Chapter 15: Intersecting Parallels

I opened my eyes, just to be blinded by a powerful light that made me close them again.

"Status of the patient."

"Blood pressure stable, constants seems normal. We can begin with the procedure."

I heard people talking around me, but I didn't recognize their voices. Where was I? The last thing I remembered was facing Goetia and…

"So at least once, I wanted to be useful to Senpai."

"This is my final order as Chaldea's commander, don't worry about me, and fight until you claim a perfect victory."

Mashu…Roman…they…

"Heart rate went up 30 beats per second."

"Administer 200 milligrams of verapamil."

They…they died, they sacrificed themselves so we could defeat Goetia…they were no longer…in this world…I…I…

"Aaaaarggh!" A sharp pain suddenly assaulted me; it came from my waist. It was so strong that I couldn't contain a scream.

The pain made me open my eyes again; this time, however, I could distinguish some things around me. I appeared to be lying down on a bed while a group of people surrounded me. The light that had previously blinded me was from a large lamp hanging directly above me.

"What!? The patient is awake!" A woman said.

"Why is the sedative not making effect!?" A man shouted, furious.

I raised my head a little to take a better look at people. All of them were wearing white clothes, alongside white gloves and surgical masks.

One of them had a scalpel on his hands.

"Who…who are you? Where am I?" I then try to look at my body, but my view was obstructed by a piece of white cloth just above my stomach. What I could see was that I was wearing a white gown, similar to the ones patients wore in a hospital. However, something was definitely not right, as I looked in horror at how my arms were firmly held to the sides of the bed with brown straps and how a catheter was connected to my veins. "What's the meaning of this!? What are you doing to me!?" I instantly tried to free my arms.

"He is trying to free himself!"

"Put him to sleep, now!" Ordered the man with the scalpel, and soon enough, one of the people in white took a syringe and put it in a small flask.

"No..no..no..no! Stop!" I said as I try to break the straps. "This is a mistake! We did it! We defeat Goetia! Why are you doing this!?"

But no one heard my pleas, and the man injected the contents of the flask in the catheter connected to the veins of my right hand.

"Don't do it! It's me, Ritsuka! I am the last...master..."

My words died in my mouth as the world around me began to turn dark until it was entirely surrounded by darkness.

"Who told you that name?"

Sheffield observed me without saying anything for a couple of seconds, no doubt noticing my reaction to her question.

"Answer the question." She wasn't backing down.

"It was that Siren, right? Did you truly believe her?" I asked with a tone of disappointment. "I expected more of you, Sheffield."

I didn't miss the hypocrisy behind those words, but at that moment, I couldn't care less about it.

"The Sirens are our enemies; nothing they could say would change that." She narrowed her eyes. "What matters is if you are also our enemy."

"Your enemy? For god's sake, Sheffield! Have I not showed you with my actions that I am no friend of the Sirens? That I am on your side?" I approached her, disregarding her gun. "Hell, if you weren't for me, Purifier's shark would have killed you that night!"

"We aren't discussing that now, Master." She pressed the gun barrel in my forehead. "And I won't ask a second time. Are you from another world or not?"

We stared fiercely at each other; a fight could break out in any second. I wasn't fully healed yet, but maybe I could reinforce my legs, dodge the first shot, and…no, that would be too reckless; the room was too small for a fight, I wasn't even sure my magecraft would work at all in my weakened state.

Besides, the more I looked at Sheffield, the more I realized I didn't actually want to fight her. It was different when we didn't know each other, but right now, the idea of hurting her felt…wrong.

I sighed; despite her antics, I had actually grown somewhat attached to her…no, not only to her, to all of these maids. I didn't want to fight them at all.

"You don't want to know that." I said curtly, being the first to break eye contact. "You won't gain anything by knowing about my past."

"I disagree. It is necessary to determine your true objective."

"Really? What part of my past is necessary to determine my objective, the part where I lost everything I once loved? Or the part where I had to live every single day of my life knowing I couldn't do anything for them!?"

"..." Sheffield didn't react to my sudden outburst, but she did catch the meaning of my words. "You lost everything?" She asked; too late I realized I had told her everything with those words.

I sighed deeply, resigned.

"Everything…." I said again, my voice going back to a more calm tone. "My family, my friends, even people I only had a distant relationship with…I lost them all."I felt my energy being drained by every word I spoke, to the point that I just couldn't stand anymore and had to walk away from Sheffield to sit on her bed.

Just talking about it felt like a heavy burden; my chest started to ache, and breathing was becoming difficult and painful. I felt as if my entire body refused the sole idea of remembering about them.

"How did you lose them?" Sheffield continued with her interrogatory.

I didn't want to say it; I didn't want to talk about it.

"A war; a war took them away from me." I forced myself to continue as I lowered my head. "A war that threatened to destroy humanity and the world as it knew it...my world." I finally confessed. Yes, it was the truth; even if this world looked so similar to mine, I wasn't from here, and that wasn't going to change no matter how many years passed.

"A war…" Sheffield repeated. "So that's why you seem to have experience on warfare; you were a soldier."

"A soldier, you say?" I couldn't contain a dry laugh. "I was just a dumb kid, barely 18 years old and not even a month out of school when I was recruited. I didn't know a thing about the real world, and suddenly I had to...!" I didn't continue; my words died in my throat.

"You had to do what?"

"...fight for my life, against forces that clearly surpassed me in everything."

"Save the world" was what I wanted to say, but I was sure she wouldn't believe me. It sounded ridiculous even in my mind, for the fate of the entire world to rest on some random kid shoulders…I also wouldn't believe it if I hadn't lived it through it.

"So you lost?"

"Huh?" I raised my head to such a strange question, and I noticed Sheffield was no longer pointing her pistol at me.

"You are telling me you were inexperienced, and your enemy was far stronger than you. It does sound plausible for you to have lost that war, and so, were forced to come to this world to escape from that foe." She rationalized.

That was a sound deduction. However, the reality wasn't that simple.

"No, I think we won…however…"

"However?"

"…I don't actually know." I confessed.

"What?"

"As I said, I don't know. I was wounded in battle." I touched my waist, at the left side, the place where Goetia's magic had eaten through my flesh and made a hole in my internal organs. "The last thing I saw was him, the enemy leader. He too had been wounded and succumbed to his wounds like me." The image of a broken Goetia on his last feet, looking at me with immeasurable rage, came to my mind. "After that, nothing. When I woke up, I was already in your world."

Sheffield was silent for some time.

"Are you saying you don't know how you came here?"

"Remember what I said back in my apartment? Even if I possess certain abilities, I am just human. I am nothing like the Sirens. I can't travel between worlds at will."I was not a Magician. I was incapable of Second Magic. Heck, I was not even capable of most normal magecrafts.

Sheffield didn't say anything but looked at me with distrust.

"What? Do you think I am some kind of spy from another world? That I am part of some secret plot? Well, sorry for breaking your bubble, but I am just a pathetic man who can't go back to his own world." I held my head with both hands. "I don't even know if my world was destroyed or not, nor if my people survived. I am just…stuck here, unable to do anything, like a useless piece of garbage."

There was no day that I didn't think about them. My command seals disappeared after I came here, so I had assumed that my Servants returned to the throne of heroes, but what about the people left behind? What happened with Chaldea? What happened with the world outside of Chaldea? Did humanity finally recover its future, or Goetia accomplished his goal? Was Goetia even still alive?

I didn't know anything, and I couldn't do anything. I was totally and utterly useless.

"Pitiful." Sheffield muttered; she sounded disappointed for some reason. "Truly pitiful."

I couldn't deny it. She was absolutely right. I was just…

"For you to be in such state, how low have you fallen, my Master." She walked towards me until being just in front of me. "You allow yourself to delve into self-pity, even when you know it's not true."

"...? What isn't true?"

"You being useless."

"...eh?"

"You are reckless, confrontational, and stubborn" Her tone was sharp. She truly meant everything she said."But you aren't useless."

"W-What….? What are you saying, Sheffield?"

"It was no mere chance that Her Majesty chose you as Knight candidate; you faced a high-ranking Siren and managed to hurt her, not to mention that you fought one of our best maids by yourself and came victorious. Saying that you are useless is just factually wrong...even if you are still a pest." She added at the end as if to make sure I didn't forget it.

I didn't know what to say. Why was Sheffield saying all that? Was that her own weird way of cheering me up?

"And no matter how much I despise it, if it wasn't for you, I would have ceased to exist that night."

"Sheffield…?" Now I was really starting to worry.

"For that reason alone, is that I am giving you a chance."She closed her eyes as if she was thinking carefully about the situation until she opened them again, feeling decided. "Accept Her Majesty's proposal, pledge loyalty to her, and become her knight."

She never thought that one day she would do something like that. Much less for a human.

No, he wasn't exactly human. He said it himself. He came from another world, so he must be something different. Otherwise, it wouldn't make sense for her to try to help him. She disliked humans, after all.

Yes, helping him was okay because he wasn't really human.

"What…? Pledge loyalty…? You want me to become a Knight?"

"What I want is irrelevant, but Her Majesty seems to have you in high esteem, even if you aren't truly loyal to her."

"That's…" He looked away, a clear sign that he wasn't honest. She had long since noticed that he avoided looking at other people's eyes when he lied.

"From the moment you rejected her Majesty's offer, I understood you held no loyalty towards her. However, you still stayed here, acting as our Commander. The fact that you are also from a different world just reaffirmed my suspicions; there are a lot of things you are not telling us."

"…Even so, you still think I should be a knight. Why?" He asked, doubtful.

"For the same reason I didn't tell her Majesty anything about what that Siren said." Sheffield sighed. The sole idea of hiding information from her Queen was already a heavyweight on her shoulders, but what she was about to say was worse. "Because I believe you can be useful to us."

"Useful?"

"As a Knight, as a Commander…and as a Master."

His eyes opened like plates.

"…I thought you hated me being your Master, Sheffield."

"I do, but that doesn't change the fact that you are far better than the other two and the only human capable of taking that role."

"Two...?"

"However." She didn't elaborate and continued talking. "I can't fully trust you, Master, not while you aren't honest with us."

Even if he had told her about his world, he was still largely a mystery to her; she couldn't help but feel that he was still hiding things for her, that he had his own agenda, and that one day, he would betray them. Sheffield wasn't accustomed to that emotion, that uneasiness that he caused on her, but she didn't like it. In fact, she hated it, not trusting the person she was supposed to serve. It was almost painful.

That's why she was giving him a chance to prove himself.

"I want you to give me a reason to trust you as a leader." She declared. "I want you to prove that you won't betray us."

"…in other words, you want to trust me?"

"Take it as you like."

"..."

Fujimaru once again looked away. It was as if he was trying to think of a way out of the situation but couldn't find anything. "But how would you know if I am honest? Maybe I could swear loyalty just to get close to the queen, only to betray her later."

"I have seen you lie before, I am confident that I can distinguish if you aren't truly committed." She affirmed, confident. "The moment I notice you are trying to feign loyalty to Her Majesty again; I would know you were our enemy all this time."

Fujimaru didn't answer, as he seemed deep in thought.

"Now what would it be, Master? Would you accept or decline?"

"I...I can't accept that, Sheffield." When he finally spoke again, he seemed to have reached a decision. "I can't become part of your Royal Navy."

Sheffield wasn't surprised. She expected as much.

"Then, tell me, what do you hope to achieve here? Why have you joined us?" Her eyes now buried on his figure, judging him.

"You know about my past now, Sheffield. I am sure you understand that I don't want anything like that to happen again." This time, he met her gaze, his eyes full of resolution. "I don't want to fight in another war, nor do I want normal people to go through what I had to go through."

"Which means?"

"I will do everything in my power to stop Elizabeth. I will not allow another war to happen if I can stop it."

Sheffield made her gun appear on her hand once again.

"Then you are an enemy of the Queen." She pointed the gun to her head, but he didn't bat an eye."I must eliminate you."

"Do it then."

"Eh...?"

"You know I am not in my best state; I can't possibly protect myself as I am right now." He shook his head. "If you are going to do it, then now it's the perfect time to get rid of me."

Inexplicably, Sheffield suddenly felt a wave of deep anger growing inside her.

"Are you going to give up just like that? You won't even fight back?" Sheffield's gaze penetrated Fujimaru's figure. She felt insulted. He wasn't like that. He wouldn't just accept his death that easily. The Fujimaru she knew would fight even if all the odds were against him.

"I won't fight back because you aren't going to press that trigger." He said, serious.

"What…?"

"When we started talking, I felt anger towards you for trying to pry into my past, for trying to bring back painful memories." He lowered his face for a moment but immediately looked back at her. "But I couldn't see myself hurting you. It felt like it wasn't right...and I think you feel the same way, Sheffield."

"You are delusional. I won't hesitate to end your life now that I know your true aim."

"If it was like that, then you would have killed me by now, just like how you tried to do it when we first met. But you are still talking to me, Sheffield, you are even asking yourself why I am not fighting back. The truth is that you don't want this, right? You don't want to kill me.

She moved her gun to the side and shot towards the wall, just like she had done before.

"I won't hesitate." She repeated as to give emphasis.

"Then do it." However, Fujimaru wasn't deterred by that this time."Stop talking and do it."

"...!" Sheffield was starting to lose her patience. She had his life on her hands; a single shot would be enough to erase him from existence.

He had confessed. He was against them, after all; he was a traitor who worked against the Queen. He was the enemy, no different from the Admiral or the Sirens.

Sheffield knew what she had to do.

"...!"

However, her arm started to shake.

"Why...?"For the first time in a long time, a pained expression appeared on her face. Why was she doubting? This was her duty, to eliminate the enemies of the Queen. It should have been easy to pull the trigger, but her fingers couldn't even touch it."Why can't I hurt you? What have you done to me!?"

Sheffield was furious. She wanted an explanation; she wanted to know why the idea of hurting him made her chest ache. Why the thought of never talking to him again felt painful? Why did she think that if she pulled the trigger, she would be losing something important?

"It's called attachment, Sheffield. You don't want to kill me because we have spent time together, and for better or worse …" He released a deep sigh. "We may have ended liking each other, in some way."

"No…that's ridiculous" Sheffield didn't understand. She liked him? Not, that wasn't it; she hated him. They argued most of the time. There was never a moment when they agreed on something. There was no way she felt anything other than hate for him. "No, this is part of your abilities. You are messing with my cognition."

"I don't have that kind of ability, if I could make people like me magically, then I wouldn't be in this mess in the first place, and you wouldn't be pointing a pistol at me."

No, it had to be a lie. But why was he looking directly at her instead of averting his gaze? Why she didn't feel any doubt in his words?

"It's the truth, Sheffield." He sighed. "I know it may sound cheesy, but I think we can get along; if we try. We don't have to be enemies, we can be comrades, we can be friends."

"Friends…" She looked at him in surprise as her gun disappeared from her hand. "No...I..."

"Sheffield...?"

"I…can't…."

Before he could say more, she dashed toward the door and exited the room. She couldn't keep hearing things like "friends" or "like." She was a weapon; she wasn't supposed to feel something like that; those things were unnecessary for her.

She couldn't possibly feel like that.

"You haven't been eaten anything,"

"…"

As always, Marcia Haydes didn't answer. She didn't even look at Belfast when she talked to her. The expression of her face was one of defeat, of loss.

She almost hadn't spoken a word from the moment she woke up, only to find herself locked in a room on the base she used to lead. Now, as a prisoner, she only awaited an uncertain destiny.

Belfast took the tray with the untouched rations and replaced it with one of the recently opened ones.

"You have to eat something; you'll grow weak otherwise."

Marcia didn't respond.

Silence invaded the room for a couple of seconds; the head maid just stood there, as if she wanted to say something but couldn't manage to do it.

"Did you come here just to tell me that, Belfast?" Marcia finally asked, but she still didn't look at Belfast.

"No." Confessed the maid. "I have come to tell you that Her Majesty has already decided your fate."

Marcia chose to be silent again, so Belfast continued.

"Once we assault the Admiral's base and detain him, you'll be executed alongside him."

Marcia released a deep sigh.

"I see." That was the only thing Marcia said. She wasn't surprised; she knew that something like that could happen. It had already happened before, after all.

"I…I am really sorry for this, Marcia." Belfast bowed. She felt ashamed; even if she was no longer her Commander, she never wanted anything like this for her.

"Don't be, I understand." For the first time, the former commander looked at the maid. Her tired eyes showed signs of lack of sleep. "You are following orders."

"I…" Belfast couldn't finish. She felt like she had a lump on her throat.

"You don't like this, but you have to follow your orders." Marcia finished the sentence for her. "I know how you feel, Belfast. I am a soldier. I know what it is to follow orders even if you disagree with them. I did the same when we first met."

"Eh…?"

"After the death of the first commander, the higher-ups were worried that it could happen again if we left you alone, that's why they give me, the person to be appointed as the new commander, a mission: to get close the one prototype that was the most loyal to us and form a positive relationship with her."

"But that means…."

"Yes, it was all premeditated, just to get close to you and get as much information of Elizabeth as possible." Marcia gazed firmly at her. "That's why you shouldn't feel sorry for me. You didn't betray me when you chose to follow Elizabeth. I did it first."

A pained expression appeared on Belfast's face, and she exited the room without another word.

Marcia sighed and went to lay down on her bed.

Truth to be told, even if it was her mission, she didn't feel that the time they spent together was terrible. She never actually shared the Admiral and her subordinates disdain towards the prototypes, or at least not to Belfast, who had always treated her with respect.

"…If only that hadn't happened."

Marcia felt that in other circumstances, she and Belfast might have developed a genuine relationship.

But she couldn't say that.

It was easier if she hated her, for both of them.

"Ahhh…" I released a deep breath as I put a hand to the wall to support my body. I was tired, I had tried to run after Sheffield, but she proved to be faster than I thought. In no time, she had disappeared from sight. "Why is it always so difficult with these maids….?" I asked myself. I was starting to think that I was the problem rather than them.

"…"

"We don't have to be enemies. We can be comrades; we can be friends." That's what I said to her, but it seemed to have the opposite effect; I honestly hoped I didn't ruin our relationship... more than it's already ruined.

At the very least, she didn't put a bullet in my brain, so that was a sign that she cared about me in some way, right?

If only we could reach a common ground...

As I slowly walked through the base's tunnels, I managed to see another person approaching.

It was Belfast.

"Hey, Belfast, did you see-?" I was about to ask about Sheffield's whereabouts, but I didn't finish my question because I saw her face's expression. She looked dejected, a rare sight from her. Something must have happened. "Is something wrong?" I asked, a bit concerned.

Surprisingly, she passed by me, apparently not even noticing my presence. She must have really been deep in thought.

I looked as she walked away. Maybe I should leave her alone. I had to look for Sheffield after all.

I thought that and walked a couple of steps before stopping. Then, I turned around to look at her again, her figure slowly disappearing from my sight.

I sighed.

The problem was definitely me, who couldn't stay away from other people's issues like I didn't have enough with my own.

I walked toward her and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Belfast?"

"Ah…!" She released an uncharacteristic yelp. "M-master? What's wrong?"

"I was going to ask that. You looked awfully distracted. Did something happen?"

"Hmm…well…." She looked away, seemly reluctant to tell me; maybe I was overstepping my boundaries too much.

"Sorry, you don't have to tell me if it's personal." I didn't want my question to be confused by an order. She was free to have her privacy.

"No…I think you need to know this, Master." Her gaze once again was on me. "If it's not too much trouble, can we talk...in private?"

"Sure, should we go to…?"

"Your room would be better if it's not much to ask." She said, anticipating my question.

"Okay, let's go there, shall we?"

Sorry, Sheffield, I'll go search for you once I am done with her. Just don't do anything crazy in the meantime, okay? I thought.

While Fujimaru and Belfast were talking, Sheffield did something she was not used to, abandon her duties. She was supposed to be always ready for whenever her Majesty needed her. Still, there she was, sitting on the empty subway platform outside the base.

She was the only one there; not a single sound could be heard in the tunnel, as the station had long been abandoned after the military occupied it, so she could be alone with her thoughts.

Her thoughts about him.

"We may have ended liking each other, in some way." That's what he said.

"Like...How ridiculous." Sheffield thought at first, but an idea started to form in her mind.

What if it was true and she just didn't realize it? What if she tried to help him not because of his usefulness but because she was actually fond of him? She wanted to think otherwise, but the possibility that her judgment had been compromised still existed. She would be a failure as a royal maid if her Queen wasn't the most important thing in her mind.

That's why she knew what it had to be done; even if she couldn't…or didn't want to hurt Fujimaru, she had to tell her Majesty about his plan to oppose her. That was her duty as a maid.

But then, why was she there, outside the base, instead of doing that? Why had she run away from that man and now was racking her brain trying to find a different solution from the one she already had?

Why did the thought of disobeying Her Majesty was slowly starting to feel like a possible choice?

"..."

Sheffield released a tired sigh.

It was all his fault. That man had given her nothing but trouble; it was unthinkable that she cared about him in any kind of way.

Even so, she couldn't pull the trigger.

No, she just didn't want to. What he said was true, she didn't want to kill him.

Even if she knew she couldn't allow herself to feel like that, she couldn't help it. It was stronger than her. Was that feeling really what they call "friendship"? She sure didn't feel like that when it came to Belfast or Edinburgh, the closest she had to friends.

But if it was not friendship, what was it?

While those thoughts tormented her mind, a slight red blur suddenly entered her field of view.

"…?" Startled, Sheffield raised her head to take a better look at that strange thing; it flew a bit in the air until it landed on the platform where she was sat.

It was a bird, with a highly distinctive reddish tone converting most of its chest, while its back was brown and wings and the rest of its body had a more silver color.

Aside from the vibrant colors of the bird, the animal's presence there was a bit strange; aside from doves, birds didn't usually make their nest in busy cities and much less fly towards subway tunnels, that one even went deep enough to find the abandoned station.

However, what really caught Sheffield's attention was the black symbol on its body that heavily contrasted with the rest of its appearance. It resembled a letter "V" rotated ninety degrees to the right.

While Sheffield was looking at the animal with curiosity, it turned its head to her. For a split of seconds, it seemed that it was the animal examining Sheffield and not the other way around.

However, it didn't last long because the animal seemingly lost interest in the maid and moved its wings to fly again.

"…"

Maybe it was her imagination, but Sheffield could swear it was flying towards the underground base.

"I see, so it's like that." I said as I took the cup of Earl Grey that Belfast had insisted on preparing.

After we got to my room, Belfast told me what had happened between her and the previous Commander, Marcia, who she felt she had betrayed by following Elizabeth's orders, until she recently discovered that Marcia too had her own orders.

It was a difficult situation, not unlike my own with Sheffield.

"So how do you feel now that you know?" I drank some tea.

"At first, I felt…disappointed, even if I had no right to feel that way." Belfast recognized, and her voice acquired a melancholic tone. "Marcia was the first person to talk to me as if I were another person, another human. Before her, the only thing I did was being locked in a room all day and only came out when I was needed." She looked at her hand while she opened and closed it. "Wait in a room, go out to destroy Siren ships, and then go back to that very same room. That was my entire life."

"But that changed when she came?"

"Yes, she started giving me permission to leave my room, at first from time to time, then at will. I could also start to do more than destroying the Sirens. I began to clean around the base and started brewing tea for her. I was finally able to do my work as a maid and not only as a weapon." She lowered her gaze a bit. "The thought that all those things she did for me were just an act...hurt a bit."

At that moment, I remembered when I first met Belfast at the market. She looked somewhat sad at that time, too, much like now. Maybe that wasn't part of the act Elizabeth made her do, but her real feelings.

"However, I realized something after thinking carefully about it." While there was a bit of hesitation before, her words were doubtless now. "Regardless of who betrayed whom, I don't want her to die, Master."

Was it the first time Belfast had expressed a wish on her own? I had already grown accustomed to the phrase "What I want is irrelevant" that these maids seemed to favor so much that I thought she was utterly selfless. It was actually good to know that she did hold desires on her own.

"I don't want it either," I confessed. "Even if we had a...disagreement before, I don't think killing her is the answer." I already had too much blood on my hands, after all.

"For that reason, I wanted to ask you something, Master." She stood up and bowed in front of me until her face was completely looking at the floor. "I know this is a selfish request, but I wanted to ask you to dissuade her Majesty from continuing with the execution."

"Me…?" I asked, surprised. "You want me to dissuade Elizabeth?"

"Yes, please."

I was speechless for a second.

"Is that a no?"

"I didn't say that. It's just that…Belfast, I met Elizabeth three or four days ago. I don't think she will listen to me that easily. In fact, you are the head maid; I think you should be one…"

"I can't." She quickly disregarded it. "I am in no position to demand anything from her Majesty; I am just a lowly maid, after all."

So even if she did hold wishes independently, she still couldn't bring herself to express them…

"But you are the Commander, and she does think highly of you. I think you have a good chance to convince her."

Could I, really? I know she had a lot of faith in me for some reason, but would she really hear me out?

"..."

No, I shouldn't hesitate, that's why I came here after all: To convince Elizabeth. I had to believe that there was a peaceful solution to all this.

I looked at the maid in front of me.

Yes, I can do it, but not alone.

"I can try." I looked at her thoughtfully. "But I need your support, Belfast."

"I am yours to use, Master." She lifted her skirt a bit. "You can count on my support for everything."

"Then, would you help me to stop Elizabeth's plan to occupy the throne?" I finally asked her.

"...excuse me?" She asked, surprised.

"You heard me right. I want to stop Elizabeth from taking over the throne."

I have been thinking about this matter after my conversation with Sheffield. Even though I confessed my intentions to her, she didn't attack me or hurt me in the end. So maybe, just maybe, I could do the same with Elizabeth. If not only me but also the rest of the Royal Navy opposed her plan, she would perhaps realize it was a bad idea.

"But that would be going against Her Majesty's wishes! She wants the throne so much…"

"But it will put the common people at risk. Her taking the throne would cause a lot of national and international problems. It wouldn't be rare to cause a civil war or worst….that's why, if we are going to dissuade Elizabeth, I don't want to stop just by saving Marcia's life. I want to stop her coup all together."

"That's…" She averted her eyes; it was clear that she was reticent of my idea but didn't want to directly refute me

"I have known you for a while Belfast, I am sure you realize she isn't really the real monarch of this country."

"I am aware, Master." Her tone was one of resignation."But I swore to follow her."

"Even if it means forcing the United Kingdom's populace to be her servants?"

"As a maid, I can't question Her Majesty's actions." She started.

"You already did it, by asking me to help Marcia."

"I...I truly believe that Her Majesty has only the best intentions in mind." She said as if trying to reinforce her point. "She would never abuse her power or willingly hurt who she believes are her citizens. She would be a righteous Queen."

"But are her methods right, Belfast? If she becomes the Queen, then she would execute Marcia, and she might not stop there. What if a rebellion broke out? Would she also execute their leaders? How many people would die because of her? We can't let her occupy the throne, Belfast."

"I…I can't, Master." I could feel her doubt. Her loyalty was torn between Elizabeth and me. "I can't go against the Queen."

In that case, I had a solution for her.

"It is fine if you don't directly disobey her order, right?"

"Eh?"

"You won't be betraying Elizabeth; you'll be just following my orders, as your Master."

I approached her and put a hand on her shoulder.

"I'll take full responsibility for this." My eyes looked directly at her own. "I swear you won't have to do anything, just stand by my side, and support me. If you and the rest of the maids are there when I try to convince the Queen, then we may be able to change her mind peacefully."

"Master..."

"Trust me, Belfast. We can do it together."

We have often talked since we got to know each other, but never I wanted more than now that she could understand me. I needed her to see that my conviction wasn't mere words. I truly wanted this to be resolved without violence as I didn't want to fight Elizabeth or any of the maids. Even if it was idyllic, I wanted to reach a point where we could finally live in peace. I didn't want to go through another war, not again. And for that, I needed her help.

"You really won't hurt her Majesty?" She asked.

"You have my word."

"Then." She kneeled before me. "I' will follow your orders as always, my Master."

I couldn't help but smile.

"Thank you, Belfast. I won't betray your confidence in me." I mean that from the bottom of my heart.

Belfast supported me; Dido and Sirius had told me that they would follow my commands; Sheffield had shown that she didn't want to hurt me, so with luck, maybe I could add her to the list of potential allies.

I didn't really know Edinburgh that much, but I was sure Warspite would never oppose her Queen.

That's four out of the seven members of the faction; we'll be the majority. We could do it. We could make Elizabeth change her ways.

For the first time, I felt like I was making progress. Maybe there was a way to end this madness after all.

However, that fleeting hope disappeared in an instant, as I heard the loud noise of an alarm going off in the distance.

Warspite carefully studied the military base map that one of the former Admiral's soldiers had drawn. Her eyes were particularly drawn to a particular part of the base.

it was a door that led to nowhere on the map. "Authorized Personnel Only" could be read on it; apparently, the soldier that drew the map wasn't allowed in that particular area, but he suspected it led to a subterranean zone under the base.

"Are you thinking the same thing as me, Warspite?" Asked Queen Elizabeth with a stern tone.

"Yes, either this is where Dido and Sirius were awoken or where they have the Wisdom Cubes stored."

Both of the newcomer maids have told them about their experience on the base. They hadn't seen much of it as they were primarily locked in a single room. Still, they remember a particular part of the base that looked equipped for scientific research. They found no trace of the Wisdom Cubes, though.

"Should we make reaching this room our priority, Your Majesty?"

"Yes, it's the most suspicious area of all the base. However, we need to focus on detaining the Admiral, as the cubes may not be there at all."

Warspite briefly thought about what would happen if the cubes weren't there. They would need to get that information from the Admiral, but there was a very high chance that he wouldn't be that cooperative…

She turned to look at the Queen, who was still immersed looking at the map.

The Queen had met little to no opposition after taking over the base, mostly thanks to her mysterious "charisma"; no blood had been spilled. But what if that didn't work with the Admiral, as it didn't work with Marcia Haydes and Commander Ritsuka? What if the Admiral resisted it? She didn't understand how Her Queen could suddenly turn enemies into allies, but if it had failed not once but twice, then it might as well fail again.

If that were the case, how far would she go to get the information they needed to start rebuilding the faction? Warspite asked herself. She didn't want to think about the implication of forcing the Admiral to talk, but the possibility was still there.

And if it came to happen, she would have to be ready for it.

Her expression darkened.

The maids weren't ready for it, and she didn't see the Commander up for it either. Obviously, she would never allow the Queen to dirty her hands.

In other words, everything fell on her.

"..."

She looked at her sword on her waist; a knight shouldn't use her sword to such means, but if it was for Her Majesty, she was ready to do anything, she was ready to drench her sword in blood once more.

She was Warspite after all, the one who spites war.

And as if some force was responding to her, a loud sound started to be heard around the base.

Both the Knight and the Queen quickly looked at each other.

"Sirens!"

They immediately left the room and sprinted towards the command room.

Once they arrived, they found the humans there staring, stunned at the image that the massive screen on the wall showed. It was a map of the city, with a red point marking a specific location.

The presence of a Siren had been detected, just where the Admiral's base was.

"Most of the regimen had already left the premise, doctor."

"Good." The old man looked at the young soldier. "You are free to leave too, soldier. We'll take care of this."

"Permission to speak freely, sir." The soldier, however, didn't leave.

In a matter of hours, the Admiral's base had become almost wholly deserted after most of the regiment were ordered to abandon their posts. The only ones left were just a couple of soldiers, Doctor O'Dyne and the Admiral himself.

Two of those few people were at the moment at the base entrance, checking that everyone left the premises without significant problems.

"You don't need my permission to speak." O'Dyne said. "I am but a physicist. I hold no rank above you."

"But you are the Admiral's friend so…"

"Ha! I am not sure if he considers me a friend. It's more like I am useful to him… Anyway, what did you want to say?"

"With all due respect, doctor…do you think the Admiral is alright? To order the entire regiment to leave the base…"

"I know how it looks like, but believe me, he has a good reason to give that order." He chuckled a bit. "Besides, you should be happy. You won't be here when those prototypes decide to attack."

"But how does he know that they are going to attack today? And more importantly, how would he defend the base without us? Is he…really going to use that?"

"…I can't answer that, sadly. But I assure you, the admiral knows what he is doing." He put a hand on his shoulder and talked as if he was talking with his son. "Now go and stay safe, soldier. This is an order from the Admiral."

"Yes…doctor."

The soldier turned around reluctantly and left.

The moment the soldier disappeared from his sigh, O'Dyne released a deep sigh. If only he believed half of what he had said to him…

After going around the almost abandoned base, telling the last couple of soldiers to leave, the doctor walked towards the lab section. He crossed the security door and went downstairs until he finally reached his destination.

There he was, Admiral William, completely alone while looking at the two glass pillars that were the center of the room. Both metal bases of the pillars held a certain amount of panels and strange machinery. Both were connected by a couple of two thick hose pipes.

In one of the pillars was a naked woman, floating unanimously in a purplish liquid.

In the other one was a black cube, floating in the same strange liquid. It would have been difficult to see it due to both colors being dark, but a yellow glow on the cube center made it easier to distinguish it.

O'Dyne opened the door to the big room and approached the Admiral without saying a word.

"Did they leave?" William asked, not turning to look at him.

"Yes, it's only you and me now, Admiral."

"Good." He didn't take his eyes away from the pillars. "They'll be coming soon."

"The prototypes?"

"Yes."

"Admiral…this…" The doctor stuttered. "Are you sure about this? …this is Siren technology, even I don't understand its possible effects, using this is…"

"I am aware, doctor. But rest assure. We can control it."

"The higher-ups thought they were in control, we thought we were in control when we created those prototype…and where did that take us? To the death of half dozen of scientists and a commander!? To a rebellion of the prototypes!? Please, William, you have suffered this more than anyone here. You must stop this before it is too late!"

"You don't understand, O'Dyne." He finally looked at the old man. "When I touched that black cube…I saw the future, humanity's future. That's why I know this is our only chance." He turned to look at the pillar again. "This time, we won't lose. This time, we'll be ready."

Unknown to the doctor, there was another person in the room; it could be called a person. He was a man dressed in military uniform, much like the Admiral. He had short black hair, a bit hidden by a military cap, and a face that could have been called handsome if it wasn't for the malicious smile running through it. On the right side of his uniform, a name could be read: "Commander Clarke."

"He can't understand, William. No one can understand. Only you, who have made a connection with the cube, can." He moved his lips towards the Admiral's ear. "Only you can defeat the prototypes and protect humanity. Only you can avenge my death. Only after that, you'll finally find peace."

Such were the intoxicating words of Observer Alpha.

END OF CHAPTER 15

AN: Chapter 15 done

This was mostly a transition chapter, to answer a few things and set the final climax, we are about to reach the end of this arc after all. The next chapter will probably be a two-part chapter showing the final confrontation between the military and the Royal Navy.

Anyway I think that's it, if you want to ask anything, leave a review or hit me on the discord server.

Invite : discord. gg / kvRCbruzaT (erase the spaces, obviously)

See you in the next chapter.