Chapter 7: Peace?

Announcements and Comments at End

"So, you wanted to discuss an armistice. Let's talk."

I blinked as the human admiral pulled out a document, on it were a list of demands and some promises to be made from either side. The major thing about this document though, was that it was official. This was a big step towards peace, but part of me was wary about what would be demanded of us. We didn't have much to negotiate with, most of what we had went up with the Deep when it was attacked. We couldn't give anything as war reparations.

"First and foremost, Complete cessation of hostilities one day after this document is signed. Past that point, any organized Abyssal attacks on human settlements or ships will lead to an investigation and a potential retaliation should we find that the attack was backed by significant and politically powerful Abyssals." She began reading the first article.

"If possible I would like to request an amendment," I asked, causing the admiral to pause.

"Elaborate."

"Should a single or a group of Abyssals attacking be found to operate independently, they will be considered a separate entity from the Abyssals as a whole. In this, we will be completely barred from providing berthing, support, or supplies to the belligerents," I tapped my fingers against the table. "It's an insurance policy, to show that we're serious about peace. Either we're all for it, or none of us are."

There were a few moments of silence before she spoke again. "You're making this sound more like a truce than an armistice."

I shook my head, "it's a restriction against us. We won't be able to support our sisters if they decide to go rogue, but we who genuinely want peace also won't be punished for it."

"… I'll think about it, but only because it is a valid point." She took a breath before continuing, "Secondly, Outside of the Marshall Islands and the Mariana Islands, all Abyssal forces are to vacate previously human-held islands in the Pacific, most notably; the Abyssal occupied Philippines, the Midway Atoll, all holdings in Papua New Guinea excluding the Solomon Islands, Malaysia, and Micronesia. In any listed places where the Abyssals are not required to vacate, the previous owners will have a military detachment temporarily posted on those holdings as insurance against any potential aggressive actions."

It was a bitter pill to swallow, the thought of having human soldiers on Wake Island, despite my wishes for peace, left a bitter taste in my mouth. Still, we learned to coexist with the people living in the Marshalls, we'd learn to coexist with the soldiers as well. One look at Dione told me that we were having similar thoughts.

"We'll have to begin the rebuilding of the Deep, but I accept the restrictions."

"Thirdly, on any Abyssal holdings where your forces are required to vacate, you will leave those holdings in pristine condition, and will not purposefully sabotage or devastate any machinery or infrastructure left behind."

Reasonable, we weren't planning on it anyways.

It went on like that for the better part of an hour; listing demands that we'd have to follow including giving back islands that humanity previously held, letting the navies of any country go where they pleased; docking wherever they wanted, and free access to any merchant ships in the Pacific Ocean. Not only were all old shipping lanes to be reopened, we would be responsible for keeping those merchant ships safe while they were in our waters. On the islands that we did keep, those resources would be shared between the Abyssals and the human militaries occupying those islands. Luckily food wouldn't be a problem, all of my fishing lanes were still open and secure. And no levies were laid on the Marshalls, who were once again considered completely independent, rather than a puppet under my command.

On the human's side of things, they would provide materials to help us rebuild the Deep. It would help us rebuild our home and hopefully repair our link to the Abyss. Also, there was a very similar clause that detailed unprovoked attacks against us by the humans with similar punishments. Thirdly, we were allowed to, within reason, dock at human ports as long as we had valid reasons and gave forewarnings. This was big, and would help set up the possibility for trade in the future.

That was basically the armistice in a nutshell, and it would probably be very similar to the main peace treaty I would sign when I met with a combined meeting between America, Japan, China, Russia, and Australia in a few months' time. The Abyssal War was, after all, not just a war against Japan. And there was also more than just the Pacific Abyssal navy. There would be, potentially, the formation of an official nation composed of Abyssals as well. It would make things easier in regards to territory and administration.

All of the occupations and some of the restrictions would last for a period of one to two years, verifying that we truly weren't going to stab them in the back. The time period was subject to change.

For the rest of the hour, upon her request, I explained the Abyssal's side of the war in recent years, putting a lot of emphasis on the Moderate and Radical factions that had formed. I had also finally disclosed the actions I had taken to help Japan, and some of the personal actions I had taken throughout the war to lessen the loss of life. When I explained the situation present in the Marshalls, the admiral had 'requested' to send the JSDF and some shipgirls to validify my claims. I easily agreed.

For now, at the very least, there was a recess being held.

(-)

"Honestly, I was expecting worse." Dione said from my left as I rubbed my eyes.

"I feel like she's being surprisingly lenient, all things considered. Honestly I'm surprised she even listened to me at all." I huffed in disbelief.

"I still have the document from the Pacific Princess, I think I might bring it up at some point. She had written down hopes of future trade agreements and the like. If we truly become our own nation, it would do loads to jumpstart our efforts to rebuild."

There was a significant period of silence between us, as we were just… taking it all in.

"Is this…" I began, unsure, "Is this how it starts?" Never in my entire life, had I ever thought that peace was even a possibility, and yet here I was, technically surrendering, but saving our species in the process. I had no illusions of a fair deal. We, the Abyssals, were the aggressors. We had a lot to answer for, and I would assume that people would be wary to trust us. Still, though. This was a start.

When the allotted time was up we reentered the room and took our seats. There was a freshly printed document, with some last minute changes that we had discussed and agreed upon. This was it. If I signed this, the Abyssal War would be, for all intents and purposes, over. There wouldn't be full peace, but there would be a complete stop to fighting. After going over it out loud, with the demands and requests from both sides, the admiral signed the last page of the document. Then she handed it to me. There, at the bottom of the page, was a very innocent seeming line, one line of ink that would change the world as we knew it.

I picked up the pen and signed my signature. Both Nagato, who's name I had learned earlier, and Dione both signed as legitimate witnesses. When it was done, there was a pregnant silence in the room. Nobody spoke, as the shock of what had just happened finally got to all four of us.

The admiral was the first to speak, "So… it's over then."

I nodded, "A war centuries in the making; over."

To the surprise of everybody present, when we left the building and made our way back to the docks, the admiral herself escorted us. When we got to the docks we faced each other and shook hands. Neither of us knew that at that moment, one of the shipgirls had snapped a picture. That picture would later go on to become one of the most famous photos taken in the last century. Two leaders who had been mortal enemies just weeks prior, were speaking as equals, shaking hands, and respectfully saying their farewells to each other. When Dione and I left, we heard cheers and cries of joy as the admiral showed the document to her subordinates. We shared a grin as we sailed back to Wake Island. Yes, it was a start.

Our return and subsequent announcement was met with resounding joy as well, but like I expected there were those who were less than happy about it. When I went over the terms with my senior command staff, I reinforced the importance of the article and clause that disavowed any Abyssals who attacked humans in an attempt to jump-start the war. I made the announcement to every ship under my command, specifically the reassignment orders and where my ships would have to go. Our few islands were going to be crowded for a while, but it was nothing we couldn't handle. Some discomfort was a price I was more than willing to pay for lasting peace.

For the next few weeks things progressed exactly as stated in the armistice. For the first time in centuries, ships bearing the Rising Sun visited the Marshalls, and to the surprise of the investigators, they found the paradise I had so carefully crafted where Abyssals and humans could live in peace together. No matter who they interviewed, the result was always the same, and the ships departed carrying pleasantly surprised and some disgruntled investigative personnel.

Ships from the Australian, United States, and Japanese navies were also becoming more and more common in Abyssal waters as military personnel were offloading on islands that had been under Abyssal control for centuries. Even here at Wake Island.

It was tenuous at first, but the commanding officer and I had worked out shared duties between our personnel. They were very surprised to find a relatively state of the art communications and radar facility perfectly maintained. There may have been some misconceptions on their side, but it became very apparent that though this island was once owned by the United States, it was still me that controlled it. I had shot down multiple attempts from the military to completely subsume day to day operations, and thankfully they got the message. We were here to stay, and it was our island. I heard similar stories all across the board, all ending with the same results.

As promised, we had begun receiving raw materials from both America and Japan, which were put to use rebuilding what would most likely become our capital. Process was slow, but little by little the home I once knew was beginning to show itself. This had the added effect of lessening the crowding that we had experienced these past few weeks.

Per the armistice, we began escorting merchant and cargo ships when they entered our territory, and sometimes we traded commodities and basic supplies. There was even one instance where a cargo ship had engine problems near the Solomons. To my great pride and joy the Abyssals fully accommodated them and helped with repairs, providing food and whatever else they needed for the duration of their stay. The captain had nothing but good things to say about my girls. This was an unexpected boon that we made great use of.

Apparently there was also a lot of excitement in the Pacific Nations. Word had spread of an armistice, and though it was still just "rumors," people had taken it and gone wild. Speculations, sightings of Abyssals in Japanese waters escorting human ships, reopening of trade routes. People were putting the pieces together, and soon enough the date rolled along for the official peace treaty. It, and all of its unintended consequences.

It was a very surreal experience, setting foot on mainland Japan. I had done it before, obviously, but that was during wartime. Tokyo still had the scars from the last battle, but it was remarkably rebuilt. When I inquired as to how the city had been rebuilt so quickly, they explained how cities were used to this kind of damage since villains could come in all shapes and sizes. The answer somewhat mollified me, and I had to remind myself about the society we would find ourselves in. Heroes and villains, like something out of an old Captain America comic book.

Apparently, like usual, the media had gotten word of my arrival to the port. As soon as I stepped onto the docks I was barraged by constant camera flashes and shouted questions. A police line held them back, but only barely. I was also experiencing quite the culture shock, due to all of the outlandish quirks I was seeing in front of me. It was rather overwhelming to be honest, and luckily the police were on top of it.

I was so unbelievably glad that I had decided to wear something different for today. Gone was my oversized t-shirt and long socks. Instead I was wearing a khaki admiral's dress uniform from WWII. No medals, no US Navy markings, just the symbols for an admiral since I played that role by a technicality. My hair was also done up, in a functional ponytail that reached my lower back instead of the messy ponytail that it usually was. I couldn't resist my habit, and I still wore it around my neck like a scarf. Overall I thought I looked pretty good. The uniform had morphed itself to fit my body like most outfits did, and it was probably the most professional I had ever looked.

Quickly and professionally I was ushered into a black suburban with tinted windows, an officer sitting next to me as we sped off and away from the press.

"Sorry about that mess back there, bunch of vultures," the officer said. He was young, or at least on the younger side. I wasn't good at guessing human ages. He had a plain but handsome face with short dark brown or black hair. My eyes met his dark ones and I realized it would probably be good for me to say something. Unfortunately, small-talk was not a strong suit I had outside of my own kind.

"Vultures?" I asked lamely. I kept my face neutral instead of cringing. Great job, Mariana.

"Yeah. As soon as they get a whiff of a story they're all over it, circling like a bunch of vultures. We never know how they hear about these kinds of events."

"Ah, that makes sense. I've never had to deal with them before."

There was a pause as I looked out of the window, simply absorbing the Japanese countryside.

"I'm officer Tsukauchi, by the way, forgot to mention that earlier!" he said with a laugh, rubbing the back of his head. He was being remarkably nice, all things considered,

"Nice to meet you officer Tsukauchi, you probably know who I am already, but call me Mariana." I gave a small smile and a nod.

Honestly I had no idea what the reception would be when I came here. Would people hate me? That's what I was expecting, but so far everybody I interacted with was remarkably courteous to me. Honestly it was somewhat disconcerting. Did people just forget what we did to them? Or was this generation just that much more forgiving? I would have to ask it later, as the car and the escorting police cruisers had all stopped. Again there was an entire army of media between us and the building.

"Great… just ignore them and push through with the police. Don't respond to anything they ask." Tsukauchi said as we got out. Immediately we were swarmed.

"Excuse me! What has prompted the sudden peace treaty? Are the Abyssals surrendering?!"

"The Abyssal war has been going on for centuries! What guarantees can you give us that you prove you aren't trying to trick us?!"

"Are the Abyssals really just a black ops group that went rogue?!"

Those were just the questions I could make out amongst the sea of reporters that was being parted by the police. Microphones were shoved in my face from almost every direction, causing me to hide a bit under my makeshift scarf.

"Excuse me? When is the ruse going to drop that shipgirls are an experimental research project designed to engineer artificial quirks?"

I shot a very confused look in the direction I heard the question but I couldn't identify the voice, and by the time I thought I found him I was already gently pushed along. Soon enough we were through the doors of a pretty tall building. The only distinguishing feature I was able to see before we entered was a diamond carving close to the top middle. And as soon as the cacophony began it had ended, the police and other men in suits shutting the doors behind us and standing guard.

"We're going to have to wait here for a few, we're apparently still waiting for a few delegations to show up. Sorry about the delay." Tsukauchi said from my left.

"Don't worry, I'm not bothered by it." I paused before I could say something I'd regret. I was early? Traveling by sea? Eventually I decided on; "I've waited a century or so for peace, what's another hour or so?" I tried to put an easy smile on my face but he saw through it. I also noticed his eye twitch as soon as I said that, but I didn't pay it any mind.

"We have people flying in from all over the Pacific. I think it's the delegation from Australia and America that still have to show up." The young officer gave a nervous chuckle. "I'm sure they won't be too long." I noticed a bead of sweat fall from his forehead

There it is, I thought. He hid it well but I saw it. The unease of being so close to me, the fear of making me angry. Would I snap? What if it really was a trap? What could he do to avoid making me angry at him? Honestly it was kind of cute, how he fidgeted in place, squirming under my icy gaze.

I cleared my throat and buried everything that I had just felt. It lingered, just beneath the surface. What was with me today?

"I won't bite you know," I smirked at how he jumped from my voice. "You have nothing to do with the delegations' absences. Again, I've waited centuries, what's another hour or so?"

It seemed to placate him for the time being. For the next hour and a half we periodically made awkward smalltalk as the delegates slowly trickled into the room. He asked me about the Abyssals in general and I answered to the best of my ability, giving small lies whenever I had to. Some things were still classified after all, but I did notice his eye twitching every once in a while. I didn't comment on it, but it was a bit eye-catching. Every so often we were interrupted by politicians and delegates, giving very practiced and fake greetings, wishing for "peace and prosperity on the waves." I swear it was like they all had the same speechwriters, I could tell when their words weren't their own.

The next person that caught my eye was Dione herself. She had business to take care of and let me know that it was possible that she wouldn't be here. Luckily it seemed that she was. She did not change out of her uniform, except that her rigging was gone, and her hair was a bit straighter than usual. I briefly introduced her to Tsukauchi, and was a bit baffled about how well they hit it off. For the next few minutes I watched on in amusement, barely saying anything lest I interrupt the bond that was forming before my eyes.

And it seemed like as soon as it was getting good, the spell was broken. She was suddenly looking very intently at the door, a tense expression on her face. It only took me a moment to realize why as I looked at the door as well. The Americans had arrived, with an admittedly handsome admiral, an older delegate, and the real reason for Dione's tenseness.

Iowa…

Next to the two men, dressed in an officer's uniform, was the strawberry blonde battleship known as the U.S.S. Iowa. By the look on her face, she had seen Dione as well. I knew it was bound to happen eventually, but no one thought that it would be today. As the delegation from America engaged in a conversation with another group, Iowa broke off and walked towards us.

I turned to look at the young officer, who was understandably a bit confused. "Officer, I'll catch up with you in a bit, there's a," I nodded my head towards Iowa, "situation that I need to handle." He gave a nod and said his goodbye with a bit of a nervous smile.

Soon enough she was right next to us. Nobody knew how to start, but eventually she cleared her throat and spoke, "Hey… long time no see?" Dione's voice was a bit deeper, and she was an Abyssal, but with them right next to each other…

Dione looked at me, "Do you mind… leaving for a few minutes? I need to have a conversation with my sister…"

"You sure?" I asked, giving her a way out. Iowa looked at us both nervously. Hell, there were more than a few eyes on us; wondering, waiting.

She nodded, "I'll be fine, I hope."

"Kentucky…" Iowa whimpered from the side. Neither of us paid her any mind for now. I was locking eyes with my best friend, looking for any sign that she didn't want to do this. All I saw was steel resolve battling nervousness.

I nodded once, shooting Iowa a look before slowly backing up and turning away. I tuned their conversation out as soon as it started, wanting to respect Dione's, or Kentucky's, wishes. This was a conversation best kept between sister-ships. It would probably not be pretty. Every ship heard the call, from both sides. It wasn't rare, but sister-ships would join different sides, separating. From what Dione had told me, when Iowa heard the call she also called her sisters; Missouri, Wisconsin, New Jersey, Kentucky, and Indiana. Indiana and Kentucky refused, and they joined the Abyssals. Now, the war was over, and Iowa now had to talk to one of her sisters who had, in her eyes, abandoned her, and was probably going to hear that one of her sisters was dead. I would remain close to make sure that nothing happened, but I don't think I need to worry.

Tsukauchi walked back over to me, "what's that all about?"

I didn't respond at first, but eventually sighed, "Every ship hears a call when we're summoned. Dione and Iowa are sisters, one headed the call for humanity, the other joined the Abyssals…"

"And now they're talking, after spending centuries having fought each other," Tsukauchi finished for me, wincing.

Before I could say anything else somebody called my name. I turned around and was met with a woman, maybe in her thirties, with blonde hair and a sharp suit. She had a steely expression that betrayed no emotion.

"I'm the president of the Hero Public Safety Commission, it's a pleasure to meet you," she said, holding out a hand to me.

I took it, squashing my hesitation, to anyone else her grip would be iron, but I simply applied an equal amount of pressure, rather than reducing her bones to dust. "Abyssal Princess Wake Island, a pleasure," I said neutrally.

Abyssals, hell shipgirls in general had an excellent sense of danger, acting almost like a sixth sense. Every instinct in my body was screaming that the woman shaking my hand was very dangerous. It didn't make sense, but I just knew.

"Princess…I've always wondered about that. Are you really royalty among your people?"

"No…" I shook my head, "Princess is just a leadership position, and a classification. We're more powerful than average ships, and lead forces like an admiral would."

She nodded, looking me over before looking at Iowa and Dione. "You have such fascinating quirks, all unique in some way." She said, looking away from me.

I tilted my head and narrowed my eyes, that was twice now… "What do you mean?"

She looked back at me, "Your quirks; WARSHIP. They're interesting; humans with aspects of warships"

"No, what do you mean by "quirk?"" I clarified, "We don't have quirks, and we're not humans."

She tilted her head in confusion, nodding at me to continue.

"We're not humans. We may take the forms of human women, but we're all the reincarnation of warships from humanity's past. We have crews, engines, weapons, every system that a ship has," I paused for a moment, "Where did this idea come from?"

"Is it really so hard to believe? About 80% of the world has some kind of extraordinary ability, it's not that hard to chalk you shipgirls up as a part of that. It seems that the only ones who really don't believe it are the shipgirls themselves, and the navy."

"That's ridiculous," I said with some steel in my voice.

"Is it?" she retorted, "what proof do you have that says otherwise? How do you prove that the Abyssals aren't a terror organization from when quirks were still a novel concept?"

"Proof? Ask any shipgirl, we all have the memories from our previous lives, every fight, every dead crewmember, and our sinking."

She shook her head, "I fail to see how that's–"

"The Japanese attempted a landing of Wake Island on December 11th, 1941, and in the process lost the destroyer Kisaragi and the Hayate. They lost 340 men and were successfully repelled. When the Japanese eventually took my island they captured my American soldiers and all of the civilians under my protection." I took a step towards the president of the HPSC, "Did you know that during the occupation the Japanese executed civilians and tortured my soldiers? The people I was supposed to protect? I remember it all in explicit detail. Go ahead, ask any of the girls."

An announcement came over the speakers, letting everybody know that everybody was here and that we were all to make our way to the designated room for the peace treaty.

I gave a stiff nod to the president, "It was… interesting meeting you, madam president, until next time."

I didn't wait for her reply before rejoining a tense Dione and walking with the other delegates. It was time to decide the future of my entire race…

So that took a bit longer than I would've liked.

It felt good to step away for a bit though and look at this and what I wanted to do with it. For those of you who didn't know, I've had a serious case of writer's block the past few months and decided to work on another story called The Rider's Sentinel, which is a Dark Souls and Inheritance Cycle crossover. If you haven't, go check it out! I'm back though, and though I can never promise a consistent schedule I am coming back to work on this more often.

This chapter did feel a bit odd to me though, as I was fighting through my writer's block and had to make some revisions. Not my best work, but I hope you enjoy it! However I do hope you enjoyed my little bit about Shipgirls maybe having quirks. What do you guys think? Are they or aren't they? I have plans to explore on that front later down the line~

To those of you wishing for my health, thank you! I've been a lot better lately and it looks like it's going to stay that way. It means the world to me that you guys care a bit about me! I can't wait for you to see where this story goes, and we only have more familiar faces to meet.

Also, there was one comment by zmanxv about my choice for declaring an armistice and a ceasefire. To clarify, while they are very similar, they are not the same. Ceasefires are made with the intention of temporarily halting a conflict and can be made by anyone on a battlefield. It is not very binding, and is generally temporary. An armistice is made with the intention of ending all military conflicts permanently, and must are made by high ranking officers and politicians. A ceasefire would be something like the Christmas Truce or an Israeli-Palestinian conflict in 2005. An example of an armistice would be THE Armistice of WWI or the "end" of the Korean War. They are very similar, and for the longest time I thought they were the same too, so I hope this clarifies things!~

As always, thank you so much for reading and for the reviews and follows! If you haven't, please go check out my other story, and I'll see you all soon~