WOW SEPTEMBER HAS SUCKED FOR ME! I've been super busy so here it is. Finally getting forward with more plot.
ENJOY.
"Do you feel it, Fredrich?" Shinano asks Fredrich as the butterflies land on the Commander's face. "This one feels… Darkness…"
"I don't believe it's the Wicker Witch," Fredrich remarks, recalling the conversation with Claudia at the Iron Blood dorms. "What you feel is cognitive manipulation. Which is why I had Amagi speak with you."
"This is… Powerful…" Shinano says, walking closer to him.
"That is why I am here." Fredrich reassures her, "We'll go together."
"I've never felt such…. Energy…" Shinano remarks, putting her hand up to feel the negative energy flowing from Karl. "Pain… This one feels his pain…"
"I do, too." Fredrich sympathies. "But didn't we feel this when we brought Amagi back?"
"Yes," Shinano agrees fearfully. "But Amagi did not ooze these levels of… Pain… All I feel is pain."
"My dear child will only be in more pain if we allow this manipulation of him to continue," Fredrich says, her voice full of anger. "We can not stand for this when we have the Ashes at our doorstep. They've gotten to my dear child almost three times now. We can not be idle any longer."
"This one… Has not seen a future where… The Commander is defeated by a META…" Shinano replies.
"While your powers are great, oh might Dreamweaver," Fredrich says, "I can't let their good graces last for long. My connections with the META's are inconclusive, but I can not put my faith in fate."
"Your intentions are… Noble… Yet…" Shinano begins, hesitant to question Fredrich's true intentions. "This one… Has misgivings with this Commander…"
"Please, Shinano," Fredrich begs. "I only wish to take away his pain. My child has seen many things in his life, horrible things. All I ask is that you try to ease his mind. I want the pain to go away."
The moonlight fox hesitates but soon relents to the display of Fredrich. "Then this one… Agrees…"
"Shinano…" Fredrich replies, her voice shaky and full of emotion. "Thank you, my dear, dear friend…"
The two powerful ships turn to the slumbering Karl. The butterflies rest on him at Shinano's orders, and a blinding blue light overtakes the room….
In an instant, the two are taken to the depths of Karl's mind, but this time it isn't the forest. For miles, they saw an ocean of dark red surrounded by the hulks of destroyed ships and massive horned structures jetting out of sea.
Shinano gasps at the sight of a large shadow creature with a dragon's head ripping apart a massive assault ship. From what Fredrich and Shinano could tell, the remains of some kind of giant battleship defiantly launched all its missiles from its bow, only for them to crash into the ocean immediately. The fox girl shields her eyes from the horrible sight, the audible sheering of metal and crash sea water drowning out the cries of men and women. Black jet fighters scream overhead, firing missiles at the beast. It cries in pain as a salvo of rockets from the black jets strikes it in its neck, face, and belly. But the beast lurches forward towards another target in the distance… A large oil rig.
Everything freezes, only to be physically thrown onto the main deck of the oil rig. From what the two could see, it only appeared like a singular oil rig, but out in the water were a series of collapsing hexagonal platforms sinking into the water. A scene of absolute apocalyptic proportion occurred as large spike-like objects tore some platforms apart.
"The Leviathan… Those are from it…" Shinano shutters as the beast moves towards the facility in the distance. But the dragon-like creature screams as the screaming of radial engines above takes their attention to an unlikely appearance of a shipgirl…
"Akagi?" Shinano says, dumbfounded, as the sadistic laughter of Akagi echoes around the facility.
"Junyou!" Akagi shouts, "Continue the evacuation. The Major and I will finish this here."
"Akagi, This is suicide! The Order is speaking of using Hadrian against the Levithan! We have to leave!" Junyou pleads over the communications.
"Fredrich… Do you hear this? Where is this coming from?" Shinano asks as more zeroes appear, crashing into the Leviathan.
"This has to be from his radio set!" Fredrich replies as the sight of camouflaged men with rifles escorting lab coat-wearing men and women off to the lower decks of the site crosses her eyes. But, like a bolt of lightning, the Commander appeared, shouting at the group to move faster. Junyou, clade in black with eyes clear and focused, appeared and spoke with him only to be pushed off by Karl. The light carrier seemed very angry, slapping Karl and running away crying.
"AKAGI!" Karl shouts to the heavens as the carrier crashes to earth, rolling violently on an empty helicopter pad.
Another jolt in the memory occurred, and the scene before him changed to that of him cradling Akagi in his arms. The Leviathan from the blood-red sea stood eyeing the facility like it cornered its prey.
"This is all your fault." A voice echoes around them.
"This wouldn't have happened if you were a better person. You wouldn't be here."
"It's too late now."
Akagi disappears, leaving Karl staring at the Leviathan with a small controller in his hands. All around the Leviathan, the large red structures surrounded the facility, and the world around them became dark.
"You gave me no choice," Karl shouts to the beast, ripping off his headset and throwing it to the ground.
Clicking the device in his hand, everything turned white. The two shipgirls are launched to the campfire with Khan and K.D., where Fredrich first encountered Claudia.
"You're still a good person." Akagi's ghostly voice echoes from the forest.
At the fire sat Khan, K.D., and another man drinking Finnish tea from metal canteens. "Did you see?" Khan asks them, "Did you see what she wanted to keep from him? What was I told to keep from him?"
"This one… Does not understand… Was this a dream? Or an act of fate?" Shinano asks Claudia.
"That was a memory," Khan replies coldly. "A memory. A bad, horrible memory. But it isn't over yet. Not until it is complete, but he will only remember so much."
"Who is the voice insulting my dear child?!" Fredrich explodes, the negative responses echoing from the woods around them, repeating over and over again, 'This is all your fault.' 'You did this.' and more.
"Isn't it obvious?" The other man asks the demon woman.
The boy, K.D., began to cry and rocking himself. "HE… HE…. HE… TURNED US INTO KILLERS!" His voice cracked painfully, his face red, and his eyes full of tears. The boy ran off into the woods at breakneck speed. The man stops Fredrich as Khan walks after him. "Remember, these are parts of him." Claudia reminds her.
"We must go Fredrich-San." Shinano tells her. "This one feels… A disturbance in his mind… I believe he is awakening."
"Tell me what that was now!" Fredrich demanded from the man, who only smirked.
The battleship throws the man into a tree, spawning her rigging. With their colossal 40.6cm guns, the four turrets breathed down on the man. But the figure only laughed as it became a ghostly version of the Commander.
"You shouldn't be here… Fredrich Der Grosse… The Terror…"
The dark caricature of the Commander attacked Fredrich, her colossal guns destroying swaths of the forest, revealing scenes of absolute terror beyond the two shipgirls' imagination. Fredrich tosses the man off of her and into the light of the fire, revealing a blank slate, a faceless figure in nothing more than a trench coat and cap.
"You'll never understand what we did." The figure shouts in a distorted voice. "They'll never understand. We did what we did because we had to. Do you feel like a hero, Karl Dael? How about you, FREDRICH?!"
Shinano attacked, launching planes at the figure and throwing him into the woods, ripping a hole into reality and revealing a burning village where the overwhelming sounds of gunfire echoed.
"We must run!" Shinano shouts, snatching Fredrich away towards the forest as the world changes to a village engulfed in fire and fury.
"Where are we?!" Fredrich demands from Shinano.
"This one… Believes this is a nightmare… it's recurring…." Shinano replies as the aroma of cooking meat, petroleum, and gunpowder fills the air.
Burning buildings moved aside, revealing men clutching machine guns clad in long coats with gas masks. Both couldn't see any form of exposed skin, giving the prominent figures a formidable appearance. The bodies of men, women, children, and animals cursed with evident growths and deformities lay in a pile to their side. A flamethrower team appeared and began burning the corpses as the coated men began double-taping the bodies, shooting them in the head and hearts.
But a sight appeared from the figures that chilled Fredrich to the bone: The Commander clutching a shotgun, pushing two men forward towards the burning mass. Fredrich couldn't believe the sight as he removed his gas mask, revealing a face full of supreme hatred for the men on the ground.
"DO YOU SEE?!" Karl shouts to the men.
Fredrich and Shinano note the attire of the two; both were in the robes of the clergy. The Commander was clad in a long black coat with an odd cross with an infinity symbol below it.
The men say something, but neither of the shipgirls can hear them.
"D.O. YOU. SEE," Karl shouts again, striking one of them with the butt of the shotgun. "We chased you from the last two villages. Every one of your followers was liquidated, root and branch. Your Sarkic tribe had been decimated, your families exterminated, napalm showered the villages, and your 'gift from god' became nothing more than charbroiled flesh. Now I ask you, DO YOU SEE?!"
Fredrich felt shaken as she saw this version of the Commander. His eyes were soulless, void of all humanity, as he kicked the other man viciously. The white-hot anger could be felt irradiating over the fires around them.
The man on the ground turned on his back and tried to crawl away, but Karl, to the horror of the shipgirls, shot the man in the legs and blew off one of his arms. The shotgun hung off of him by its sling as he grabbed the other man by the hair to make him watch as the flamethrower troops burned the bodies and the building behind it, a church.
"Do you see, Preacher?" Karl asks the man in a whisper, relishing in the moment. "Do you see?"
"God will see you burn for what you have done, BLACK HUNTER!" The Preacher screams.
"God has forsaken me long ago, Priest," Karl growls, Pulling the Preacher's eyes back so he couldn't look away. The tone is now washed with cold conviction as the bodies burn, flesh and fat popping like timber. "Come and see what we do to those who HIDE under the name of a false god. You WISH to DIE in his name, then we will show you what the Romans did to those with god delusion."
Throwing the priest to the ground, Karl turned to his men. "Prep a cross. I want it facing the town."
The shipgirls were pulled back into the shadows by another figure. To their shock, they were again in the forest by the fire. Hyperventilating with cold chills filling their bodies at the ordeal before them, They sat down on the logs, trying to collect themselves until they were interrupted by the sight of Claudia.
Fredrich readies her guns, but Claudia shakes two flasks above her head. "I'm friendly, I'm friendly." She says nonchalantly. "Did you see?"
"Do not EVER ask this one that ever again!" Shinano screams.
"I'll fix that in a moment with this," Claudia replies, giving her a flask. "Just drink and let it go away. You two should have never seen that."
"I knew what happened to the Preacher," Fredrich tells Claudia, refusing the flask. "But I didn't know what happened before. I never saw him like that before. Why are you here? I thought we agreed that I handle this venture?"
"We did, But," Claudia says, taking a seat. "But I'm known to be an interloper… You are in my Karl's mind… I still have my feelings for him."
"That village… What was that about? Why did that priest call him 'The Black Hunter?'" Fredrich asks. "I know a little about his combat record, but that name is odd. I almost didn't recognize him there. His energy was… toxic… corrosive even…"
"Our beloved Karl is a man of many shades if you wish to believe that," Claudia says cryptically. "The war made him into a beast. I worry for him."
"I do as well." Fredrich agrees reluctantly. "But that is the price of war, though what we experienced in his memory was the equivalent of mass murder."
"Extermination is more appropriate," Claudia says bluntly to much of Fredrich's disdain. "Some things simply couldn't exist toward my Nation's border areas: Cultists. So, I sent some units there to handle the problem appropriately. It's just protocol to use fire against the Sarkic cults. Though I do believe Karl took it too far…." Pausing for a moment, she notes Fredrich's mood shifting. Noting this, she changes the subject.
"Karl is…" Claudia begins, allowing the sleepy fox to enjoy the excellent drink and forget the horror. "Under a lot of stress. I can't say I've helped." Claudia's expression changed to a melancholy expression. "I believe I've worsened him with that mission…"
"What was that figure who attacked us?" Shinano asked, finishing the flask.
"Did you like the drink? I made it myself. It's a strong moonshine mixed with certain herbs. It helps forget a lot of trauma, But for some people, it doesn't and begins to manifest itself. But for some, it happens in other ways." Claudia replies, swirling the contents of her flask.
"Was that his subconscious, Suomi?" Fredrich demands.
"Yes," Claudia replies, the matter-of-fact tone thoroughly pissing Fredrich off. "I let him off his leash to tell you what happened, or rather why I put him on the leash, per se. Mr. Z gave me that magic to close him away, but now is not the time to keep my Karl under control."
Fredrich's cannons appeared once again, "YOU DID THIS?!"
"He asked me too," Claudia says regretfully. "But he didn't let me in on much of what happened. I know about the village; I ordered it, of course. He tried to cope with it, tried so much too. But I had to help him through it. Though I didn't know much about the facility. Maybe that's what made him come to me for this? But his subconscious wouldn't let me finish it. So, I used a technique to pacify his post-traumatic stress. I believe the phrase is 'I do not recognize the bodies in the water'? It was supposed to help since many people ended up in the sea that day."
With a sigh, the witch takes a swig of the flask, "I only wished to help him. I didn't mean to hurt him."
Fredrich strikes Claudia, throwing her behind the log. The battleship smashes the mouth of her shark-faced, rigging into the ground where she thought the witch was. Shinano launches planes, blocking a series of blue fireballs heading toward Fredrich, saving her.
"That's why you were here?! TRYING TO FINISH THE JOB?!" Fredrich shouts in a bloody rage. "You disturb my dear child, force him to the acts of murder, and LIE TO ME?!"
"I never lied!" Claudia insisted, firing her revolver and throwing a glass vile at the ground. "I only told you what you needed to know! I told you the truth That he wanted to forget."
Trees came alive, their twisted faces shaking Fredrich, forcing her to fire her mighty guns, turning them into atoms.
"Omitting facts is no better than lying!" Fredrich roars, firing her guns at Claudia.
"You'd protect him too if you knew what was at stake!" Claudia shouts, hiding in the shadows. "But I can't keep doing this to him! I can't let Z win! Not with these META girls attacking my love! I have to do it so he can forgive me!"
Shinano and Fredrich attack the demonic trees, splintering them with their firepower. But Claudia doesn't relent. Firing her pistol defiantly, she throws another vile of potion, raising more creatures. But the fire from Fredrich's secondary guns and Shinano's planes rip them to pieces.
Claudia tries to leap to another portal, leading into more memories, but a shell from Fredrich guns blow her off course and sends her into more trees. Fredrich closed in on the wounded witch like a predator going in for the kill, but Shinano stopped her, holding the battleship back with all her might.
"I can not let you finish her, Fredrich!" Shinano shouts.
"My dear child has been manipulated by this malevolent witch!" Fredrich shouts, her rigging charging up a powerful blast from their jaws. "She sent him to hell and to his own demise! I MUST FINISH HER!"
"I didn't send him to fight the leviathan; he volunteered!" Claudia screams, picking herself up and pulling shards of pine trees out of her wounds. "He wanted to do it to redeem himself! After what I made him do to those villages!"
Closing the distance between her and the shipgirls, Claudia shouted again, "But things went to shit! He almost died, but we brought him back. But I had to make it right and suppress his mind of everything; I didn't want the shellshock to take him more than it already did! You would do the same! I know you would, Fredrich!"
Fredrich's eyes brighten, appearing like balls of fire to Claudia. Within an instant, four powerful blasts from her monstrous rigging eliminated the world around them.
Before the two shipgirls knew it, they were in a military field hospital. On a cot sat Karl in a ripped and torn uniform covered with burns. In his hand was an odd Polaroid image of four people. Atago, Taihou, Akagi, Junyou, and himself with a title scribbled in pencil at the bottom of the picture.
"Unthinkable, 92"
Then Karl awoke.
In a cold sweat, he raised up entirely in pure shock at the dream. A powerful headache overtook him, but Karl didn't bleed his nose. He could compare it to that of a mighty hangover. Next to him lay Akagi, peacefully snoozing.
Karl blinked several times, and a feeling of absolute joy overtook him. "You did make it…"
A heavy need for a cigarette gripped him, a chill raced up his back, and his hair stood up. The cold feeling of adrenaline raced through his body, and Karl felt the need to get up immediately. Listening to his gut, he grabs the pack of smokes from his jacket and heads outside to smoke on the front porch. Luckily, he remembered to put on underwear! To Karl's surprise, it was dark out. Maybe his bedroom session with Akagi lasted longer than he expected?
Sitting on wooden steps, he lit his cigarette and began to take a puff until the tip was cherry red.
The warrior sighed heavily as a feeling of overwhelming guilt overtook him… "What did I do back then?..."
"From what the witch told me," Fredrich says, startling him. "Or should I say showed me?"
"Fredrich," Karl says, turning to her. "Surprised to see you here at this hour. Came to snuff my cigarette again?"
"After what I've seen," Fredrich begins, sitting closely beside him. "You deserve your little cancer stick."
"Oh…" Karl replies, anxiety filling him as he wonders what Fredrich meant by that. "Did I do something wrong? Is this about Akagi?"
Fredrich shakes her head and puts her hand on his thigh, "No. I just wanted to check on you."
"Odd…" Karl remarked, taking a hit off his cigarette. "I've been… Alright…"
The battleship removes her gloves and places them back on Karl's thigh. "I saw a lot in there," Fredrich says confusingly. "Do you ever talk about it?"
"What do you mean?" Karl asks her.
"The war," Fredrich whispers. "Do you talk about it?"
Karl becomes noticeably silent. Turning ghost-white, he focuses on the cigarette in his mouth and the sound of crickets in the woods.
"I've watched you for some time, my dear child," Fredrich begins. "Ever since you came here, I've been interested in you. I saw into you, but I saw more with the witch's meddling out of the way. I saw the darkness you spoke of."
His lips rolled back, formulating a response, but Fredrich didn't allow him to speak.
"As I said when we met in person," Fredrich interjects. "You must forgive yourself, but it seems it was more than that."
The battleship threw the cigarette out of his hands and pulled Karl into her. While he resisted initially, Karl accepted the embrace as Fredrich held him tight.
"I'm sorry." Fredrich says, "I'm sorry for everything you've had to go through."
Karl moves to look into Fredrich's eyes, and panic starts forming within him. But Fredrich held him tight, and her yellow eyes mesmerized him. The yellow aura irradiated off her eyes, making him calm down instantly.
"You have survived so much that would destroy a regular person; even a shipgirl would be crushed under the weight of what horrors you've experienced," Fredrich says to him gently, her hand caressing his hair gently. "You are strong, so strong. But you don't trust anyone, I'm sorry for that too. But I'm here for you. Atago, Akagi, Belfast, Taihou, and Amagi are all here for you. Please understand that we know your suffering… Please understand that we love you in our own ways."
Karl tries to break away, his face red from embarrassment and shame. Tears formed in his eyes as he tried to break away, but the battleship was stronger than anyone could have imagined.
"We love you, Commander; we love you."
In a daze, Karl awakens as the sunlight comes through the paper walls and windows of the Japanese house. Akagi lay next to him, her arms wrapped around him tight. Just as in his dream, he felt a horrible headache, like an extended hangover. With a groan, Karl turns over to bring Akagi closer to him. The fox girl nuzzles between his chest and neck unconsciously. With a breath of relief, he kisses Akagi's forehead, laying his head on her. The aroma of roses mixed with sulfur filled his nose, making it tingle. Though Akagi made another part of him tingle.
Akagi giggled playfully as she grabbed his cock. "Good morning, My commander." Akagi smirks, cupping his face with her free hand. The fox moves in more aggressively, kissing him gently, nibbling on his bottom lip before going for a deeper kiss.
Karl follows her lead but puts himself on top of her. Assaulting the fox with passionate kisses and nibbles on her lips and neck. A hungry smile takes Akagi's face as she reveals her fangs, making Karl smile, "So much passion at such an early hour." Akagi remarks as she wraps her legs around Karl's waist.
"Take me now, Take me!" Akagi begs, breathing deeply as he penetrates her. Thrusting into her tenderly soon changed into hard fucking as the floor began to creek and bow. Akagi bit and kissed the Commander as he ravished her till the fox couldn't take it anymore. The carrier's sweet release of pleasure overloaded her senses, and she lost control as she scratched into Karl's back. The animalistic pleasure overwhelmed her as she locked her legs over his lower back. A long, deep moan escaped the Commander as he paused to kiss Akagi passionately, their tongues dancing together sloppily.
The Commander takes charge and picks her up, cock still sleeved within her, to continue burning through his lust. On his knees, Akagi is firmly seated in his lap with her arms and legs wrapped around him. Her juices flowed down their thighs, making a decently sized wet spot on her pallet. But Akagi didn't care as Akagi indulged her Commander's primal needs. With one more bombardment of thrusts, kisses, and playful bites, the Commander finished inside of her. Akagi could feel his pulse and convulse through every part of his body. The back tightening, the subconscious deep push from his waist, his arms pulling her into him, and his hands firmly grasping her ass. Akagi knew she loved him, but she never thought the more beastly side of him would show it as well.
His fox took his soul, or at least that's what Karl's mind believed, as he gently laid her down on the side. Akagi reluctantly released his spent member from her grasp and lovingly massaged his chest with her hands while kissing and licking his neck.
"You must have been very well rested, my love." Akagi points out boldly. "Did Akagi's love help you? I'm sure you needed that sweet release before bed."
"I guess I did," Karl replies humbly as he hugs Akagi. "More so after reading my letter to you."
"Will you reread it, My love?" Akagi asks innocently.
"Do I get to play with your ears again?" Karl asks.
"Yes!" Akagi excitedly replies, grabbing the letter and tucking herself against him. Propping himself against the wall, Karl opens the letter. But was soon interrupted by the sliding door to Akagi's room as Kaga appeared carrying tea for the two of them.
"Sister Akagi," Kaga tells her in the usual monotone, yet concerned. "The Commander isn't your plaything. I recommend you start getting ready for duty today; you're expected to be with him at the office in two hours."
"Kaga! You returned!" Akagi exclaims happily.
Karl raises his brow, "The Home Islands is across the Pacific. How did you get back to the port so quickly?"
"The siren transport network is not just portals but also a microlayer transference network," Kaga informs him, to his surprise. "We've used it heavily since the reformation of the Iris Orthodoxy. Amagi is here, as well as Lady Shinano, as our honorable guest. Sister, please wear your clothes this time."
"Shinano, eh?" Karl thinks to himself. From the corner of his eye, he swore a blue butterfly had rested on the window seal.
The Commander took his tea and sipped it slowly. Akagi grabbed some hygiene items and headed to the washroom, leaving Karl with Kaga again.
"Must you always be naked when we meet, Commander?" Kaga asks him, grabbing his uniform.
"I don't always plan on being naked when I come here," Karl says sarcastically.
"Hmmm," Kaga replies, sitting next to him as he begins to dress. "You're different today."
"Excuse me?" He asks.
"You feel more… Open," Kaga says, sipping tea. "Did my Sister do something to you?"
"Just some wonderful love." Karl smiles, shy to go into detail. His voice feels lighthearted and whimsical. "Weird dreams though… A lot of… Well… Things were starting to replay in my mind repeatedly."
"Lady Shinano has mystical powers regarding dreams, according to Sister Amagi," Kaga says dismissively. "She might be of help. Or are these dreams of the war?"
"Some," Karl replies shortly. "I'll… Think about it."
Putting on his uniform, he lent a hand to the kneeling Kaga. "Coming?" He asks her.
"I'll be in shortly." Kaga says, "I will gather the bootlicker's bedding to wash. I'm sure you two made a mess here."
"Jealous, maybe?" Karl asks cheekily, only for Kaga to blush nervously. Karl chuckles and leaves the room as Kaga mutters under her breath something.
Stepping out of the room, Karl rounds a corner to see two more blue butterflies on his path out. It's odd because he never recalled a butterfly of that color before. The giggles of Amagi and that of another woman put him at ease as he finds two fox girls enjoying tea while sitting on the porch looking at the lake.
Of course, he immediately recognized Amagi, but the other woman surprised him as he remembered her… From his dreams…
The white and blue color pallet of IJN Shinano struck him nearly speechless as he approached them. The supercarrier notices him, and the two lock eyes intensely.
"Commander Karl…"
"Commander, This is Lady-"
"Shinano…" Karl interjects, sitting beside the sleepy fox girl. "I… It is a pleasure to meet you in person."
"Yes… This one… Welcomes you…" Shinano says, giving him a smile.
The sight of the dreamy fox girl shook Karl because he swore he had seen her before. Brief, fleeting moments of the nightmare of the village cleansing… He thought she and Fredrich were there.
Amagi noted the phrase and the intense interest expressed in his gaze. The Commander was hard to read, but the intent was clear this time. Though he wasn't enthralled with Shinano, he was rather intrigued. It was all for good reason, though, Amagi knew. The grand strategist's plan wasn't clear to Karl, but the knowing gaze on Amagi's face gave him ideas.
"Did my little sister give you any more trouble, Commander?" Amagi asks him innocently.
"Not all," Karl replies lightly. "After I finished my work, I watched more exercises with her. Then we came here. It felt rather different this time, not coming here after a fight or otherwise."
"Do you… Come here often?" Shinano asks him, Karl smirking as he thinks the pretty carrier is flirting with him badly. But Shinano was being completely serious.
"This is my third time, So maybe?" He replies, receiving a giggle from Amagi.
Karl shakes slightly and rubs his eyes, "I'm sorry, I'm a bit groggy. But may I be so bold and speak my mind to you, Lady Shinano?"
"Polite… Yes… You may be." Shinano says, her sleepy pattern of speaking endearingly to Karl.
"Have we met?" Karl asks her bluntly. "I believe we've met before."
"In person, no…" Shinano says honestly. Karl looks her in her sleepy eyes to see honesty and…. Fear?
For Shinano, looking into Karl's eyes was like peering into the depths of a murky ocean. There was nothing to read, but his expression told the carrier everything. The Commander wished to honestly know where he had seen her. The dreamy fox couldn't lie to him.
"In your dreams… We have seen each other." Shinano says cryptically.
"She is the Dreamweaver, Commander," Amagi interjects.
"I don't recall a beautiful fox like you anywhere in my dreams or anywhere else till I got here… At least I knew a pretty fox long before all this…." Karl says, trailing off, covering his eyes as a swirl of emotions fills his chest and mind.
"I'm sorry," Karl apologizes, "Things are just feeling… Odd now. I'm sure Amagi filled you in with our META problem?"
"This one is… Aware." Shinano admits. "As is Musashi and Yamato. The Sakura Empire is on… Alert for any attempts on its… Nobles."
"Ms. Nagato and Ms. Misaka returning home then?" Karl inquires. "What about Amagi?"
"Musashi and I… Recommend that… Yes." Shinano agrees, "But Amagi insists on staying."
"Raiden isn't after anyone, from my observation." Amagi begins. "I believe she is telling the truth."
"What about her sister, Ember?" Karl counters.
"I don't intend on letting her get to anyone on this base, Commander," Amagi says frankly.
"I don't intend you on fighting her," Karl interjects, his expression harsh and bitter. "If anyone is going to fight her, it will be me."
"You shouldn't be contemplating a suicide mission, Commander," Amagi replies respectfully. "You are still a man."
A grimace took his face as Karl stewed on the latter part of Amagi's words. The bitterness in his expression was evident, even to the sleepy Dreamweaver. Shinano notes the shift in his face and unconsciously takes his hand. The calming feeling that followed Shinano flowed into him, giving the Commander a sense of relief.
With a sigh, the Commander tightly holds the Dreamweaver's hand, "I know… I know… But that won't stop me from trying…"
"This one… Knows." Shinano tells him.
Another sigh left him, dread filling his lungs and the cool morning air. Yesterday was productive, but a list of priorities began to fill his mind, along with the odd dreams. Karl reluctantly lets go of Shinano's hand and stands up to stretch. His timing seemed impeccable as Akagi appeared. She respectfully bows to Lady Shinano before hugging Amagi, welcoming her home.
Shinano looks toward the Commander again to see a dramatic shift on his face. From cold to warm, Angry to blissful, he pulls Akagi to him without a second thought to kiss her. Amagi giggles, "You two have a wonderful day. Shinano and I will visit some of the other girls. Join us if you have time, Commander."
Keeping Akagi close, Karl agrees before heading off with her to the office. The two remaining fox girls sat peacefully, watching them leave before returning to their previous conversation.
"As you were saying, Lady Shinano?" Amagi says, sipping her tea. "Before the village?"
"I can not wait to forget that memory of his." Shinano remarks, cupping her tea fearfully. "Fredrich-San says she's tended to him after it, to comfort him. I wish I could as well, but this one… Has a duty."
"Indeed," Amagi agrees, "Does this mean Musashi is aware of what you saw?"
"My sister is not," Shinano replies uncomfortably. "What he may just be a dream, but I'm unsure. I've seen many things in between worlds. Sometimes, This one does… Not know what is real."
"I believe it was real." Amagi counters. "When he was distraught, he mentioned the Leviathan by name and that he had the last laugh. What happened there again? They were at a facility, correct?"
"Yes," Shinano accounts. "It appeared to be a floating base, but not like the ones used by Eagle Union. It was more industrial, like an oil rig of some sort."
Amagi put her hand to her chin and recalled Karl and the Kommandos's frantic conversation: "They were talking about a portal and something called the Hub. Shipgirls, Atago, and Taihou, were also speaking about a portal. But the Commander was more worried about getting information off the Hub…"
"It seemed there was a large battle at the time." Shinano recounted. "Two large ships were destroyed by the creature… Then Akagi was… Defeated…"
Amagi's fists clench with the force of a thousand suns. The image of her beloved, yet weird, sister falling to the Leviathan infuriated her. But she held her temper and washed the emotions with a gulp of green tea. The footsteps of Kaga behind her made Amagi turn, "Kaga, Please grab the sakisaki from my personal stash. I require a drink if we are to continue this conversation."
Kaga is taken aback; Amagi never drank. "Sister Amagi, I don't believe that-"
"Please." Amagi insists a gaze of sheer rage bubbling under her calm town sent Kaga hastily to retrieve the liquor from inside.
With calm breaths, Amagi recalled the conversations from Karl's radio again: "Oppenheimer and Baku, Those must have been the ships' names. The Commander was alerted to their demise, so these are connected. This and that you saw him on that platform convinces me these memories are intertwined. But these shipgirls… Taihou, Atago, I recall Takao too, and…. Akagi…."
Kaga returns with three bottles and the drinking bowls. Amagi takes a swig directly from the bottle to wash away the rage. Shinano is more conservative and pours herself a small cup of it. "Then yes, it was a long memory. Odd… Even Junyou was there too…" Shinano recalls. "Following that, The beast was destroyed by a weapon. Whatever it was turned the world white, but I'm unsure what that meant."
"Would it be wise to speak to him about it?" Amagi asks. "I don't know how mentioning these things would lead to anything good happening."
"This one… believes it would be ill-advised," Shinano says regretfully. "Fredrich Der Grosse destroyed the source of cognitive suppression, but I'm not sure how his psyche would deal with it. We also do not know exactly what those dreams, or memories, are."
"I don't recall any siren base on an oil rig…" Kaga chimes in.
"Listening in to my conversations, sister?" Amagi asks, a tad annoyed.
"A little." Kaga winces.
"It's rude to eavesdrop, sister." Amagi scolds her. "You should have just sat down with us. You were witness to what happened to him."
"My apologies, sister Amagi." Kaga winces again. "I'm worried for our Commander. This morning, he seemed different; I could feel a change. I couldn't help but listen in. It seems Lady Shinano, and you have aided him."
"We hope we did," Amagi replies cooly, a face of frustration repeatedly swashing away by saki. "I'll need you to keep an eye on him. I know that Akagi and the other two will keep him occupied, but I need someone not lovesick to be his guardian while we figure this out."
Kaga nods in agreement. While Amagi and Kaga loved their odd sister, Akagi, she tended to be ruled by her human emotions, whereas Kaga was led by her animalistic instincts. While Kaga's full sister, Tosa, was more war-like than her. Amagi loved her three sisters dearly, but being the only rational one, at least consistently rational, added to her stress.
"Junyou?" Amagi begins, thinking about what Shinano said. "She was there?"
"Yes, she was at the facility," Shinano replies, drinking some of the saki and making her wince. "The Commander spoke to her, maybe yelled; she was crying afterward and smacked him. I don't know what was said."
"Raiden spoke of her… But our Junyou has been with the Artic Fleet for some time…" Amagi notes, painting a picture in her mind of events.
"Junyou is known for her delusions," Kaga notes. "But I don't recall her acting in any siren operations. Nor do I recall a base like the one Shinano described. The Sirens wouldn't use anything like an oil rig, nor would any other factions. I don't even recall a shipgirl or any ship known by those names… Maybe the latter ship, Baku, is known by the Northern Parliament? Isn't Baku a town or city in the Northern Parliament?"
"I believe so," Amagi replies. "I would ask the Northern Parliament girls if they know of a Baku. I do recall Fredrich speaking of a Junyou META."
"She wore black…" Shinano recalls, "Junyou. She wasn't… blinded by delusions…"
"I haven't seen her since her banishment by Akagi," Kaga adds. "Maybe she is assisting the META's for revenge."
"No, This one… Did not see anger at Akagi but at the Commander." Shinano interjects.
"Akagi also recently banished Junyou and her sister before the Commander arrived here," Amagi adds. "I don't agree with her decision at all, but Junyou's outbursts against other members of the Sakura Empire will not be tolerated."
"A possible META assisting the Commander with a large military contingent, fighting on a possible siren or otherwise owned facility, Against the leviathan, and all the while being assisted by other shipgirls." Kaga summarizes, followed by a large gulp of saki. "Is that correct, Sister Amagi?"
"It appears this is so." Amagi agrees, swirling the saki in the drinking bowl.
"Why?" Kaga asks her.
"This one… Could not find the answer." Shinano replies, drinking her sakisaki.
The three foxes sat in silence for a moment. The morning sun glimmered off the lake like jewels in a diamond shop. Shinano sighs melancholic, "I pray to the gods we did the right thing, Amagi."
"I do too, Lady Shinano, My dear friend." Amagi agrees.
Meanwhile, with the Commander-
Sitting at his desk, Karl sighed a series of papers given to him by the faction leaders or their appointed aids. More requests for events and other nonsense plans for the gathering were mentioned by Amagi and Bismarck, and combat reports finally appeared. Akagi and Taihou attempted to work together as best they could, but thanks to the efforts of Belfast and Atago, they stayed in line. The Commander enthusiastically attacked the paperwork and quickly handled all the signatures and reviews.
Pausing for a moment, he steps outside to take a breather. Taihou and Akagi follow him as Karl looks at the lively port below. A heavy sigh levels him forcefully, hands spread across the banister as Karl leans on it. The two carriers took position at his flanks with their hands on top of his own. A thought filled his mind: Anger.
'You could have saved her.'
'We should have used Hadrian sooner.'
'What we did to those villages…. We're nothing more than killers, sir….'
'Claudia was right; we are out of control.'
'The war is ending soon; we aren't needed anymore.'
'Get with the times, Major; they don't need killers like us anymore.'
'We can get you to help, Karl; you don't need to carry this weight anymore.'
'Grandma… Dad… Mama… I'm a criminal… Please… Please… Please forgive me…'
The two notice the Commander's hands grip the concrete harshly. Akagi and Taihou feel a shift in his energy toward anger. "My Commander, is something wrong?" Taihou asks innocently.
Gritting his teeth, his knuckles turning white, and the unstoppable need to move and do something overpowered him. The restlessness in his movements triggered Taihou's sense, and Akagi's primal instincts noted his eyes changing. He takes a series of deep breaths and rolls his jaw, "Just… Feeling a bit… Haggard… Stagnate… I just feel like… I don't know."