pockets and he withdrew Virgil Slade's trench whistle. He brought it up to his mouth and with as deep a breath as he could muster, he blew on it. It's shrill two-tone cry seemed to peel the air in two.

The Jabberwocky turned his way and roared again.

He wasn't afraid of dying. At least that part of him was better than when he left Kitsap all that time ago. His only regret was of never reaching Nashville. Hopefully she would forgive him.

The Jabberwocky charged the lone man, having found it's direction by sound, and is it approached it clicked it's teeth together to give the shower of sparks that indicated it was about to breathe fire.

A ray of hope showed itself to the man without a name and a plan formed instantly in his mind. While his friends' mistakes might have cost them their lives, the Jabberwocky's mistake definitely would cost it it's own life.

"SMILE WIDE!" yelled Las Vegas to the monster.

It obliged him and through the shower of sparks the Jabberwocky opened it's mouth and from the bowels of the creature, a noxious red gas began to rise up it's throat as the fuel for it's fire.

The moment that Las Vegas saw the gas he pulled the trigger.

Giovanni went bang and as expected, a streak of yellow light followed behind the Vorpal Bullet as it flew straight down the Jabberwocky's open maw and right into the red gas.

From inside the Jabberwocky, the gas ignited. Given the fact that the inside of the Jabberwocky's throat was completely unarmored, when the gas ignited in a confined space, it exploded, separating the Jabberwocky's head from it's neck.

The explosion was about the size of the Jabberwocky itself and it's concussion was quite noticeable in Las Vegas's chest. But when the smoke cleared, the Jabberwocky lay dead in the clearing.

He spat on the ground as the classic gesture of disrespect in the Eagle Union. "Off with your head," declared Las Vegas spitefully. He then wiped off a glob of Jabberwocky blood that had almost flown into his mouth. Seriously, he had to find something to cover at least his mouth whenever he got into action.

He pushed the decocker on his pistol and slipped it into his holster as he broke out in a run for Duke of York. He ordered to the still petrified Javelin, "Go get Sirius. I have to get Duke of York."

That seemed to do the trick and Javelin went off wordlessly for Sirius. But in the meantime, Las Vegas skidded to a halt over what he supposed to be Duke of York's dead body. He ignored his aching burns as he put his arm under her and lifted her out of the mud where she laid face-down. Recalling the time he went through security at the FBI building in Miami and seeing that Nashville seemed perfectly human, he gently placed two fingers on Duke of York's carotid artery in her neck to check for a pulse.

It took him a few seconds of soul-wrecking stress to find the pulse. It was there but it was weak. She was alive. He looked at her chest to confirm that she was still breathing. He didn't know how to treat unconscious people so all he could to was shake her and say her name. It took a few tries, but her eyes opened slightly, and then closed again. He said her name again and shook her one last time for her eyes to open fully, albeit slowly. Despite the rest of her being covered in mud, her eyes were still striking.

He gasped out, "Thank God you're still alive. Are you hurt anywhere?"

She opened her mouth and said, "The pain hath not exceeded my ability to bare it. I can yet fight. But wilt thou assist a lady to her feet?"

With his arm still around her, he began to raise Duke of York out of the mud and onto her feet. He heard Javelin and Sirius let out a sigh of relief from behind them. But now Duke of York asked, "Supposeth I correctly that we are the victors?"

"See for yourself," said Calico Jack, as he looked at the carcass of the Jabberwocky.

"How?" asked Duke of York.

"I noticed it would spark it's teeth together whenever it would breathe fire, probably as an ignition. So, when I saw the sparks, I aimed and fired down it's throat, igniting and then exploding the fuel it would burn. You can see the aftermath."

Duke of York whistled and remarked, "Verily I wish to have beheld such an act."

"Same," added Sirius, who was standing unassisted.

"It was really cool," added on Javelin.

Now noticing Sirius, Calico Jack asked with concern apparent, "Are you okay?"

She answered, "Like Lady Duke of York, I'm hurt, but can still fight. I just need to grab my sword."

"Okay then," said the man. He then thought for a moment as Duke of York motioned that it was okay for him to let her stand on her own. He did so and then said, "Are there any objections to continuing with the original objective? We still have allies that might be in trouble and the mirror sea is still in existence."

"We mustn't tarry," urged Duke of York. "Let us venture forth."

"We aren't done with the mission yet. Let's go forward," agreed Sirius.

"I'll go where you do, Calico Jack," promised Javelin.

Sounds of the mud shifting brought the group's attention back to the coyote, who had now chosen the time to reappear. It was wagging it's tail.

"Then let's be off. We have allies that might need out help," ordered Las Vegas.

XXXXXXXX

In Nashville's opinion, what had occurred inside the smoke screen made by Belfast was less like a brawl and more like a slaughter. Despite the courage of the cultists that she honestly thought of as foolhardiness, the best that they could do in their charge was land some small cuts with blades on the ship girls. All at the cost of their lives.

But still, it took too long, and Nashville was growing impatient. But when the final cultist's head was smashed against the bottom step by Belfast, Nashville spoke up with, "It looks like the bottom floor is ours. So, let's get going for the next one."

At that declaration, the four of the ship girls gathered and took stock of one another. Nashville and Cheshire were both covered in blood, but the latter more so than the former. Cheshire assured that her injury didn't mean anything. She's taken Sirens apart with her bare hands and rigging active, she would be alright against a measly gunshot. Belfast looked remarkably cleaner than everyone else being uninjured and only with blood staining her hands and shoes. Sheffield looked the worst by far. Most of the blood that covered herself was her own. Fortunately, her bleeding was slowing, but she voiced the need to take it easy if she wanted to stop the bleeding.

Once Sheffield had finished her status report, the group then became acutely aware of how quiet it was in the building. But it wasn't a peaceful silence, rather it was a freaky silence. It was like the calm before the storm.

Suddenly, from the top of the stairs, footsteps caught the attention of all the ship girls. As they looked, there were two people in white robes that obscured most of their bodies and with hoods that covered the upper halves of their faces. The only thing that broke their uniformity was the fact that the were armed differently. One had a harpoon and the other a cutlass.

Stepping slowly in time, the two figures came down the stairs. But they said nothing. They didn't have to say anything to explain what their business was. Them being armed spoke volumes enough. But there was something very wrong with these two people. It was as if they shouldn't exist, as if their very beings were a profane insult to reality. If Nashville had to describe it, looking at them was like looking over the edge into an abyss. She began to feel very small.

They were about halfway down the stairs when they did begin to speak. But it was softly and in a language that the ship girls had no desire to understand. Were they coordinating? Or encouraging each other? Or something more sinister? But whatever the case may be, the speaking was keeping the ship girls from doing anything.

The cultists came closer, and they radiated infernal power. Subconsciously, the ship girls began to take steps down the entry hall towards the exit. These cultists weren't like the others.

But when the cultists finally reached the bottom of the stairs, and the ship girls about half-way down the hallway, both parties came to a stop of their own volition, and all fell silent. Nashville had had enough of this and decided to make a stand and the others stuck beside her. Only the Deep knew why the white-robed cultists stopped.

Nashville raised her fists and the others got ready to rumble. The cultists also prepared themselves. But then instead of rapidly closing in order to get this fight underway, they instead stared at each other, neither party wanting to make the first move.

Time passed crookedly in this warped reality. Nashville could have sworn only ten seconds of this standoff had passed, but it was different for other people inside the mirror sea.

Finally, the harpoon cultist made a small step forward with their front leg and the cutlass cultist visibly tensed. They were about to make their move.

As quickly as the cultist could, they raised the harpoon and then hurled it through the air hoping to stick one of the ship girls, and only at the last moment did it's target become apparent. They were aiming for Cheshire, or more specifically, the center of Cheshire's chest.

With wide eyes from not expecting the attack to be so quick, she attempted to dodge. And she was successful somewhat. The sharp tip of the harpoon made a nice cut on one of her breasts—now would have been a good time for a smaller bosom—and then sailed straight through her jacket to sink right into a wall.

From that opening attack, it was immediately apparent to all present that these cultists fought as equals to the ship girls present. This would be a hard battle.

Despite being wounded, it was Sheffield that made the first attack by aiming and firing her pistol at the now disarmed cultist. They shifted slightly to get out of her aim and while she was certain she hit the target, it's likely that she only put a hole in the cultist's robes. Before she took another shot, Nashville, Belfast, and Cheshire rushed forward to hopefully finish this quickly.

The cutlass-wielder stepped forward and with a wide arcing slash they successfully held Nashville and Belfast at bay but then they ducked underneath a pounce from Cheshire. And good thing too. These cultists may fight equally to a ship girl, but the wrath of a PR ship girl is still practically a death sentence.

At that same time, the harpooner took a flying leap through the air to sail over the heads of Nashville and Belfast to land in front of Sheffield. She managed to jump over a sweeping kick with some difficulty that then transitioned into a roll for the cultist to retrieve their harpoon from where it landed by the door to the street.

She fired twice as the harpooner reached out to arm themselves from where the weapon had landed. Both shots struck the harpooner in the back and while they did flinch from getting shot, they didn't cry out in pain, nor did that stop them from finally getting their weapon back. Sheffield was completely open while the other three were still attacking the cutlass-wielder.

She fired again to hopefully dissuade the harpooner from approaching but they merely ignored the new bullet hole in their body to throw their harpoon again.

It was painful, but Sheffield managed to throw herself out of the way in time. But when she looked back towards the harpooner, she saw something that made her jaw drop.

"SISTER! BEHIND YOU!" screamed the cutlass wielding cultist to the harpooner.

The harpooner had left her back facing the open door and as she looked over her shoulder to see what was behind her, her view was full of the business end of a Beretta 92G loaded with some very special ammunition—ammunition meant for something much, much larger and more threatening than a superhuman cultist.

"Do you surrender?" asked the one she supposed to be the Magician casually.

"Fuck you," responded the Harpooner without thinking about it. Nor did she think of doing anything else.

He sighed heavily knowing he could only expect further resistance from the cultist. But reluctant or not, he had to take care of the threat, so he then answered, "Suit yourself."

And with that sendoff, he pulled the trigger. A bolt of light followed after the Vorpal Bullet as it tore through the harpooner's skull. A normal bullet would leave a hole, but the Vorpal Bullet made the cultist's head explode in a glorious show of shock and awe, which for better or for worse, is the Eagle Union way of doing things.

The Harpooner's lifeless corpse tumbled to the ground and if all the actions hadn't been stopped by the Cutlass-Wielder's declaration, they were now.

Nashville looked over to see her commander standing by the door with Duke of York, Sirius, and Javelin. All had their weapons out and they looked filthy, like they had been through hell itself. Her eyes began to water at seeing him. She wanted to reach out for him but before she could say or do anything, her commander began to speak again.

In a loud voice to convey power and intimidation he said, "You in the white robes and sword. You can't win this. Give it up and surrender. You will be treated decently."

In the face of the facts that one of the three pillars of the ritual was gone, and that the Cutlass-Wielder was no longer confident in their ability to fend off seven demons and the Magician himself, they began to inch for the stairs. If they reach the priest in time, then both can make an escape into the mirror sea and come up with a plan to salvage this.

They made the decision and they suddenly turned to beat a hasty retreat up the stairs to make good on that plan.

The cultist was fast, but Las Vegas was faster, and he wasn't willing to let a cultist get away—they were too dangerous to risk it. The latter made another shot and another tracer-like Vorpal Bullet shot through the air to land squarely in the center of the cultist's back.

They didn't explode like the Harpooner's head, but for a brief moment, Las Vegas could see daylight through a sizeable hole where the cultist had been shot.

The Cutlass-Wielder flopped over dead part of the way up the stairs but then something happened that rapidly explained why the cultists had been superhuman to those who had seen their feats. The harpoon and the cutlass dematerialized into miniature wisdom cubes of a furious red hue and flew up the stairs. It became apparent that they had materialized a portion of riggings like Las Vegas's companions did with their swords or spear. So, while powerful, they weren't nearly as tough as a ship girl with full rigging. Perhaps this was the limit of humans? Or perhaps they couldn't use the full power of a wisdom cube for reasons unknown?

But with that final aide dead, and even though the ship girls and the codebreaker weren't privy to it, there was a single enemy left in the Holy House. But said enemy would soon announce his presence.

The Priest felt his influence on the mirror sea grow exponentially weaker as the lives of his aides ebbed away. But what was even more telling was when the shards of the wisdom cube that the aides were using flew into the ritual chamber to rejoin the greater part of the whole. If he could find and kill the Magician, then the Heralds of the Deep could salvage this. But with the demons at his side, the priest doubted this possibility. There was only a single thing that he could do. He had to convince the Magician to permit this to continue. The Magician wouldn't have to participate, but only consent. But again, the priest didn't favor his chances. The Magician had resisted the obstacle that the priest put in his way. He feared that the Magician would resist him successfully again.

Using the long sleeve of his scarlet robe, the priest grabbed the wisdom cube which retained it's red shifting glob of gelled blood on it. He hid it in the folds of his robe as he left the ritual chamber for what he feared might be the last time.

Back on the bottom floor Las Vegas took stock of the group that had gone with Nashville. He asked to all of them, "Are all four of you okay?"

"I'm okay," answered Nashville with a thin smile. She was happy to see her commander alright in this mirror sea, but at the same time she was mad at him for being here at all.

"I got shot in the leg and have a cut, but I'll be a-okay with you here!" chirped Cheshire. She was the most overtly happy to see Calico Jack.

"I'm unhurt," informed Belfast. "But Sheffield…"

"Gunshot, upper right chest. Need proper medical attention. Once mirror sea is closed," stated the most strait-laced Royal Maid.

Calico Jack began to relay the status of his own group, "We've got a couple injuries ourselves, but nothing life threatening. We'll get to a doctor or a hospital once the mirror sea is gone. To be honest, I think thaaa…." But then he was interrupted by audible steps from the floor above them.

Nobody moved as the calm and unconcealed steps approached the top of the staircase to go down to their floor and a few seconds later, the steps finally had a form to them. There was a final cultist in a flowing red robe with designs that marked them as important. The cultist raised their hood to reveal a man with dark sunken eyes and a weather-beaten countenance. His blonde hair was cropped short, and his myriad of Herald tattoos were displayed proudly on his face and neck. He looked around at the destruction that had been wrought in the Holy House. These, his brothers and sisters, had made the ultimate sacrifice and he would do all in his power to make sure that their deaths weren't in vain. He then looked upon all of the demons that had done this. He hated them. But he reserved his greatest hatred for the Magician, for it was by his sorceries, no doubt, that all this has come to pass.

As he came into view, all the ship girls present began to feel sick to their stomachs and a dull ache grew throughout their bodies. Something compelled them to silence. It was like there was an oppressive force that went against their existence. Some of the more astute among them noticed that their wounds were gradually worsening. There was more to this red-robed cultist than met the eye.

But Las Vegas was seemingly unaffected when he asked, "Are you the leader of this outfit?"

"Yes, I am," answered the priest. To everyone's surprise, he sounded like he had his wits about him, and to be perfectly honest, he sounded like a completely normal man.

"Then you know why we're here," stated the Magician.

"I know that you're here for two reasons. You aim to stop out goals of ascension. And you're here for vengeance. I presume the six following you are dead as well?"

"If this madness is what you call 'ascension,' then absolutely, we're here to stop you. And I won't deny that vengeance has crossed my mind. But yes, those six are dead. For what it's worth, all were faithful to the end." He lied about that last part; Albert was vocal about his regrets. Then the Magician paused, as if to decide on what to say next. If the priest had to offer a guess, the man before him expected a fight and not a conversation. Finally, the Magician continued, "Are you here to surrender? Or are you here to preach to us?"

"We fight on the same side, you know?" started the priest, indirectly answering Las Vegas's question. "We both resist the Sirens."

Now that was news to all present. It was thought that the Heralds of the Deep were in cahoots with the Sirens. "You're lying," accused the Magician.

"Is that so, Magician? We learn from the gods, appease them, and from them we gain the power to use the Siren's own technology against them, all the while ascending to a second childhood for humanity. How is that so different from you? You, who works with demons—warships of old given flesh through Siren technology? You fight fire with fire, and we fight fire with fire. We are the same."

"How do you know about ship girls?" asked Las Vegas. He was alarmed by this revelation.

"Our leader, the Deep Seer, knows many things. But what he doesn't know about is you. Who are you? You wish to help humanity, do you not?"

"Of course, I do," Las Vegas said emphatically. "But this isn't the way to do it."

"Are you so sure? Say you succeed in your quest against the gods as the Deep Seer has forewarned and even overthrow the Sirens. What then? Nothing has changed and humanity with be doomed to destroy one another, just as we were before the Sirens showed up. And it would be you who will have damned us all. Is this what you want? No. Of course, it isn't. You're too good for that. Is what we do displeasing to the eye and the stomach? Yes. But at the sacrifice of the few we will save the many! Tell me. What is so wrong with that?! Do you have a better idea?!"

"There's no guarantee what you're doing will work. Why would it? You're a madman, a blind man being led by the blind. It's obvious to me that the Sirens have warned either you or your Deep Seer of what it is I aim to do because there is no other way for you to have found out. The so called, 'gods,' you worship and sacrifice people for? They're created by the Sirens! The Sirens are using you! And you're none the wiser! Any method given to you by your gods is just a method given to you by the Sirens. It's a Trojan Horse, and you've welcomed it among humanity. It's you who is dooming humanity!"

The priest was now grinding his teeth. His plan to sway the Magician wasn't working as well as he hoped it would. The priest had to win over or scare off the Magician with theatrics. From under his robes her produced his wisdom cube. He then stretched out his hands and declared in a loud challenging voice, "Behold! Proof of our cause! Tangible proof that we can uses the Siren's own creations against them! What do you have?!"

Something unexpected happened. Upon taking out the writhing crimson Wisdom cube, all the ship girls present felt their strength begin to leave them. It was as if the cube was leeching off of them. The crimson wisdom cube was hungry. Driven mad by the actions of madmen, it would consume all others.

Only now was Las Vegas tipped off to there being something wrong with the ship girls. In unison, they all collapsed, however he was fast enough to catch Nashville as she fell, but he dropped Giovanni to do so. She thought that she was dying. Never before had she been so sure of it. So, in defiance to her being forced to silence, she called out to her commander as she was beginning to lose her consciousness. She had something to tell him. "Las Vegas, I…" And then she was unconscious.

Las Vegas was in shock with this. He couldn't even formulate what to do when he heard the priest shout to him, "DIIIIIIIEEEEEE!" It looked like killing the Magician was an option after all. He looked up from Nashville to see the priest hurtling through the air at him, with the wisdom cube in hand. He watched as the cube became a straight sword in his hand.

The man with no name wasn't fast enough to grab Giovanni from where the pistol had fallen, and he wagered that the priest was now just as superhuman as the other two white-robed cultists, but he had to fight him. For Nashville.

Las Vegas let Nashville fall to the ground, figuring that she was already dead, and he raised his hands just in time to catch the hands of the priest as he was bringing his sword downwards for a slash.

But the moment the codebreaker's hands met the cultist's the sword shifted back into a cube and he was no longer superhuman. Since there was no one to back up the priest in his ongoing ritual, so long as he was equal in proximity to the wisdom cube as the Magician was, each had the same power over it.

With bare hands, Las Vegas grabbed the cube while the priest retained the ends of his sleeves to protect his hands. From Las Vegas's hands, the red muck receded as if fleeing him to pool around the hands of the priest. Shining blue radiated where Las Vegas touched while putrid red manifested from where the priest held his grip.

It was the most excruciating pain that the codebreaker had ever felt. The power from the cube radiated up his arms as if trying to consume them, but he refused to let his strength fail. He had someone's memory to fight for. He would avenge Nashville if it was the last thing he did. However, both were unaware of something. Given Las Vegas's will to resist the hunger of the cube and with it in his hands, shreds of life returned to his companions, yet they remained quite helpless for the moment.

The priest also had something to fight for. Victory for his cause was so close that there was a single obstacle left to overcome and then everything would be worth it. All the sacrifices. All the secrets. All the pain and suffering. It was all so close to being over.

"GIVE IT TO ME!" shouted Las Vegas in the priest's face.

"NEVER!" came the expected response.

So, over the entry hallway to the Holy House of the London Branch of the Heralds of the Deep, the two men wrestled over the fate of humanity. Madness and forced ascension through an abandoned hope in humanity? Or order and betterment with hope in humanity? Side tables crushed under the men as they wrestled. Occasionally they tripped over obstacles as they shifted around, yet neither let the cube out of their grasp.

The priest was losing patience. He had to find a way to beat the Magician. And the cube in his hand seemingly granted his wish. It began to show him things, and the priest was carried away in a vision. But he didn't see what he was hoping for. He saw a future where humanity had banded together under a single banner to finally destroy the Sirens to bring about a new era of peace. He saw that the Heralds would be forgotten, and the Deep Seer would fall. And the cube made absolute certain to show the priest that it was all the Magician's fault. The priest was now certain of something. This was no mere magician, or even a sorcerer. This man was the God of War himself. History would bend to his will, and he would end the war and destroy everything that the priest fought for. Despair came upon the final cultist of the London Branch, and his will began to falter. With that, his power over the mirror sea began to wane.

At the same time, Las Vegas's pain in his arms from the cube remained ever present like a hot knife through his flesh, but he held strong. But he knew that he needed help. And from the mirror sea, help came.

A howl preceded the sound of feet across the floor and between bodies as a snarling coyote pounced onto the priest and bit into his neck. In less than a second, the priest fell over and released the cube from his possession. All the putrid gelled blood shot off the cube to flee the willpower of the cube's new possessor.

In victory, Las Vegas shouted, "STOP THE MADDNESS!"

The cube answered his will, and it broke apart into a million pieces to shoot off in all directions. In a few seconds it would reach the boundary of the mirror sea, and it would then retreat back to it's source, taking all the mist and horrors that it had originally spawned. The mirror sea finished closing a few seconds later as the cube returned to Las Vegas's hands. London was saved.

He dropped the cube because it still caused excruciating pain to shoot up his arms and he didn't have the strength to hold it anyway. As he stood there shaking and panting, he saw the coyote fade away back into the cube. The priest was covered in his own blood and his throat was ripped out. Needless to say, he was already dead.

The codebreaker looked around to the ship girls that were around him. He first noticed a twitch. He smiled, seeing that they weren't dead after all. It looked like they were awaking form a deep sleep. He couldn't muster the strength to say anything. Finally, he saw Nashville. She was alright. Tears came to his eyes. She was alright and that was what was important. The pain was worth it.

He watched as she rose to her feet, panic in her eyes as she rushed to his side. His strength began to fail him, and it was his turn to collapse in her arms. He lost consciousness with a smile on his face and peace in his heart.

He had saved them, but most of all, he had saved her.

Well, that took forever, but there you go. Sorry it's been so long since I've uploaded and there are a few reasons for that. First, the same as last time, a job was getting in the way, but fortunately for you, that isn't a problem anymore as I wait for the next semester of university to begin. We'll see how studies impact my upload schedule. But there is a second reason and that's because this chapter is huge. This baby comes in at nearly 25000 words and it was a doozy to get onto a word document. And there was no way that I was going to split it up again for a three-part chapter. Ain't nobody got time for dat. But anyway, what did you think of the chapter? Do you not like my love for Lewis Carroll shining through? Do you not like how the Heralds of the Deep were treated here? Tell me what you think. I do read all the comments after all, and speaking of which, there are some that need responding.

It's really good to be responding to you again, SomeRAnd0m. You are absolutely justified in sensing a red flag. After all, the point of this chapter is to demonstrate the dangers of going separately. With that last part, the biggest point is that there are some enemies that ship girls simply cannot resist. Las Vegas and Nashville need each other. Cheshire becoming a wild cat just kind of appeared to be honest. I remember switching between names a bit before settling on "Demons" but I can't seem to remember what the alternatives were. "Monster" was likely among them. But you do make a good point about the reversed facts, and I will admit that this is completely unintentional. But I like the idea, so I'll go with it. Well, I have always wanted to write something different from the rest of the AL fandom, and I've never seen any horror stories around here, so I decided to go with that. Cults freak me out too, so if I'm scared of a particular subject matter, I figured it would be easier for me to scare others too. I'm glad that it seems to work and that you enjoy the Heralds' inclusion into the story. Thanks for your understanding about the job. I really hope that this chapter was worth the wait. It's great that you reread the whole story and it makes me happy that you have been able to see their relationship mature into what it is now. I really look forward to making that next step whenever that may be. As for the whole package, what can I say other than, "You know it." If I can make a waifu be what I want then by golly, she's gonna be what I want. We'll see when the gag appears, but I do look forward to the moment when it does. It's a good comfort to know that I'm not the only clueless one when it comes to AL lore. It looks like I'll just have to take things slowly when it comes to the Sirens and how they work. How do you think the plot armor is doing now that this evening is finally over for our heroes? It was one wild night and in the perspective of me the author and you the reader, this day in the story has lasted for months and I'm really excited to get moving. Nashville will definitely be interesting to write as her relationship with Las Vegas progresses. It's clear that she's already possessive, but I don't intend to ever have her be a yandere. I'm not a fan of yanderes. But whatever happens, I hope to have you around for it.

Hi, DearUncleHermit. Thank you for your understanding about priorities and I really appreciate your patience. You are right about Las Vegas's squeamishness to kill, and it will absolutely be interesting to explore how this impacts him in the future. I'm glad that you liked Nashville taking things into her own hands and the way I see it, if the last chapter was her actions, then this one was Las Vegas's. We're definitely going to have a conversation between the two heroes about going off alone in the near future, but realize their love? That remains to be seen. I'm glad that you mentioned that about the cult. The priest spilled some valuable information to Las Vegas during that last exchange so it will be nice to transition into taking on the Heralds of the Deep as a whole. I personally most look forward to eventually introducing the Deep Seer, who has only been mentioned so far. I'm looking for a way to maybe incorporate the META kansen into the story. They didn't exist in AL when I first put my outline together, so we'll see. But thanks for the heads up about the lore. I really appreciate it.

What's up, HeronLsL? Thanks so much for your understanding of my circumstances. I hope that form here on, my activities throughout the day won't get in the way too much anymore. I'm glad that you liked the authoritarian Nashville and it was nice to be able to surprise with another action chapter. It also makes me happy as an author that you're able to identify with and feel for a character that has appeared on my computer screen and you do make appoint about Queen Elizabeth's favor. It'll be a doozy that's for sure. I do enjoy making surprises. Hopefully this chapter was another one? I hope that the hype was worth it for this chapter. Sorry for the wait.

Hey there, Zander22122. You have caught the references. I appreciate that and to be honest, it really makes me feel validated to put them in when someone points them out. Thanks for that. Of course, the villains work out of Whitechapel. Was there ever any other option? I'm glad that you liked the cliffhanger. I'll still try to avoid them in the future. Fair enough about the other references. I like to think of them as easter eggs, and hiding them is just as much fun as having someone find them. So, keep it up. I'll keep having them for you.

Greetings, Touhoufanatic. An inland mirror sea huh? I thought that it was a cool idea, so I hope that you liked the execution. No siren killer skill though. Part of the point is that the Heralds can do it without the Sirens.

It's good to see you, Legionnaire-1-Actual. It's such an honor to be someone's inspiration to start writing. Thank you for sharing that. But I'm curious to see what you write and whenever I click on your profile, I don't see a story. So, I hope that it's coming along well for you. Thanks for trying to not steal anything. I'm glad that you like the chapter and the story. And I'm glad that I could surprise you with what happens. I too look forward to seeing how the UK arc ends. It'll be a banger and I'm really looking forward to finally getting into the superweapon for the arc.

Hi, Northreach. Here's the next chapter and I hope it got you just as excited as the last one. I agree with you completely on cliffhangers. I think of them as not fair to the reader so I'm going to avoid them as much as possible. But I'm glad that you liked Cheshire using the door as a weapon. What did you think of the wall from this chapter? Thanks for saying that my management of the story has been so good so far. I hope that this chapter is up to snuff and I hope you enjoyed how the heralds were finally dealt with.

It's been a while, Dario6595. It's really good to see you and it's such an honor to have such high praise. Thank you so much for your support. We're definitely reaching the thick of something. But most likely the arc. The story itself won't reach it's thick until the Sirens and the Deep Seer start paying more direct attention to Las Vegas and Nashville. Thanks for the understanding about having to slow down with my uploads. But fortunately, I'm just waiting for my next semester to start up, so I have some time on my hands to write. And I'm really looking forward to moving forward with the story. It's such a relief that I seem to be able to describe things clearly in a way that is easy to understand. I really do stress about being understood you know? It's important to me that everyone can take in the little details that make something interesting. It makes me really happy that I can write something that makes a lasting impression on you. I also am super glad that you acknowledge the broadness of the subject matter that I tackle. It's an honor to see that you think I can handle this balancing act so well. Let's hope that I can keep it up. I too forget sometimes that Nashville is only an OC. It would make me ecstatic to be able to get her from the light construction. Thanks for liking her so much, I pour my heart into making her likeable and interesting. Thank you so much for like the story. There are so many good ones out there. I'm glad that you choose to spend time here. I won't lie, being your favorite is moving for me. Thank you. I can't say that enough. Thank you. I hope that this chapter met your expectations.

It's nice to meet you, ErnstLindemann. It's nice to see that the story was worth reading in two days. That's a significant time investment. Thanks for giving it a shot and I hope to keep you around. I intend for Bismarck to show up. It's just a question of when at this point.

Thanks for the review, Primus-Arcani. I'm glad that you enjoy the story and my writing style. I hope that I can keep those up enough to keep you around. But the next part of you comment I have a bit more to say about. I take historical accuracy seriously, but I don't feel like here is the best place to dispute anything. In all the research on the topic of how the Hood sank, I have never seen that theory before, so I'll admit to being perplexed. I spent a night searching online and all I ever found was stuff that said it was either through her deck armor, or it was disputed. Can you perhaps provide any sources to back up your statement? I'm always open to PM and I'm perfectly willing to share my own sources, including the one that I was referring to as I was writing the chapter. Of course, if you're interested. But whatever the case may be, I'm glad that you're paying attention and keeping me on my toes. Take care.

Wow, it's late where I am. So, I'm going to go get some sleep. Take care, friends. If you are having a bad day I hope it gets better and if you are having a good day I hope it get even better.