HMS Unicorn, a shipgirl and a light aircraft carrier of the Royal Navy, didn't think anything bad would happen once she arrived at the island where the Azur Lane base was located, together with her big sister Illustrious.
When Illustrious told her to play with her unicorn friend Uni after they were escorted to Azur Lane Academy, that's what she did, only to lose Uni when she was looking away.
During her search for Uni, she met a purple short-haired shipgirl of the same faction named Javelin who approached her, and then later a sleepy white twin-tailed shipgirl named Laffey who was resting on a bench. Together, they looked for her friend by asking other shipgirls on the island. Eventually, they found a lead that Uni was last seen on the cliff and they immediately rushed over there.
Unicorn saw Uni being held by a cloaked shipgirl and, after taking Uni off the shipgirl's hands as Unicorn assumed the shipgirl found her friend, thanked her. However, when Javelin asked for the shipgirl's name after they introduced their names, a strange bird flew over them, causing them to duck their heads. And when they looked back at where the shipgirl was, she was mysteriously gone.
So really, aside from almost losing her friend and the sudden disappearance of the cloaked shipgirl, she really didn't think anything bad would happen.
Until the base was attacked by the Sakura Empire.
She watched as her new friends—Javelin and Laffey—went towards the dock where their ships were to join the sea battle that was close to the base, then shortly followed them.
And here she was, standing on the seawater and watching the shipgirls combating the enemies, her rigging activated. Only when she saw the swarm of the enemies' airstrikes overwhelming them did she finally intervene.
"Don't bully my friends!"
Mounting Uni who had now become big enough to be ridden by her and was flying over the sea, Unicorn unleashed multiple aircraft from her rigging's flight deck and sent them to the enemies' red and blue flaming aircraft, her own planes shooting bullets and destroying them, giving her friends a bit of breather.
From the spectator's perspective, it looked like a battle of aircraft carriers between the Royal Navy and the Sakura Empire, each opposite was in a deadlock as more and more aircraft were sent toward each other.
Unfortunately, her opponents were the 1st Carrier Division of Sakura Empire—Akagi and Kaga—and were superior in many ways compared to her.
It didn't help that Kaga, the white fox woman, transformed her ship into a giant nine-tailed fox, making the situation harder for Azur Lane. Said fox also launched more of its blue flaming aircraft and flew straight towards her.
Unicorn had Uni flying away from the chasing blue aircraft in a hurry while keeping sending her aircraft to counter them, only to be easily destroyed by blue fireballs coming out from the fox's energy tails. She saw Javelin trying to help her but was interrupted by missiles of the shipgirl from the cliff before—Ayanami as she introduced herself—much to her shock.
In the end, it didn't last long as one of the blue fireballs hit her, resulting in her falling down onto the water.
And when she hit the water's surface, it erupted in a big splash.
In the normal timeline, she would just be lying motionless on the water as the giant fox began to approach her.
But in this timeline, something different happened to her that not even the watchers of the Sirens could've predicted.
When the eruption began to disperse, everyone's eyes went to where Unicorn landed…
…but what they saw was only the still activated rigging, miraculously floating on the water. Its owner was nowhere to be seen. Even Uni was not in sight.
"Unicorn-chan…?" Javelin, who was on a ship deck with Ayanami, jumped out onto the water and quickly glided to where the light carrier was last seen. She was so worried that she didn't notice all activities were halted as she reached the spot. Even the 1st Carrier Division stopped attacking; Kaga in particular seemed stunned.
Panicked, Javelin looked around for any sign of Unicorn. Laffey soon was on her side, a rare complete shock plastered on her face as she joined her in searching for Unicorn's whereabouts.
Left, right, and up in the sky. She still couldn't find the light carrier.
Wait, if her rigging was left here, then…
"Javelin, I think Unicorn is under the sea." Laffey said, thinking the same thing. Just as she said that, an Eagle Union shipgirl—a golden blonde named Cleveland—had arrived beside them.
Javelin looked down above the water, like she had precisely figured out where Unicorn was. "If that's the case, I'm gonna remove my rigging and swim–"
"No, you won't. I'd rather you not risk yourself diving but getting sunk in the sea if you remove your rigging right here." Cleveland stopped her before turning around. "I'll ask the submarine-class for an immediate search."
With that, Cleveland left to seek help.
"Unicorn-chan, where are you…?" Javelin began to sob, her knees falling as her hands touched Unicorn's rigging. She didn't want to think of the worst case, but if that were to actually be true, then…
Unicorn was gone, presumably drowned under the sea.
Feeling devastated, Javelin screamed to the heavens and was heard by even Illustrious who's on her way.
"UNICORN-CHAN!"
Naganaki Shrine Precincts, Iwatodai, Dark Hour
"I've seen the world turn green many times and it still gives me the creeps."
This sentence was said by Ken Amada, an eleven years old boy with short brown hair and eyes who was right now sitting on a bench located near a small playground for children, but he's not here to play; he already considered himself a mature person to do so.
That, and playing at this particular hour was crazy.
It was now Saturday, July 11th. Or was it 12th now? Either way, the next weekday was the final exam before summer vacation which lasted around 40 days, and when the vacation came, everyone would likely go visit their relatives outside Iwatodai like his dormmates later.
Yes, dormmates, because even though he and they were all students who attended Gekkoukan Elementary School—that made them his schoolmates as well—and shared the same dormitory, he's not close enough to them to be called anything above that.
Only Ken did not follow his dormmates' example of summer vacation. Due to his… circumstances, he would remain in this city for the whole vacation. And honestly, that's fine for him. Even though he had a distant relative who was paying for his school expenses, he wasn't really close to them. The only relative that he was very close to had died nearly two years ago.
His mother.
According to the public, her death was listed as an accident. But Ken knew better. What happened to her mother was that she was murdered. He knew this because he was there when the murder happened, but his mind became blurry whenever he tried to fully remember that time at night, possibly due to the shock of personally witnessing the death of his mother.
Ever since then, living had been a painful thing to walk on for him.
He wouldn't deny he had suicidal thoughts as he lived his painful life, but he couldn't face his mother in the afterlife if he decided to end his life meaninglessly.
So he made a vow. He would avenge his mother by bringing down the killer before he could rest in peace.
And this eerie phenomenon that always appeared at every single midnight was the first lead to accomplish his goal.
Ken looked up at the glowy gibbous moon. The moon at this hour appeared menacingly terrific and bigger than the normal moon. Even more so when it was on the full moon; the last full moon was last Tuesday, July 7th, when it shone magnificently and he swore the hour became more eerie and dangerous that he didn't take a chance wandering in every full moon.
He then looked at a very tall tower standing proudly at a distance that even he could still see from the shrine. In addition to the huge moon, the tower was a mysterious structure that appeared only in this time and its height easily loomed over everything down below it. What was strange however was its location; the tower's based on Tatsumi Port Island, an artificial island that sat beside Iwatodai. Specifically, the tower stood where Gekkoukan High School was; the upper institution of the school he's in. He'd seen the school transformed into that tower as the world turned green, so you could imagine his surprise the first time he saw it happening with his own eyes. Why the school became a tower, he didn't know… yet.
Really, everything about this hour was a mystery.
"Woof!"
A bark below him made him blink his eyes and stare down at a Shiba Inu who stared back at him, tongue out.
Oops, he almost forgot he's not alone.
"Ah, sorry, Koromaru, I didn't mean to ignore you." Ken rubbed the albino dog with red eyes. "I was lost in thought, is all."
Koromaru relished in the boy's rubbing.
"Hey, Koromaru, do you know why you can experience this scary world?"
The dog whined a little.
"You don't know huh? Well, same for me, although I think I have a guess as to why I can." Ken rubbed the dog more. "A change in your surroundings every time the clock hits twelve at night… this is definitely a supernatural occurrence that only a few people are aware of."
"Arf!"
"Yes, the two of us are that few people." Ken chuckled.
He gave Koromaru a last rub before standing up. He had been walking aimlessly around the town for more than 30 minutes and stopped at Naganaki Shrine to sit for around 15 minutes. The eerie hour would be over soon.
"I must go back home now. I'd rather be in my room when the world returns to normal so that anyone wouldn't suspect me wandering at night." Ken told the dog. "I have no school tomorrow, so I promise I will play with you again. I'll even treat you to food. How does that sound?"
Koromaru was about to bark in happiness before he suddenly snapped his head to the steps leading to the shrine, his ears straightened out.
Ken watched in confusion as the dog ran towards the steps and then vanished to the bottom. "Koromaru?"
He soon followed him, and the moment he reached the steps and was on the top, he gasped.
Koromaru was nudging a girl who looked around his age. A girl not transmogrified into a coffin, who was unresponsive and lying down on the sideway beside the footstep. Ken remembered there was nobody near the steps when he climbed up to the shrine, so how…?
Shaking out the question, he stepped down hurriedly and soon arrived beside Koromaru, but once he got a good look at her, his breath hitched.
Cute.
She's a young girl with long purple hair that reached to her waist tied in a bunned sidetail by a black scarf. An antenna-like small tower accessory was placed on her right head. She had a silky white face and skin, and he noticed that she looked to be not Japanese as she lacked the facial features of one. Weirdly, she wore a white laced dress that exposed her shoulders and had black bows and white butterfly-like motifs on each side of it, white detached frilled sleeves, long white socks that covered her knees, and white low heels.
Overall, she looked like the daughter of some pretentious family who hailed from a royal kingdom.
When he realized he was staring, he shook his head, but once he did that, he noticed something on her that he should've realized sooner.
Her body and dress were singed on some spots, like she was hit by something related to fire.
Ken crouched down, worried. How did she get these burned marks? Actually, how did she end up right here? Perhaps it was her first time experiencing this hour and she was in distress? And then she was curious and then went outside? That would explain why she's here, but that didn't explain her current state. Unless… she was found by those dark things and managed to get away yet not unscratched, but he didn't know if they could throw fire since he'd been avoiding them as best as possible.
No, speculating would only get him nowhere. Besides, he needed to help the girl now.
"Hey, are you alright?" Ken said to her, hoping to get a response from her.
She responded with nothing.
She's not awake, for crying out loud. Why did I expect a response? Ken thought, feeling stupid.
Still… "What should I do? I can't exactly leave her like this."
A bump to his side caused him to turn his head to see Koromaru… holding a horse plushie of the same color theme as the girl with a gold horn in his mouth. Where did he get that? Was it the girl's plushie?
"What do you think I should do, Koromaru? Should I bring her to the shrine?"
"Woof!" Koromaru barked after setting down the plushie—it had wings too, Ken realized late.
"Maybe not. I don't think the shrine has anything to help tending her, and leaving her there doesn't bode well with me. I've also never gone inside once even with how often I come there."
"Woof!"
"Her home? I don't even know where she lives. It may take a long time to find it."
Home… Right, he was planning to go back to his dorm and hopefully arrive before the hour ended, but with this problem near his feet, a few minutes had passed and the world was close to returning back to normal.
"Should I… bring her to my dorm? To a boy dormitory?"
Ken was put in a dormitory for Gekkoukan Elementary boy students. Obviously, no girls lived in a boy dormitory, and even no-brainers understood that bringing a girl to a boy dormitory was a rule breaker. Yet, what choice did he have? He wanted to get back to his dorm as soon as possible, but he couldn't just leave her like this. He didn't know other safe places for her other than the shrine, but even if he took her to the shrine and it had something to treat the marks on her, he couldn't stay there forever to watch over her.
…He could think of the consequences later. His mind had made up.
"I've decided. I will bring her with me until I make sure she's alright." Ken said to Koromaru. "Is it okay if I ask you to accompany me to my dorm? I think I need some assurance while I carry her, and also to bring the plushie with us if it really belongs to her."
"Arf! Arf!" The dog wagged his tail.
"Thanks." The boy then looked back at the girl. How should he carry her?
He put one hand behind her head, then another hand under her knees. Then he lifted her up.
Huh, she's light, though he didn't know how long he could hold her like this. He better hurry.
"Okay. Let's go, Koromaru."
With the royal-looking girl and her horse plushie secured in their holds, they walked off to their destination at a moderate yet brisk pace. While Koromaru happily walked beside him, Ken let himself focus on only reaching his home while carrying the girl and not being distracted by anything. Like the many standing coffins around him for instance, though he paid them no mind as those were something that he had seen every single night. And if those dark things somehow appeared in their way or were nearby, well, he trusted Koromaru to warn him.
Luckily, there wasn't anything stopping them and it took maybe around five minutes to finally reach the dormitory where Ken stayed.
And the moment they were near the front entrance of the dorm, the world changed its color from sickly yellowish green to midnight blue, with the moon also regaining its actual size and color.
"Well, I didn't make it to the room, but at least we're here now." Ken commented before he looked down at Koromaru who was still holding the plushie in his mouth. "Come on, we better bring her to my room quickly before my arms give up. I hope everyone's still sleeping…"
Opening the door with his body, Ken entered the dorm quietly with the now illegal person in the boy dorm, Koromaru following him inside.
Thus, this closed how Ken Amada found the missing Royal Navy's light aircraft carrier named HMS Unicorn.
To Be Continued…
Persona Series, including Persona 3, belongs to Atlus.
Azur Lane belongs to Manjuu, Yongshi, and Yostar to some extent.