The conversation between Ryan and Kindle wasn't just a two-sided exchange of information.
The META light cruiser recounted the events that transpired when she and her retinue met the search fleet, all of which were supplemented by Alabama's report.
When asked, she also talked extensively about her experience traveling the timelines with her comrades—running, hiding, and fighting the Arbiters while struggling to get by—until they reached the current one by chance, and she managed to send her distress signal to Helena.
On his part, the Commander brought her up to speed on everything that happened after the departure of the search fleet, namely, the arrival of the Original Sirens, Purifier's visit to port, and the overall situation of the war.
As much as he wanted to, Ryan had the decency not to ask her about her timeline of origin; the way Helena reacted to her visions was enough of a telltale sign of what the META cruiser must have been through, and he didn't want to force her to recount it.
"Just like Enterprise told you, we won't force you to fight. You are free to stay here as long as necessary. Just stay out of trouble and don't draw too much attention. High command will be too busy with everything else to notice your presence if nobody informs them directly," he had told her.
But Kindle had shaken her head. She knew that her comrades had no intention of standing by, twiddling their thumbs until their time was up. They all had a clear idea of what their new duty was going to be.
"Commander, I heard that you are also harboring the male Kansen here and that they are actively taking part in the sorties. You are offering us protection, board, and lodging; it wouldn't be fair if we didn't pull our own weight. Besides, the desire to fight for humanity against the Siren still burns brightly in our hearts. If this is going to be our new home, we will do everything in our power to protect it this time, until those flames are completely exhausted."
Ryan's sole response to her heartfelt declaration was a nod of acceptance. If it was of their own free will, he'd allow them to join the other Kansen in the fight.
And after clarifying their position and intentions, there was only one matter left to address: their lodgings.
One of Chairwoman Tamayo's conditions for letting the shipboys stay was for them to lodge in a separate dorm from the shipgirls, if only to maintain a semblance of decency and discourage any potential debauchery on what, at the end of the day, was still a military base. Ryan didn't dare to inform her that it was a bit late for that, and that he shared part of the blame for it, seeing as though he was essentially dating his secretary, but nonetheless, he was compelled to commission the construction of a brand-new guest dorm.
The building, which was categorically detached from the other dorms, was smaller and less opulent than them, but still plenty cozy. The Bulins had constructed it in mere days, and it was ready to be used, but seeing as though more than half of the shipboys weren't even there to occupy it, Ryan decided to give it to the METAs.
Now it was only a matter of seeing how things turned out with their new guests while they waited for the rest of the search fleet to return.
Hopefully with good news.
After departing from the ruined city, it took the search fleet only a few hours to reach the position of the portal they had arrived from. The Mirror Sea, which had been opened by Cinder, was still up and running. Since the whole fiasco with the Ashes had kept them occupied for only a few hours total, it would remain operative for a while before it would run out of energy and disappear on its own. After crossing the portal, it'd take them a couple more days to reach Azur Lane, but it didn't matter; as long as they could say goodbye for good to that accursed place, no one had anything to complain about.
Despite the sullen mood permeating the ship, the Kansen on both sides seemed to be getting along rather well. Some more than others.
"I'm sorry, senpai!" Zuikaku deeply bowed to Hiryuu in apology.
"Zuikaku, what's gotten into you?" Hiryuu asked her. "What are you even apologizing for?"
"Your left arm... You'll never be able to swing a sword again because of me."
Hiryuu let out a self-deprecating laugh, bringing her right hand up to observe her stump. Regaining her expertise with the blade by switching to her non-dominant hand and restarting from the basics would be extremely difficult, she knew it—that is, if she wanted to ever pick up a sword again.
"That may be true, but if it weren't for you, I definitely wouldn't be able to swing a sword ever again. On that note, I should be the one to apologize. I was so fixated on my goal that I didn't even stop to think about how you'd feel after doing something like that to a person you consider a comrade. It was cruel of me to force it onto you; I am deeply sorry," she said, bowing to her in return.
"Senpai, does that mean... you've changed your mind about... that?"
Hiryuu frowned in contemplation. While her duel with Zuikaku did manage to open her eyes, she still couldn't see a bright future for herself or the rest of her META comrades; the idea of an honorable death in battle was still too tempting, and she was too resigned to seek anything else.
"When we get to Azur Lane, I'll offer myself as a prisoner to your Shikikan; at that point, it'll be up to him. If he decides to put me to work against the Sirens, I'll follow his orders to the best of my abilities," she declared. "From there, whatever happens, happens."
Zuikaku was about to retort when the door was slammed open, revealing the figure of Emperor entering the mess hall.
"That sounds great, doesn't it, Zuikaku?" The shipboy spoke up with a large smile as he strutted toward them. "Having our dear Commander decide the fate of our 'prisoners' is indeed the best course of action," he added, sending her a telling look.
To his delight, Zuikaku seemed to pick up on it.
"O-of course," she stammered. "Shikikan Travis is the best suited for the job."
"Good, as long as there are no objections..." Hiryuu said, their silent exchange seemingly flying over her head.
"S-so, did you need something, Emperor-dono?" Zuikaku inquired, taking advantage of his presence to change the subject.
"I wanted to talk about that Ember gal," Emperor said, turning to Hiryuu. "Enterprise has been trying to get through to her for a while without success now. I was hoping you could do something."
"You want me to make sure she doesn't cause trouble down the line, I understand," Hiryuu said. "I'll try to talk to her, but she's always been a stubborn fellow. I make no promises."
"That would be much appreciated," replied Emperor.
"There will be no need for that!"
The familiar voice took everyone by surprise. They turned to face the door to see Queen Elizabeth approaching them, accompanied by Sheffield and Hermione.
Both METAs still had Leviathan's chains binding their wrists and arms, but they seemed a lot less grumpy than they had been during their previous talk with Emperor. On the contrary, the queen seemed to be conducting herself with a newfound confidence.
"I just finished talking with Ember; she said she'll let me take over as leader of our group," Elizabeth informed them, fixing her gaze on Emperor to gauge his reaction. "I've come to formally negotiate our surrender."
Emperor turned to Hermione, raising a questioning eyebrow, to which the maid replied averting her gaze with a blush. How in the seven hells did she manage to achieve such a result after having spent with them... how much time? Barely even a day?
"The Royal Maid Corps truly is scary…" he thought.
"First of all, we demand our bindings be removed posthaste," Elizabeth said, extending her arms forward for emphasis. "From both our person and our comrades."
The shipboy resisted the urge to tell her that they couldn't exactly advance these kinds of requests, not to mention that they were their prisoners because they had already been defeated, so the idea of surrendering came a bit too late. He decided not to voice those thoughts, if only not to waste the miracle Hermione had performed by convincing them to comply in such a short amount of time.
"All your comrades?" He asked.
"Every single one of them, with no exception."
Emperor narrowed his eyes at her. It had taken him a lot of time and effort to get along with the other Elizabeth, and he wasn't eager to repeat the process with another version of the queen but with dialed-up difficulty. Besides, Lenin and Le Malin had told him that the two Vichya METAs seemed to have a couple of screws loose; honestly, he didn't want to risk everyone's safety just to indulge Elizabeth's request.
"I'd be happy to do that, Your Majesty, but unfortunately, once these chains are on, the only one who can remove them is my brother. You'll have to wait for him to wake up, which could be a long time, seeing as though your comrade roughed him up quite a bit," Emperor half-lied.
Elizabeth gawked in disbelief. There was no way in hell she'd spend the rest of the journey bound like a petty thief.
Her face flushed as she began fuming in anger. "Why should I believe a spineless coward like you? You are clearly lying! Don't think I don't see that snarky grin of yours!"
"Coward? Me?!" Emperor brought his hand to his chest, faking shock and offense.
"Indeed! You only managed to beat us because of your paltry tricks!" Elizabeth accused him. "Resorting to the help of an Arbiter, using her own Cube to cast her personal Mirror Sea... creating copies of my precious Muick and Sandy! How did you even do that?!"
"Oh, that was easy. My Morphing Polyhedron comes with many preset configurations, but it also has another functionality," he explained with a bit of mirth in his voice, twirling his hat in his hand. "It can scan and replicate most mechanical contraptions as long as they are of Wisdom Cube origin, even if only for a brief-"
"Shut up! It was a rhetorical question!"
After cutting him off, Elizabeth went on another rant, but instead of trying to assuage her fury, the shipboy kept mocking her, directing his shit-eating grin at her, much to the dismay of the other shipgirls around him.
When Elizabeth stopped her tirade, she was panting in exertion, her energy and breath completely spent. Deciding he'd had enough fun at her expense, Emperor addressed her with a serious tone.
"Hear me out, Your Majesty. If you promise to behave, I'll have your chains and Sheffy's removed, but your other comrades will have to hold out until we reach Azur Lane, unless they prove worthy of our trust. On top of that, I want both of you with your rigging out and detached from your bodies so that we can hide them from you. We'll return them at a later time, of course."
Elizabeth was too tired to protest. She just wanted her bindings removed so that she could finally use the restroom and take a much needed shower. She accepted without further insistence.
"Very well then... Brother, can I ask you to recall your chains? Yes, the two right beside me," Emperor said through his internal radio.
As if by magic, the chains keeping the two Royal METAs bound came to life, unraveling themselves from their bodies before snaking away outside the door and through the hallways, heading back toward their owner's room.
Elizabeth and Sheffield breathed a sigh of relief, massaging their wrists and stretching their limbs now that the uncomfortable bindings had been removed.
Loudly clearing her throat and doing her best to ignore the fact that the shipboy had just blatantly lied to her face, the META queen addressed those present in the room.
"And now, as my second request..." she began speaking, prompting Emperor to roll his eyes.
"…we'd like to pay our respect to Cinder. Can you take us to her?" She asked, her haughty voice replaced by a lower, more solemn tone.
Emperor turned to look at Hermione, who nodded her head in acknowledgement. The maid stepped forward and motioned for the two of them to follow her.
"Right this way, please."
"How are you doing, Hood?" Vestal asked the Glory of the Royal Navy.
The battlecruiser was sitting on a bed in the med bay, and the repair ship was kneeling in front of her, eyes closed as she scanned the other shipgirl's leg.
"Holding up all right, Vestal. My knee is still not helping me, but it could be worse," Hood responded with a smile.
Vestal lifted her eyes to look at her.
"That's not what I meant, Hood…" she trailed off.
Hood averted her gaze. She knew exactly what Vestal was talking about.
When the Commander had summoned her and Dunkerque to his office to inform them of the fall of the Basilica, the two battlecruisers were left speechless. The news of the loss of one of humanity's most important outposts was already a hard hit but knowing that their comrades and compatriots had been caught in it was even more harrowing.
Of course, what had them breaking down was the rest of the news.
Bismarck and Jean Bart had been sunk. That was the official communication the Commander had received, and he had relayed it to them word for word.
Hood didn't remember the last time she had wept like that. What she was sure of was that she didn't have any more tears to shed.
"I'm all right, Vestal. I'm just... glad that I was at least able to reconcile with her before-"
Her shoulders were shaken by a sudden sob, and her words were cut off as she felt warm tears beginning to flow.
Apparently, she was wrong. She still had plenty…
Vestal stood up and wrapped her in a hug, allowing the British woman to vent her sorrows. A few minutes passed as the battlecruiser silently wept on the repair ship's shoulder. When her sobbing subsided, Hood gently broke the hug, giving her a small smile of gratitude.
"Thank you so much, my friend. I'm sorry you had to see me like this," she said as she took out a handkerchief to wipe her tears. "My only consolation is that Her Majesty and the others are all right, but Dunkerque… the poor girl is heartbroken, and she has no one here to turn to for comfort. Forgive me for putting this on you, but can you do something to alleviate her pain?"
Vestal gave her a soft smile. "Of course; leave it to me."
It wasn't the first time that Hood confided in her. Being one of her more regular patients, Vestal had developed a deep friendship with the Royal battlecruiser, not so dissimilar to the one she had with Yorktown. Both tended to confide their worries and insecurities to her whenever it all became too much to bear, and she was more than happy to listen to them. After all, her patients' mental well-being was as important to her as their physical health, and in all her time as a repair ship and a doctor, she had learned to soothe people's anguish to great effect.
After Vestal finished the rest of the examination and gave her permission to leave, Hood took a few more seconds to hide the proof of her weeping before standing up to head outside, the repair ship escorting her to the door as she affectionately soothed her back.
Yorktown and Dunkerque were outside, waiting for their turn, with the Commander keeping them company.
It wasn't uncommon for the man to accompany them to their regular checkups with the repair ship whenever he had some free time. While Dunkerque had only recently arrived, Hood and Yorktown had been by his side since his first day, and it was also thanks to them that he had been able to fit so well in the port. The two of them had eased his inexperienced self into his new position with courtesy and zeal, offering him many words of advice that he still treasures to this day, both about his job and on how to deal with the more "troublesome" Kansen under his command.
Based on the way they acted around him, one could even mistake them for his guardians if he weren't officially their superior.
"How did it go?" Ryan asked Hood as she limped outside the room, leaning on her cane.
"Splendidly, Commander," she replied cheerfully. "Vestal said I'm making progress."
"Phew, I'm glad," Ryan said with a smile and a breath of relief.
As the group turned to face her, the repair ship kept the door open for the next in line. At that moment, she realized that there was another person with them whom she hadn't noticed immediately.
Her eyes widened, and her heart leaped into her throat as she froze under the doorframe. It was like looking in a mirror.
In front of her, looking straight into her eyes, was an identical copy of herself, albeit dressed in a much more revealing outfit and sporting a more sullen look on her face.
The moment her eyes met those of her META counterpart, she felt a splitting headache assaulting her before her mind shut down and everything went dark.
"Vestal, can you hear me? Wake up!"
Her eyes fluttered open as the voice of the Commander graced her ears. She sat up on the mattress and looked around, massaging her head. She was in the infirmary, resting on one of the many bunks.
"Ugh… I was… What was I doing?" She asked aloud as her memory slowly came back to her. "I… passed out? How long was I asleep?"
"Only a few minutes, but you had us worried there for a second." Yorktown informed her. "We brought you here after you fell unconscious."
Everyone else was around her, looking at her in concern as she fidgeted sheepishly. Usually, she was the one getting worried about others, not the other way around.
After she thanked everyone, her eyes fell on her META counterpart again. She knew she had arrived the previous day, but she wasn't expecting their meeting to happen so soon and without any kind of notice.
"I must apologize for what happened," Vestal META said from the side. "I had nothing to do, and I figured I could make myself useful in the hospital, so I came here of my own will, but I wasn't expecting to find... well, me, of all people."
"It's all right; you don't have to apologize," Vestal said, brushing off her concern with a wave of her hand.
She was still a bit shaken by the experience. It was as if a bunch of information had been forcefully shoved into her head before taking shape in her mind in the form of harrowing and hellish memories. It felt like they had come out of her worst nightmares, although those weren't just nightmares; that was what her counterpart had gone through personally. She still shivered at the thought, but despite how awful it was, having firsthand experience with the memory-sharing meant that now she could understand what Enterprise and Helena had gone through. If something similar happened again, next time she'd be ready.
"It's fascinating, isn't it?
The unexpected question from the META shipgirl made Vestal stiffen in embarrassment.
"F-fascinating? I wouldn't say that..." she fidgeted with her hands, not knowing what to say as she stammered sheepishly, but her META counterpart spoke up again.
"Don't worry, it's not weird; on the contrary, I find it perfectly normal. The memory-sharing process is a literal trade of information between Wisdom Cubes. Our souls have touched and exchanged emotions and experiences, which means you can probably tap into my power now," she approached her counterpart on the bed and placed her hand on hers. "Here, let me show you."
Much to everyone else's confusion, the META's eyes lit up with a small glow, which reflected into Vestal's own eyes. Suddenly, as if a door had been opened in her mind, the repair ship knew what she needed to do. She scanned her surroundings with her eyes, focusing on her Cube as she followed her counterpart's gaze onto the other people in the room.
It was as if there were a filter in front of her eyes that made their bodies appear like clusters of light. The Commander's frame was dark blue, blending with the environment as it lacked any kind of light, while the shipgirls appeared enveloped in a dazzling purple glow, which was more intense at the center of their chest. Those were their Wisdom Cubes; she was literally peering into their very core.
Each cluster of light flickered like a bonfire, and she found herself drawn to them. As she observed them carefully, she realized that the fluctuations reflected the conditions of the Kansen and that she could decipher them as if she were making a diagnosis for a patient after an examination.
She could clearly distinguish Dunkerque's affliction from Hood's: the irreparable damage to the hull that reflected on the body of the former and the slow-recovering damage to the human body that hindered the combat capabilities of the latter—all things she already knew but was now observing from an entirely new perspective.
Out of curiosity, she glanced to the side at her counterpart, and what she saw made her heart sink. Vestal META's light was pitch black, and her frame was surrounded by an orange sheen that seemed to be consuming the edges like a piece of paper lit on fire.
Vestal understood immediately. That was the effect of the corruption, and thanks to her counterpart's memory giving her insight on what she was seeing, now she also understood what it entailed.
While she was lost in her thoughts, something caught her attention in the corner of her eye—it was Yorktown. Much to her dismay, the carrier's Cube was in a similar state, though the black sheen that emerged from it was gathered in a small spot in the center, and the orange hue that was supposed to consume it wasn't there yet; otherwise, the rest of the cluster of light was as purple as the others.
Vestal felt shifting by her side as her counterpart let go of her hand, and her vision went back to normal. She also must have noticed Yorktown's condition, if the frown on her face was any indication.
Everyone else was standing there, sharing confused looks as the two of them did their thing, but when they suddenly let go of each other, concern started spreading through those present.
"What is it? Why are you looking at me like that?" Yorktown questioned the two repair ships.
"Um… Yorktown, can we talk? In private?" Vestal asked her.
"What's happening? Now you are scaring me."
"You are having an onset of Metamorphosis," the META declared, and Vestal's head snapped on her, mouth agape in disbelief. What about patient confidentiality? Did she leave it in her old timeline?
Everyone seemed confused by her statement, except for Ryan, who froze in his place, eyes wide in shock. Kindle had talked extensively about the process during their meeting; he knew what it entailed.
"Hold on, are you one hundred percent sure? How can you even tell?" He asked them.
"Don't you trust your doctor's word, Commander?" Vestal META retorted before she began explaining everything she knew about the process to everyone else. How it starts when a trauma gets embedded too deeply into the mind of a shipgirl and the negative emotions take over, corrupting the Cube. How the corruption spreads, altering body and rigging appearance, preventing the Kansen from summoning their hull, but also granting newfound power and abilities. And, of course, how it eventually leads to a slow demise.
When she was done explaining, everyone reached the same conclusion. Yorktown's mental block, which hindered her control over her rigging and aircraft, had begun right after the incident that almost saw her sunk; in everyone's book, a near-death experience was enough of a trauma to start off the process, especially if it was accompanied by negative emotions like fear and a deep feeling of inadequacy.
Even if everyone now had a good grasp of the situation, no one knew what to say.
"So that's how it is…" the carrier muttered.
"Yorktown…"
"There's no need to feel sorry for me," she said, forcing a smile out of herself. "If that means I'll become stronger, then I can finally stop being a burden to everyone. I'll be able to help out against the Original Sirens."
"If you survive the process," Vestal META pointed out, prompting her counterpart to shoot her a glare. "Not every Kansen who undergoes Metamorphosis becomes a META. The majority dies at an early stage because their Cubes give out before they can adapt to the changes."
"Oh… I see…" Yorktown breathed out. The news hit her like a truck; she was doing everything in her power to keep it together and not break down in front of everyone.
"Commander, forgive the interruption, but your subordinates are looking for you." TB's voice rang in the air, coming from his wristwatch. "The rest of the search fleet is back."
Everyone perked up at the notice, thankful for TB's intervention.
Ryan approached Yorktown and placed his hand on her shoulder.
"Come on, let's go welcome your sister."
Yorktown weakly nodded. "Of course, Commander…"
Ryan internally sighed as the group headed for the docks. Vestal was pushing Dunkerque's wheelchair, and he was holding Hood by the arm as Yorktown walked a few steps ahead and Vestal META a few steps behind.
The walk was awkward, and the Commander spent it racking his brain, trying to find a way to cheer the carrier up. Yorktown always had a word of comfort for everyone, but now that she was the one who needed it, he didn't know what to say. How do you comfort someone who had essentially just been diagnosed with terminal cancer? Even Hood seemed at a loss for words.
If only there were something he could do to help her... Actually, maybe there was, but it all depended on the news brought by the search fleet, and it involved a huge dose of luck, insanity, and discretion. Plenty of people already knew about it, but if it turned out it was impossible, then spreading the word too soon would only cause disappointment and more pain.
As he lost himself in his thoughts, he noticed that they had arrived at the docks and decided to leave them for later.
There were plenty of people on the piers already—Freedom, Sparviero, some of the shipgirls, and the other METAs—all of them waiting eagerly with a chipper mood for their comrades' return.
They all watched as the Hermione crossed the entrance of the bay and approached the docks as the manjuus on duty awaited to perform the mooring procedure. That was never a good sign; it meant that someone was incapacitated, at best.
The first to disembark were Le Malin and Lenin. Dunkerque waved her hand at the destroyer, catching her attention, while the icebreaker ran up to his brothers. Next were Admiral Graf Spee, Zuikaku, and Helena.
The Sakura carrier's eyes lit up at the sight of her sister, and Cleveland waved enthusiastically at the blue-haired cruiser as she waited for her to disembark, along with St. Louis. With so many people on the piers, Spee felt a bit self-conscious, but when she noticed her group of destroyer friends eagerly waiting for her to the side, her eyes lit up and her heart fluttered.
Everything seemed to be going well, but then the gangplank was lowered, and the mood plummeted.
Enterprise and Emperor appeared at the top of the passageway that connected the ship to the quay. They were walking one behind the other as they disembarked, holding a foldable stretcher in their hands, on which was lying what was clearly a body covered with a white blanket.
Behind them came the Ashes: Hiryuu and Ember were opening the way as Queen Elizabeth hid behind their taller frames with Sheffield by her side, followed by Algérie and La Gallissonnière, all of them with uncomfortable looks on their faces.
Everyone held their breaths as they walked down onto dry land. Emperor and Enterprise came to a stop and deposited the stretcher on the ground before stepping away to make space for everyone.
And when Kindle approached the bundle to remove the white cloth, her breath was caught in her throat.
After that, everything became a blur.
The Cinders huddled together around their leader's pale and gaunt body, sobbing and weeping as they held each other for support. The Ashes awkwardly stood there, fidgeting nervously; the journey had given them plenty of time to grieve and come to terms with it, so they were at a loss for what to do… until Fortune lifted her tear-streaked face and her gaze met Elizabeth's.
"Y-your Majesty…"
Something snapped into the META queen's mind, and before she knew it, she was down on her knees, hugging her close.
"I'm here, dear Fortune," she breathed out. "I'm sorry; I'll never leave you behind again, I swear."
Those words only managed to make the destroyer sob harder and hug her tighter. After that, one after the other, the remaining METAs joined their long-lost comrades. Their reunion, which everyone expected to be awkward at best and filled with hostility at worst, turned into collective grief as they pushed aside past grievances to find comfort in each other's long-missed presence.
Meanwhile, Enterprise perked up at the sight of her sister; ignoring everything and everyone around her, she made a beeline toward her.
"Enty-" Yorktown's words were cut off as the other carrier launched her arms around her in a tight hug, burying her face in the crook of her neck.
Her elder sister instincts took in, and she began lovingly soothing her back as Enterprise cried on her shoulder.
"There, there, it's okay; I'm not going anywhere..." Yorktown whispered, trying to console her younger sister without letting her own emotion take over.
Ryan could only watch, respectfully standing by the side with the others as things unfolded before him. When Emperor approached him, he was shaken out of his thoughts.
"Hey there, Commander... We've got some news."
"Yeah, me too."
"No… Jean Bart… It's not true…"
Le Malin was on her knees, crying her little heart out into Dunkerque's lap as the battlecruiser patted her head, trying her best to comfort the destroyer and to hold back her own tears at the same time. The battlecruiser had just informed her fellow Vichya of what had happened at the Basilica and of their beloved comrade's fate.
"Let it all out, mon amie; there's nothing to be ashamed of."
Lenin was also there, keeping himself out of sight as the two comforted each other inside one of the many rooms of the administration building. The shipboy was squirming in discomfort, not knowing what to do.
Le Malin was crying her eyes out, just a few steps away from him. He wanted to say something to cheer her up, but whatever he came up with in his mind only sounded like empty words of circumstance. Emperor once told him that it was a man's duty to wipe away the tears from a woman's eyes, but he was too afraid of saying something indelicate and making things worse.
After a few minutes, the two seemed to have calmed down, but he was still too ashamed to show himself. He was about to give up on it and step away, but right at that moment, Leviathan appeared in the hallway, having just come out of the Commander's office.
The taller man, who was now as good as new thanks to Vestal's quick treatment, sent him a curious look when he noticed the shorter shipboy standing outside the door. When he peeked inside, he hummed to himself in understanding before knocking on the ajar door.
After receiving permission to enter, he stepped into the room, and much to the icebreaker's dismay, he grabbed hold of his scruff and dragged him inside.
"Miss Dunkerque," he greeted the battlecruiser, who responded with a nod and a tired smile, then he addressed the destroyer. "Le Malin, we were looking for you."
"M-me?" Le Malin perked up, staring at the two male Kansen. Lenin's gaze settled on her puffy eyes and tear-streaked cheeks, and his heart clenched.
"I just came out of the Commander's office. He asked me to let you know that the Orthodoxy has requested reinforcements," Leviathan announced. "And that they want you back as soon as possible."
"O-oh, I see; so, it's time to say goodbye already," she sniffled. "I understand; I'll go get my things."
Lenin froze in shock. Everyone was aware that Le Malin had remained behind only because of Richelieu's desire to have a representative of the Orthodoxy help out with the matter of the Ashes, so he knew that eventually they'd have to say goodbye to each other. He figured it was inevitable after what happened in her homeland.
but he didn't expect that to happen so soon.
"Good, I just wanted to let you know that we'll depart tomorrow morning at dawn; don't be late," Leviathan informed her.
Both Lenin and Le Malin perked up in confusion. "Eh?"
"All the Kansen on base have their schedules full already, so Lenin and I have offered ourselves as volunteers. Emperor and Hermione are also coming with us," explained the taller shipboy.
Lenin's eyes snapped on him; he was about to say something, but the taller man tightly squeezed his shoulder with his hand, prompting him to keep his mouth shut.
"Really? We are going together?" Le Malin's eyes lit up in excitement, and Leviathan nodded in confirmation.
With the destruction of the Basilica, humanity had lost its most important bastion in the Atlantic. For that reason, the Orthodoxy and the other European factions had requested reinforcements to patrol those waters as they focused on rebuilding and recovering as much material as they could. Of course, everyone had their hands too full to send men or shipgirls, so the request had been passed to Azur Lane High Command first and then to Ryan, who had brought it up with the shipboys after their report on the expedition.
After discussing it among themselves, Emperor and Hermione had agreed to go without thinking twice. Hermione was still officially under Queen Elizabeth's command; she wasn't stationed at the joint base, and her only obligation was toward the shipboy himself since, by the queen's order, she was supposed to stay by his side as his personal maid. Knowing all that, Emperor felt compelled to go as well; it gave him the perfect chance to check on his sister. Knowing that Chaser had survived the siege was a relief, but that wasn't enough to assuage his concern.
And then there was Leviathan. Needless to say, he just wanted to see August again; he could only imagine how distraught she was for the loss of her friend and flagship, and he wanted to be by her side. The request for reinforcement gave him the perfect excuse to depart.
Of course, Lenin knew nothing about all that, as he had been outside the entire time while they discussed it, but it's not like he could back down at this point.
"Y-yeah, that's all there is to it. No need to say goodbye." He crossed his arms and puffed his chest, trying to sound confident in his stammering.
Brimming with excitement and overtaken by emotion, Le Malin ran up to him to wrap him in a quick, tight hug. The shipboy was so caught by surprise that he couldn't even return it. The only thing his brain registered was a light whiff of her pleasant smell.
"Merci, mon ami, it means a lot to me," she whispered into his ear before letting go of him. His stammering only worsened as he blushed in embarrassment.
Dunkerque observed the two of them with eyes full of fondness. Grateful for the intervention that managed to lift her friend's mood, she took advantage of the distraction of the two shorter Kansen, gesturing Leviathan to come closer to her.
"I leave her in your care," she said softly. "Please, don't let harm come to her."
The shipboy nodded and brought a hand to his chest. "You can count on it."
AN: When I first started this fic, one of my biggest dilemmas was on how to handle character death.
It's safe to say that the frequency and weight of those kinds of events set the tone for the whole story, and I had to decide how I wanted to tackle the issue.
Let's have a talk about it and tell me what you think.
Now, I'm not against killing off characters, shipfus or not. The problem is that the natural consequence of killing someone is to show how the other characters react and how it affects them.
For example, look at CitrusExtraordinaire's "Birth of a Siren," which I highly recommend if you haven't read it already. (SPOILERS AHEAD) The story starts with ninety percent of the shipgirls already dead. It works perfectly to set the tone of the story from the beginning, and it doesn't come as unexpected or out of place when half the cast gets murked as it goes on. The fact that the author was able to masterfully tackle the issue by showing how the rest of the cast reacts to it makes it even better (END OF SPOILERS).
Of course, that will inevitably plummet the general mood of the story, and I didn't want that for mine. I wanted to have romantic scenes, lighthearted comedy, and action scenes accompanied by a bit of character drama here and there, but at the same time, I didn't want to make it all feel unnatural by having everyone survive everything that gets thrown at them.
A death must be meaningful, if not for the plot, at least for the readers, or even for the development of some of the other characters; sometimes it hits harder to see how they react to it than the death itself. But at the same time, you can't continuously have important deaths in such a story; otherwise, the trope loses relevance, and it becomes an end in itself.
So, after careful consideration, I came up with this chapter. The sudden cut from Bismarck and Jean Bart's *cough* death *cough* was just a way to wait for Ash and Cinder's turn. All to delay the gut punch and gather all the grief in a single chapter, so as not to affect the rest of the story's mood.
All in all, I'm satisfied with the result. I think I was able to churn out quite the tearjerker of a chapter.
Many thanks for reading this rambling of mine. I hope I was able to clearly make my case. Also, it'd be great if you told me what you think about it, not just about this specific chapter but also about the whole matter from a more general point of view. I'm genuinely interested to hear your opinion.
Next Chapter: We Don't Need Roads