Hearing, and understanding what Airfield Hime said perfectly this time, Akitsu Maru could only look at her in shock. "I, er, wha?"

"Is something wrong?" Airfield Hime asked as she took a step forward and closed the distance between her and Akitsu Maru till she was a mere three feet from her. "And where is your equipment anyway? Did you lose it? Break it? Ah, did those nasty Ship girls attack you!"

"Err um, no, that isn't-," Akitsu Maru began before stopping herself and quietly taking a deep breath. She had to be calm in all situations, even a situation as strange as this. It seemed that Airfield Hime was possibly mistaking her for an Abyssal, or was maybe testing her. Either way she had to reply with an appropriate answer. "I um, I'm not sure actually. I think something happened to me, but I'm not sure honestly." Akitsu Maru said, hoping that feigning memory loss would work in her favor.

Airfield Hime looked at her for a moment before her face changed from cautious, to utterly worried and sorry. "That's horrible!" Airfield Hime called out as she ran up to Akitsu Maru and hugged her tightly before letting go and pulling back, holding her shoulders and staring at her. "We have to get you help!"

"Err, I guess so, but how?" Akitsu Maru asked, playing along while hoping for a chance to get away. Being so close to an Abyssal Hime was not a good thing, and she was not strong enough, regardless of her level to take one on, especially Airfield Hime.

"Well . . . hmmm, I'm not sure, ah, but I'm sure my sister would know!" Airfield Hime called out happily as she grabbed Akitsu Maru's arm and began dragging her off the sandbar and towards the ocean.

"W-wait, where are we going, I, I think I need to be somewhere!" Akitsu Maru said in a panic, letting her façade fall a bit, not that Airfield Hime noticed.

"No way I'm taking you to see my sister, she'll be able to help, I'm sure of it!" Airfield Hime said assuredly.

"B-but where is your sister anyway?" Akitsu Maru asked quickly as he tried to break free from Airfield Hime's iron grip to no avail.

"Hm? Underwater at our home, of course." Airfield Hime answered as if it was the simplest thing to do.

Akitsu Maru looked at Airfield Hime and felt a feeling of dread pass over her, her pace paling. "Th-that's, oh no, I'll sink!" Akitsu Maru said in a terrified voice, all intent of keeping her façade up having fallen apart instantly with the idea of being force under the water's surface.

"No, you won't, so let's go!" airfield Hime called out happily as she dragged Akitsu Maru out to the water and then down beneath its surface.

As soon as Akitsu Maru hit the water she could feel it all around her. It wasn't like sitting in the docks or taking a leisurely bath, the cold water was all around her and felt like pins upon her skin, slowly pushing against her. She had hoped that she would not sink down into the water, after all she was wearing her equipment, but sink into the water she did, ever held onto by Airfield Hime.

As Airfield Hime continued to pull her down to the water, swimming like any human would by kicking her legs in alternating strokes no less; Akitu Maru could feel the pressure building. Pressure wasn't what worried her though for, as a ship girl with her equipment on, she could take significantly punishment, even as one of the weakest ship girls offensively speaking. No, what worried her the most was that she was nearing her limit. She couldn't hold her breath any longer.

Her mouth forced itself open as she exhaled and seawater quickly filled her mouth, pouring down her throat and into her lungs. The pain was incomprehensible, unlike any pain she had previously felt, but it only lasted a second. As she swallowed, she found it began to hurt less, and while she initially though it was because she was drowning, she realized after a second, that she was breathing. There was some difficulty to it, and it was far from comfortable, but she was breathing through the water, or breathing the water itself; she wasn't very sure but she did figure Airfield Hime, her grip like iron on her wrist, was likely the cause.

Still being pulled though the waters now darkening depths Akitsu Maru looked in the direction she was being pulled. The water pressing against her face told her that Airfield Hime was swimming very fast, and with the pressure building, she began to worry just how deep she was being dragged; until she saw the very rocks below them lift up and spread apart, revealing a bright silver tube.

As if she was the person to have opened it Airfield Hime swam right toward it, dragging Akitsu Maru along right into the tube. Like a chimney or hallway the tube went down a way, and as they went down Akitsu Maru looked back to see the stone move back in front of it. Her only way out had been sealed.

After a while the tunnel they were in turned and then turned again, turning enough that Akitsu Maru lost her sense of which way was up, just before they broke free of the water. The room the ended up inside was not unlike that of a submarine hanger, a massive room with a pool of water that led outside. And while Akitsu Maru coughed and nearly heaved the water out of her lungs, reveling in the feeling of actual air, she was just as quickly pulled to the edge of the pool.

"Hey, are you okay? Is something caught in your throat?" Airfield Hime asked as she pulled herself up onto the edge of the pool and sat there, looking at Akitsu Maru as she continued to cough a bit.

Akitsu Maru looked waded over to the edge of the pool and looked at Airfield Hime, seeing that she seemed very confused and a bit worried, something she didn't expect to see on the face of an Abyssal. "I- I'm fine." Akitsu Maru replied with a small cough, the unpleasant taste of salt water lingering in her mouth.

"Forgot to breathe through your nose huh, it happens." Airfield Hime said with a smile as she stood up on the pool's edge and took a step back away from it, waiting for Akitsu Maru to pull herself out of the pool. ". . . . . you tired or something? If we're going to help you with your memory then we need to go see my sister, so come on!"

Akitsu Maru swallowed hard but subtly so that Airfield Hime would not notice and pulled herself up onto the pool's edge. It seemed she was stuck upon this path, so she would just have to grin and bear it. As she got out fully and stood on the floor she noticed two things, the pool itself was inset into the floor so its edges were even with the floor itself, and the floor was made of ceramic tiles, just like the kind that would be found in the docks or a bathroom. It was strange feeling tiles under her feet when she was apparently in an Abyssal base, but as she looked about she saw that the walls were made of smooth metal, and the ceiling was a smooth stone with what appeared to be bright lights of some kind inset in it.

As Akitsu Maru looked around the room Airfield Hime grabbed her hand once more and turned toward the single door in the room on the nearby wall, and began moving toward it. Just like before her grip was like iron and there was no stopping her, so Akitsu Maru this time paced herself beside Airfield Hime, as to not get dragged about.

Through the door Akitsu Maru became even more bewildered. She had expected stone or metal floors and walls, after all this was an Abyssal base, but when she and Airfield Hime went through it, she found the walls to be softly colored white wood, and the floors were made of well-polished hardwood, the same that was in most naval bases that she delivered too, and the exact opposite of what she had been expecting.

Akitsu Maru looked down the hallway and the tension in her body disappearing slowly at the strangely familiar setting around her. Passing a single door labelled only with a sign covered in images of pipes Airfield Hime then stopped at the end of the hall, before a rice paper sliding door that strangely did not look out of place.

Without any warning Airfield Hime let go of Akitsu Maru's wrist and slid the door open with a loud crack and stepped through, bending forward at the waist and putting her hands by her mouth, "I'm home." Airfield Hime yelled as she turned to Akitsu Maru and smiled as she seemed to slip her footwear off with her feet alone. "C'mon in!"

Akitsu Maru hesitated a moment as Airfield Hime turned and disappeared from her view, leaving the open door in front of her." You can do this, just be ready, it's an Abyssal Base." Akitsu Maru muttered to herself in preparation as she closed her eyes and stepped across the threshold. She had expected something bad to happen, a trap to spring or to be mobbed by Abyssal Destroyers, but nothing happened for a moment, and after another moment Akitsu Maru opened her eyes, and then felt extremely silly.

The inside of the door looked, surprisingly, like the inside of a regular Japanese home. She was standing in the slightly lowered landing where people left their shoes, and just beyond the floor changed from the sunken stone to raised wood, just like in any Japanese home. To either side of her where two sliding doors, one of which was open, and right between them was a wall scroll hanging on the wall that had a simple few words on it.

Protect your family

Protect the sea

Protect the surface

Never lose yourself to anger

Never lose yourself to hate

Always remember you are loved

Akitsu Maru could feel a small tear form at the corner of her one eye. The scroll was detailed beautifully just like the scrolls that hang at every naval base, but in comparison the words on the one before her felt more wholesome, more calm, and even more important to believe in that the archaic sounding and rigid words that sat lazily on the scrolls at every naval base.

"She's over here! Come on, Sister!" Airfield Hime called as she came though the doorway to Akitsu Maru's left, seeming very impatient in the way she spoke and completely breaking Akitsu Maru's concentration on the scroll before her.

A second later, before Akitsu Maru could prepare herself for who was to come, Airfield Hime's sister walked into the room, and Akitsu Maru could feel her blood flash as cold as a glacier. Seaport Hime was exactly as all of the reports she had read described her. She was easily a full head taller than the tallest ship girl, putting her height likely around seven feet tall, and her short dress clung to her skin showing off her body's shape. Out of her head was her signature single large black horn, and out of her sleeves came her massive metallic clawed hands, each claw nearly as wide as Akitsu Maru's arm. She walked into the room slightly hunched over, a small oil covered rag in her one hand as she seemed to be wiping her hand with it. "Ai, I was in the middle of, oh, hello." Seaport Hime said, changing the direction of her words when she saw Akitsu Maru standing before her. "Ai, who is this?"

Airfield Hime turned to Seaport Hime and pointed at Akitsu Maru, causing her to flinch slightly. "I found this girl by a sandbar, but she's forgotten who she is and doesn't seem to have her equipment on her. I didn't recognize her, so I thought you would!" Airfield Hime declared proudly, acting like a teenager who had just done something without asking and was expecting to be praised. It reminded Akitsu Maru of some cruisers at various naval bases.

Seaport Hime looked at Akitsu Maru for a moment and Akitsu Maru could feel her gaze all over her, but after a moment Seaport Hime smiled and then looked back to Airfield Hime. "Alright, I'll take it from here Ai. Tell Sya I would like her help with it though. Okay?"

Airfield Hime seemed to beam at being told that, her face lighting up like a searchlight. "Okay, then can I-?"

"No," Seaport Hime suddenly said, interrupting Airfield Hime's sentence. "You were out later than you said you would be and missed dinner. You've done well, but you are not getting dinner, so head to bed." Seaport Hime said, sounding like the older sister that Airfield Hime had seemed to make her out to be.

"But I want to-."

"Now."

Airfield Hime looked at Seaport Hime for a second and puffed her cheeks out "Fine, good night."

"Ah, make sure to tell Sya I want her help with this!" Seaport Hime aid quickly as Airfield Hime walked past her, leaving Akitsu Maru seemingly alone with Seaport Hime.

Seaport Hime sighed to herself heavily, her shoulders sagging as she turned to Akitsu Maru then straightened her posture with a smile painting her face. "I'm sorry you had to see that, let's head inside so you can actually be comfortable, then we can talk more casually, okay?"

Akitsu Maru couldn't seem to get words out of her mouth as she simply nodded shallowly, her hair not moving an inch from how little her head bobbed.

Seeing Akitsu Maru nod Seaport Hime smiled and motioned with her free hand for Akitsu Maru to follow her as she turned and went back through the doorway. Akitsu Maru followed her cautiously down a short hall and then turned into another room, finding its floor to be made of Tatami mats and having a very large Kotatsu in its center and a large TV hanging in the corner. Seaport Hime crossed the rom and went around to the Kotatsu's far side, kneeling down and shuffling her knees underneath before pulling the kotatsu's skirt overtop the rest of her legs. "Would you like to sit down? Sya will be here in a moment, and then we can talk more openly."

Akitsu Maru carefully stepped into the room and knelt down in front of the Kotatsu, allowing her legs to slide under it, but doing so very carefully. "Um, who is Sya?"

"I am." came a voice from behind Akitsu Maru, causing her to turn her head to look, and began fearing for her life.

Battleship Symbiotic Hime was just like Seaport Hime, exactly as the reports had always described her, at least physically. Her body was slender and pale like any other Abyssal, and her two small horns protruded from her head, parting her shining black hair. Unlike most reports however, she was not wearing a long one piece v necked black dress, and was instead wearing a long blue skirt and a white turtleneck sweater. As she sat down she smiled at Akitsu Maru so warmly that Akitsu Maru could feel the tenseness in her shoulders seem to drift away, at least until Battleship Symbiotic Him spoke up.

"So this is the girl Ai was talking about?" Symbiotic Hime said to Seaport Hime, her voice warm and sweet like honey, or a caring housewife.

Seaport Hime nodded. "It seems so. I'll have to teach Ai about recognizing people better."

"That would probably be an idea." Symbiotic Hime said with a small laugh before looking to Akitsu Maru, I don't recognize you though now that I think about it, which ship girl are you?"

Akitsu Maru's blood refroze again at Symbiotic Himes words, and her own voice had trouble getting past her lips, "Y-you knew?"

"Yes, I saw your equipment on your waist." Seaport Hime spoke up quickly as Symbiotic Hime nodded in agreement.

"Yes, if you had our equipment on though, I doubt anyone would be able to tell." Symbiotic Hime said with a laugh before leveling her gaze at Akitsu Maru. "We must know though, why were you alone out there? Were you sent to look for our base maybe?" she asked, though her voice said that she was not as serious as her words made it seem."

Akitsu Maru wasn't sure what to do. She was in the enemy stronghold with two of the most powerful Abyssal Himes right in front of her, but to top it off, they were sitting around a Kotatsu. They knew she was not an Abyssal, so lying was right out. The only real option was telling the truth, but the shells she was looking for were experimental, and she couldn't just tell them she was looking for a lost experimental weapon, could she? "I- I was sent to look for, for something that went missing in that area." Akitsu Maru finally said, deciding that while lying wouldn't work, she didn't have to explain all of the details.

Both Symbiotic Hime and Seaport Hime looked at each other for a moment before Seaport Hime reached over to a cupboard and pulled out a small box, setting it on the table facing Akitsu Maru. "Um, would these be what you were looking for?" Seaport Hime asked as she opened the case, revealing exactly three of the Experimental shells sitting carefully in the box.

"H-how . . . err I mean, these are, um." Akitsu Maru tried to say but the cat had been let out of the bag. They knew about the shells.

"I heard an explosion yesterday on the surface and found some I-class's sniffing at them, there was four of these shells, but one exploded when one of them tried to eat them, I'm sorry I couldn't save all of them." Seaport Hime said sadly, her shoulder sagging as she pushed the box forward to the middle of the table.

Akitsu Maru looked at the shells and then to both Hime's. The shells were in great condition, no perfect condition, as if they had been cleaned and well cared for before being put inside the box. "But, these are, I mean . . ."

"It is quite alright, we know that they are experimental shells, for use against us. But you were looking for them, so it is only right we return them to you." Symbiotic Hime stated warmly with a smile, causing Akitsu Maru to feel ashamed for what she was returning. They knew that the shells were to be used against them, yet they were returning them with smiles on their faces. They had to be planning something.

"You don't plan to let me leave, do you?" Akitsu Maru asked calmly, thinking that was the only reason why they would return the shells so easily when they knew their purpose.

Symbiotic Hime shook her head with a smile, "No, we don't plan on keeping you here at all. You were after those experimental shells, not finding our home, so we are not in danger by letting you go, yes?"

Akitsu Maru felt her mouth drop open in shock at what had been said. The Himes seemed so trusting, and neither of them seemed to be hiding anything, but she had to be careful none the less, they were Abyssals after all. "Um, I see. That's awfully trusting, but I will agree. My mission was to retrieve them and that is it so . . . I'll be going now." Akitsu Maru said as she pushed herself away from the Kotatsu to get up.

"Oh, you aren't going to stay the night?" Symbiotic Hime asked honestly surprised. "We have a room you could use. It is the middle of the night after all."

"Eh, no, I couldn't, I have to return as soon as possible and-,"

"All of the Abyssal drones out there will attack you if one of us isn't accompanying you and we're heading to bed. Are you sure you don't wish to stay the night?" Seaport Hime asked quietly.

Akitsu Maru looked at them both and could feel that she wasn't going to win this argument, which was probably their plan, to lull her into a false sense of security and then do something to her; their comment about Abyssal drones sounded strange, but she figured it'd be better to not ask and play along till she had a way out. "Um, I guess so."

"Alright, then. I'll go prepare your room, just give me a moment!" Symbiotic Hime said as she got up and walked out of the room, her long blue skirt waving calmly and showing just her ankles as she walked. With one less Hime in the room Akitsu Maru figured it would make her calmer, but instead all she could think about was what they could possibly be planning to have been so intent on her staying the night. A few moments later Symbiotic Hime came back into the room and Seaport Hime stood up, looking at Akitsu Maru as if telling her to do the same. "I've tidied up out guest room. It's right this way."

Akitsu Maru swallowed hard as Symbiotic Hime and Seaport Hime led her out of the room and down the hall. They passed many doors on the way and stopped in front of the only one that did not have nameplate on it, though Akitsu Maru hadn't paid attention to what the nameplates had on them. Walking into the room after Seaport slid the door open Akitsu Maru found it to be very small, only three tatami mats making up its floor. A simple room, but none the less cozy looking despite the environment it was in.

Akitsu Maru stepped into the room and looked it once over, noticing nothing seeming to be odd or off about it before turning to Seaport Hime and Symbiotic Hime who stood in the doorway.

"In the morning breakfast will be in the room we spoke in if you wish to join us. Have a good night . . . . . ah; we never did catch your name." Symbiotic Hime said warmly, asking Akitsu Maru's name in her own way.

Akitsu Maru swallowed hard at the prospect of telling the Abyssal her name, but from what they had said earlier, they recognized many ship girls, so lying would likely be difficult. "A- Akitsu Maru, my name is Akitsu Maru."

Authors note: wow I can write this actually pretty fast, it's kind of weird honestly. I hope everyone likes the story so far, and if you have anything to say please go ahead and do so, thanks again for reading this so far everybody!