"Odin? You're early for your appointment."

Opening up the door to the infirmary, I see Nurnberg sitting at the front desk. A medical magazine in hand, she closes it and regards me confusedly. I scan the room and shake a little. This place reminds me too much of the laboratory I was born into, being immaculate and cold. How this cruiser doesn't mind these temperatures bothers me to no end.

"I'm not here for my check up," Addressing her, "I'm here to borrow medical supplies."

"Um," she shoves the magazine aside and stands up, "I mean, I could give you supplies, but for what? D-did someone get injured?"

"No," I state, clearing my throat, "You don't need to know, I can make up for it."

"O-okay, I can help. I am the base's medic."

"No, only the supplies," Stating firmly, I shake my head quickly, "I need them for someone."

Nurnberg, stubborn for a meek woman, frowns into a pout. She stands by a strange wave of conviction.

"I-I can't do that without a reason, and if someone needs help, i-its my duty." Her head perks up, resolute, or in her best way, since her hands are shaking, "D-do I need to contact the Kommadant ?"

I close my eyes and sigh, how else am I supposed to do this?

I hear the door open behind me.

"Pardon me, Nurnberg, I came here for some supplies."

Peter Strasser strides in, cane in hand and a very calm smile on her face.

"Strasser! R-right, I'll get to you once I'm done with Odin's request here…"

The carrier waves dismissively, "Actually, I think Herrin Odin and I are here for the same thing. Heinrich is getting herself hurt again, her usual playing with her rigging."

Nurnberg's shoulders drop and she relaxes, "Oh! Why didn't you say s-so! I'll be right back!"

Strasser calls out to her before she goes, "And please throw in a few more bandages, I'll need to keep some on hand in case so I don't have to bother you."

The cruiser nods and leaves, leaving me with a perplexing feeling. Looking up, the cheeky grin she's fond of is to my chagrin a saving grace. The implications behind her knowing what I am here for…

"You know," I whisper to her, hoping not to be heard by the cruiser, "We kept this underwraps."

"Freidrich included me, Odin." Strasser leans down, her grin lessens to a warm smile, "She told me everything I needed to know."

"...why?"

She looks up, making sure Nurnberg isn't back yet, "You're an avid chess player, yes?"

I nod slowly, "Go on…"

"One must understand what all the pieces can do on the board," she explains, "The Sirens have their designations with each mass production they deploy to the battlefield. Bishops, Knights, Pawns, and Rooks. We all have a place on the battlefield too. For a long time, I thought the Kommadant's place was simply as a King, directing his battles from his throne as his pieces wage their war."

"I feel as if you disdain him then…" I interrupt, my hand rests on the hilt of my blade. I know I shouldn't be in my uniform, but I was really hoping after this check up today I would at least be cleared for light duty. Straying thoughts aside-

"No, I don't," Strasser seriously answers, "Besides, I read into his case prior to my reassignment. Found nothing. For such a high ranking officer, he's very elusive back home. Most girls don't know who he is and I wanted to find out. And because of Friedrich I understand why our own Kommadant, or more correctly the 'Admiral', is stationed all the way out here instead of back home directing the frontlines."

I gulp, listening to her words carefully, "And what did you find out?"

"He is beyond what I expected," A strange sparkle is in her eyes, her smile is beginning to bother me, "Please don't take my interest with such an expression, Herrin Odin. I'm not some scientist that wants to pick him apart, I'm a scholar hoping to find the truth."

Nurnberg comes back with a black tote bag. One big red cross stitched to the side. She unzips it to show us what's inside. Bandages, disinfectant, oil, and plenty of wrappings. The cruiser holds it out to us nervously.

"Is this good enough?" Nurnberg asks, "I can get mor-"

"No, thank you for your help, Nurnberg," I cut her off hand already over the handle, "Erm, sorry for…acting so cold towards you."

"I-t's okay." She smiles happily, "I hope this will help! I know how much s-she can be a handful."

"Believe me," Strasser tips her hat, "I would know, and thank you Herrin Nurnberg."

"Y-you're welcome, heheh~!"

Out the door, I wait for it to close. Holding the back in my hands, I stare at the carrier following behind me.

"...she told you." I say exasperated, "Why does she keep including more…most of us aren't supposed to know."

"See, Herrin Odin," Strasser wags her finger at me, "She wants the opposite and frankly I agree with her."

"Does she now?" I'm not surprised. Friedrich has been private with me on the matter, the biggest issue with our 'promise' with the Kommadant is that we have to keep his secret under a veil. The way she so brazenly included Strasser bothers me a whole lot. She must be losing her patience with our agreement or our attempts must be failing this badly.

"We'll find out eventually," The carrier says, walking with her cane, "And from what it sounds like soon, we may be able to find out more about this 'officer'."

"Like what?"

Strasser stops, letting the breeze blow her hair, "Back when Graf Zeppelin and I used to live together before we were rediscovered, I dug deep. Why is it that we have so few young men and women around? Why is it that we lived in a city, Lubeck, which once housed two hundred thousand and barely held a quarter of that original population?"

"Years I have spent searching for clues, other cities were the same. Sirens have killed off so many of our people, it is a miracle we still have a military presence. Why then is a young man like him is in a position of power? Today, after reading, searching, and finding - Friedrich saw fit to inform me. To round back to my original point, he's one of the most valuable king pieces we have in this war."

Strasser finishes up with one last set of statements, "The Oslo Evacuation, our rebellion, and the reformation of the Bundeswehr. Officially, he is absent from all these events, supposedly stationed here. Doesn't it seem suspicious?"

"It does," I admit, adding to her monologue and turning it into a discourse, "What did Freidrich tell you?"

"That you all care about him," Strasser stops grinning and drops her decorum, "Her- Odin. How much do you know about the failure of the prototypes?"

She brought it up. Calling for my rigging, I dematerialized them from where they were and brought them to bare. Standing on a sidewalk, I point my guns at her. My sword pulled from its hilt and directed at the strangely calm and unmoving carrier.

"She told you too much," I growled at her, "They don't exist and we are better off not thinking about them."

"Yet your Kommandat is one," Strasser says smoothly, unperturbed by the guns and blade pointed at her, "I am impressed, Friedrich was correct when she said you'd be the fiercest. I doubt you gave Weser the same treatment."

"Weser knew because he purposely exposed himself to her. He knew by fighting Mainz, he needed another kansen to keep him safe. We disagreed of course, but that's not the point."

I step closer, "What are you going to do with this information?"

"Tell the others."

Hearing who it was stopped me, but I still didn't lower my blade. Turning my head, I find Friedrich crossing over to my rigging and gently patting one of my boys. Of course, Munninn would oblige and point his guns down. Damn it, head pats are his weakness.

"Friedrich!"

The horned devil of a mother reaches over and lowers my sword with her red gauntlets.

"We have to eventually, Odin. She is right." She sighs, "Besides, Bismarck already knows. In fact, most of the girls stationed in Kiel know."

"W-what-"

"I received a call from Admiral Winkler who was trying to reach Weber on the developments," she starts explaining, soothing my other rigging with a gentle rub across his top jaw, "It would be no use for us to keep hiding it and it would be best if the rest of the base knew."

"B-but what about the Kommadant!" I blubber out, "This goes against his wishes!"

"And we have been following his wishes forever," She soothingly and with a pang of tiredness says to me, "I want to uphold his promise and keep his secret hidden but there's no way we can do that now. And from what you have seen, it's hurting him more than it's helping him. This is the only way we can go."

Frustrated, and a little dejected, I sputtered out nonsense, "Y-you told Bismarck, didn't you!?"

"You know I wouldn't do that," the motherly kansen shakes her head, peering through her hair, "Take a breath and think on this Odin. How long, with the amount of people who knew, could we keep our agreement. How long can we keep hiding the facts as they come up? Bismarck is a in a position of power, she is in charge of the Iron Blood. She was going to find out soon."

I remove my rigging. Thinking deeply I realized what I did. About what she did and all of this.

"...I don't like this." Picking up the bag Nurnberg gave me, I cradle it, "How would you know he would be okay with us breaking our agreement, our promise?"

"His wounds are because he's been trying to keep it," Friedrich dryly answers, "He's been hurting himself trying to avoid it and I can't keep watching my Kommadant fight with himself. Rene is turning inward and while he is still my child, even children need to grow past the pains they bare. He is strong but he's trapped. Keeping this promise is only going to hurt him."

Friedrich and Strasser share a look, the former directs her attention to the officer's quarters.

"That's why we have Graf Zeppelin with him."

I grip the bed sheets and pull down the damp blankets. Hitting my head on the backboard of my bed, I land my eyes immediately on the sleeping rigging in the corner. It lifts its head and meets my gaze, the yellow haze for eyes appearing dimly. Clutching my chest and crawling back, my memory takes time to catch up to my situation.

Odin's rigging cranes its neck at me, I sigh roughly, "You're here. Wonderful."

Sparing a hazy view at the clock, I use it to confirm my surroundings. The warm air in the room is only helped by the sun rays coming through the window curtains. Half past noon and beyond what I'm comfortable waking up to.

I try to get up, but the pain in my back ricochets through my bones. Grimacing, the best I can do is swing my legs over. Chills reach my skin in contrast to the heated feeling of the air. Having a rigging in the same room does raise the room temperature to an uncomfortable degree. Being cold outside still, I can forgive this. I need to focus because I'm trying to remember when I had bandages wrapped around my midsection.

"Great," My nightmare fades back, letting me drink in the situation, "Muninn, right? I think I remember the names."

The rigging nods its head, his sibling is absent, I wouldn't have to wait long to figure out where. Thumping on the floor outside the door shows they are close by. They aren't graceful creatures of stealth.

"Where's your master at?"

It scrapes two metal fins together, "She left you here to guard me? Am I really that dangerous?"

He cranes his neck at me, clicking his jaw in Morse code. Crude effective communication.

"Yes, I can understand you, even without the Morse code. I'm not a kansen, no. You were still in development when the last time I deployed him. Used him in a spar against Mainz's rigging. Yes, the coffee drinker."

Muninn internal engines turn on and hum, he lowers its noise, returning to his clicking.

"You're very intelligent for a rigging you know?" He rumbles at me, "Alright, alright. Sorry, its not everyday I get to hold a conversation with a floating steel fish."

I don't know the full extent of how well connected the Iron Blood girls are to their riggings. We share the same with the Northern Parliament but the Old Bear of an officer over there is not really chatty. Either way, I put myself into this position and I need to talk to someone. I couldn't talk to Friedrich, I couldn't talk to Mainz or Odin.

And I couldn't reach out to Graf Zeppelin.

"Hey, Munninn."

He clicks in a quick motion.

"Why are you guarding me?"

Munninn seizes up, his machinery halts with gears clicking. The hulking beast lowers its head, returning to its duty of simply watching me as its yellow eyes dim. Odin must've left a safeguard for him and expected I would try to ask him. Didn't think she was savvy enough to install a temporary shutdown wipe. I might have to have her help Adalbert with her work.

These lingering thoughts of mine, straying away from what is going on now. I have a headache, a throbbing pain, and a weariness weighing on my sore body. The rest, although leaving my mind a fog, did give me a clarity I haven't had in days.

I'm foolish.

Accepting my own fate, I reach for my drawer and pull out a new pair of pants. Putting on my new trousers, I sit towards the window, legs over the side of the table as I rake my fingers through my hair. No use putting a shirt over my wounds. There's not much else I can hide from myself or them. No more excuses or running away. They've been persistent, coming to my home, talking to me, and here I am.

I know when I've been cornered, this is a checkmate.

Thankfully, I wasn't left to my own thoughts. Knocking came to my door and I gave them a grunt of confirmation. Turning my head, I expected to see Odin or Mainz from yesterday.

Graf Zeppelin?

"Kommadant?"

Through my side glance I turn my head away quickly. I reach for my blankets and throw them over my shoulders. The sudden action stings horribly and I grit my teeth. Wincing louder than I intended. My hands shake as I try to pull the covers around me but I can't stop the deep pain. A cold spike washes over me despite the sweat and heat, I shiver while trying to hide.

Graf Zeppelin closed the distance on us before I could even turn around and see her. Weight shifts on the bed as it creaks under me. This weight is placed right next to me in the form of two legs I recognize in my left periphery. Gulping, I huddle into myself, hoping she would leave me be in my feeble attempt.

She refuses to back away.

Firmly putting her hand on my knee, she presses enough to stop me scooting. Pulling back the blanket I used to hide my head and body. My gut is threatening to burst in a nervous tremor.

"...Weber?" She whispers, I feel her eyes scanning me, "What happened last night?"

"Nothing." My words barely come out as a gasp, "I'm okay."

"I don't believe you and I can't believe you would be lying right now." Her words made me feel so ashamed, "Let me take a look."

She tries to take the blanket from around me and I flinch like yesterday. What I do next could've ended poorly.

I elbow her and push her away, hoping to get the message across. Persistent and without a beat, she wraps herself around my left arm. Not letting go and clearly unbothered by my attempt. In fact, I think I annoyed her more. Too close to me in my condition and alarming me to the heat rising in my back, I struggle against her grip. Forgetting their natural strength, even without their rigging, can still rival my own. Fighting against her felt like facing off a wall.

"So you're going to be this way…" She lets go, making me lose my balance, "Fine."

Letting go of me, I almost fall to my other side. My grip on my blanket is completely loose and I felt the air touch my shoulders and back. Standing up right and looking down at me, I sit back up and look up. Graf Zeppelin, with her arms folded, can see me in full view.

Saving one more shred of dignity, I hold my arms together, away from her.

"Look at me, Kommadant ."

I shake my head. Mumbling a 'no' under my breath.

"Kommadant."

I sit still.

"Rene."

Hearing my name, I forced myself to greet her.

There's deep worry in her face. The same as Friedrich, Mainz, and Odin. Holding back her frustration, there are faint lines, wrinkles of tiredness too. Has she been crying all night? Her cheeks are really puffy.

"Friedrich, Mainz, Odin…" Zeppelin breaks the spell by mentioning the names, "And Weser. So many people have tried to reach out and help you. Who did this to you and why?"

"No one did this to me." I sound off, dejected.

"These wounds," she motions towards my back, "Were you hiding wounds from an accident? Why would you do that? We have facilities here to help you…Nurnberg-"

"Shouldn't know and I doubt she can help me," I fired back, causing her to raise an eyebrow, "I don't care. It's a passing pain."

"A 'passing pain'?" She scoffs, "You have bruises across your back. There's two clear red lines of tender skin…what's been hurting you that you've been hiding?"

Quietly, I offer my hand. She looks at it confused, her wrath fades.

"Let me show you," I say, realizing how weak my body has become, "Let me show you where this comes from…"

There is a door at the end of the hallway. With Graf Zeppelin supporting my side, I'm surprised to see Odin's rigging is gone. I would've asked them for help, but having her near me is soothing. Whatever reason Odin removed them, it doesn't matter, I head back to focusing on the task at hand.

Tracing my fingers along the top doorway frame, scraping along dust until I felt the key. Unlatching the lock, I usher the three of us inside, shutting it behind us as we mill around in the dark. Using the wall to keep me standing.

"One moment, please. Here."

Sticking to the wall, I smooth my hands across the walls. Touching the rough exterior of concrete and stone. Wiring coated in roughed rubber leads directly to the metal switch on the wall. Turning it on, I reveal to her the sight. Tools lined across the wall, barrels of oil in the corner and heaping piles of scrap metal sit on the floor.

In the middle is the familiar blue tarp covering a hanging slab of metal. Four chains come from the ceiling, keeping it elevated off the ground.

I see the cabinet in the corner, not liking what feels so off about it. The tools are organized, the cans are in their places. The cabinet is locked too as it should be, only in times of dire emergency should it be opened. Not impressed with my search, I step towards the tarp.

"This used to be the helipad hangar bay," I surveyed the ceiling, showing them the circular cuts in the wall. "Before our coup, we shelled the island burying the Bundeswehr loyalists under the debris and destroying the landing pad. Refurbished this station into my quarters and converted the island's facilities to what it is today."

Graf Zeppelin scans the rooms, reading the labels on the barrels and seeing the tools displayed on the walls. She sees the rest of it before landing her eyes on the blue tarp. She shakes underneath her coat, not minding why she can feel it despite it being warm in here.

"This stuff, this is for riggings." The carrier blurts out, curiously picking up one of the wrenches, "This is more than enough equipment to fix the entire fleet. Shouldn't this be in the warehouse?"

"It should," I motion towards the tarp, "There."

Wrapping my fingers underneath, I remove the cover. Rippling in the air, I discard the tarp on the ground, uncovering the secret underneath. Admittedly, I was taken aback by the sight, still not mentally prepared since the last time I saw it. Never easy coming back to my old friend.

Graf Zeppelin doesn't say anything, she steps forward before I place a hand on her shoulder to pause her.

"Don't touch," Commanding her, eyes still fixated on the object in question, "This is the source."

"My old rigging."

She shakes her head, expression morphing between confusion and discomfort, "Why is it in such a state…"

Mangled and broken apart, pieces of the rigging are strewn about below it. Scattered into different parts and messily piled. Above it on the slab is the head of what once was a serpent, its jaw hanging off the bottom of it. It was clearly taken apart piecemeal, but there was a part of the display that keeps her fixated.

The blood on the tools.

"Rene," she starts, "Rene, what am I looking at?"

"I was a prototype, but at the time we all didn't think that. We all thought we were humanity's best tool, best weapon to defeat the Sirens," I tremble, a little afraid of what I am going to say but I cannot stop the words, "I'm not like the rest of you. You could say I was an experiment. Built hastily and deployed into battle…this here? This was my rigging. I based it on Roon, the first kansen I grew to care about and the first one I hated."

I stumble towards the table, putting my hands on the edges.

"Oslo, Oslo was supposed to be the finale. The last battle of the war. Sirens were being destroyed everywhere, we were pushing them back from our homes. We were winning. We cornered them towards the last Fortress City of Oslo, Scandinavia's final bastion. We were going to pinch them and bleed them out."

I rub two fingers across the tail, "We lost. I lost. I was a soldier, Zeppelin. My whole purpose in life was to keep fighting. To protect my brother and to protect Yggdrasil."

"Yggdrasil?"

"I was Níðhöggr! Serpent of the Bismarck Strait! The Loyal Protector of the Tree of Life!" I struggle to stand straighter, putting my strength in my weakened state, "I had to kill Yggdrasil…he went mad. I don't know what happened! He turned around and just…just cut down my brother. Jörmungandr...we, we never expected it. Then...then Yggdrasil corrupted his life giving power and turned half the fleet into blood-craved freaks! We had to fight back. Brother against brother, sister against sister…I couldn't protect any of them. Not my fleet, not my friends. I'm…a fucking husk."

A passing thought takes over my mind with a strong uncontrollable feeling. I look at her, before picking up a tool and violently hitting my rigging. It bounces off, not doing real tangible damage, only scraping it across the side. With this action, I writhe in agony.

I let go of the wrench, clanging loudly on the ground.

"Rene," Graf Zeppelin gets on the ground, "Why did you do that?!"

"L-look."

I show her my back, tenderness below my shoulder blade. Heat stings from the spot.

I cough, the pain knocks wind out of me, "I failed, Graf. I failed them. I failed Roon when we tried to hunt my inflicted kind. I was mad, I was hurt, I wanted to kill them all. She died to protect me. I was supposed to be a soldier, Zeppelin. I protect people! I belong on the battlefield but…but I can't even do that anymore. I promised the girls I wouldn't…they would hide who I was…I would stop fighting, stop trying to hunt down my fallen kind, and become the leader they need."

I try to get up but I find little strength again. I feel cold.

"They're all dead now. Winkler and yours truly. I just play chess now…I'm useless. I don't feel like I'm really fit to do anything but chess and be this rotting body on base. You girls can live and operate on your own, I made sure of it. You don't need me. I'm just here to drag you down. I'm not a king on the chessboard…I'm a lucky pawn that made it to the other side."

Breathing and resting, I slump. There. I told her.

She scoots closer to me. Pushing away the wrench on the ground and removing her coat. The warm white wool and black fleece drape my shoulders. Covering my scars on the back and pulling me in for a slow deep hug. Her hair, as flowing as it is, almost comes over my face as she pulls me into her shoulder. I can only shake in my spot.

"I will let you tell me where to go."

I blink, croaking in her embrace, "I-I…ha?"

"Those are the words I told you," she speaks softly to me, losing that usual sense of authority she carries out, "We are your important pieces, right? A king can't simply leave the battlefield. There's no battle to be fought if there's nothing worth fighting for."

"You're no pawn," she pulls back and holds me by my face. Her scarlet eyes shimmering with tears, "I-I can't imagine going against this world without you. After everything you've done for me…being there.."

"So please. Don't do this." She pleads as she points to the wrench on the ground, "The black goat's horn has already sounded. Quell your anxiety and wait at ease."

"But," I feel my own tears coming, "W-what about my mistakes? What have I done?"

"If only strength alone was enough to determine everything…" She answers softly, "I have never been one to believe in fate. I was given the worst past but, being here, being with my sister again, I was also given the best future…what does my hatred serve, what does your self-loathing do also?"

She pauses, "What is that you really want, Weber? What do you really need?"

I sniffle, "I want to go back. Back to a time when the world was at peace…I-I want that. For the Iron Blood, for the others, for you…and for me."

The pit in my stomach drops, I whimper, "Ten years, I've tried. I failed…I can't do it anymore…"

She wipes away my tears with her thumbs, letting me see her face more clearly. She's crying too.

"All your fights, all your struggles, they really don't matter in the end, that's what you think?" Her words hit me, and I nod in between her hands, "You're wrong. We stand by you. I stand by you. Even if the world would become your enemy I would happily fight by your side."

"What you seek to do is neither destruction nor stagnation, but the creation of a peaceful future. As a part of your plans, allow me to bear the weight of your responsibilities…please, a queen and king must rule together."

I close my eyes. My limp arms finally receive the strength to reach behind her and return the embrace. My tears come, in a slowed discharge of fear, pain, and hate. Tenderly, almost as if she learned from a certain battleship, she rubs the head on my hair. Careful as to not touch the still throbbing, but not receding pain on my back.

I let the floodgates open.

I cry.