"Sorry, Ryan. I asked Belfast where I could find Yorktown, but they cornered me…" Freedom lamented as the staredown between the Commander, Massachusetts, and Shoukaku continued.
Ryan didn't answer; his mouth was too dry.
"W-welcome back, Shoukaku," he managed to let out. "Everything okay on patrol duty?"
The smile Shoukaku gave him was so chilly it could make a member of the Northern Parliament shiver.
"Trying to change subject is no use, Shikikan."
Ryan winced; her words cut like a razor, and her tone was ice-cold.
"You know, when we returned from sortie, I was told you were feeling sick, so I went to your room to check on you, but I couldn't find you anywhere," she continued. "I tried looking for you, but then Massachusetts told me that Freedom was also nowhere to be found. Imagine our surprise when we learned what you two were up to."
This time, it was Freedom's turn to wince. Shoukaku and Massachusetts had likely been to Ryan's office, only to find Belfast and South Dakota working in his place. He seriously doubted that the maid and the bodyguard would go as far as to rat on them, but he knew how much of a pull Massachusetts had on her elder sister; she must have forced her to spill the beans.
"Do you have any idea how worried we were?" The battleship supplied, prompting the two men to look down in shame. The two shipgirls were acting more like parents scolding their children than angry girlfriends.
"W-we can explain," Ryan stuttered. "We wanted to tell you, but it was so sudden that we barely even had time to prepare ourselves... and you two were already gone."
"That's not an excuse," the Sakura carrier stated. "Who in their right mind would throw themselves into another timeline without telling anyone?"
"Hey, that's not true," Freedom intervened. "Belfast and South Dakota knew it, and Akashi and Enterprise were on board-"
Massachusetts' glare was enough to shut him up.
"Sparviero's been worried about you, you know?" Her words made him look down in shame.
Ryan and Freedom had been back for a few hours now, but they had been so preoccupied handling the situation with their guests that they had completely disregarded showing up to let everyone know that they were okay and that they hadn't just disappeared into thin air.
The main reason Freedom hadn't told his brother about this whole ordeal—even though he was doing it for his sake above all else—was because Sparviero tended to be too apprehensive, and he didn't want to make him feel guilty if anything bad happened.
And as much as they tried to justify themselves, part of the reason they didn't tell Shoukaku and Massachusetts either was the same. The fact that the two shipgirls were already out on sortie was just a convenient excuse to avoid accountability.
Having the two shipgirls upset for being left in the dark was only the natural consequence of their thoughtlessness, and now that they found themselves face-to-face with their responsibility, they were at their wits' end.
The Commander tried racking his brain for a way out of their predicament but couldn't find anything. They were absolutely in the wrong, and there was nothing they could do about it; their only hope was to ask for forgiveness, but would a normal apology be enough?
At that exact moment, a light bulb went on in his head, and a memory came to his mind—the knowledge of a certain custom he had learned about during his many conversations with the Sakura Kansen on base.
He took a deep breath and slowly went down on his knees before leaning forward, with his head and hands pressed down on the floor.
Freedom gawked as the Commander performed a perfect dogeza.
"I am deeply sorry for making you worry and for keeping you in the dark about something so important, Shoukaku, my love," he said with the most serious tone of voice he could muster. "I have no excuses, and I can only humbly ask for your forgiveness."
"Ryan, what the fu-"
The officer quickly glanced up at Freedom from his position, sending him a telling look.
Putting his trust in his friend, the shipboy let out a resigned breath before following his example. Shoukaku and Massachusetts remained speechless as Freedom joined the Commander on the floor, prostrating himself next to him.
The room fell silent. Freedom had never been so embarrassed in his entire life. Trying to fill the silence, he added, "P-please, forgive us..."
But with their heads lowered, they couldn't see the shipgirls' reaction.
Shoukaku was hiding her slack jaw behind the sleeves of her kimono, her eyes wide in surprise. Of all the ways she was expecting this confrontation to go, this wasn't one of them. She wasn't expecting Ryan to resort to kowtowing, of all things. She knew he wasn't pulling her leg, but she still didn't know how to respond to that. No one had ever kneeled so deeply to her, not even back in her homeland.
She was starting to feel embarrassed for him.
"I beseech you both not to think any less of us for this," Ryan continued. "We are aware of our mistakes, and we'll strive to do better next time."
"Y-yeah, we do..." Freedom added, stammering.
Okay, maybe this was going a bit too far.
"W-wait, Shikikan, we are not that angry; we were only putting up an act to get back at you a little. We are just glad you are both okay, really," she said trying to reassure them. She couldn't bear seeing him like this, not after such a heartfelt apology.
"Hold on, Shoukaku; I think Freedom's not convincing enough," Massachusetts stated with the barest hint of uncharacteristic mischievousness in her tone.
The shipboy's sweat dropped as his lover called him out. Trying to salvage the situation, he quickly added with a pleading tone, "W-we'll accept any punishment, so please forgive us."
"That's more likely..."
Sensing the disturbance caused by the scene on the other side of the room, Aoste and Anzeel perked up. After looking at the scene, the former readjusted his glasses on his nose disinterestedly and switched his focus back to his work, while the latter couldn't help the devilish grin that appeared on her face.
She walked over to them, appearing from behind the bunch of cables and equipment with a shit-eating grin on her face. "Wait, you did say you have a girlfriend, but you didn't say it was Shoukaku. You never change, you sly dog."
"D-doctor?!" Ryan exclaimed at her sudden intervention. "P-please, don't make this harder than it already is."
Shoukaku blinked in confusion at the sight of the woman. The only human guests on base lately have been Chairwoman Tamayo and Admiral Nimitz. Where did she come from?
"White hair's always been your thing. It's engraved in your DNA," Anzeel continued with a sly grin.
"Um, Shikikan, who is this person?" Shoukaku asked him; the woman's sudden appearance and her admittedly strange comment left her puzzled.
"It's kinda hard to explain," Ryan said, glancing up at her with an abashed look on his face.
"Well, you could say I've known him for ages," the doctor said, stepping up to her to shake her hand enthusiastically. "Dr. Taylor Anzeel, but you can call me 'mommy' if you want, hehe," she laughed, clearly enjoying the situation despite the bemused look the white-haired carrier was giving her.
"Doctor, please, get back to work. We are almost done, and we need your input for the calibration." Another voice intervened in the conversation, and a familiar, short, diaphanous figure stepped up to them.
"T-TB?! Is that you?!" Shoukaku exclaimed in shock.
"Yes, it's me, Shoukaku," the AI replied; her voice, now free of the speaker it was bound to, was still perfectly recognizable.
"You look... different," Massachusetts commented, also taken aback, despite not showing it as much as the carrier.
TB was wearing a pristine-white short apron and was barefoot. She also had a weird collar around her neck, from which a handful of cables and connectors sprouted, freely dangling behind her back.
"Indeed. You could say that our trip to the Original Timeline was a fruitful one. Also, I have to apologize to you. I was the one who pushed for an early departure. The Commander and Freedom only went along with it," TB said, lowering her gaze apologetically.
Ryan and Freedom perked up at her words. They weren't expecting her to cover for them.
"Is that so?" Turning her gaze to her lover, Massachusetts let out a resigned breath, which Freedom took as permission to stand up again. She still didn't seem entirely convinced, as she crossed her arms over her chest and averted her gaze, but he was sure he'd be able to make it up to her… somehow.
"Um, Shikikan, can you explain what happened? Why is TB like this? Who are these people?" Shoukaku asked Ryan as she looked at the new arrivals, TB, and the contraption being assembled in the middle of the room.
The Commander scratched his head sheepishly.
"Where do I even begin?"
At that moment, a light knock on the door was heard, which anticipated the appearance of another pair of white-haired shipgirls.
The door opened to reveal Belfast's figure in the doorframe, followed by a certain carrier. The head maid tilted her head in confusion at the sight before her but kept on a serious expression as she said, "Welcome back, Master. As per your request, I've brought Miss Yorktown."
Ryan quickly stood up on his feet as the aforementioned carrier stepped into the room.
"Did you send for me, Commander?" Yorktown asked, but then paused in confusion as a few too many sets of eyes settled on her. "Um… Is something the matter?"
Ryan took a breath. "Yorktown, we have something to tell you…" He paused for a second, then shook his head and turned to Freedom and Anzeel. "Actually, we have something to tell you all…"
"I'll have you make amends for what you've done. You'll come with us and help us set this whole shit right."
That's what Ryan had declared in the underground lab back in the Original Timeline after listening to Aoste's story, much to everyone's disbelief.
Aoste had accepted the sentence without a question. The doctor had probably been expecting something a lot worse than that, and frankly, it was the same for Ryan, but the more the Commander thought about it, the more he convinced himself that he had made the right call.
Sure, he could bring his actions to light and have him face trial… and then what? What would that accomplish? Better yet, who was going to believe him? His superiors and the alliance's top brass would probably remove him from his posting, thinking he had gone crazy.
Nevertheless, Freedom seemed to agree with his decision. The shipboy had been preparing himself to fight The Devil XV one more time to drag an unwilling Aoste with them, but there had been no need for that, luckily.
Surprisingly—or unsurprisingly, depending on who you ask—Anzeel had decided to come along. The woman couldn't have ignored such a proposal, even if it was not directed at herself. The idea of traveling to another timeline was too tantalizing to pass up, and her enthusiasm, which she had expressed with a demonstration of her childish insistence, was more than enough to convince the Commander to bring her along.
"If there really is a weird sickness plaguing the shipgirls in other timelines, then it's my duty to intervene!" That had been her declaration, and Ryan couldn't deny her. Besides, having one more person capable of handling the Reality Lens would be a huge boon, he had thought.
Of course, he had to ask TB if bringing the two researchers along was even doable in the first place. Luckily, the AI had been expecting something like this to happen, so she had made a few calculations in advance.
"As long as we send them back right after the moment of their disappearance from the Original Timeline, there won't be any issue." That's what she had said.
But before they departed, Aoste had something he wanted to show them.
He had led them through the hallways of the underground facility, then he had showed them inside a particularly dark room, which smelled like no one had stepped foot in for a long while. Inside said room, they found themselves in front of a very familiar figure.
The body of a certain humanoid Siren, securely held inside a liquid-filled glass tank.
"Zero?" Ryan had wondered aloud.
"Yes, though this is just an empty shell," Aoste had replied.
"You've always had a spare?" Anzeel had asked in disbelief. "But then why didn't you just bring her back? Don't you have a backup program?"
"Zero was my first Antiochus; a prototype, you could say, so she didn't have a mainframe on which to upload her memory as a backup. Besides, she wasn't a combat unit; she was more like an assistant to me, so we never felt the need to do so. I could have restored her with her preset personality, but she'd be missing her memory of the time we spent together, so I decided against it…" Aoste had explained, barely holding the melancholy in his voice. "What do you think, Commander? Take it as a sign of my own good will."
Ryan had looked down at TB's watch on his wrist, and without a moment's hesitation, he had accepted.
Thus, TB's software had been transferred to her new body, and after a few more hours of preparation, the group had begun heading back to where the Commander and the shipboy had come from, riding atop Anzeel's personal motorboat, with Devil tagging along, of course.
The Antiochus could never have allowed her master to embark on such an endeavor by himself, especially because there was no insurance that their guests wouldn't resort to something drastic to punish him. And since she was the only Antiochus available at that moment, she had to come along.
Of course, how much of all that Ryan was willing to share with everyone on base and how much he had to twist it to avoid the hassle of explaining his other self's presence was another question. Not to mention the complications that would arise from presenting him as the Creator with the METAs on base.
Initially, it was decided that Anzeel would be presented with her real title of "mother of the Kansen," so as to draw everyone's attention away from Aoste, who would pass as her colleague and assistant, at least in front of the majority of the shipgirls on base.
But in the end, after careful consideration, Ryan had decided to come clean with his subordinates. No more hiding stuff, no more waiting until later, and no sugarcoating things; just the naked truth.
"And that's the gist of it," Ryan finished. "They'll be staying with us for the foreseeable future and put their experience and expertise at our disposal."
The Commander half-expected the shipgirls to lash out, or at least to show their disapproval in some way or form, but what answered him at the end of the long-winded explanation was silence.
His subordinates had various degrees of dismay on their faces. Their gazes moved from the Commander to TB, then to the doctors, and to Devil leaning over the wall to the side. They tried to put words together, but with too much information thrown at them all at once, they were having trouble processing it all.
The one who found her voice first was Yorktown.
"That's a lot to take in, Commander," she said faintly.
"I know," Ryan said, looking at them in the eyes one after the other, trying to gauge their reactions.
The girls didn't know what to make of the whole situation. The humanoid Sirens were actually called Antiochus, they were originally born as an allied force to humanity and had taken the place of the Original Sirens as per their Creator's orders, said Creator being their beloved Commander's counterpart from the Original Timeline, no less. Additionally, before them was someone who not only claimed to be their "mother," but also claimed to have the means to cure the afflictions plaguing their comrades.
How were they supposed to react to all that? Belfast had lost her usual poised look for a very inelegant slacked jaw, and Massachusetts was openly glaring at both Aoste and Devil, while Shoukaku and Vestal were looking at Ryan with expressions displaying borderline betrayal… and it was hurting him inside.
"How could you possibly bring him here? What are you hoping to achieve?" Massachusetts was the one who spoke, her features hardening ever so slightly despite her tone remaining neutral. "Did you think we'd just accept it without a word just because he's... you?"
Sensing that the situation was about to take a bad turn, Anzeel opened her mouth to intervene, but Ryan beat her on the clock.
"Please, hear me out. I know this isn't what you were expecting, and that it's hard to accept, but believe me when I say that this wasn't a decision I took lightly. I'm not asking you to ignore your misgivings and suddenly get along... but remember what we've done. We managed to set aside our differences and come together as allies once again; we even went as far as to compromise with Zero to fight a greater threat…"
"This is different, Master," Belfast said after having recovered her composure. "I hope you understand that we can't just trust him."
"I know; I'm asking you to trust me," Ryan pleaded, his emotion-filled voice shaking their will enough to make them falter.
Sensing that the mood in the room was slowly shifting and feeling compelled to intervene as Ryan was essentially taking the brunt for him, Aoste stepped up next to him, clearing his throat lightly, and drawing everyone's attention.
"As I've already told your Commander, I seek not forgiveness; whatever word of apology comes out of my mouth will probably sound empty anyway. My actions brought a lot of suffering upon you all and the world, but despite that, he gave me the chance to make things right when he had no obligation to, and I guarantee you that I intend to live up to the expectations."
Seeing the two men right next to each other made the shipgirls recoil slightly. Associating the visage of the man who had so kindly and bravely led them for all that time and whom they had come to care so deeply for with the much too similar face of the Creator was unnerving, and it certainly wasn't helping to assuage the trouble in their hearts.
This time, though, it was Anzeel's turn to intervene. There was something more urgent that needed bringing up, and it was necessary to give them the last push.
"Actions speak louder than words, am I right?" She said after walking up to Yorktown. The carrier had her eyes on the floor and a despondent look on her face. When Anzeel grabbed her hands, she lifted her gaze in confusion to meet the doctor's soft smile. "Why don't we start by seeing what we can do for your problem, dear Yorktown? That matter is a lot more pressing, if you ask me. You can save your judgment for later. What do you think?"
The doctor's kind eyes and gentle tone managed to lift Yorktown's spirits. The carrier nodded weakly, giving her consent, and Anzeel began gently guiding her toward the middle of the room, a broad smile on her face.
The others could only follow behind them, still not entirely convinced but with the tiniest bit of hope in their hearts.
As the discussion took place, the bulins had finished working, and now the device was standing at the center of the room, taking up most of the space to navigate through.
"This is the Reality Lens," Anzeel said solemnly, gesturing with a flourish to the bulins' work.
As expected, it wasn't just the visor that she had previously shown to the Commander and Freedom. The contraption was a lot more complex, but still not too convoluted. Two hospital beds had been taken from the room and moved side by side; their headboards had been modified to hold one of those helmets each, which were linked to what seemed to be a multi-pieced metal case situated between them, from which a huge load of wirework was sprouting forth. On the other side of said case was attached what looked like a control panel, along with a bunch of different monitors.
"We use it to project our consciousness inside the Cubes of our Kansen to correct imperfections, repair permanent damage to both their bodies and hulls, and so on. It's like readjusting some lines of code in a program. Or, if you prefer, it's like performing surgery on a Wisdom Cube to fix it. But first, we are going to see what else we can do for your condition, Yorktown. Please, lay down on one of the beds," Anzeel said, motioning for the carrier to come closer.
Yorktown jumped at being called out. "Um, I…"
Sensing her hesitation, Anzeel added, "Don't worry; this is just a simple checkup."
Yorktown complied. She hesitantly sat on the bed, and Vestal helped her down as Anzeel herself grabbed the helmet and delicately secured it on her head. Yorktwon's eyes disappeared behind the dark visor, leaving only her nose and mouth visible. She tried to settle as comfortably as she could until the lights on the helmet lit up, then she was told to take a breath and relax. After a few seconds, she went limp as her breathing became more regular, and she drifted off to sleep.
As the others watched in apprehension, Aoste and Anzeel took position behind the machinery to take a look at the monitors, followed by a curious TB. Everyone else just stood there, waiting expectantly as the two researchers went over the flowing walls of texts and data they could barely understand.
"Mm-hmm, as expected," Anzeel mused after a few minutes of contemplation.
"What? What is it?" The Commander urged her.
She turned to the man and adjusted her glasses. Vestal had told her everything she had learned about the Metamorphosis from her META counterpart, but to the Wisdom Cube technology expert, something didn't sound quite right. This checkup just helped her understand what it was.
"Normally, it's enough to restore a Kansen hull data for damages to the ship, but to correct a defective Cube is another story," she began. "You see, every Kansen Cube has a series of guiding lines that lay out the 'rules' of Kansen physiology, much like our own DNA. They are like limiters that dictate some of the very things that identify them as what they are. By tinkering with those limiters, there's a chance to alter them—things like disconnecting them from their hull, their rigging, even allowing them to grow old or get pregnant, for example."
Her words, spoken with such nonchalance, took a second to register, but managed to send all those present into a spiral of shock and disbelief, particularly the shipgirls. For women who, depending on who you ask, could barely be considered humans, even just having the chance to experience such a thing was inconceivable. It literally changed everything.
"That's… incredible… but what does it have to do with repairing the Cubes?" The Commander said after recovering from the shock.
"As I said before, it's like performing surgery on a Wisdom Cube to repair it and fix any imperfection. But for Yorktown, it's different. As shown by these readings, the corruption has started with her rigging and hasn't spread to her body… yet."
Vestal's eyes widened in understanding. "That's why she had so much trouble maneuvering it; it wasn't just a trauma-induced mental block."
"Exactly. Curing her will be more like removing a diseased organ and replacing it with something untouched. Of course, doing so would require a proper replacement, and luckily, I brought exactly what we need." A sly grin appeared on her face as she said it.
She scurried to one of the untouched suitcases at the corner and opened it with a flourish before turning back to them with a spring in her steps. In her hand was a slick, very advanced-looking data drive, adorned with... a Wisdom Cube? Was that a Wisdom Cube Drive?!
Anzeel inserted the thing into the case, and, after fiddling a bit with the panel, something appeared on the display in front of her. Motioning them closer, she moved aside to show it off as they all crowded around it with increasing curiosity.
"Presenting, Type II rigging! The solution to all our problems!"
The Commander had his eyes peeled on the image in front of him. It showed slick, modern-looking carrier rigging, something that recalled very much the shipgirls of the Essex-class stationed under Admiral Nimitz's command in New York. Additionally, the layout of the holographic document was similar to the paperwork he used to go through to approve of a shipgirl's retrofit procedure.
"Altered rigging? A retrofit... from the future?!" Ryan gawked, his heart swelling.
"Shikikan, this is..." Shoukaku murmured next to him, equally in awe.
"This is everything we could have hoped for and more!" Unable to contain his elation, he pulled her in for an enthusiastic hug, which the shipgirl had trouble reciprocating for the surprise. Then he proceeded to wrap her arms around her midriff, lift her up, and spin her around. "It'll work; it was worth it!"
"S-Shikikan, wait, t-this is..." she tried to protest, blushing hard in embarrassment, much to the amusement of the others around them, the sour mood of the previous exchange seemingly forgotten, or at least momentarily put to the side.
"Type II? And you couldn't find a better name?" Freedom raised an eyebrow at the display.
"I'm sorry, what else was I supposed to call it?" Anzeel inquired sarcastically.
"That's what I've always told her," Aoste added.
"I don't want to hear it from someone with your naming sense!" The woman shot back.
As they bantered, the only one who didn't seem convinced by this whole matter was Vestal. She just stood there, fidgeting with her fingers as she pondered.
"But then what about the METAs?" She spoke up, interrupting the chatter. Everyone turned to look at her as the weight of her words fell on them, and the mood went inevitably down again.
"There's no need to worry about them. Their predicament will just need a more drastic measure," Aoste piped up. "If the corruption is as widespread as you say, preserving their bodies will be pointless. We'll have to transfer the data... sorry, their memories from their old, corrupted vessel to a new one."
"So, what? Are you going to transplant their Cube into another body? Just like the Antiochus do?" Freedom inquired.
"Essentially, yes," the doctor stated. "It's going to be a far longer and more complicated procedure, but it's still doable. They'll maintain their external appearance, but the corruption will disappear, and they'll be out of danger."
General relief spread through the group at the doctor's words. To Ryan, it wasn't just the possibility to save all those poor girls from such an unjust fate; it was also the assurance that they wouldn't do anything rash, whether it was in battle or during their daily lives in port, especially after the scene with Ember earlier.
"Well, doctor, when can you start operating?" Freedom asked her.
"As soon as we're settled in," Anzeel stated confidently. "But first, let's wake Yorktown and tell her everything."
"I'd like to help," TB declared.
"Me too," Vestal pleaded.
"But of course," Anzeel said with a smile. "I'll be the one doing most of the work, but Aoste's going to need all the help he can get since I'll have to be next to the patient on the other bed." Her pleasant expression suddenly shifted into a frown as she turned toward her colleague. "Now that I think about it... Aoste, how in the hell did my Kansen Cubes get transported to the other timelines; is this also your doing?"
"Ah, right," Aoste shrugged. "I also gave Zero instructions to pass on your KAN-SEN program to humanity. I knew the shipgirls would have a key role to play, and I wasn't mistaken."
Anzeel all but gawked in disbelief at him. "You what?! Without my permission?! Oh, you know, what? Forget it… Seriously, I can't with this man…"
As the buzz of the chatter resumed with a more lighthearted mood, no one noticed the presence of a certain white-haired carrier outside the room.
Enterprise was sitting on the floor right next to the ajar door, leaning over the wall, arms wrapped around her knees, and a distraught expression on her face.
"Enterprise-san, are you sure you're okay?" Akashi asked her with concern in her voice. "Don't you want to get in, nya?"
"I'm fine, Akashi," she breathed out. "I just need a minute."
Her mind was a mess of emotions. She felt her Cube burning like a furnace, and she knew why.
Anger at finding out about the Creator, confusion at his story, disappointment in her sister for keeping her condition hidden from her... Those were all natural feelings, she thought, but what had her so distraught was how intense they felt in her core.
Particularly, the relief of knowing that not only Yorktown but all the METAs would be all right was too much to bear, and she was on the verge of breaking down right then and there. It was as if the vestiges of Ash's soul also heard the same things as her, but without the META carrier, her alter's emotions had nowhere else to flow but Enterprise herself.
She placed her forehead on her knees, hiding her face, and bit her lips as hard as she could, trying to fight back the lump that was forming in her throat.
Akashi tried to say something, but the poor catgirl was at a loss for words. Comforting others was never her strong suit, which was why she breathed a sigh of relief when the door opened slightly, revealing the figure of a certain maid in the doorframe.
"Miss Enterprise?" Belfast cocked her head in surprise at the unexpected sight of the Eagle Union carrier huddled down in the dark of the hallway and the Sakura repair ship fretting beside her.
Taken by surprise, Enterprise stammered, "B-Belfast... I can explain..."
She frantically tried to stand up in an attempt at saving appearances, but before she could haul herself upright, something came to rest on the top of her head, moving aside her officer cap to gently caress her air.
She lifted her gaze to see the maid on her knees next to her, a soft smile of understanding on her face.
Belfast didn't need to ask what happened; she only needed to look into the other woman's eyes to know that she had heard everything. From there, it wasn't hard to discern what was going through her head.
The answer was… a lot.
"There, there, it's okay," she said in a soft, hushed tone of voice, so as not to alert the others still inside. "Everything turned out all right. You did well, Miss Enterprise."
The carrier could only return the smile as she felt a single, lone tear run down her cheek until she couldn't hold it back anymore and began sobbing right then and there.
Belfast simply closed the door behind her as she soothed the other woman into the dark of the hallway and out of prying eyes.
Hermione was strolling on the deck of her ship, assorted in her own thoughts.
A few days had passed since she had set sail for the Iris Orthodoxy with Le Malin, Emperor, Leviathan, and Lenin, and it would still take a few hours until they got to their destination. She should be happy that she'd be able to see her queen and her fellow sisters of the Royal Navy again, but she couldn't shake off the feeling that something was wrong.
The journey was far too quiet.
Neither Liebe, swimming under the surface of the water, nor Emperor's planes, which he had sent up for scouting, had detected the slightest hint of Siren presence. No enemy drones, no patrol fleets, no scout vessels—nothing at all.
Before their departure, the Commander had told them how uncharacteristically quiet the situation around the globe had been, but this was stretching it. It was like the ocean had been purged of all their enemies at once, and that's exactly what made everyone so nervous. Something was brewing in the Sirens' pot, but no one could tell what it was, and the more time passed with nothing happening, the more everyone felt on edge.
Normally, having more passengers onboard would help liven up the environment, but with so few people, it was harder to set aside the uneasiness when both the ocean around them and the vessel itself were so quiet.
She was so lost in her musings that she didn't notice Emperor's presence until the door right in front of her opened and he stepped outside.
Their eyes met, and his expression lit up at the sight of her, making her heart skip a beat.
"Hey, Hermione, what are you doing out here?" He inquired cordially.
"Just taking some air, Master... and pondering some things," she said.
"Yeah, me too," he said, the heavy atmosphere influencing him as well. "Would you like to join me for a walk on this fine day?"
"Gladly, Master."
Before she could take a step, he offered his elbow to her with a small smile. She hesitated for a second, not expecting the gesture, then proceeded to hook her arm around his.
They began walking at a relaxed pace around the deck of the Hermione. They mostly exchanged pleasantries, with a few seconds of silence between one exchange and the other as they simply enjoyed each other's company.
Despite the now easing tension, they both were stiffer than usual, and not only because they had been on high alert the entire time. Amidst the preparations for the departure and the goodbyes to their friends, they hadn't had much time to properly discuss things after the kiss they had shared, and the maid had been dying to have that conversation.
But now there was nothing in their way. It was still a bit hard to look him in the eyes, and she didn't know how to broach the subject. As opposed to Emperor, she had never been the outgoing sort; maybe it'd be better to wait for him to do it?
"Just out of curiosity, how did you manage to convince Queen Elizabeth META to acquiesce to our terms?" He turned to address her, much to Hermione's relief.
"No one knows a queen better than her servants, Master," the maid replied proudly. "I only needed to stroke her ego a little."
"My, such a devious maid," he responded with a hint of amusement. "And tell me, what do you think I should do to convince Her Majesty—your actual queen—to give me permission to court her lovely subordinate?"
His words took her by surprise, and a blush came to adorn her face. This was it. "C-court?! Master, are you talking about... me?" The anticipation made her fumble her words.
"Of course, silly. Who else? Wasn't that kiss enough of a giveaway? Maybe I should have been more… assertive~" he told her with a sly grin and a telling look.
"N-no, I mean, I wouldn't mind that…" She averted her gaze in embarrassment, fumbling with her speech until she managed to find the right words. "I never doubted your intentions, Master. I just wanted to make sure it wasn't just something on the spur of the moment..."
Emperor had to hold back a chuckle at her predicament; she was always so irresistibly adorable when she got all flustered.
"I've always been attracted to you, Hermione; that's not a secret I was trying to hide," he pointed out. "I wanted to tell you last time, but that didn't feel like the right moment with everything that was happening."
"Does that mean you want to..." she trailed off in a hopeful tone of voice.
He came to a stop and turned to gaze into her eyes. "I know this might not seem like the right moment, and I don't know how we are going to make this work with our respective situations, but I want to give this a try, and I want you to know how serious I am about this. I'd feel remiss if I didn't." His eyes suddenly took on a more uncertain gleam. "Do you… feel the same way?"
The maid disentangled her arm from around his to take his hands into her own, her heart beating faster with each passing second.
"I do, Master; of course I do," she declared. "I'm sorry for running away last time; it's just... I've been waiting for a proper confession for a while, but you took me by surprise, and I didn't know how to react. Then came the news of the attack and everything else, and then I thought it'd be improper for a maid to bring up such a topic with her master and that it'd be uncouth to rush you, and..."
Seeing as though the embarrassment and the excitement were getting the better of the poor maid, the man felt compelled to intervene, pointing something out. "Hermione, I want to pursue a serious relationship with you—not as master and servant, but as equals," he stated. "Of course, I know how important to you your status as a member of the Royal Maid Corps is and how seriously the Royal Navy takes tradition and protocol. That's why I want to do things properly, but I don't want you to feel like you are chained to me."
Her eyes widened in understanding, and her heart was filled with joy. The more he spoke, the more she was grateful to her queen for assigning her to him, of all people.
"If you think this is just my duty as a maid compelling me, then you needn't fret, Master. As I've already told you, I want to stay by your side, not because it's my duty, but because it's my choice. I've been preparing myself for that for a while now."
That was enough for the man. Relief washed over him, and his smile widened as he wrapped his arms around her form, pressing their bodies and lips together in a passionate kiss that made her heart flutter.
They separated to catch their breaths after a few moments, but remained close, holding one another, and looking into each other's eyes with adoration.
"Ready to announce this to the whole Royal Court?" He asked her with a small grin.
She let out a chuckle. This was going to be quite the surprise for her sisters and comrades.
"I can't wait."
AN: And with this, the concept of Type II rigging has officially been introduced! As always, readjusted for the sake of the story.
Just a heads-up, I won't be handing out Type II rigging to every shipgirl under the firmament à la "you get a car, you get a car, everybody gets a car!"
Outside of Yorktown, only a few of them will get it, and only for two of them is it going to be relevant. Also, one of them will be an original design.
Some of you already guessed who that will be, and I haven't exactly been subtle about it, but you'll see.
Next Chapter: Eclipse Upon the Land of the Rising Sun