August von Parseval woke up with a severe headache, slowly opening her eyes and grimacing at the light of the sun shining directly above her.
The first thing she noticed was the cold steel binding her wrists together behind her back. The second was her rigging, floating in the water a few feet ahead, with its wings and legs chained up to its torso and its maw sealed by another chain; the light in its eyes was not completely gone, and it was looking at her with a forlorn expression.
Normally, it would be able to break free from such simple means of constraint with minimum effort, but as she had noticed before, those chains weren't normal; they could keep it in place without breaking while they were fighting with the male Kansen, who was able to wield them with skill and mastery that defied the laws of physic.
Besides, even if it were able to free itself, in its condition, it didn't stand a chance against that shark-like rigging, which was making sure its counterpart was aware of its presence by floating next to it, ready to intervene if it decided to act rashly.
"You are finally awake."
A deep voice came from her side. Leviathan was sitting on a crate a few feet away from her, shirtless, his uniform and cape drying off on the railing of the ship they found themselves on.
Only then did she realize that they were on the bow of one of the few wrecks that had been spared during the battle. It was slightly tilted forward, and it was leaning over a rock keeping it steady.
She tried to sit up, leaning with her back on the cabin of the ship, and turned towards him, taking in the sight in front of her.
His medium-length jet-black hair had already dried up, and it was now adorning his head in a disheveled fashion, which combined with his short and well-trimmed beard and the unhappy expression on his face gave him a wild and dangerous appearance.
She hadn't noticed before, but he was ripped; the uniform and cape he was wearing before were doing a great job at hiding his broad shoulders, his sculpted pecs, and his big arms... covered in an intricate pattern of scars and blemishes that resembled the chains he wielded too much to be simply a coincidence.
"What? Do I have something on my face?" He spoke with an almost accusatory tone of voice.
He must have noticed her wandering gaze stopping at his forearms, where the scars were more prominent.
"I'm just surprised," August answered with her usual tone of voice, completely unfazed by the situation she found herself in. "You've decided to spare my aide when you could have had it torn apart by your own rigging. Pray tell, why would you do something like that? Its presence here will only pose a threat to you in the future. Wouldn't it be better for you to just eliminate it?"
He remained silent; he knew exactly why he did that, but he couldn't allow himself to say it. His gaze wandered to his own rigging, still floating next to the dragon, the shark's body half-submerged.
"I heard the way you address your rigging; you called it 'Liebe,' 'Love,' you care about it, and you know I care about mine. You are just like an open book to me, dear; you didn't have it involved in the fight sooner because you didn't want to endanger it-"
"HER… not IT. She is not a thing, and you will remember it if you don't wish for those chains to be even tighter than they already are." His voice came out in a low, menacing tone. "And I didn't have her involved in our fight sooner because I'd sent her ahead on scouting duty. I was just waiting for her to come back and take you by surprise."
August ignored the last part of his declaration and focused on the first instead. "Oh, feeling confident in giving me orders now?" She said with an amused expression on her face. "What a way to assert dominance over your defeated opponent, my dear. But spare me the empty threats; you are too considerate to hurt someone without a good reason, and my current condition holds true to that."
"Oh? And what makes you say that?" He inquired, raising an eyebrow at her.
"You could have done many worse things to me, but you decided to just patiently wait for me to wake up; you are nothing but a sheep pretending to be a wolf," she finished, sending a mocking giggle at the man.
"The audacity of this woman," Leviathan thought to himself. She was his prisoner, he could do anything he wanted with her; she was basically at his mercy, and yet, she was acting as if he was the one chained up. She was half-right though, he was too much the restrained type to get fired up over such a blatant provocation, but he would be lying if he said that her words weren't hurting his pride a little.
He had to find a way to get back at her.
Lost in thought, his gaze fell on her; his breath was caught in his throat, and he was forced to swallow a lump. Her still wet uniform was clinging tightly to her voluptuous body, highlighting her curves, and from this angle, he had a perfect view of the soft underside of her pale, thick thighs, covered in black stockings.
She could feel his gaze on her body. She was used to the lascivious stares men would send her way, but she'd never even glanced back at them. The only person from whom she would gladly receive that kind of look would be her thrall, eventually. She couldn't help the devious thoughts coming to her mind; after all, this kind of situation was a novelty to her, and she was still determined to make him hers, so she decided to explore it and see how far she could push it.
"See something you like, my dear?" She spoke with a sultry tone of voice, switching positions with her legs. "Have I stirred something within your mind?"
Leviathan rolled his eyes. There she was, trying to fire him up again.
Not answering, he slowly got up from his sitting position and started walking towards her with deliberately slow steps and an unreadable expression on his face.
"Perchance, have I wounded your pride with my musings? And now you wish to reclaim your honor by punishing me?" August continued, without getting intimidated.
He came to a stop right in front of her, still fixing her with his green eyes.
"If you wanted to take advantage of me, you would have done so while I was asleep, or maybe I misjudged you? Maybe you are not such a good-natured man; maybe you like it when your prey struggles in vain and begs for mercy?"
With a swift move, he leaned over her and slammed his right hand next to her head, looking straight into her eyes and making her flinch slightly. They were so close they could feel each other's breath on their faces.
Her rigging started struggling. Liebe growled next to it in a warning.
"I wonder how much of that mettle of yours is real…" His other hand came to rest on her covered thigh. "...and how much is just a facade you are putting up," the man said to the bound woman beneath him.
His fingers started moving, slowly tracing upward. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest, his face getting even closer to hers.
"Shall we find out together?" He whispered into her ear.
The black fabric of her stockings ended, and his hand reached the soft, pale flesh of her backside.
Then he pinched it. Hard.
"HYAH!" She flinched from her position, a loud, short shrill coming out of her lips.
Unable to contain his amusement, he stood back up to his feet, laughing wholeheartedly.
She couldn't help the blush coming to her face, her heart beating loudly in her chest. She bit her lips and turned away from him with a mortified expression on her face.
After he was done laughing at her expenses, he went to sit back again, this time positioning himself slightly closer to her.
"Settle down; as you've already guessed, I'm not that kind of man." He reassured her.
"Y-you… How dare you! This is not how you treat your mistress! I will not forget this impertinence of yours! Just you wait, I will administer comeuppance when you least expect it!" She couldn't believe the audacity of this man; how could he fool her in such a way and then backpedal at the last second just to humiliate her?!
Leviathan sighed, massaging his temple with his hand. "Are you still going on with that whole 'mistress' and 'thrall' stuff? You are even more stubborn than I thought."
"Of course I am!" August let out, going back to her authoritative tone, trying to stand up from her position. "You are a valiant Iron Blood Kansen, a strong-willed and kind man; you defeated me in fair combat, turning the tables on my attempt at subjugating you. Not only you are the perfect individual to become my familiar, but you are the only man on this planet worthy of standing at my side as an equal for eternity."
Leviathan was taken aback by that declaration. This woman was basically asking him to marry her. She wasn't asking though; for her, everything was already done. Any man with red blood pumping through their veins would have a hard time refusing her demands, but for him, there were several problems: he wasn't from this world, for starters; they were trying to kill each other literally minutes ago, and finally, he had more important stuff to do at the moment.
On second thought, though, maybe he could take advantage of that; striking a deal with this woman and convincing her to help him find his brothers was suddenly starting to sound like a good plan. He had no idea where he was and didn't even know where to start. He had nothing to lose and everything to gain.
"I want to ask you something," he started. "How much do you know about the Sirens and the political situation of this place?"
"After such a heartfelt declaration, that is all you are capable of thinking about." She turned her head away from him in disdain. Was she pouting? "I refuse to disclose any kind of information until you give me a proper answer."
Leviathan face-palmed and let out a frustrated sigh. "Fine. If accept your… proposal? Or whatever... will you help me in my undertaking?"
"Yes, absolutely. Whatever that may be," she said, glancing back toward him. The piercing gaze she sent him was so intense that he almost flinched. "You have finally allowed yourself to be bound to me. You will amuse me for all eternity, darling."
"What have I gotten myself into?" He wondered, a shiver running down his spine. "Can you please answer my question now?"
"But of course, though I would appreciate it if you removed my shackles; if we want to conduct a proper conversation as equals, I'd like to be in a more comfortable position."
Leviathan thought about it for a moment and decided to fulfill her request. Even if she were lying and tried to do something, her rigging was still bound, and she was powerless without it.
He stood up intending to free her… and threw himself on top of her, pushing her down, as he saw something glinting in the corner of his eye.
Then, a laser beam impacted the superstructure of the ship, right where she had been leaning over. He felt a stab of pain in his right shoulder; it burned like hell, and it took him all his willpower not to scream in agony. August, beneath him, could only watch as his face contorted into a mask of pain.
"Leviathan, your chains! Remove them at once!" She said with urgency in her voice.
Gritting his teeth, he forced himself to stand up and mentally reached for his Wisdom Craft. The chain around August's wrists unraveled itself in an instant and wrapped around his left forearm. Then he sent forward the loose end in front of him, making it spiral in the form of a coil from which a transparent energy shield was generated, just in time to receive another laser beam, protecting them both.
After the light of the beam subsided, he retracted the chain and was able to take a good look at their attacker. His breath died in his throat at seeing what was in front of him.
August stood up behind him. "What is that creature?" She asked more to herself, massaging her wrists. "Could that be another Siren contrivance?"
Leviathan remained speechless for a second. "How come you are a Kansen but you've never seen an Elite Siren?" He asked her, incredulous.
"I could say the same about you, my dear; that thing is not an Elite, they are a lot less monstrous," August retorted, now sharing his perplexity.
The thing hovering in the sky, many feet above their level, was humanoid, but only in shape. Its body was covered in armor, or rather, its body was the armor; it was too slim and slender to be otherwise, and it was covered in black and gray metal plates. Its arms and legs were shaped like elongated needles at the elbows and knees, which meant it had neither feet nor hands. An object that resembled a Wisdom Cube and shone with an ominous yellow light was embedded in its sternum. On its back, protruding from its shoulder blades, there were two tentacle-like appendages; both ended with a long and thin barrel, and both were still dimly glowing from having just shot those laser beams. Four shorter tentacles with four smaller barrels came out of its tailbone.
But the most noticeable part of its body was its head… because it was missing. The upper part of its chest armor was shaped like a neck, but there was nothing on top of it.
If August didn't recognize the thing in front of them as an Elite Siren, it meant only one thing: Sirens in this world were different. He then figured that this one was hailing from his own world, but that posed another question. Why was it here?
He figured it was a straggler that followed him and his brothers through the Mirror Sea and all the way to this world when it collapsed. Whatever the case, he couldn't allow it to do as it pleased. He had to terminate it.
The Siren, after realizing that its lasers were ineffective, opted for a more direct approach. It used the thrusters on its back, and behind its elbows and knees to dash toward the two Kansen.
"We'll talk about it later; it's coming!" Leviathan had enough time to push August out of the way, over the railing of the ship, and turned to receive the attack of the Siren.
It was thrusting his arm pins forward and coming at him at high speed. So he took the blade dangling at the loose end of his chain with his right hand and pulled it at the last second, straightening it in front of him.
The blades of the Siren passed through the chain, stopping a few inches from his chest, getting stuck in the rings that were too narrow to let them pass all the way through.
The two struggled like that for a few seconds, trying to one-up each other. Leviathan gritted his teeth, trying to ignore the pain coming from his right shoulder.
Without missing a beat, the monster aimed both of its tentacles at his face and started charging another beam.
"Now, Liebe!" Leviathan shouted.
The shark-like rigging, who had been patiently waiting for her owner's command, jumped out of the water and landed on the deck of the wreckage, the weight of the impact rocking the ship and almost making the shipboy lose his footing.
Her jaws were a few feet away from the enemy, but her goal was not to bite but rather to shoot. From that position, she aimed all the cannons she had at the Siren and opened fire with all of them at once, being careful not to involve Leviathan in the range of the volley.
Most of the shells missed their target, which was too small for a clean hit, but those that did hit had enough force to send it flying away over the other side of the wreckage and into the sea.
"Good girl." Leviathan patted the shark on her snout before jumping down onto the water where August was waiting. Liebe rolled on her side and threw herself over, following her owner, impacting the waves with a plunge that raised a copious amount of water.
Down onto the water, August was livid; never in her life she had been manhandled in such an uncouth manner, but she knew why Leviathan did it. At that specific moment, she was a hindrance to him.
Swallowing her pride, she addressed the battleship. "Is hoping it's dead overly optimistic?"
"Yes, it'll recover soon, and it will be upon us immediately; it won't stop until we are dead," he declared.
As if on cue, they heard a metallic screech and glanced upward. The Siren was peaking over the railing of the ship and was looking down at them, as if pondering its next move.
August moved out of the way on her own this time, sprinting towards her own rigging, still bound and adrift in the water. Her sudden movement caught the attention of the Siren, that aimed one of her tentacles at her and fired a beam. Leviathan had already acted, recalling the chain that was still shackling August's rigging and making it fly toward the shipgirl to shield her from the attack.
It was just as August had thought; those chains were special. They were the product of Leviathan's Wisdom Crafting; he created them to specifically counter the Sirens' lasers, the same lasers to which his old body had "died." The chains themselves were virtually unbreakable, as long as his will was strong and his mind steady; they resonated with the same wavelength as the Wisdom Cubes, allowing him to basically neutralize their laser beams with no drawbacks. He could manipulate them however he wished, but the further they went from him, the worse his control over them got, and when they exited his range, he could do nothing but recall them toward himself.
But for that situation, it was enough. His chain was able to reach August in time and shield her at the last moment, blocking the laser that would have hit her in the back. She didn't even flinch at the close call and headed straight to her rigging, now freed from its shackles.
The dragon was already stretching its wings, its eyes brimming with newfound vitality at the sight of its owner safe and sound.
"My familiar, it's good to see you back on your feet," August said, jumping on its back. "Let us do battle once more, before heading back for respite."
The rigging tried its best at taking flight but was unable to pull through, still too spent from the previous fight, the light of its core flashing on and off as it thrashed about.
August's heart ached at its state but was moved by its determination. "My faithful aide, if we are able to pull through and come out victorious from this fight, I promise that upon our return I will bestow you with the honor of receiving your name from your master," she declared, caressing the neck of her aide. "As I should have already done before," she thought.
After pausing for a second, incredulous, the dragon spread its wing as wide as it could, letting out a powerful roar that made the surrounding water ripple. Its core lit up like a beacon, its light spreading through the metal scales of its body. It slowly started lifting itself from the water, while rows and rows of aircraft appeared on its wings, ready to be launched into the air and engage the new opponent.
Leviathan and the Elite, who had been squaring off near the shipwreck, preparing to lunge at each other, stopped at the sound of aircraft engine. A squadron of BF-110s was flying straight at them at high speed and low altitude.
Leviathan, who now had both his chains wrapped around his wrists, gawked in disbelief and grabbed Liebe's dorsal fin, which was sticking out of the surface, and let her drag him away, leaving the Siren behind. He was able to reach a safe distance right as the aircraft started their attack; bullets, rockets, and bombs impacted the Siren and the shipwreck behind it. One after the other, each aircraft unleashed everything it had before flying over and gaining altitude, preparing for the next bombing run.
Liebe came to a stop at a close distance from the side of August's rigging, which was now hovering a few feet above the surface. When the last one of the aircraft flew over and the smoke cleared, the shipwreck was left with only two mangled extremities, and there was no trace left of the Elite Siren.
"What a great performance that was, my aide; nothing's left of that Siren monstrosity," the shipgirl said, patting the neck of her rigging. Then she addressed the shipboy beneath her. "You'll have to forgive me for blowing up your clothes with it, my dear; we'll find you a change when we get back to port. Until then, you can keep flaunting around your 'hull,' it's quite pleasing to the eye."
Before he could retort, Liebe roared in warning from beneath him, pointing at August and her rigging with her snout.
Immediately figuring out what she was trying to say, Leviathan shouted, "August, watch out! That Siren can dive like a submarine!"
Before they could react, the now damaged armor came out of the surface like a rocket, propelling itself upwards. The four tentacles protruding from its tailbone extended towards the dragon and wrapped around its body; using them as grapples, the Siren perched itself on the rigging, dangerously close to August.
It jumped her almost immediately, trying to stab her with its remaining arm, but she threw herself over, clinging to her rigging's right arm. The dragon delicately wrapped its claws around her and started thrashing about in the air like a raging bull, trying to dismount the monster from its back. August could only hold on to it for dear life.
"Liebe, throw me!" Leviathan positioned himself behind Liebe. The rigging, still with her body half submerged, dove down and brought her tail up, flailing it like a whip and throwing the shipboy into the air toward the dragon.
Aiming at the Siren, he threw his left chain at it, and the blade stabbed it in the side. The armor tried to pull it out, but it was embedded too deeply in its body. Not missing a beat, Leviathan manipulated his chain so that it would rewrap itself around his arm, propelling himself towards the enemy at high speed.
He tackled the Siren midair, finally ripping it off the back of the dragon, forcing the both of them into a freefall. Wrestling in the air while falling, Leviathan tried to stab its chest with his other blade, but because of his injured shoulder, he couldn't put enough strength into the blow, and the blade bounced off the armor.
The Siren took advantage of that.
Leviathan's eyes widened as he felt a sharp pain coming from his back and arms. The Elite had extended the four tentacles coming out of its tailbone and had stabbed him with the four blades that came out of their ends; two of the blades were in his back, and the other two were stabbing his arms.
He tried to struggle against its grip, but it drove the blades further into his flesh, making him scream in pain.
Before they could impact the water, the Siren arrested their fall with its thrusters, gaining altitude once more and pausing midair. Turning towards August, it pointed the sharp edge of its remaining arm at Leviathan's neck, while its four tentacles, which remained embedded in his back, supported his weight in front of it.
August, who had ordered her rigging to lash out at the Siren, was forced to hold it back. The two sides were now hovering in front of each other, a few feet apart.
The shipgirl was regarding the enemy with a look of barely restrained fury, the expressionless Siren was holding the shipboy hostage, and Liebe, unable to intervene in such a situation, was swimming around in circles below them, releasing a cry of anguish.
After a few seconds of standoff, the Siren pointed its arm towards the sky, where August's aircraft were still flying around.
She narrowed her eyes at the monster. "You want me to recall them, correct?" The Siren didn't even react to her question, it just kept pointing upward. "Fine, I'll indulge you."
"August, don't do it..." Leviathan tried to warn her. "It doesn't want to negotiate; it wants to kill both of us. If you recall your planes, you'll be vulnerable." While saying this, he tried to make his move, manipulating his chains so that they could stab the Siren again, but before they could even start quivering, the Elite pushed the blades in his back further in, intimating him to stop talking, making him wince in pain and spit blood from his mouth. He understood right away that if he were to move an inch, the Siren would just kill him on the spot.
"No need to fret, my dear." August snapped her fingers and recalled all of her aircraft. One after the other, they flew down in formation, reducing themselves to their smaller size and landing on top of her rigging's wings before disappearing completely. "We have no further need for them."
When the last one of them disappeared, the Siren waited a few seconds, as if not expecting that she would comply so easily. Then it lowered its arm and retracted it, ready to stab Leviathan and finish him for good. Before it could do it, an artillery round impacted its back, making it lose its grip on the shipboy.
August's rigging immediately lashed out with its claws; its attack opened a gash in the Elite's armor and caused it to lose some altitude. Before the Siren could react, the dragon dove down toward it and bit it with its powerful jaws, shaking its head like a dog with a chunk of meat in its mouth. From below, Liebe jumped as high as she could, reaching the altitude of the other rigging and clamping her jaws on the exposed side of the armor.
The two riggings were now playing tug-of-war with the body of the Siren; Liebe remained suspended in midair for a few moments before the armor snapped like a twig and she fell down again. Both kept crunching until the armor was reduced to smithereens, then August's rigging spat out the mangled half-corpse of the Siren and let out a powerful roar, marking the end of the battle and their victory.
Finally, silence fell over the battlefield, and August took a few seconds to compose herself before intimating her rigging to descend and put her down.
When they reached the surface of the water, they saw Leviathan's figure lying down on top of Liebe's half-submerged body; her eyes and upper jaw were above the surface, and she was staring at them with an unreadable expression.
August approached the rigging and the shipboy, her own rigging following behind her. Leviathan was on his back, still awake and breathing heavily, blood pouring from under him, flowing down over the metal body of the shark and dripping into the water below.
When she got too close, Liebe released a menacing growl, but the shipboy patted her head, prompting her to calm down.
"It's okay, girl… They are friends now." His voice was hoarse and weak, and August couldn't bear to see him like that.
"August… Are you all right? You are not wounded, are you?" He turned to address her.
"Look at you, bleeding out like a lamb to the slaughter, and still worrying about my wellbeing," the shipgirl said, fearlessly hoisting herself atop the shark's head.
"Judging from your attitude, I'd say you are pretty fine…" Leviathan said with a sigh of relief.
She bent down next to him, near Liebe's dorsal fin, taking his head in her hands and placing it on her legs. The warmth and softness of her thighs were a welcome change from the cold and hard metal plates of his rigging.
She started combing his hair with her fingers, massaging his scalp; they stood like that without uttering a word for a few seconds.
"That volley… Where did it come from?" Leviathan broke the silence.
"That came from one of my comrades." She turned her gaze to the distance, where she could clearly see a fleet of Iron Blood shipgirls making their way toward them. "Before you made me lose consciousness, I sent one of my planes back to my base, setting it to autopilot. They must have seen it and decided to retrace its course back to us."
"I see…" the shipboy responded. "I'm sorry about that, by the way... I didn't mean to hit you that hard."
"You have nothing to apologize for, silly. It's all thanks to you that I'm still alive," the shipgirl replied. "You've put yourself in harm's way to protect me so many times, even after I attacked you and tried to make you submit to my will. You fought valiantly for your freedom first and for a stranger later, struggling against your fate with all your might. Do you have any idea of the effect that your actions can have on the heart of a maiden?" She leaned over him, looking straight into his eyes, her long hair cascading around his face. With a smile on her lips and her eyes full of emotion, he could see all the adoration and longing she had for him. He couldn't lie to himself; he was starting to feel the same.
"August… the truth is… I'm from another world…" he whispered with difficulty.
"Yes, I suspected as much. Now hush, my dear. We'll talk about it later when you wake up." She leaned down and kissed him on the lips, a long, tender, and loving kiss devoid of any ulterior motive.
That was the last straw for his tired body and mind; he let himself get lost in her embrace, and eventually, he fell asleep.
AN: This design of this Siren is inspired by the artwork of the Yu-Gi-Oh card "Krawler Soma;" of course, with a different color scheme and a few different details.
Probably, the other Sirens will also have the Krawler archetype style, even though they won't make another appearance until way later.
Next Chapter: Siblings