The ocean is burning, a Japanese carrier towers above the boiling sea, flames lick at its hull, the bow cuts through the bodies of dead kansen and wrecks of mass-produced ships. The water's surface is slick with blood and oil, leaking from various sources.
The iron smell of the gore barely phases the red kitsune standing at the ship's bow, Akagi had just won a major victory for the Crimson axis, but she wasn't happy about it. She couldn't feel anything any-more, looking down at the sea of death and decay that her planes had created, she wasn't satisfied with her win, nor sad that fellow kansen, both ally and enemy were dead.
She felt nothing.
Pushed into war, to manifest a wish, that's supposed to last for many years...
Like a machine, she's unstoppable, as merciless as tidal waves...
Was she a victim of the time?
Or a proud part of larger goals?
Constant whispers of the Sirens, masterful machine...
Akagi jumps down into the water, her hull disappears into wisdom cubes and reforms into a flaming red runway next her. Without any movement from her neutral expression, she walks through the flames and dead bodies.
Time and again, the war rages on, beyond the tori gate of misery...
As casualties rise, and hundreds die around her, did she see it all?
Crazy mad fox on a leash? Or a young woman who lost her way?
Grand illusions of the Sirens, may seem real at times...
Carriers on a line!
Form the empire's spine!
Lethal grand design!
What about the girls executing orders?
Carriers on a line!
Form the empire's spine!
Lethal grand design!
What about the girls executing orders?
The kitsune hears coughing from up ahead; a younger kansen from the sound, stopping to reflexively ready her flaming paper planes between her fingers, she didn't need to think, she just knew what to do. The flames around her were no threat to her, being a kitsune had its perks, including immunity to fire.
Akagi deliberately stepped into the inferno, using it as cover to stalk the wounded girl, her ears twitching to hone in on her prey. She would normally feel something by this point, but nothing came. No tension of the hunt, no anticipation of the strike, not even the heat of the fire around her. She was just instinctively following her target, a predator after its prey. Nothing else existed right now for her, not even her own feelings.
From her hiding place in the fire, Akagi notices a change in the sound, its not just coughing any-more, the girl is crying. As she gets closer, she sees her.
Its Unicorn.
The young light carrier is desperately shaking the body of an older girl, tears streaming from her eyes. Akagi realises its Illustrious, dead. She looks up and sees the wreck of the Royal navy carrier's hull, its bow pointing upwards towards the smoke-filled sky, the sound of metal groaning and straining under its own weight.
Unicorn hears it too, she's almost screaming now, even slapping her old sister's face in a futile attempt to revive her. The child-like kansen is constantly darting between looking at her dead sister and the sinking hull behind them, refusing to believe she's really gone.
Akagi feels something, watching this happen, for the first time in a long time. Instinctively she clenches her free hand into a tight fist.
She's angry...VERY angry. And Unicorn is suddenly very aware of this, she finally sees Akagi's scowling face in the flames. She bolts to her feet and grabs her unicorn pet, but after quickly looking around, she realises she's trapped in the fire, and Akagi steps out of the flames, her paper planes set themselves alight in a red blaze...
Ad victoriam!
De Sirenibus!
Non mihi, sed sorori!
Ad victoriam!
De Sirenibus!
Non mihi, sed sorori!
Unicorn whimpers and trembles as Akagi stalks closer to her and Illustrious's dead body, She thought about summoning her own rigging, but she knew she stood no chance against the Red castle alone. Instead she lets go of her winged unicorn pet, and begs it to fly away, to save itself. But the animal doesn't want to leave, instead it paws at her legs like a puppy, wanting her to pick it back up.
Akagi hands are shaking, and tears are leaking from her face, as she suddenly screams in rage and throws her flaming planes, Unicorn has no time to react, falling to the water with a short scream.
Pushed into war, to manifest a wish, that didn't last for many years...
Like a machine, though stoppable, she as merciless as tidal waves...
Akagi falls to her knees and buries her face in her hands, her eyes screwed tightly shut as she fails to hold in a torrent of tears. She opens her eyes to see Unicorn had fainted, no marks or injuries from her attack. She looks back at Illustrious's sinking hull, seeing a giant scorch mark on its side that wasn't there before, the fox girl lets lose a sigh of relief.
Akagi is still panting from the exertion as she looks over Unicorn, looking around she realises the little carrier still can't escape this ring of fire around them like she can. She stands over the now knocked out little girl for a moment, the unicorn pet seems to have been stunned too, the two of them must be linked she mused.
She wonders about her choice for a moment as she stares at the little girl, she then cracks a smirk as her tails suddenly shoot forwards and envelop Unicorn and the doll entirely...
Crazy mad fox on a leash? Or a young woman who lost her way?
Grand illusions of the Sirens, may seem real at times...
Carriers on a line!
Form the empire's spine!
Lethal grand design!
What about the girls executing orders?
Carriers on a line!
Form the empire's spine!
Lethal grand design!
What about the girls executing orders?
When Unicorn opened her eyes, she was laying on the desert sand of a small islet, she looked around and there was no fire, no smoke...no Akagi. She felt something nudge her side and her pet was there too, wanting a stroke. She smiled a little, writing off what happened as a bad dream.
Unicorn placed down her hand in order to get back up, but felt something else on her other side. She looked at it and gasped in shock.
Two wisdom cubes, along with a red paper plane with a message written on it. The small carrier picked it up to read it.
I'm sorry about your sister, these are her wisdom cubes, take them back to the Commander, he'll be able to help her, I hope he can forgive me one day.
Akagi.