The previous day, the "funerals" for both Cinder and Ash took place. Given the lack of a chapel, cemetery, or any kind of structure appropriate for the circumstances, the sendoff was quick and straightforward.
Aside from the obvious presence of the METAs, all the members of the search fleet participated, along with a bunch of shipgirls who insisted on not missing the commemoration, if only to make the METAs feel more welcome in their new home.
The Commander proposed that Cinder be buried outside the base, atop one of the promontories overlooking the harbor. He even allowed the shipgirls to perform the 21-gun salute, using blank rounds, of course. Ash was going next to her, although, seeing as though the META carrier's Cube had become one with Enterprise's, they had to settle for only the headstone because of the lack of a body.
He still had to wrap his head around that part in particular, but luckily, the shipboys were there to explain everything in detail. They also expressed their concerns about having the potentially hostile Ashes on base, but the Commander reassured them. He was allowing them to stay not as prisoners but as guests only on two conditions. First, their other META comrades would have to keep an eye on them; second, each of them would undergo a series of private consultations with Bremerton, if only to have a better clue on their mental stability.
When he had asked the pink-haired heavy cruiser if she was up to it, Bremerton had to remind him—for the umpteenth time—that she wasn't some kind of professional therapist and that she simply offered counseling service as a way to ease her fellow shipgirls' worries. In the end, her altruistic nature got the better of her. Either that or the promise of being relieved from duty during the whole duration of the sessions did the trick.
And now there he was, heading to the docks for the umpteenth time in less than twenty-four hours to send off the same people who had returned the previous day.
Le Malin and Hermione were already there, ready to depart, along with Lenin, Emperor, and Leviathan. Of course, their friends and comrades were there to see them off as well.
"You are departing so soon, even though you've just returned…" Sparviero said, a hint of melancholy in his voice.
Next to him, Freedom tried to lift his mood. "Hey, cheer up. They won't be gone forever. We'll definitely see each other again for the planetary alignment."
"I know, but..."
"C'mon, Freedom's staying, Carabiniere and the others are also here. You won't feel lonely at all," Lenin said, bumping his fist on his arm a bit too hard, making him flinch.
"That's not it…" Sparviero thought, rubbing his aching arm.
He knew that he shouldn't act selfish, that there were things that needed to be done, and that getting separated from his brothers was inevitable, but knowing that every time they set sail could be the last they saw each other filled him with distress. He knew they were perfectly capable of taking care of themselves, but still...
A few feet away, he could hear the others chatting; he knew he shouldn't eavesdrop, but it's not like he could do much else as he waited for them to come say goodbye.
"Have you gotten used to your Wisdom Crafting, Spee?" Leviathan asked the Iron Blood heavy cruiser.
"Yes, it feels perfect now," she said, clenching her claws for emphasis. "Thank you for everything you've done for me, Leviathan."
"Don't even mention it; we are friends, after all," he said, feeling pride swell up in his chest.
Over the time they had spent at the base and then traveling together, she had never stopped practicing her control over her Cube under his guidance, and now the results of her efforts were showing, which had come in clutch during the confrontation with the Ashes. Now that her gauntlets were perfectly integrated into her rigging, she could take them off and put them on at a moment's notice, and that gave her an enormous confidence boost. She still needed to work on her shyness, but at this point, it wasn't an issue for her anymore, especially with all the friends she was able to make on base.
The heavy cruiser beamed at him as she nodded her head excitedly, but then her expression took on a more downcast look. The news of what happened to Bismarck had hit her as hard as it did to her fellow Iron Blood comrades. All of them wished to be there for their flagship's passing, but they couldn't just abandon their posting; there was still a lot of work to do, and they knew that Bismarck herself would want them to give it priority. So they forced themselves to swallow the pain and kept doing their duty as proud Kansen of the Iron Blood and Azur Lane.
She leaned in with her arms spread wide before catching his taller frame in a hug, which the shipboy gladly reciprocated. They stood like that for a few moments before the shipgirl spoke up.
"Please… My schwester, Frau August... I'm sure they are blaming themselves for what happened at the Basilica; can you give this hug to them for me?"
"Sure thing, even if I have to force Deutschland into it," Leviathan said with a smirk, eliciting a chuckle from the shorter girl.
A few feet away from them, another hug was being exchanged between Emperor and Fortune; the shipgirl had insisted on seeing him off, and Belfast had offered herself to accompany her, taking advantage of it to say goodbye to Hermione.
"Thank you so much," Fortune said, her face buried into Emperor's chest. "You've done so much for me... You saved my life… You brought our comrades back… I don't know how I can ever repay you."
"There's no need, Little Miss; your happiness is the best reward I could ask for," the shipboy replied, hugging her close as he soothed her back. "Although if you really want to do something, make sure to keep an eye on your queen so that she doesn't cause any trouble for the Commander; can you do that for me?"
"Hehe, I'll do my best," Fortune sniffled and stifled a snort as the two broke the hug. She tried to hold back tears as a hope-filled smile appeared on her face. "Will we see each other again?"
"Of course we will," he replied, trying his best to hide the strain from the smile on his lips.
Cinder's last words were a reminder of the fate that awaited all META Kansen; he only hoped he could actually see the destroyer again before it caught up to her. And yet he couldn't stop thinking about Ash's words to Enterprise. If the Creator truly knew of a way to cure or reverse the Metamorphosis, Fortune and the others could be relieved of that fate. But that only depended on the success of the endeavor the Commander and the others were about to go through.
"Now, why don't you go say goodbye to Hermione? I need to speak with the Commander for a second," he said as he noticed Ryan himself approaching the group.
Fortune happily nodded before scurrying away toward the two maids engaged in conversation. When the destroyer was out of earshot, Emperor turned toward Ryan right as he came up to him.
"Are you all set for departure?" The officer asked him, his serious look mirroring the shipboy's.
"We are ready to go, Commander," Emperor replied. "What about you?
"I left TB with Akashi; they're making some final tweaks," Ryan said. "After that, we'll be ready."
"And Enterprise?"
"Preparing herself. She'll meet me at the workshop later."
The shipboy nodded in acknowledgement. Ash and Cinder's passing meant that they had lost the only people capable of creating a Mirror Sea and converting it to a portal to another timeline. While Enterprise and Emperor did practice under the former for a while, it wasn't nearly enough for him to master the method, at least not as quickly as the Hero of the Eagle Union did.
Apparently, when Ash's Cube had fused with Enterprise's, she didn't just obtain a retrofit out of nowhere; she also gained a piece of her counterpart's knowledge, that is, the method to create the portals. Enterprise had said that it felt like Ash herself had made sure that specific piece of information was transferred to her, as opposed to anything else.
As mind-boggling as it was, it only meant that she was the only one capable of such a feat in the entire world. Of course, Ryan decided to keep such information confidential, and the few people that knew about it agreed; after all, the Ashes had been very compliant since their arrival, but no one knew how they'd react if they found out that there was still a chance for them to achieve their old goal. Sure, there wasn't much they could do since that power was completely under Enterprise's control and authority, but better safe than sorry.
"Emperor, I know that you think you didn't do good enough in this whole mess, but I want you to know that your help and that of your brothers is very much appreciated; I promise we'll make the most of the chance you've given us," Ryan declared, reaching out his hand to him.
"Thank you, Commander Travis. Knowing that a man like you has our back is a huge relief," Emperor replied, firmly shaking his hand as a final goodbye to the officer.
After a few more minutes of hugs and farewells, the small fleet departed. Le Malin summoned her hull, allowing everyone to climb aboard before setting sail for her homeland.
After the ship crossed the entrance of the bay, Belfast and the others dismissed themselves, and Freedom decided to accompany Sparviero back to his room, but not before sending a telling glance to the Commander.
Ryan nodded back at him. All the pieces they needed were in place.
It was time to pay the Creator a visit.
A while later, the Commander could be seen walking down the path that led to the warehouse. He greeted the few shipgirls he met along the way and stopped to make some light conversation with them, trying to sound as natural and nonchalant as he could. When asked, he told them he was there for a quick inspection, when in truth, his goal was Akashi's shop.
When he arrived, the shop sign was still turned on "closed," which in normal circumstances would be a rare occurrence, knowing the greedy catgirl, but when he tried for the door, he found it open.
Normally, upon entering, everyone would be greeted by a short, green-haired shipgirl running up in excitement to welcome them, while other Kansen would be browsing around the shelves, looking for something that piqued their interest to spend their pay on. Seeing the shutter half-closed, the place almost entirely dark, completely silent, and devoid of people almost made him feel bad for the secrecy he was maintaining.
He walked behind the counter and through the door with the "restricted access" sign; after crossing the hallway behind it, he entered the back of the building—Akashi's workshop.
The space was large, not as much as the dry docks, but definitely bigger than the shop in the front. It was in there that the repair ship worked on the other shipgirls' requests when they brought her something that needed fixing. The place wasn't tidy, but it wasn't exactly a mess either. There were counters and shelves filled to the brim with tools and components, and there were electronics and pieces of gear scattered all over the place. It all seemed to be strewn about at random, but upon closer inspection, a strange sense of order could be found in the chaos, as the repair ship always made sure everything was well out of the way while she worked.
On the far side, there was the bigger equipment, the one Akashi used whenever she went all out with one of her projects. Projects that, luckily for everyone on base, almost never came to completion successfully.
This time, though, Ryan needed it to work. In the past few days, while they waited for the return of the search fleet, Akashi had been working nonstop, following TB's instructions for the creation of... whatever that thing at the center of the room was.
It was a round glass and metal platform, slightly larger than a king-sized bed, from which four claw-like metal arms sprouted upward on four different sides, curving inward toward the center of the contraption. It was clearly made with the same materials and components of the equipment that their researchers utilized to study and examine Wisdom Cubes and the energy they produced. But instead of the slick, polished appearance of the machinery that could be found inside the most advanced labs of the alliance, the hardware of this contraption looked more like a roughly put-together patchwork of steel and cables.
Needless to say, it worried him to no end.
"Hey everyone, how are things coming along?" Ryan asked aloud.
"Shikikan-nya! Right on time, we are done with the finishing touches!" Akashi turned to face him, waving her oversized sleeves at him from the other side of the room.
Atop the counter, closer to the machine, was TB's alien-looking watch, above which her hologram was hovering. Enterprise and Freedom were already there, standing out of the way of the catgirl as she ran around the place, tinkering with the contraption.
Not even trying to hide the skepticism in his voice, the Commander asked them, "Akashi, TB, don't get this wrong, but is this thing going to... withstand whatever we are going to do?"
"Don't let this machine's lack of an outlandish appearance fool you, Commander. Even if with haste and in a short amount of time, it's been constructed under my personal guidance," TB answered him, a hint of pride behind her otherwise monotone voice. "Its only purpose is to act as a medium between Enterprise and myself; nothing else. She'll create the portal as I use the machine to set it to the right destination."
"And don't forget that I'm the one who built it, nya!" Akashi interjected excitedly. "I expect a generous compensation for the trouble and the lack of notice, Shikikan!"
"I'll... see what I can do, Akashi," Ryan said. He could already feel his wallet begging for mercy. He figured he could ask headquarters for more funds, but they probably didn't have any to spare with everything that was going on around the globe, unless it was for an emergency.
"I still don't understand why we need all this in the first place," Enterprise spoke up after being called out by the AI. "Cinder and Ash always opened their portals without any help, and even Shinano didn't need a machine to communicate with the other world."
"This is different from what the METAs did to travel through the timelines, or even from what Shinano did to contact the other world. We are not trying to project someone's consciousness to another plane of existence or open a portal with a random destination; we are sending physical matter to a specific place throughout space and time. That's why we need actual technological support for this, and even with that, we'll only be able to send a couple of people. Your own Cube's energy will be depleted to sustain their stay in the Original Timeline; any more than that, and the strain of the feat will kill you."
Everyone raised a concerned eyebrow at TB's words.
"Wait, does that mean I won't be able to go?" Enterprise asked her, unsure of how to take the news.
"That's correct. You'll have to stay here and keep the gate open like a taxi driver waiting for their passengers with the engine running," TB explained.
The awkward silence following her statement prompted her to rephrase her words.
"My apologies if that analogy wasn't clear; I'm still new to this whole 'figure of speech' thing humans make use of. Think of the machine as the vehicle; Enterprise will be the driver, and I will be the navigator. The Commander and Freedom will be the passengers."
"So, all I need to do is stay here and keep everything going until your return... How long is it going to take, exactly?" Enterprise inquired, already dreading the answer.
"It could be hours or days. It depends on how long it'll take us to find out what we want," TB explained. "What's important is that you never let the portal close. If it happens while I'm on the other side with them, you won't be able to find the Original Timeline again, and we'll be stuck there virtually forever."
"No pressure then..." the carrier breathed out.
"Oh, if you knew, Enty..." the Commander internally winced.
With everything else that was already going on, Yorktown had decided to keep her sisters in the dark about her condition for the time being, if only not to make them worry about her any more than they already were. The Commander didn't exactly agree on her choice, but he didn't have any say in it; at least Enterprise would be able to focus on the matter at hand without letting personal emotion get in the way of her focus. She already had enough pressure on her shoulders.
"I know you can do this, Enterprise. I have complete faith in you," Ryan encouraged her, clasping her shoulder with his hand, to which the carrier replied with a soft smile.
"Thank you, Commander."
"Okay, when are we doing this?" Freedom asked, turning to TB.
"Right now," the AI stated.
"Right now?!" They all parroted, incredulous.
"The machine is ready, my calculations are complete, and Enterprise is in peak condition; I see no reason to delay this."
"Uhh… I thought I'd have some time to mentally prepare myself," Ryan said sheepishly, turning to Freedom, seeking support.
"Yeah, me too... But you know what? If you guys are okay with it, then I'm raring to go," Freedom declared.
Ryan thought about it for a second.
Belfast and South Dakota were among the few who knew what they were trying to do, and both had agreed to fill in for him with paperwork when the time came, but no one knew it had to happen so soon.
Convincing South Dakota to let the shipboy accompany him instead of herself hadn't been that hard. After all, Freedom did save both Ryan and Massachusetts from certain death in the past; she literally trusted him with their lives, and she knew he'd be a better choice than her. He could fly, and he was fast. He was perfect to scout for landmarks and points of interest, and in case there was the need to cover great distances, it'd be like a walk through the park for him.
Even Belfast, after seeing someone as stoic and rigid as South Dakota give her consensus, was forced to relent, even if reluctantly.
The real problem was with Shoukaku and Massachusetts.
Both shipgirls were out on patrol; they were going to be so mad if they found out upon their return that their men had gone into another timeline without any kind of prior notice. Not to mention, everyone else would ask questions about their whereabouts if they went missing for too long.
But this was a chance they couldn't pass. The information held by the Creator was too tantalizing to delay. Even if it turned out to be a fool's errand, they had to try.
Gathering his resolve, Ryan took a deep breath. "Very well then, let's do this."
As Freedom followed Akashi's instructions, grabbing the cables and wires coming down from the ceiling to plug them into the contraption, the repair ship went back and forth between the machine and the console TB was attached to, checking the display for stuff the Commander and the others could barely understand.
"TB, before we start this whole thing, I have a question…" Ryan began, one last doubt needing to be dispelled from his mind.
"What is it, Commander?"
"Won't our interference in the Original Timeline cause the same disaster we've been trying to avoid this entire time?" He asked, turning to the AI's smaller hologram.
"There's no need to fret, Commander," TB reassured him. "Codename Ash wanted to reach the Original Timeline to kill the Creator before they could give birth to us humanoid Sirens; she believed that doing so would be enough to achieve her goal, but she didn't know that the only thing capable of creating another timeline from scratch is the activation of the seed's time-leap protocol."
"So, what you are saying is..."
"As long as we do this in a way that won't affect the seed, we'll have nothing to worry about on that matter."
"And how exactly are we going to do this?" Ryan pressed on with his inquiries.
"Simple. Ash was probably aiming for a moment prior to the seed's departure; I'm going to make sure we'll reach a moment slightly subsequent to it. That way, we won't run any risk of jeopardizing the Creator's work on the seed and creating another timeline ourselves. Time itself will take care of everything else to rectify any other anomaly," TB explained.
"Time will… Wait, what does that mean?" He asked, genuinely confused.
"It means that whatever small change we will cause to the Original Timeline with our presence won't have any consequences on its future, as the timeline will naturally bring things back on track on its own."
"Well, that's a relief," the Commander sighed. There really wasn't any space for dealing with any more time-altering bullshit; they already had their hands full with everything else.
"And what about the bigger changes?" Freedom asked from the side, having finished helping Akashi.
"It'll probably get rid of us by forcefully sending us back."
"Probably?"
"Or straight up erase us from existence."
"TB…"
"Forgive me, Commander, but we are venturing into the realm of the unknown here. I can make a series of assumptions based on the amount of data my 'mother' gathered as she created me, but I'm still only a fraction of the seed; the information at my disposal is limited."
Silence fell over the group, with the two men sharing a glance.
"I'm starting to have second thoughts…"
"Me too…"
"You can't chicken out at the last second, nya! We are about to do something extraordinary here!"
As Akashi reproached the two of them for acting like scaredy-cats, a loud ping rang in the room, coming from the console.
"Preparations completed. I've uploaded the results of my calculations into the machine," TB announced. "Enterprise, you may proceed."
Enterprise, who had been standing to the side in contemplation the entire time, readying herself, nodded and stepped forward, approaching the machine.
"Make sure you do it right in the middle, nya," Akashi told her, fiddling with the small keypad and the many tumbler switches of the interface.
The whirring of machinery began filling the air, and the four metal arms began moving, bending on themselves toward the center of the platform. They came to a stop with a loud clang, pointing toward each other as if their extremities were holding something within their grasp.
Enterprise extended her arm and focused on her Cube, tapping into the part of her consciousness where she knew Ash's memories lay. Her eyes lit up for a second before she closed them in concentration, and then, out of thin air, a small, whirling mass of black matter—much too similar to the portals the Sirens used to move around the place—appeared right between the four metal arms.
The others watched in awe and with slight concern as the mass slowly began enlarging. The four contraptions began moving backward, following its expansion, almost as if they were the ones pulling on it from different directions.
"What's happening?" Freedom asked aloud, eyes fixed on the enlarging mass.
"I'm using the machine to calibrate the portal to the temporal coordinates of the Original Timeline," TB stated matter-of-factly.
"This is so cool, nya!" Akashi cheered excitedly.
The arms stopped moving with another loud clang, having reached their limit, and the portal stopped expanding with them. The black matter also stopped swirling on itself, having taken the form of a big, dark sphere hovering slightly above the metal platform. It was like looking into the surface of a pond, unfettered and unperturbed, waiting for someone to throw a pebble into it.
"The gate is stable. Commander, you can unplug me now."
The Commander did as he was told, taking the alien-looking wristwatch out of the console to put it back on his wrist before approaching Enterprise to check on her.
"Enty, everything all right?"
"Yeah, it's just weird... knowing how to do something that I know I shouldn't be able to," Enterprise said, kneading her temple with her hand, trying to assuage the sudden headache. "But now that I've tried it, I have a better grasp on how it works. Commander, I should be able to hold it up and running for around two days," she added with a more confident tone.
"We'll be sure to make the most of it, then," Ryan declared, her confidence affecting him.
"So, now what? Do we just... jump in?" Freedom asked, cautiously approaching the black gate. Despite its peaceful appearance, its presence was still unsettling.
"Correct, and I suggest you grab anything you think might come in handy for the next forty-eight hours. We don't know what we may find on the other side."
"You can take everything you need from the shop, Shikikan!" Akashi piped up. "I'll make you a—small—discount for the special occasion, nya!"
Ryan internally cursed; there was no escaping the greedy cat this time around.
After a few more minutes of packing some stuff into a small duffel bag they found at the shop, the two men and the AI were ready to go.
"Thank you for your patronage, nya!" Akashi chanted. "Be careful in there!"
"Good luck, guys!" Enterprise said, a note of concern in her voice as the two stepped forth onto the platform, waving goodbye.
The moment their bodies touched the black mass, the portal began rippling, and Enterprise felt a sudden strain on her Cube, as if someone had just added a couple of weights to the mental barbell she was lifting. When they disappeared into nothingness, engulfed by the gate, she let out a long sigh as she prepared herself to spend what were probably going to be the longest forty-eight hours of her life.
"Hey, Akashi."
"What is it, nya?"
"You do have a toilet in here, don't you?"
"N-nya…"
Ryan let out the breath he was holding when the soggy sensation engulfing his body abandoned him. Immersing himself in the mass of black matter felt like being thrown into a tub of slimy, wettish jelly; his senses were dampened, and his body was taken over by gravity, but it only lasted a handful of seconds.
Before he realized it, his lungs filled with air and his eyes fluttered open, the light of the sun blinding him for an instant. He took a step forward, rubbing his eyes, and then the ground under his feet disappeared, making him lose his balance and fall forward with a loud gasp.
"Watch it!"
He felt someone firmly grab him, keeping him by the wrist and halting his fall. Right at that moment, his eyes brought his surroundings into focus, and his breath died in his throat.
He was on the edge of a bottomless chasm, his body dangerously tilted forward after almost stepping into the literal abyss in front of him. Before he could utter a word, Freedom pulled him back to safety, all but throwing him to the ground as he panted in panic.
"Are you okay, man?" The shipboy asked him, a note of concern in his tone.
"Y-yeah… Thank you, Freedom," Ryan said, desperately trying to bring his heartbeat under control.
After composing himself, he was finally able to take note of their surroundings. They were on an island, that much was clear; the hill where they had ended up gave them a perfect view of its profile from above.
The scenery was unassuming. There were a few sparse rocks around the place, but the island was mostly flat, devoid of any notable vegetation; the only greenery was the grass growing on the ground at their feet, covering most of the land. The hole itself seemed to be "only" a fifth the size of the island, and it was located at the edge of it, right where the land met the sea. A few dribbles of seawater were already trickling into it, pushed by some of the taller waves of the tide.
The hole itself looked like the crater caused by a meteorite impact; only this one was too deep, its walls were too steep, and the rocks were too even, almost as if it wasn't natural in origin. Looking down into the hole was like staring straight into the abyss; it was so deep that despite the sun shining above their heads, he needed to squint to be able to make out the bottom. What's worse, the portal from where they came out was standing dangerously close to its edge.
He shivered at the thought of what would have happened if Freedom weren't there.
"Ryan, if you wanted to check the bottom so bad, you could have just asked me," the shipboy said with a hint of mirth in his voice. "I could have brought you down myself."
By now, the two were on a first name basis, although the shipboy never dared to address him informally in front of his subordinates. But now that they were alone, their boys-will-be-boys spirit was spilling out, even despite the tension.
"Haha, very funny," Ryan deadpanned. "More importantly, what the hell is this hole? It doesn't seem natural at all."
His question was left hanging in the air for a few seconds as the two of them pondered it, but before they could advance a hypothesis, Ryan's wristwatch came to life, and TB's voice was heard.
"Presumably, this was the seed's previous location before the time-leaping protocol sent it back in time. It is proof that my calculations were correct; we've arrived at a point in time where the seed has already abandoned the Original Timeline," she said, and Ryan could have sworn he heard a hint of pride in her voice. "The experiment was a success."
"Then we have no time to waste. Let's begin our investigation," Ryan declared. "Freedom, if you may…"
"Leave it to me," the shipboy said enthusiastically, having already called out his wings. "Don't go dying on me while I'm gone; the girls would never forgive me!"
He took off into the sky at high speed, climbing as high as he could, then he picked a random direction and disappeared into the distance, leaving behind a purple sheen and a trail of exhaust in his wake.
"Hey, TB."
"What is it, Commander?"
"Great job."
"…thank you," TB replied, and he could swear he could hear the blushing even in her voice.
AN: I think it's about time I reveal to you how much I love "Back to the Future."
Seriously, I can't stress enough how much I adore that trilogy. It's had a huge impact on my formation as a sci-fi lover when I was a kid.
I'm not saying that I'll be bringing any of those elements into the story—absolutely not. But every time I think about all the love and care put behind it, it never fails to put a smile on my face.
I only hope I was able to show you at least a small fraction of that same care in this story.
Next Chapter: Time Will Tell