A/N: (Note/Disclaimer) All recognizable characters belong to their respective owners. Such as Kadokawa Games for Kantai Collection and Yostar for Azur Lane

Note 2:

("Human/Speech")

("Thoughts")

(Attacks/Weapon names)

(Other/Foreign/ Speech & Text/Book/Scroll)

(Actions/POV)

(Titles/Flashback/Time/Dates/Place)

(Narration & Everything else)

('Demonic Speech')

("Demonic Thoughts")

Warped Commander Chapter 30

Dream

First Person

"Shikikan… I have… finally reached you…" My eyes opened with quite a bit of force, pushing the water away from my eyes for a brief second before returning to the dizzying blur of being underwater once more. My eyes not stinging when they were in contact with the water told me that this wasn't real.

I pushed up from the ground and hearing the sound of water splashing I knew that I had escaped the depths of solitary dreams. I could not feel the cold water on my back, nor could I feel it dripping down on my body, and even if I did, I would only be focusing on the woman infront of me.

9 fluffy tails swished behind her, white with indigo tips, they were a sight for sore eyes. Her kimono was loose on her figure, the top portion even opened enough for her ample bust and clear white skin to be shown to the world. Deep indigo, dark blue that was almost black, gold that framed the semes, and white inner linings filled in the color of kimono just as the surroundings were filled with the inky black abyss of darkness.

A white skirt barely covered the top of her thighs alongside a set of white stockings that covered her legs up to the lower thigh, leaving a majority of them out in the open.

Various objects floated around her, denoting that she was quite different from a normal kansen. Such as the floating moos with various constellations painted onto the face of each orb. Or her flight deck being a relatively standard one that shifted to being immaterial, such that it reminded me of Kaga's or Akagi's rigging.

The single thing that resembled a normal rigging was the armor piece that was holding a set of blades. Though always within her reach, I never saw her use those blades in any capacity.

Looking at her, I could feel tears coming to my eyes, even something as simple as meeting her again through dreams could trigger this in me. I try to put up a strong front for everybody, try not to let show the isolation of a year's worth of loss.

I didn't even notice that I had closed my eyes when I was in her arms. THe soft feeling of warmth and the fluff of her tails that covered me was something unique, in fact, I instinctively knew the differences between all of my foxes, both Sakura and Parliament.

"I… do not know what you have… experienced in the few days… that I have experienced… but… I am here now… " Her soft voice was something that I often looked for. Despite being asleep a majority of the time, she was still incredible in many ways to me… such as being able to reach and see other universes through dreams.

"We are connected through fate after all… it is something that even you could not break after all." A tear-filled smile… something that would have gotten a laugh out of any of the girls early in their tenure in my fleet. I knew she had a faint smile on her face, even if I could not see one due to our position.

"Indeed… but… we don't have… enough time for a… true reunion." SHe said, escaping my arms without causing much fuss. While I was a regular resident in this realm, she was the only reason why I was inside of here anyway, making her mastery obviously above mine.

"But I am happy for any reunion… especially when it has been at least a year from my perspective of missing all of you girls." She gripped me harder, reminding me of the many occasions that she dragged me into her embrace when she was taking a regular nap out in the open.

"That… year you mentioned… it seems to have… an… unnoticed side… effect." She said, drawing my attention and causing me to look into my behavior for the past year in order to figure out what side effects occurred.

"Do you… remember… the entirety of… the maid team?" I nodded without much thought, after all, he had them at the base with him after all. Newcastle, Belfast, Edinburgh, Sirius… why am I having issues? It feels like I should be having more names after Sirus instead of progressing into the Kent class like he was intending.

"Sirius… Dido… Black Prince… Hermione… Charybdis… Bellona…" She listed off some names, with each one forcing me to recall the girls that owned them. My eyes widen as far as they could, making it almost painful.

"It would… seem… like I… reminded… you of… them." She said, ending her sentence with a sigh as she let me recover from the backlash of remembering so many different details at once.

"How could I forget them…?" I was horrified when I could finally bare the pain that she gave me… something that I think is well deserved due to my forgetting they existed entirely.

"Don't worry… it.. Is… not… your… fault." She muttered, hugging me tighter, forcing my away from my downward spiral of depressive thoughts… how many other ships have I forgotten?

"It… seems… like your… memory… was sealed… when… you crossed… over." She explained in her usual sleepy manner, keeping my thoughts anchored in the present.

"...I am going to kill them…" I mutter under my breath… it was unforgivable to make me forget them… for making me break my promise: Even if everyone forgets them and their achievements, I would still remember them.

"Akagi… will… go… after them… first… if not… the special… squad." Shinano said with a calming voice… reminding me to stow my anger away for later… until I weather vent it during a battle or I find the person who did this and deck them in the face.

"It… would seem… that the… longer you spend… in that universe without them… the more your… memories from… this dimension are sealed…" She said with sadness and melancholy… amnesia was a touchy subject to some Kansen, while the lack of memories from their time as battleships was a sore point for blueprint ships.

"So… the longer we all spend there, the more our memories are sealed?" I asked for clarification, it was one thing for me to forget, it was a wholly different thing for all the girls to forget their sister ships due to having an even stronger tie than to me.

"Yes… but… they will remember… when they are… mentioned… once remembered… they will not be… sealed… so… easily." I could tell that she was getting exhausted, more so than usual due to her forcing our connection.

"So those girls… I won't forget them any time soon?" I asked, hugging her even harder. Despite knowing that she was pushing herself, I could do nothing. After all, who was I to argue with my wife of a dream walker? So I could only comfort her to sleep.

"Yes… so now… wake up…" She said, tapping my forehead and causing my consciousness to slowly fade away. Instead of asking anything more with the last of my time, I kissed her forehead and hugged her until I felt nothing in the dream.

"I love you…"

Ben's Office

June 30th: 1200

Third Person: Omni

"I love you too…" Ben muttered under his breath, still not quite awake despite being forcefully ejected from the dream world. The last time it happened, it felt like he was kicked out of a nightmare.

Blinking away the grogginess from his eyes, Ben had finally fully awoken from his little conversation with his sleep fox ship. Something that he should probably be used to considering all the absurdity that comes with multi universal shenanigans.

"Had a good nap Master?" Today's secretary is Kent it would seem. While not a ship you would associate with being a good secretary, she ended up being invaluable during her tenure as the head secretary during her extended period, something that all personnel would eventually get in order for him to understand them better.

"..." He was silent as his expression shifted through many different emotions, something that Kent saw very rarely, only when it was an extremely serious occasion or something bad had been revealed to him… such as the story behind the Ashes…

"Are you okay master?" Kent had noticed the tears in his eyes, even though his expression was finally set into a stoic calm… though it was something that could not fool her, she knew him well enough to figure out his emotional state easily.

"I am fine… Don't worry about me Kent. Have we figured out who is coming with me to the conference and where is it taking place?" He asked her, not remembering any conversation that involved the conference in the first place. He tried to allay her concert with the question and a switch in expression to something a bit more unreadable… though it was one that many of his wives could see through.

"Have we had any conversations about it?" She questions as she tapped a tablet to pull up any notes that were saved between secretary ships, something that came up due to switching through ships fairly often.

"There have been no conversations…" She said with such energy that put him into a spur the first time he had her as his secretary. Ben nods in understanding before taking another look at what is on his desk.

"Sakura, have there been any mail about where the admiralty meeting on the 11th of August is taking place?" He asked while motioning for Kent to get them their lunch considering the time. She quickly sets up the tea, Eral Grey today, for a good soak by starting up the kettle.

"While searching through the boards, it would seem that the meeting will be taking place at Peral Harbor…" Sakura replied without much preamble, the content of which would have had Ben spit out his tea in surprise if Kent had prepared some earlier.

"Are you worried about Reenactments commander?" Kent saw the surprise on his face when she looked up from leaving the tea to steep in the kettle. The only reason why he would be like this is either Reenactment structured by the Sirens or the feelings of his ships.

"There has been no sign of Siren activity… but this world's Abyssals would be a concern…" He mutters, holding his chin in thought. The girls that would have been most affected by Pearl Harbor were not here thankfully, he would be afraid of Arizona or any of the battleships that were stationed there were to go to the meeting.

"If that rumor you told me… what was it… right. That Abyssal are corrupted ships, it would make it a breeding ground for 'em right?" She asked, waiting for a knock on the door from one of the other maids delivering them their lunch. She is far more observant than most would give her credit… though that was with most of the Kansen.

"That is what I am worried about." Leans back into his chair… still not as comfortable as his original one… or at least the original one he remembers…. Shinano bringing that revelation did quite a bit in making him lose a little confidence in his memory.

"Well, we know use Kansen is fine with 'em, we will be fine." Her trademark grin put a few of his worries away. She placed a cup of tea infront of him, a darkened liquid that reflected his face back at him.

"It is not like there are Abyssals that manifest as concepts of bases." She remarked while sitting on the desk, looking through some papers to see if there was anything that needed his immediate attention.

"Sakura could you check to see if there have been any documented?" He asked, purposely not taking a sip of his tea in case he got surprised enough… It was surprising the things that he found befuddling… even after a few years during his tenure as commander of a fleet of ship girls.

"There seem to be no Abyssals that have characteristics that denote they are not developments of sunken ships…" Ben resumed his enjoyment of the tea… despite it being not as high quality as he was used to… having the de facto ruler of the Royal Empire did wonder in that department.

"There is a correlation between large-scale battlefields and Abyssal presences… However, this correlation is only a correlation at the moment, mainly due to Peral Harbor not having a major presence of Abyssals as the number of ships damaged and sunk there should suggest."

"So it is a good idea to bring more bodyguards, got it." He remarks while making a note to have a few more ships… Despite having an inkling that some of his ships coming front the other side during his trip…

"Knowing my luck, we might just get a huge spawning of them all of the sudden." He said with a sigh. Only sipping his tea now and planning according to having a sudden mass outbreak could put a pause to his ails.

"Considering the hijinks and you quick-thinking commander, you will be fine." Kent remarked with her cheer on full blast, knowing that he was more worried about the other commanders… and whether or not he would be allowed more than the usual amount of ship girls.

"Why couldn't I stay in the other universe… at least I knew where my paycheck was coming from… now I have to go through having a bunch of commissions…" Thankfully it has not even been a month since they became a private fleet, so they still had quite a bit in the coffers before they would get worried about money.

"You are your own boss now commander!"

"...Kent you know how your queen is right?" Ben pulled some papers down from the closest stack to get back to work. Even if it was only a few pages before lunch was served, it was a good idea to keep working to get a dent in on it.

"I swear that you grow every time I look away." He grumbles at the stack as his pen starts tapping on the table with a rhythm. He needs to actually read through these papers, after all, couldn't have something that slipped through the cracks on him now can there.

There was the sound of papers ruffling and Kent humming some undiscernible theme while they both worked with the papers. Something he was glad for considering some of the ships that worked as his secretary… such as Albacore.

"It feels like the year that I spent here was not in vain… ever waiting for these moments of quiet." He muttered into his tea, enjoying the sound of shuffling papers that he both missed and loathed at the same time. Kent paused in her movements, ready to speak but deciding not to.

"Their precious catalyst is gone… I wonder how they are doing?" He asked, standing up from his chair to look over the port. He was one of the few commanders who met the ones behind the mess of Kansen and Sirens… at least the ones in his corner of the multiverse. He could only wonder if this was another one their experiments.

A knock on the door signaled the maid transporting their lunch had arrived, putting a pause to his thoughts as they came in with a spread covered with glass cloches, though the contents were obscured anyway due to the steam within.

Number Of Words: ~2600

Date Completed: 6-21-2022

Note: What a predicament, it has been a while since I updated… though I should have written a chapter for Hase Jager instead… oh well… Wait, it has been half a year since last update… Welp hope you enjoyed it.

Review Cove:

FFN:

REVANOFSITHLORD:

I was surprised to see the update notice lol. Welcome back

Response: Well you are probably surprised for this one too… six months is a while…

Skull Flame:

I like Wo-class's moments.

Response: Wo is a cutie, I enjoy writing her view.

LuxKamizugi:

Wo-class waifu? Reminds me of that one pixiv artwork.

Hold on, lemme look in favorites real quick...there, it's 90701415

Response: Nice… though I am more used to the emotionally stuened abyssal grunts… (Though technically my Wo-Class at port is a enhanced grunt…)

Ao3:

BlueArchiver:

U need to work on ur writing its cringe and shitty which i refuse to read

Response: Sure… I'll get right on that, would you like you shoulders massaged as well my lord. Oops, I forgot that sarcasm is not a strong suit of the immature. My bad.

In all actuality though, I really don't care, I mainly write to dispel these plot bunnies in my head. Read, don't read, it does not matter to me… *If I could write well enough to earn a decent living off of it, it would be different.*