Chapter 21: Flying Boats
"So, you figured out how to transmit sound through electronics?" Yosetsu Awase asked, as he examined the metallic microphone the elven queen had given him.
"That's right!" Mei Hatsume said. "During one of my experiments, I found out that these usually invisible currents could be used when charged. After that, I just had to find the modulation signal that would allow the frequency to be carried. The materials I used were…"
"...an electric oscillator that would impress the information on the carrier, while also amplifying it in the transmitter, which then demodulates it, extracting the original sound."
"Yes, exactly!" the pink-haired elf said.
It had been four days now since the SREU had arrived in the capital city of the Dryadalis Kingdom, and four days since they had been hosted as guests by Queen Hatsume.
During that time, Yosetsu had always been by the pink-haired queen's side, as she presented him with each and every one of her inventions, allowing the bandana-wearing soldier to compare them to his world's equivalents, much to both her and his delights.
Sure, they would usually be under the watchful eye of the queen's personal knight, Tenya Iida, and every now and then either Kaina or Beros, but honestly, they didn't say much. They mostly watched as their liege interacted with the Japanese mechanic, and honestly…
Honestly, this was the most fun Yosetsu had had in years, and he didn't want it to end.
"So, what baby is next?" he asked the elven queen.
Momo Yaoyorozu had to admit, this was a nice change of pace.
After the insane three weeks that was the rest of her second mission into the Special Region, it was nice to simply parooze some quiet streets, without having to worry about insane cultists, labyrinths trapping her teammates, or Bakugou going rogue to kill some pirates.
Instead, she could simply relax, and admire the view of this city.
"Oy, Yaomomo! Look! They have ice cream!"
Momo perked up when she heard Kirishima's nickname for her. That meant they were friends, right? She wondered if she should also give him a nickname… perhaps…
"Kiri, what are you talking about?"
Nailed it.
"That elf over there! He's selling ice cream!"
Momo looked over to where her redhead friend was pointing, to see an elven man was indeed behind a stall, with several pointed-eared children surrounding said stall.
"I want sprinkles!"
"It's so cold and sweet!"
"Wonderful!"
Huh, I guess they are selling ice cream, Momo thought to herself. Looking over to Kirishima, he was silently staring at her, his eyes almost as big as a puppy's. Seriously?
Sighing, she pulled a coin out of her bag and gave it to him. "Go ahead."
"YAAAAAY! THANK YOU!"
The spiky red-haired man took the coin and rushed up to the stall, as Momo quietly followed behind him. She was curious about how they managed to recreate the frozen treat here…
As Kirishima finished up his order, Momo asked, "How was this accomplished?"
The vendor said, "Well, it's pretty fascinating, actually! One of the scientific journals Queen Hatsume published was that certain chemical compounds would freeze when added to water. So, that got me thinking, what would happen if I froze up some milk?"
Momo nodded along to what the man was saying. It made sense. Both calcium chloride and sodium chloride would reach freezing temperatures if water was added into the mix. So, it stood to reason that someone would experiment around with it to see what it could freeze. The vendor probably added sugar and a few other ingredients, and boom, ice cream.
"So, this is your idea entirely?" Momo asked.
"Ah, no. A few friends of mine also had a hand in some parts of it. One of them came up with the idea of an edible bowl, while the other added fruit on the side. Then one of my more business-savvy friends thought we could sell this, so he commissioned some carts."
The raven-haired woman nodded along to that. It was rare for any successful entrepreneur to have done everything on their own. Walt Disney had an entire army of animators, sound designers, distributors, and so much more for even one of his earliest cartoons.
Momo smiled at the sight before her. Sure, from the looks of it, they could only sell vanilla now, but with the scientific advancements and technological freedoms Hatsume was giving her citizens, she was sure they'd have several more flavors in no time.
"You know what? I'll have one, as well," Momo said, handing the elf a coin.
It was always a good idea to support small businesses, after all.
The two of them continued down the street, both of them with ice creams in their hands, Momo savored every single bit of ice cream that she scooped up with her wooden stick.
Kirishima, meanwhile…
"Mmm, so good!" the redhead said, as he wolfed down another spoonful. "So cold!"
"Don't eat it so fast," Momo chuckled. "You'll get a brain freeze."
"I ain't scared of no brain freeze!"
"Alright, alright, but be careful and try not to accidentally bite down on the stick. You could end up getting splinters on your tongue, and I certainly won't be pulling them out."
"Oh, yeah, good call. Maybe I'll just scoop it up and lick it, you know like a popsicle. I mean, the sticks do resemble the ones everyone back on Earth uses to hold them."
Momo had to agree on that front. The flat wooden sticks that came with their ice creams did indeed resemble the ones used for popsicles. That did actually make her wonder how long it would be before the elves thought of the idea of ice-cream-on-a-stick?
Ehh, questions for later, she thought, as she ate the cherry that came with hers.
"Sooo, you think the bowls can be eaten?" Kirishima asked.
"The vendor did say that they were edible," Momo said, as she examined her bowl. "But even if he didn't, I would say yes. Given their smell and texture, it's safe to say that the bowls holding our ice cream are indeed made out of some sort of hard, golden pastry."
"Oh, so they're waffle cones!"
"Close. I'd call them waffle bowls, but even then it's a stretch. Their structure is thicker and more rudimentary, plus, they lack the signature square patterns of actual waffles."
"Okay, so they haven't perfected their waffle bowl formula yet!"
"My thoughts exactly," Momo said. "Still, given time, I can safely say that they will get better at it. And who knows? Maybe they'll create the waffle cone while they're at it…"
"Ha-ha! Now that would be a future I would look forward to!" Kirishima smiled.
Momo couldn't help but smile alongside him.
"A digital camera?" Hatsume said, as she eyed the device. "How does it function?"
"It works the same way as the ones you have here, but instead of creating a physical photograph, they store the image on the camera itself, and you can print them later, if you want," Yosetsu said. "You can even record video on them, no film required –"
"REALLY?! You have got to show me how that works!"
"Indeed," Tenya agreed. "Such a method would alleviate production costs immensely!"
"You have got to tell me more about this!" Hatsume begged.
Yosetsu was more than happy to oblige.
"This is so fucking stupid," Katsuki growled.
"Shh!" Kendo shushed him.
The spiky blond had no idea what he did to deserve this. Actually, no, he did know. He led his subordinates on an unauthorized mission to save a musician's wife, and he would fucking do it again if given the chance. And Lieutenant Yaoyorozu had to deal with that in some way.
So, as punishment, and to ensure that he wouldn't pull another stunt like that, Katuski was currently being babysat by the power couple that was Kendo and Monoma.
And the two of them had decided to go on a movie date. Ugh.
Now, granted, Katsuki had nothing against romance, he was a married man himself. However, both him and Camie really didn't do this sort of thing. When it came to dates, they were more of the "climb a mountain" variety, rather than "watch some cheesy princess movie."
It also didn't help that the movie was in black and white.
"Why the fuck is this in grayscale?" Katsuki asked, as he grabbed another handful of popcorn. "We literally saw a live news broadcast two days ago that was in color."
"It's because the news broadcast was televised using magic crystals, while this movie was filmed on an actual camera," Monoma explained. "And quit hogging the popped corn!"
"I still refuse to call it that," the ash blond said.
"Too bad, you're not the one who invented it in this world," Monoma said.
"Shh! Both of you!" Kendo whispered.
Katsuki grumbled, as he kept his mouth shut, and watched the movie. Hopefully, it would be more creative than the garbage Hollywood was pumping out these days.
"So, fuel is removed when the percentage of neutron absorbing atoms becomes so large that a chain reaction can no longer be sustained and then is cooled for several years in on-site spent fuel pools before being transferred to long-term storage," Yosetsu said. "But yeah, through this, we potentially have a sustainable energy source that reduces carbon emissions!"
"That sounds amazing!" Mei squealed. "Nuclear power sounds so awesome!"
"Yeah, it is," the bandana-wearing soldier said, before his face turned serious. "But it also has the capability of doing a lot of bad… Chernobyl, Fukushima, Three Mile Island… those were all places that were harmed by nuclear power… and those were just accidents…"
Mei's pointed ears seemed to dip when she heard that. Even Tenya and the other two bodyguards were now paying attention. "Could you tell me what happened?"
Yosetsu was quiet for a moment, before he said, "Our world's first go at nuclear power was during a war. A big one. Soon after the discovery of the fission process, it was realized that a fissioning nucleus can induce further nucleus fissions, thus inducing a self-sustaining chain reaction. And governments all around the world wanted to weaponize it. One of them managed to do so, and… dropped their weapons on two of my nation's cities. It killed thousands."
The elven queen was silent, as the soldier continued.
"On paper, it seemed like the right call; the war ended in those moments, but… We discovered something new in the world. A potential new energy that could have provided free electricity to the poor, or help reduce pollution, but no, we thought of how to use it to kill each other first –"
Before he knew it, he felt Mei's arms wrapped around him.
"I'm so sorry."
Yosetsu didn't say anything for a few seconds, but then said, "I know that you really want to help your people advance further, but… could you do me one favor, Hatsume?"
"Yes?"
"Be better than we were."
"Of course," she said, letting him go. "Do you feel better now?"
"Heh. A bit," the spiky-haired mechanic said, wiping a few stray tears away. "I know it sounds kinda hypocritical to be a soldier while opposing certain weapons, but…"
"No, don't say that," the pink-haired elf said. "Your kind of thinking is the kind I want to do for my people. To create new technologies to help improve their lives, not to make them worse. Honestly, if anything, the way you talk, it's kind of inspiring."
"I, uhh… heh. Thanks, Hatsume."
"Please… call me Mei."
"Oh. Okay… then you can call me Yosetsu."
On the sixth day of their visit in the city of Summus, Momo and the rest of her crew were summoned to one of the bigger royal courtyards by Queen Hatsume.
"I hope you've all been enjoying your stay here," the pink-haired queen said.
"Indeed we have," Momo said. "But, we have to get back soon. We were supposed to return to our base by tomorrow, and people are going to begin asking questions…"
"Ah, yes! That's actually why I called you here! It should be arriving right about… now."
Momo and the others were confused at what she meant. Looking around, she didn't see anything. Just the grass, the nearby halls of the palace, and some big shadows…
"HOLY SHIT, WHAT THE FUCK?!"
Hearing Tsuburaba's scream of shock, Momo immediately looked towards where her meteorologist and several other members of her team were looking, only to see a…
Wait a minute… IS THAT A GIANT FUCKING BOAT?!
Descending from the skies above them was a wooden ship, like the kind explorers used to sail on during the olden days but… different. Sleaker. Maybe it was the fact that this ship was designed for the skies rather than the seas, but… it had some interesting additions.
For starters, both the front and lower sides of the port and starboard were decked out in these four massive blue crystals that were glowing, most likely the ones responsible for allowing this vessel to defy the laws of gravity. Aside from that, there were also giant crossbows planted into the wooden decks of the ships. Oh, and the underside of the hull came with wooden stilts.
The design itself is also interesting. The sails were to the side, and the colors of this ship, besides the base wooden brown, were a navy blue for the bottom of the hull, alongside red markings from top to bottom, and finally, a golden plating around the red and the edges.
All in all, a fantasy-looking ship, perfect for a fantasy world.
The ship landed in the middle of the courtyard with a gracious thud, as the giant blue crystals stopped glowing, while the elven team that was operating it stepped out, with mechanized wooden stairs popping out of the ship's port side to help them get off.
"Holy shit, that's amazing…" Uraraka whispered.
Momo had to agree with her on that one. Even if this vessel was never as fast as a plane, it would still allow someone to reach their destination faster than on foot. Wait…
"Is this… is this for us…?" the raven-haired woman asked Hatsume.
"Yep-yep! I had a few of my designers overhaul the bottom area of the ship in order to create a lower level to store your land vehicles in. It may have sacrificed a lot of the cabins, but you should all still be able to sleep if you share," Hatsume said. "So, whaddya think?"
"I… I don't know what to say… Why…?"
"Two reasons, actually," the eleven queen said. "I know for a fact that I'm the reason you wouldn't be able to make it back to your base by the time your superiors gave you, since you've been staying here per my request. I figured that this could help you get home faster."
"I see," Momo said. "And the second reason…?"
"I wanna ally with your nation."
The Japanese woman did a double-take when she heard that. "What?"
"You heard me correctly. I wanna ally with the nation of Japan," Hatsume said. "My time with your mechanic has been… amazing. I've learned so many new things. Plasma displays, three-dimensional printing, nuclear energy, the internet… so many amazing things. I know that in your pursuit of knowledge, your world has done some really bad things, but… with your hindsight, my people are going to make sure that we don't fall into the same pitfalls as you did. All while learning so much knowledge, that it'll take centuries for us to ever finish it."
Momo was silent for a bit. The idea of giving this woman information about the sciences and technologies of her world was… an interesting one, to say the least. Of course, there were things that were going to remain top secret, such as nuclear weapons and such, but… Hatusme didn't seem interested in those sorts of things. Everything Momo had seen within her kingdom, it was done for the betterment of her people. To live happier and easier lives.
And that was a cause that Momo Yaoyorozu could get behind.
"So, I take it that this ship also doubles as a demonstration of what you can do?"
The pink-haired elf nodded at that. "Yeah. I wanna show the Japanese government that my nation is a worthwhile ally. That by combining both my people's culture and magic and your world's advanced sciences… we all stand to make a change for the better."
"Hatsume, this is a generous gift…"
"Ah, ah, ah! I won't have any of that!" Hatsume said, wagging her finger. "I insist that you take this ship! And if it makes you feel any better, it's an older model, anyways."
The young lieutenant blinked at that. "It is?"
"Yeah, these days we are developing smaller ships, with plant-based organic frames, and powered by spirits," Hatusme said. "Way faster than this old relic over here."
Momo couldn't help but laugh at that. "Hahahaha! Okay, then! On behalf of the Japanese Self-Defense Force, I humbly accept this gift, and look forward to a future together!"
"Hell yeah, that's the spirit!" Hatsume said, slapping Momo's back.
As Yosetsu Awase watched everyone else packing their things into the massive from above in the palace veranda, he felt… content, for the first time in his life.
At first, he didn't know why, but ever since he began talking with Hatsume, he felt himself becoming less and less jaded. When he first met the elven queen, he was a bit intimidated by her, but slowly, as the days passed, he looked forward to seeing her talk.
Seeing such a brilliant woman in action, watching as she explained her newest invention, swapping ideas with her, it all made him feel so alive… and happy.
He wanted to stay here. With her.
When he was assigned to this mission, Yosetsu was a bit apathetic, maybe sour about the idea. After all, he was just a mechanic. What good would that be in a world where people could summon lightning at their fingertips and dragons flew above the skies?
And while hanging out with Rin and the Monsterfucker Duo was somewhat stressful, he had to admit, they made decent friends. Hell, his conversations with Lieutenant Yaoyorozu, Kirishima and even Shield were nice, it really didn't compare to when he was with Hatsume.
Call it desertion, but Yosetsu wanted to stay here. Maybe he could convince Yaoyorozu to let him stay? That was for later. Right now, he needed to talk to Mei.
Walking into the room with the veranda, Yosetsu's eyes widened at Mei's beautiful dress. It was still the same blue and white dress adorned with golden jewelry, and while nowhere near as good-looking as her inventor outfit, it was still a work of art to the mechanic's eyes.
"So," she started. "You and the others will be heading out soon."
"Yeah, they will," Yosetsu said. "But… I don't think I want to go with them."
"What? Like, you want to stay here?"
"Yeah, I do," Yosetsu said. "Mei, you're amazing. You're a genius inventor, even without recreating things that already existed in my world, you're super nice, and great to be around! These past six days have been amazing, and… I think… I think I might love you…"
The mechanic stayed silent, as Mei opened her mouth. "Yosetsu…"
"Yeah?"
"I already have a boyfriend."
Yosetsu could feel his heart plummet and shatter as he heard that.
Fuck. He didn't see that one coming. Wasn't royalty supposed to have some kind of official courtship? Now that he thought about it, would he even be allowed to date her? Shit.
He needed to salvage this quickly.
"As a sibling! I meant as a sibling!" he lied. "Or like a really good friend!"
"Oh! That's what you mean!" Mei gasped. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to assume…"
"No, it's perfectly fine! I should have worded that better…"
"Yeah, that one's on you…"
Yosetsu tried to ignore the sting of that comment. "So, uh… who's the lucky guy?"
"Oh, it's Tenya!"
"Your knight?" In hindsight, that actually made sense. He was constantly guarding her, so they had plenty of time together. Yosetsu really should have seen that one coming…
"Yeah, he's great! But we're trying to keep our relationship private, for the time being," Mei said. "Anyways, you were saying something about not wanting to leave here…?"
"Uh, I mean, yeah! This place is… great… so great…" the bandana-wearing man said. "But, I know that the rest of my squad needs me, and I would be a fish out of water here, so…"
"Yeah, I don't think it would have worked out," Mei said. "I mean, with how long we elves live, it would have been something like how long you humans live compared to dogs…"
If you listened closely, you could hear Yosetsu Awase's happiness slowly die right there.
"But yeah, we can be friends!" Mei smiled, as she offered her hand.
Yosetsu smiled as he took her hand. "Yeah. Friends."
"Okay, you're good, you're good, you're good… and stop!"
Momo watched silently as Komori instructed Kodai in parking the last of the LAVs into the inside of the ship. Good enough park job until they arrived back to the base.
"Is that everything?" Sato asked.
"I believe so," Kaibara said. "Is there anything else we need to do?"
"Just make sure that we don't leave anyone behind," Rin said.
Momo nodded at what the team zoologist said. She knew that Monoma, Kendo and Bakugou were with Kirishima on deck, Aoyama and Uraraka were here with herself and Melissa, and Tsuburaba was still by Kaibara's side, which only left… oh, he was coming now.
"Ah, Mousier Awase," Aoyama said. "How was your farewell to Queen Hats–"
"I don't wanna talk about it," Awase said, as he marched towards the ship.
Komori didn't look convinced. "Uhhh, are you alright, dude?"
"Yeah, perfectly fine. Let's just get out of here already."
"Okaaay…" Melissa said. "Well, that happened."
Yep. There was definitely a story there. But that was for later.
Right now, it was time for them to go home.
After making sure that everyone and everything was on board, Momo had Kendo man the wheel of the ship, as the blue crystals began to glow, sending them into the sky.
Looking down from the palace courtyard, Momo could see Queen Hatsume and her royal staff waving them good-bye, which she and the rest of the SREU more than reciprocated.
Flying far overhead of the palace and out of the city, seeing everything from a bird's eye view was kind of amazing. Sure, Momo had seen out of the window of a plane before, but this brought a whole new perspective to it all. And to top it all off…
"WHOO-HOO!"
…watching Melissa fly like a gracious bird was worth every second of this trip.
Melissa Shield smiled, as she felt the wind blowing past her hair.
It had been a while since she was able to spread her wings like this, to fly this high up. In fact, it hadn't happened ever since she was cast out of the upper planes by her creator… The day she met Momo and the rest of the Special Region Exploration Unit.
Shaking her head, Melissa reminded herself that it didn't matter now. She was her own person, now free to do whatever she wished. She would help Momo and her squad on their missions, and then she would make her way towards the edge of the continent, back to him.
Cruising alongside the flying ship, Melissa smiled as she saw that everyone was enjoying their first time flying through the skies. Even that sourpuss Bakugou had a soft smile on his face.
However, there was one person that seemed to be brooding.
Awase.
She may not have known what had happened within those palace walls before they left, but Melissa had enough of a woman's intuition to make an educated guess.
Lowering herself back down to the deck of the ship, she landed gracefully, before she walked up towards the spiky-haired mechanic, who was simply staring out into the view.
Placing her hands on top of the wooden railing like he did, she asked, "You good?"
Awase didn't say anything for a bit, before he asked, "Did Yaoyorozu put you up to this?"
"No, actually. I'm doing this out of my own free will."
The bandana-wearing soldier simply hummed, not saying anything else.
"Okay, I know I might not seem like the best person to talk to you right now, but I can kinda relate to what you're going through," the angelic blonde said.
Awase looked up to her. "Really?"
"Kinda. I may have never been rejected, but I do know what it's like to be hit with such a big curveball in life. When I was younger, I thought that doing my job was all that mattered. But then, I fell in love and was cast out. My entire world was turned upside down."
"Oh, yeah? And how did you manage?"
"I met a bunch of people. A stoic woman with black hair, a manly dude who wants to make everyone happy, an angry blond with a soft side, and a bandana-wearing dude who's one of the smartest guys I know. And I'm happy to call all of them my friends."
Awase was quiet for a few moments, before he chuckled. "Thanks, Shield."
"Anytime, Awase."
Mirio Togata walked out of the tavern, and walked towards the outside of town, where Nejire and Tamaki were waiting for him. "So, are we ready to go?" the blue-haired witch asked.
The blond warrior nodded. According to his calculations, it would take them at least two months on foot to get from where they were to the capital of Daemonium; more than enough time to train and get stronger, before they eventually reached the end of the continent.
"Then we should get going…" the elven archer said.
"Yeah," Mirio said, gripping One For All's hilt. Yagi Toshinori gave him this sword to fulfill his mission. Hisashi Shigaraki may be gone, but as long as his son was sitting on that throne, the world would never be at peace. It was the duty of Mirio and his party to end this.
"Let's go kill ourselves a Demon King."
Author's Note: Sorry, Awase.
Anyways, for those wondering, the ice cream came from Goblin Slayer, the movie theater from Disenchantment, and the flying boat from Vox Machina. Those are all of the references I feel like talking about, so you can guess for the others. Comment time!
Shin: Okay, sooo… Awase may not have gotten completely jinxed when he teamed up with Hatsume, depending on your point of view. I've never heard of Thundarr the Barbarian, but the premise does sound a bit interesting. Glad to see you had fun with your D&D sessions, I usually crack jokes at mine as well, calling the warforged cleric in our party the Terminator, and having my character overall acting like he was isekai'd.
KaoriA (Guest): Awesome, a new reader! I am interested in how you stumbled across my story, perhaps you were using specific tags, or saw that I was promoting it on one platform or another? Regardless, I'm glad to see you enjoying the story so far, especially with the setting I've created. Getting into the writing mood is pretty hard, yeah, but once you get into the flow, you're set. I hope you enjoy everything that's coming soon!
VinHD15: Ohhh… sorry for destroying this prospective ship. I would try to comfort you, but the truth is, I haven't written anything about the Chaos Corps getting any, sooo… hopefully you'll be satisfied with the main ships that are coming soon?
Ashxdream (Guest): Oh, sweet! Another newcomer! Glad you found this good! And yeah, it sucks that Kota lost his parents again, but trust me, between what happens to him in this story and towards his counterpart in Megethos, I think he'll be fine.
MuffinMcGuffin: Glad to see you've caught up! In all honesty, the whole GATE thing was just a way to allow a crew of modern-day people to find magical Skull Island, but I'm still glad to get so many positive reviews. And I think you're gonna like what happens to our characters next time (it involves Tartarus, mercenaries, and a couple wars).
Quanto: Yeah, Mei making machines was pretty much a given here.
As a special announcement, I have also made a Twitter account to post my art, so if anyone is interested in checking it out, /ErnaloreProf is the link.
If you want more content, visit my Discord, the link is /3PFYSt8Dqz. You can chat with others, post memes, fanfic recommendations and prompts, role play, fan art, and we even have a writer's corner now! I'll also drop by with announcements and chat with you all every now and then! Also, if you want to add me as a friend, my username is Ernalore#8663! Just please make sure to follow the rules.
Thanks for reading, and once again, see you next time!
- Ernalore
