Chapter 21
A sudden shift in scenery left the two figures traversing the dimensional rift reeling against the sun's intense rays.
"I'll never get used to this," one of them spat, attempting to shield her eyes with her hammerhead riggings. She groaned as the light shone through its transparent surface.
"Quiet!" The other said pointing at a fleet of warships parked near the portal, "we're only here to eliminate the anomaly, we don't want to draw any attention to ourselves just yet."
"Oh please Tester~ There's no way these primitives could ever detect us." She said skimming across the surface to where the formation of Shipgirl's were.
"Look at 'em~, completely clueless," she danced between the girls as they stood by in idle conversation.
"Purifier!"
The ponytailed Siren's riggings swing forward, the tips of her barrels glowed just inches from the back of a Shipgirl's head, "please just say the word~" she sang to her companion.
The Shipgirl swung around with alarming speed as the scythe in her hand folded out in its entirety, startling Purifier as the light of her guns faded to dark. The girl's eyes narrow with deadly intent staring directly into Purifier's.
"W-wha-?"
"I told you!" Tester said in a hushed voice, yanking Purifier by the collar of her shirt, speeding off into the distance.
o7
The hairs on the back of her head stood on end as a strange feeling came over her. Like an intense bloodlust exuded behind her. She was accustomed to that feeling, almost reveled in it, from her time in the war. But as she turned around, all that greeted her was the same empty blue ocean. The feeling only lasted a little while longer before dissapearing completely.
"Alabama?" South Dakota called to her baby sister, "what's wrong?"
"..." the younger Battleship growled as she tried to make sense of what came over her, "just had a funny feeling…"
"Hmm…" South Dakota rubbed at her chin, her sister did have scary good intuition on certain things.
"Can we head back yet?" A Sakura Empire Destroyer whined, "we've been out here for three damned days! I haven't seen a thing!"
"Relax Shigure!" Yuudachi chastised, "besides, we got new orders from Wales to run escort for a convoy coming through soon."
"And how long will that take?!"
"Not too much longer," South Dakota rests her hands atop the shorter girl's heads, "I just picked them up on radar not too long ago so we'll be back before sunset."
o7
"Yo! Hipper!" Alabama called to the shorter Heavy Cruiser looking off into the distance.
"Ja?" She answered, not taking her eyes off whatever she was looking at.
"It's closing…" Hipper said under her breath.
"The Mirror Sea?" Alabama said hushed, with a bit of hesitation in her voice voice. "You think anything could've slipped through before?"
"I doubt it…" the twin-tailed Cruiser rubbed at her chin, "I should've been able to detect it if that's the case…"
"And if you couldn't?"
With a tentative pause she gave her answer, "then we need to be on our highest guard." Hipper's riggings snap at the air with their metallic teeth.
o7
"Louis~" Helena called.
The door to her sister's room left ajar with a quiet stillness within. Empty. Probably out in the shopping district just off the base if she had to guess. As the lights overhead flickered to life, Helena recoiled at the mess left behind on the bed. Clothes strewn about in piles, bedsheets wrinkled and undone, with a strange halfway dried stain at its center.
"Geez~" she pouted as she began to pick at the clothes.
Idle hands were something she tried to avoid, always occupying herself with something. Whether it be helping around the base or just cleaning up after her sisters she didn't mind, in fact, she rather enjoyed it.
St. Louis's room in particular was of great interest to her, especially the various clothes her sister kept in her vast wardrobe.
With a silky silver dress in hand, Helena held it out in front of her admiring the craftsmanship. She had been the one to pick it out for her sister but she had always been curious what it would be like to wear it herself.
Holding the dress close to her chest, she quickly checks her surroundings. Last thing she wanted was for St. Louis to be secretly watching her try on her clothes. As this seemed like a trap her sister would lay in an attempt to fill her secret-not-so-secret album of Helena pictures she kept hidden on her bookshelf.
Reaching up past a row of books, Helena fished around for the hard covered album.
"You can't hide anything from me~" she giggled quietly to herself as she triumphantly held the book up in the air.
The smell of plastic and old polaroids filled her nose as she cracked it open. From the end she started, like always when she had the urge to look through it, looking for the latest pictures her sister had added. Some, as recent as the other day, lined the previously empty sleeves. From shots of her at Jean Bart's picnic to just simple shots of her doing daily mundane things, like sitting down, standing around, eating, and sleeping. Now that she thought about it there were a lot of photos of her sleeping.
Flipping back a few pages, she let out a laugh. A photo of herself and a chocolate covered Wichita cleaning up the mess she made in the kitchen. There were plenty more like it, the more pages she flipped through, moments that she could never forget. Like the party St. Louis and Cleveland threw for her first anniversary on base back on the mainland. Everyone was there, even Brooklyn. But something always gnawed at her the longer she stared. Despite the cheering and smiles all around, everyone looked almost sad. Brooklyn's especially looked the most solemn. If there was one thing she loved about the photo, it was Cleveland. The way her gaze was focused solely on her, captured in the moment, never ceased to set her heart a flutter.
Helena's fingers paused, right on the corner of the page. This was always the point she stopped at, unable to bring herself to see what came before. To her, there was nothing, at least in her memories.
"I'm not scared anymore… C'mon Helena," she said to herself, before closing her eyes and turning to a random page.
It was a hastily taken picture of herself as St. Louis helped her paint circles around Cleveland's face with a brush. They had on gorgeous kimono with what looked like paddles in their hands. A traditional Sakura Empire game, from what Helena could gather. An annoyed Montpelier was in the background, her face also full of painted shapes. Helena let out a small giggle before stopping abruptly.
There she was, right there, but no matter how much she tried, she could not stir any recollection in her mind. Almost as if the Helena in the picture was an entirely different person and she was nothing more than an anomaly wearing Helena's face.
A pulse rang out in her head as she dropped the album on the bed, clutching the side of her SG Radar. Like she was on the receiving end of a radar pulse out on sea.
On the dresser, was the broken lockbox from the other night, the same one St. Louis had picked up off the ground. The one that held a similar SG Radar to her own. She could've sworn the pulse came from it, like it was calling out directly to her. As she crept closer, the feeling became stronger.
It wasn't just similar, now that she had the radar in hand, turning it over, observing each of its little details. It looked a little damaged with rust along the edges of the exposed metal. The strange feeling went away the moment she had picked it up, and it was nothing more than a broken inert hunk of metal. She had wondered why St Louis reacted the way she did when she realized what was in her hand that night.
With a sigh she carefully placed the SG Radar back into the box. Turning back toward the messy room she poked her head out the door, looking around quickly, confident no one was spying.
She slipped out of her uniform, folding it neatly atop the bed. She had little trouble slipping into her sister's silver dress. Pulling her hair out from under the straps, Helena struck a few quick poses in front of the mirror.
While Helena herself preferred to tow the line between cute and sexy, with a preference for the former, St. Louis's tastes leaned heavily towards the latter. Despite not having the courage to wear something like this in the public eye, she did find it fun to at least give it a try.
With a pout though, she thumbed the front of the dress, looking down at the ample space between her chest and the fabric.
"Hehe," she stuck out her tongue, as she slipped off the dress, "it was worth a shot."
Helena sifted through the mess of clothes looking for another interesting outfit to try on when she pulled a rather familiar looking pair of sporty shorts from the foot of the bed.
"These look like…" Helena hummed in thought, "Biloxi's? What's it doing here?"
But the short sleeveless halterneck laying near confirmed her suspicion.
"Hmm…" she hummed with her brow furrowed, neatly folding the clothes before placing it on the dresser, "it'll be here when she needs it."
Sifting through the shrinking pile of clothes once more, Helena's face flushed at the tiny piece of fabric she held up in front of her. Nothing more than string and incredibly sheer materials, she wondered if this even constituted being called underwear. Her face flushed even harder as she discovered a large gap where key fabric should've been.
To say St. Louis was a bold person was an understatement, especially when it came to her choice in clothing.
"H-how does she do it?" Helena stammered, as she held the undergarment by her waist.
Curiosity struck her once more as she almost stuck her foot past the waistband, "t-there's absolutely no way,"
Though the thought of "accidentally" showing them off to a certain boisterous blonde made her giggle, "It'd probably make her faint."
A tingling feeling coursed through her from her little radar.
"Ah…" she panicked, pulling the barely-there undergarments on before deftly sliding back into her uniform.
A rustling at the suite's entrance followed by her sister's voice sent the younger Cruiser into a mini frenzy as she scrambled to resume her "cleaning." The bedroom door swung open as St. Louis and Biloxi paused by its threshold.
"H-Helena!" St. Louis said in surprise.
"There you are, Louis!" Helena did her best to keep a straight face, but could easily notice the strained smile on her sister's.
"W-we were out shopping…" she gestured to Biloxi behind her, who had trouble looking Helena in the eye.
"Find anything interesting?"
"N-no not really," St Louis slowly side-stepped into the room before quickly pulling her sheets up, covering the stain on the bed.
"You could leave the clean-up to me."
"No!" St Louis shot out a little too loudly, "I-I mean~ you should get some rest, Phoenix and Boise will be here soon."
"Oh! I almost forgot," she pivoted, after realizing telling her to relax wouldnt work on someone like Helena, "Cleveland was asking for you earlier," St Louis politely ushered her younger sister out of the room, "she said it was urgent!" She said looking to Biloxi for confirmation who gave quick series of nods as a response.
"I guess I better hurry…" Helena said to herself before taking off, waving to to her sister as she reached the end of the hall. In the rush, she hardly even noticed the the cooler draft as she raced down the steps.
o7
"I told you!" Biloxi fell onto the bed, covering her reddened face, "we should've changed the sheets before we left!"
"It's not my fault someone here was laying it on thick earlier!" St Louis said with a huff, "we almost missed the special at the boutique…"
"You were more than happy to go along with it!" Biloxi slammed her palm on the bed, pulling back on the sheets, "lest we forget whose mess this was!"
"A-and and!" An uncharacteristic blush crossed the busty Cruiser's face, "whose fault do you think that was!"
o7
"Clevebro!" Denver shouts from up high, straddling the top of a light pole with the end of a large banner in hand, "ya think its alright here?"
"A little lower probably!" Cleveland said, tilting her head to get a better look.
"You gotcha!" Denver thumbed up before attempting to slide a little downward to tie off the end of the banner.
"Careful!"
"Since when am I not?" She laughed before nearly loosing her balance.
Cleveland let out a sigh as she turned away from the accident waiting to happen. Just down the pier, she caught a glimpse of Helena, carefully inspecting the decor for her sister's arrival.
"And I told her not to worry…" Cleveland shook her head, quietly laughing to herself.
"Hey!!" She waved, "Helena!"
The way the her best friend's face lit up whenever she called her name from afar was probably one of her favorite things on earth. To go from thoughtful or sad to pure elation in seconds was so satisfying to witness, doubly so when she knew it was her own face that led to such a reaction. Though Cleveland would never admit it.
Helena waved back as she rushed up the pier.
"I thought I told you to take a break?!" Cleveland chastised with a hand on her hip.
"But Louis said you needed me for something urgent…" Helena let out a nervous chuckle, "but now I'm starting to think she tricked me…"
"St. Louis playing pranks?" Cleveland laughed, "that seems unlike her."
"Right?" Helena said with a huff, "she was with Biloxi and they both seemed on edge for some reason… like they're hiding something from me…" she said that last part to herself.
"It's probably nothing serious," Cleveland shrugged, "if it was, they'd probably tell us."
Helena grumbled to herself. While that might be true for Cleveland and her sisters, the same couldn't be said for her own, as they tended to keep things to themselves, St. Louis especially. And she would know being a Brooklyn herself. She guessed it just ran in the family.
"Hey~ you guys!" Denver called from the top of the light post, "ya think you can pass me a roll of tape! I just ran out!"
"Ah! Sure!" Helena happily agreed.
"Thanks!" Denver pointed at the crate of supplies just below her, "there should be one somewhere in there! Hopefully…"
Helena cracked the lid to the large crate, Sifting through the top layer of supplies, "I'm not seeing anything!"
"Seriously?" Denver scratched at her head with her free hand. "I coulda sworn I threw one in there earlier…" she said under her breath.
Helena closed her eyes, "SG…" she prayed, "guide me…"
As the wind suddenly picked up, Cleveland already had her hands shielding her face. There was always a sudden uncanny breeze whenever Helena evoked her little hair ornament, one that nobody could explain. But there hasn't been a time where that little radar had let anyone down.
"I got it!" Helena's eyes snap open before diving head first into the large crate, sifting deeper through all the supplies.
"It should be… just down…" Helena's voice was muffled from the depths of the crate, "there!"
"You alright in there?" Cleveland laughed watching her lower half swaying side to side as she dug deeper into the crate.
"Almost…"
Cleveland's face reddened a bit as Helena struggled to get to the bottom, as the bluenette's own bounced trying to gain that extra bit of reach. It wasn't her fault if she caught a glimpse, Cleveland thought, looking around herself quickly for any prying eyes.
Her heart raced hard as she slowly crouched. She could almost see it… Snapping back upright, Cleveland could punch herself with the amount of guilt she felt at the moment. What was she thinking?
"And~ oop!" Helena made one final push to reach the bottom as her legs flew up into the air, sticking up from the top of the box.
"Ah…" Cleveland felt her heart stop as the flaps of Helena's skirt fell to the forces of gravity, though it wouldn't be the only thing.
With a thud, the pier shook for a brief moment.
"I got it!" Helena triumphantly held the roll of tape high into the air after pulling herself out of the stuffy crate.
"Clevebro!" Denver shouted, dropping the banner in hand, letting it flutter into the water.
"Cleveland?" Helena turned around confused before looking down by her feet. On the ground, face towards the clouds, Cleveland lay motionless, with a look of shock frozen on her face as blood trickled from her nose.
"Oh my God! Cleveland! What hap-" Helena stopped abruptly as she held her skirt down from breeze blowing through. She might have just realized what happened, as her whole face was engulfed in a fierce blush.
Denver slid down from her perch, before diving to her sister's side, "Someone! Get Vestal!"
"N-nothing…" Cleveland groaned from the depths of her unconsciousness, "but something…"
"Clevebro!" Denver cried, grasping her sister's hand, "stay with us!"
Sorry for the shorter chapter this update!
With work ramping up even further this time of the year and me going to an overnight shift for a couple of months I figured I'd put something out before shit hits the fan and you won't hear from me for a while.
I was going to introduce Phoenix, Boise, and Arizona this chapter but I ended up pushing them to next update to give me time to flesh them out.
Anyway! Thank you for reading this far and if you have any feedback and criticism, please by all means, let me know!