I feel as though I'm in a dream.

The sky is dim and the air is stale. There's a lingering stench leaving the ground - a mixture of melting steel and charred flesh. I can hear the faint waves sweeping the beach, leaving seashells on the wet sand or dragging it back. There isn't a single life around me when I try to concentrate for any sound other than my own slow and deep breaths.

It's quiet.

My mind is a bit hazy when I try to recall my last memory. It's not a beach but there's crumbled buildings and the raging fire around me barely lit my line of sight.

There's someone.

As I shut my eyes close and clench my teeth to further dig into my memory, I see a faint determined figure in black roaring at me and swinging a glinting silver blade. Everything is hazy after I try to move my limbs in response to a large beast snapping its jaws at me.

There's another one.

I believe several minutes have passed and someone else stood beside that figure. It's a white one with a much calmer and gentler approach. She, too, is accompanied by a beast and it's passive, only faithfully following its master.

"..."

Her lips part and move, but no voice reaches to my hearing. My mind is still hazy, so I couldn't remember her voice or her words. However, I'm certain the conversation isn't a fairly long one while she stands in front of the black figure laying flat on the ground. That annoying figure is alive, but I lost the appetite when the white figure gazes up at me.

Why is that?

The white figure briefly turns back to the unconscious figure, seemingly hesitating at something. The figure then turns back at me and faintly smiles, but those icy blue eyes are filled with sorrow.

What happened after that...?

I dig into my memory again, but there's only the calmness of seemingly allowing myself to fall beneath the surface of the freezing sea. I couldn't feel it chill on my skin, but the cold soothing every part of me is lulling me to shut my eyes close.

Why was I sinking?

Sinking gradually dulls my senses and my limbs grow stiff. I keep on sinking and sinking until the tiniest light above me is extinguished. My vision grows dark until the rest of my senses surrenders to the crushing pressure of the lightless depth.

Everything hurts...

That's right. When I regain my senses, my mangled body is lying on the ground. My left arm is missing, my abdomen slashed from left to right, and a flesh-cutting slash goes from my left shoulder and nearly tears my chest.

I feel numb...but glad

I click my tongue, sensing the dryness in my mouth and the itching feeling in my throat. The "monster" nearly eliminated us but it collapsed when its physical form loses its anchor, crumbling like coals rolling down a steep mountain. Its enormous and bulky form gradually disintegrates right before me, black mist erupting from its crumbling mass.

...

My sister risked her life by gambling away of fending off the beast with an insatiable appetite. She's right beside me, severely wounded and lost consciousness when she fought until her will couldn't force her body to keep on fighting any longer. All I did was protect her until the last minute, buying even a few seconds enough for the creature to be banished.

Did we really win...?

Ignoring my instincts' craving, I ponder at the outcome. It's a monster molded by human desire, infecting a revived specimen of an unknown species. The creature is gone...but even with the excruciating pain, I'm left to worry that the beast will simply reassemble itself because desire within humans cannot be truly vanquished.

Hunger...

As if it clawed at me and tore my arm out of spite for robbing it a tenacious meal, the soreness of my throat out of thirst and the twisting on my damaged abdomen out of hunger, I'm cursed to crave...to desire when I thought I lost my needs and wants upon retrofit.

...

The strange dream comes to a brief end when sensation returns to the entire body, restarting basic functions as such moving the fingers then after a few seconds, the hand.

"Nngh..."

Tirpitz lifts her aching left arm and presses her left palm on her forehead to try and ease the dizziness of being jolted awake. Her vision is doubling everything and the extra image is like a faint mirage in her perspective.

(This is...me...)

Before wondering about her current location, Tirpitz rubs her supposedly severed left hand to her cheek, confirming the presence of human skin and soft flesh beneath it. She moves her hand in front of her face and gently moves each of her fingers, confirming the current state of her body.

"Good morning, Tirpitz. You've finally regained consciousness after sixteen hours"

To the left side, near the window, is Graf Zeppelin quietly reading a book about past human conflicts. She sits there with her legs crossed and her gazed fixated towards the barely awake Tirpitz.

"You are..." Tirpitz blinks in surprised

"Hmm?" Graf Zeppelin slightly tilts her head

"Who I am I...?"

In her dream are two perspectives of two different people, leaving her greatly confused and anxious that she momentarily lost her sense of reality and identity. Her mind has difficulty processing information - physically, emotionally, and mentally. Her current state is an entirely nee sensation, but she's more confused than curious as of the moment.

"Graf...Zeppelin...?" Tirpitz recognizes her but barely certain

After a moment of silence, Tirpitz realizes she's lying in the infirmary room from the sterilized scent, but it's more a private room for patients.

"Everything hurts..." Tirpitz silently groans

She tries to move her body, but pain reverberates and stiffens her limbs the moment she makes sense of her current current situation, forcing her to remain lying on her back.

"You nearly died. Bismarck herself nearly died too, but she still had enough strength to drag your body. Honestly, I thought you were dead with how mutilated you looked" Graf Zeppelin sighs

"I died?" Tirpitz is only mildly shocked

"Maybe the afterlife kicked you out. You weren't breathing, but you gasped for air before we nearly declared you dead"

"...I don't remember what happened. There was a shadow...and I thought it ripped me apart..."

"Codename: Beelzebub. Azur Lane gave it that name with how it even eats buildings. It was one of the few specimens found by the Sirens and one of the few who awakened in this timeline. Other known ones are Mammon and Lucifer"

"Beelzebub, huh...

Tirpitz feels a slight ring and tug right in her chest when she whispers the name to herself. It's somewhat nostalgic and makes her hands tremble in nervousness. Her mind isn't certain if she's afraid or annoyed by the name.

"Is Bismarck alright?" Tirpitz changes the topic

"She recovered already but is still too weak to charge back into battle. Even if Bismarck doesn't show it, she's deathly worried whether you'll wake up or not, so some of us take turns in case you wake up"

"Why...?"

"It's to assure her that you're alright. After the battle, she secretly asked Neumark to save you first. She's strict and proud, but she cares about you. It's her pride that's making her hide it" Graf Zeppelin scoffs

(The curse will never leave me be...)

Not even an hour has passed, yet Tirpitz mildly frowns at herself when her throat seeks refreshment and her tongue desires for sweetness. Back then, the beast's eyes glowed as soon as it bit through her arm and severed it from the rest of her body. The beast's remaining arm tightly gripped her already mangled body and parts its jaws in front of her.

Crave...forever haunted...by insatiable desire...long for intangible meals...to fill thine hollowed heart

Mine claws shall rend...thine appetite...thine burden...mine meal...desires, thoughts, memories...emotions...

Thine numb heart...mine appetizer...thine flesh...mine whole meal...thine sentience...mine dessert...

The creature's nearly inaudible voice echoes not in her ears but in every corner of her mind. Its body creaks and cracks spread all over its broad chest, spiteful for preventing its jaws from tasting a fiery and tenacious meal out of Bismarck.

"Beelzebub, the sin of gluttony. No wonder it keeps talking about eating more than actual food..."

Tirpitz thinks about the human representation in the form of a grotesque fly yet creature, much like its brethren, is a deep sea dragon fitting their nickname, Leviathan.

"Good grief. It's not bad to bee determined and fearless, but you and your sister often find yourselves in near death situations. You two are fortunate to be difficult to kill..."

From the annoyed and exhausted tone alone, Tirpitz doesn't have to speak to guess that Graf Zeppelin isn't impressed or complimenting her. If she isn't in the situation where she had just regained consciousness and is slowly recovering from being mutilated, Graf Zeppelin's tone would have been much harsher and stricter since Bismarck.

"Tirpitz, is something wrong?" Graf Zeppelin stands up

"My body feels a little weak for now. I jumped in front of a certain death fearing the crumbling monster might finish Bismarck off..."

"That's reckless indeed. Once you recover enough strength to leave the infirmary, Bismarck is certain to scold you for trying to sacrifice yourself"

"I didn't want to die either, but between Bismarck and my life - the choice is obvious" Tirpitz sighs in exhaustion

"It's true, Bismarck is the only one who can secure our people's future, but we do not sacrifice one of our own, let alone abandon them. Bismarck is going to scold you for throwing your life away for her sake"

"...I'm surprised Victorious hasn't charged in here yet"

"She did, but she flailed and screamed when we kicked her out. That loud aircraft carrier tried to barge into the room for nearly getting yourself killed again"

"Ah..."

Tirpitz lightly closes her eyes just to imagine Victorious screaming incoherently at the top of her lungs while she struggles by wildly kicking her legs.

"Anyhow, rest for the rest of the day. I will report your progress in recovery directly to Bismarck. I'm sure, Neumark will come here for a check-up in case of extensive injuries"

Graf Zeppelin clasps the book close and places it at a small desk nearby, in case Tirpitz is bored enough to browse through depressing history.

"Don't go off on your own or I might chain you to your bed"

"I won't..."

"You have that annoying aircraft carrier. Don't go off dying like it's an honor because you'd be abandoning your friend. We should only greet our deaths if we're not going to leave anything behind..."

"..."

Graf Zeppelin walks past her and as she pulls open the door, she leaves with one last reminder to Tirpitz. Her tone is calmer and somewhat sorrowful as a form of her sincerity and worry.

"..."

As soon as Graf Zeppelin hurriedly walks past the door and closes it behind her at the same time, Tirpitz lets out a deep sigh in relief. She could easily sense Graf Zeppelin being upset at her careless actions even if hadn't feared it after surviving and possibly might repeat it.

"Memories, thoughts, emotions...and desires. To taste and sate this hunger...caused by this infection

Tirpitz carefully looks around her, somewhat paranoid that someone might be watching. She lifts her arms and flips her hands to stare at the back of her hands. Faint purple lines become visible and take the shape of what appears to be thick cracks. The serrated and slightly curved edges carved into her skin are more of symbolizing the jagged teeth and clawed hands of a voracious infection.

"I have to consult someone...but I have to be careful with what I say for now. I haven't adjusted to this yet."

Tirpitz shakes her head and clenches both of her fists to regain her focus and composure. She grits her teeth and squeezes her hands, somewhat uncomfortable in her current situation, enduring more than what appears to be a parasitic infection.

Still, I never thought it'd be this uncomfortable waking up...