"Good morning, Master," Hermione whispered into Emperor's ear.
The shipboy's eyes fluttered open as he stirred awake. He turned to his side, where he met the maid's eyes staring affectionately at him, her head lying on the pillow beside him.
"Good morning, love. How are you feeling?" He asked her.
"A bit sore, but still totally able to carry out my duties," she replied.
"Aw, and here I was hoping to have you stuck in bed with me all day," he joked as he reached out his hand, resting it on her hip under the covers—the only thing hiding their naked bodies from sight. "Alas, I have an appointment to keep."
"Indeed you do, Master," she said as she scooted closer to him, reveling in his touch.
He leaned in, and their lips met in a soft kiss. For a few seconds, they lost themselves in it.
The two of them had spent every waking—and non—hour of their time in Devonport together, whether it was out on sortie or behind closed doors. With every passing day, the planetary alignment drew ever closer, and with it, the moment of their temporary separation. At least they hoped everything would go smoothly and it would actually be a temporary one and not a longer-term case. Whatever was going to happen, they were trying to make the most of the little time they had before the fated time was upon them.
"We should get up now," Hermione said reluctantly after they broke the kiss. "Her Majesty won't be happy if we keep her waiting too much."
Groaning, Emperor conceded. It took him all his willpower to take his hands off her and get up from the bed. As he headed to the bathroom, though, Hermione asked if she could join him in the shower, much to his delight. Needless to say, he accepted, so, that they did, washing up together under a stream of hot water, scrubbing and fondling each other, until things inevitably spiraled into another round of lovemaking.
No wonder Queen Elizabeth was so upset when they showed up at her office thirty minutes late.
"Finally!" Elizabeth exclaimed as Hermione bowed to the waist in apology. "What took you so long?"
"My deepest apologies, Your Majesty; we… er, we…" the maid stuttered, her cheeks flaring up in embarrassment as she tried to come up with an excuse.
"I'm sorry, Your Majesty; it's my fault," Emperor spoke up. "I got us caught up in conversation with someone along the way, and we lost track of time," he said with the most poker face he could muster.
"Unbelievable," Elizabeth commented, drumming her fingers on her desk while kneading her temple with her other hand. "You should know I'm not playing games here. I'm trying to keep a nation afloat. My time is precious," she chided, gesturing to her desk, covered in stacks of papers and folders, documents of all kinds.
The emergency sortie for the operation against Tower had given her some respite from the endless paperwork. However, upon returning, between the global crisis still in full swing and the damage caused by the Arbiter's rigging in Royal Navy territories, she had found her work had all but doubled. And this time, she didn't even have her entourage to assist her, as almost every Kansen available was out on sortie or patrol.
She let out a tired breath as she gestured for Emperor to take a seat. The shipboy moved to do so on the chair in front of her desk, with Hermione diligently coming to stand beside him, hands folded in front of her.
"So, what is it you wanted to talk about, Your Majesty?" He asked the queen.
"Before we get to that, I've received news from my servant," the queen began. "Apparently, as per Shinano's request, he's moved the location of the portal to the Sakura Empire."
"Did they give any explanation?" Emperor inquired, surprised by the news.
"None whatsoever," Elizabeth shook her head. "But it doesn't matter. Whatever the reason, it's an inconvenience, and it puts a spoke in my plans."
Emperor and Hermione shared a glance at that.
"Your Majesty, are you talking about..."
She raised her hand to interrupt him.
"Hermione, leave us," she said.
The maid blinked, not expecting to be dismissed so abruptly. She bowed to her queen and made to move for the door, glancing back in concern at the shipboy before leaving the room.
"You know, Your Majesty, if we're talking about what I think we are talking about, there was no need to send her away," Emperor said once the door had closed. "She already knows about it."
Elizabeth stared at him with a frown on her face. "I seem to remember having told you to keep it to yourself."
"Hermione is my faithful confidant, Your Majesty; I told her because I wanted her opinion on the matter," he said. "Don't worry, no one else knows, aside from the people you've told personally, I imagine."
"And your META counterpart..." he thought, his mind wandering back to when he had let the information slip in front of Queen Elizabeth META during their first encounter. But the queen here didn't need to know about that.
Another sigh left Elizabeth's lips. "Let's just move on and get through this quickly. As I've already said, I don't have time to waste." She should have been more upset, but she was too tired to argue with him, and there was more important stuff to discuss. "I want to send a delegation on the other side of the portal," she declared. "You already know why. I want to negotiate with your world's authorities to ensure asylum for my subjects in case things in this world go bad."
That's exactly what Emperor was expecting. What Elizabeth had told him way back then was to take as many of her subjects as he could and flee to his world if things went badly. That was her plan B in case the Sirens proved too much to handle. Now, things weren't exactly good, but neither were they bad enough to justify a mass evacuation of people—both Kansen and the few civilians they could bring with them.
So, Elizabeth had decided to first test the waters on the other side and see how things developed from there.
"But…" Emperor trailed off, prompting her to continue.
"But my servant deciding to move the location of the portal to the Sakura Empire has made things more difficult," she huffed in annoyance.
Her plan had been to offer some of her subordinates as additional protection to Ryan and the joint base during the planetary alignment and then to push forward the idea of sending some of them as escort with the shipboys, all as an excuse to get into contact with the Azur Lane of the other world before anyone else. But the news of the portal being moved to the Sanctuary thwarted her plans. Why? Because it meant she needed Nagato's permission to do so first.
If she shared her idea with any of the other faction leaders, they'd likely want in as well. But Elizabeth feared there was a chance the other world's authorities wouldn't agree to receive any refugees if the number of people was too 's what had led her to act so secretly; as flagship of the Royal Navy, she had to ensure her subjects' safety first and foremost.
"And what exactly do you want me to do about that?" Emperor inquired. He wasn't a fool. The date of the planetary alignment was around the corner, and Elizabeth had summoned him so urgently, going as far as to insist he'd come with her to Devonport after the battle with Tower. She wanted something from him that wasn't just the "go with my people and leave me behind while I hold them off" kind of thing.
"I want you to call up your brother Kurama and tell him to put a good word with Nagato," Elizabeth said. "I'm planning to extend my idea to her and propose that she sends a delegation along with mine. It's going to be a combined diplomatic effort between the Royal Navy and the Sakura Empire." That's what she had come up with to work around the problem. Nagato also had her subordinates' safety at heart; she would definitely want in after hearing her proposal, but it was acceptable, especially because it took away the guilt of going behind everyone else's backs.
"Your Majesty, you do know there are risks associated with your proposal, right?" Emperor said after pondering her words. "It's one thing to evacuate as a last resort, but sending a bunch of Kansen to my world through a makeshift portal... It takes as little as a miscalculation, and you might lose them forever."
"Do you have a better solution then?" Elizabeth inquired, slightly irritated. She had thought about that, of course; she had even considered going herself, but if the worst did end up happening, she'd be stuck on one side and her subjects on the other with the Sirens, which was the exact opposite of what she wanted.
"Yes. Why don't you let me do it for you?" Emperor proposed.
"Do what?"
"Talk to my superiors at Azur Lane in your stead," said the shipboy. "If I'm going to enlist their help against the Sirens, then I can negotiate a safe harbor for everyone while I'm at it."
Elizabeth scoffed at that. "What? You? Absolutely not."
"Why? Don't you trust me?" Emperor frowned, her dismissive tone genuinely offending him.
The stare she sent him was so piercing it made him shrink in his seat.
"You've literally just admitted to telling it to Hermione when I'd explicitly said not to tell anyone," she deadpanned.
"That's an entirely different matter," he defended himself.
"Is it? It just proves how unserious you can be even when there's so much at stake," she said haughtily, her irritation now openly showing. "No matter what you say, this is a matter that can only be addressed by an official delegation whose members speak with the blessing of their queen and with the best interests of the Royal Navy in mind."
"You insult me, Elizabeth," he retorted, narrowing his eyes at her. "You really think I can't act with the Royal Navy's best interests in mind? I stopped acting in my own personal interest a long time ago, yet you still seem to treat me like a stranger, even though I've proven many times how attached I've become to you all. Heck, one of your subordinates is my sister ship, and I'm basically betrothed to another one-"
"Oh, enough of this!" Elizbaeth snapped, shooting him a glare. "This whole brother and sister from another world matter is just a huge pile of crap, and you know it! I've been humoring it all this time only because it's good for Chaser's mental well-being. And let's not talk about your relationship with Hermione. You asked me permission to court her, but that's it; you never actually asked for her hand. I bet you did it only because you wanted to be able to bed her without consequences-"
"How could you say that?!" Emperor shot up to his feet and slammed his hands on the desk, sending a bunch of papers to the floor. She flinched in surprise, her heart jumping in her throat at the sight of him looming over her.
"Do you really think me capable of something so hideous? I love that woman with all my heart. I could never take advantage of her like that!" He hissed through his teeth with a menacing tone. He stared down at her with simmering anger on his face as she shivered in fear under his gaze. "What exactly do you want me to do to prove my dedication that I haven't already done? If you want me to get down on my knee and beg you for Hermione's hand in marriage, I'm ready to do it at any moment," he declared. "The only reason I haven't already done so is because I'm scared of being stuck on the other side of the portal..."
His voice had taken on a steadier tone as he spoke, a bit of emotion gradually trickling into his into her eyes—her bloodshot, dark-circled, scared, and tired eyes—he managed to find his composure. He took a deep breath and sat back on the chair with a sigh.
A heavy silence fell between them.
Elizabeth was berating herself for the untoward display. Snapping like that wasn't like her. She would have never accused the shipboy in such a way; those had been the stress and the exhaustion talking for her. But whatever excuse she tried to come up with, it was clear that it was her fault. The only way to come out of this with a shred of her pride still intact was to apologize, but she couldn't bring herself to speak with the lump that was forming in her throat.
"Forgive me, Your Majesty," Emperor breathed out, unable to look her in the eyes. "Everything about this matter is so uncertain... Me going means I could lose everything good I've found in this world. I just can't imagine you being so adamant on going through with this."
Elizabeth hung her head, bringing her hands together in front of her on the desk. She took a deep, calming breath.
"No, I… I'm the one who should apologize, Emperor," she tentatively said, much to the shipboy's surprise. "Doubting your loyalty wasn't my intention. These past few weeks have been... rough."
"I understand... They've been rough on all of us," he responded. "It seems Elizabeth has reached her limit," he thought.
The sudden arrival of the Original Sirens, the loss of the Basilica, the attack on the Sanctuary, and the following missile strikes to the world's governments, all culminating in the emergency with Tower—whose incursion, by the way, had caused the highest amount of damage in the Royal Navy territories—all those events had taken a toll on everyone, both Kansen and humans, civilians and non. The first to step ahead during the crisis had been the flagships, who were trying to keep things together while the governments of each faction tried to recover.
They were doing a great job at that, but there was only so much they could do by themselves, and it was only a matter of time before the pressure made them snap.
Emperor was glad it happened to Elizabeth while he was still present. They both needed to vent; now, it was a matter of making things right, since they both had found their reason.
"Your Majesty, I think your idea of evacuating is perfectly reasonable and valid," he spoke up, making her blink in confusion. "Don't look at me like that. I also want a safe place for Chaser, Unicorn, and everyone else to run to, if necessary," he told her before his voice shifted to a more serious tone. "I will reiterate my offer. I can negotiate with my superiors in your stead. With Freedom's speed, we are going to be faster than any delegation you'd send. Not only that, but you run the risk of having your comrades stuck on the other side forever. Are you sure you want them to take the chance?"
Elizabeth pursed her lips and averted her gaze, her exhausted mind faltering under his words.
Then he stood up and walked up to her, behind the desk. Much to her surprise, he went down on his knee.
"Elizabeth, please; you've done so much for me and my brothers. Let us pay you back. No one needs to take that risk but us," he said. "Let me be your spokesperson. I swear I won't disappoint you."
After hearing his passionate words and looking at him kneeling in front of her with a hand on his chest and an unwavering determination in his gaze, she could do nothing but relent.
She finally let out a resigned sigh, an awkward blush coming to her face.
"F-fine! Ugh, I can't believe how insistent you can get at times!" She exclaimed in half exasperation, much to the shipboy's amusement.
"As you wish, Your Majesty," he chuckled as he stood back up.
Elizabeth waited for him to get out of her office, but he simply stood there, as if expecting something.
"W-well? What are you waiting for? Go and do my bidding," she said, waving him off.
"Isn't the queen going to instruct me on her will, or does she expect me to come up with something off the top of my head when I speak with my superiors?" He inquired, a hint of amusement in his voice.
Elizabeth flinched. She turned to glance at her desk, still filled to the brim with paperwork, and grimaced.
Emperor noticed, of course. He chuckled under his breath as he went to grab his chair to move it to the side of her desk.
"C'mon, let me help you with this stuff."
"Uh? Why? I don't recall asking for help," she said, crossing her arms indignantly.
"No, but you need it. And since you are not refusing..." Emperor trailed off as he turned to the door. "Hermione, dear, since I know you are listening, can you bring us some iced tea? Thank you, love!"
A thump came from the other side of the door, followed by the sound of footsteps scurrying away, along with a hurried apology from the maid who had been listening in from outside.
Emperor couldn't help the laughter that came out of his mouth as Elizabeth sighed deeply.
Hiding a smirk behind her hand, she sat back in her chair and resumed her work with the help of the shipboy, the two of them soon to be joined by the maid and the refreshments she'd bring.
"I wasn't expecting such a warm sendoff," Leviathan said with a smile, standing idly on the docks of Wilhelmshaven. Around him, a bunch of Iron Blood shipgirls had come to bid him farewell.
The fated day was upon them; in a few hours, the planetary alignment would start, and it was time for him to say goodbye. He had enjoyed to the fullest the little time he'd spent with the Iron Blood, but now he had a job to do.
Aside from August, the small crowd consisted of Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, Friedrich der Große, U-556, and of course, Bismarck; even Deutschland had come to say goodbye.
"Is that so hard to believe?" Bismarck said with a smirk. "You are basically one of us now."
"Indeed, you should be grateful the mighty Deutschland has decided to bless you with her presence," the heavy cruiser declared haughtily.
"We had a half-idea of throwing a farewell party, but everyone was too busy to attend," U-556 piped up. "So, we've decided to put it off for your return."
"I appreciate the thought, Parzival," Leviathan replied. "As soon as I get back, we are going to get wasted."
The other Iron Blood shipgirls he had befriended were all out on sortie or submerged in their other duties. It was a miracle Bismarck herself had found a sliver of free time to be there; the flagship had been cooped up in her office, working tirelessly to catch up on her duties since the day of her return.
"And that thing would be..." Friedrich der Große inquired, nodding at the contraption in his hand.
"My one-way ticket for the Sakura Empire," Leviathan said, holding it up for her.
In his hand he was holding one of Massachusetts' beacons. It had been decided in advance that the Eagle Union battleship would just teleport him and Emperor to his destination, picking him up first and his brother second, who was waiting for his turn at Devonport, instead of having them make the crossing by themselves. She'd bring them both directly to the Sanctuary, where they'd wait for the alignment to start, and then they would cross the portal as soon as it became operational, so as not to waste precious time.
"So, it's time…" August said, approaching him from the side. She tried to keep an air of nonchalance around her as she spoke, but she couldn't help the sadness from seeping through. "I knew this moment would come eventually, but it doesn't make it any easier."
Leviathan felt his heart clench at seeing her like this.
After he finally mustered the courage to tell her that he'd have to leave, her initial reaction had been surprisingly calm. August had nodded silently as he explained the situation, keeping her expression carefully controlled the entire time. Yet she couldn't fully mask the dejection—Leviathan hadn't missed the slight falter in her features and the flash of sadness in her eyes.
Despite that, she ultimately acted completely understanding about the whole situation... at least initially. It was only when he went over the details and the risk of him not coming back that her concern began to show openly.
Since that moment, she had become far clingier, her already affectionate nature growing more intense with each passing day. She lingered by his side more often, her touches more frequent, almost as if she were trying to hold onto every last moment they had together. She wasn't even being subtle about it, and now, as she stood next to him, her sadness was palpable, even through her attempt to appear nonchalant in front of her comrades.
"Believe me, if there was another way, I-"
"No, it's okay, I understand," August interrupted him, shaking her head lightly. "The stakes are too high, and this is something only you can do…" she trailed off, her dejected expression mirroring his own.
"Ugh, I can't stand seeing them like this," Scharnhorst mused before interjecting. "Come on, you two, stop being so gloomy! Is this how you are supposed to say goodbye?"
"Indeed," Gneisenau supplied. "You both have been so happy these past few days; are you really going to ruin that by moping around like this?"
August and Leviathan looked down bashfully as the two sisters rebuked them.
"They are right, you know?" Bismarck stepped in. "Isn't there something else you should be saying to each other?"
"Yeah, like, 'we'll see each other again, and then we are all going to kick the Sirens' asses together,'" U-556 piped up excitedly, pumping her fist in the air.
The two lovers couldn't help the chuckles escaping their lips. They turned to face each other again, slightly cheered up.
"Make sure to come back, you hear me?" She told him in a pleading tone, clasping his face in her hands to peer into his eyes.
"I swear," he declared, doing the same with her. "Even if I have to tear down the whole fabric of reality myself, I'll come back to you."
And thus, they exchanged one last goodbye kiss, all in front of their fellow Iron Blood comrades. Deutschland rolled her eyes and averted her gaze as U-556's eyes sparkled and the senior Kansen smiled at the heartwarming sight.
After that, the minutes passed quickly as Leviathan and the shipgirls exchanged final pleasantries. Eventually, the shipboy looked at his pocket watch. He'd love to linger a bit longer, but he and Emperor had agreed upon a specific time with Massachusetts, and the hour was upon them.
As if on cue, a flash of light appeared in the corner of his eye, and the group turned to acknowledge the presence of the Eagle Union battleship as she appeared out of thin air. Massachusetts took in her surroundings before her gaze zeroed in on the group. She greeted them all with a wave of her hand before approaching to address the shipboy.
"Ready?" She asked.
"As I'll ever be," he replied.
She walked up to him and clasped his shoulder with her hand, closing her eyes to focus on her Cube.
August, who had been holding onto Leviathan's arm the entire time, detached herself from him and took a step back, their fingers brushing one last time as they both reluctantly relinquished the other's contact.
No more words were needed as they exchanged one last glance.
"Good luck on the other side!" The others shouted their goodbyes as Leviathan and Massachusetts disappeared in a flash.
A heavy silence fell over the docks, the place feeling empty all of a sudden with the shipboy's departure. It was Bismarck who broke it first, making them all snap out of their gloom.
"That's enough tarrying, comrades," she said, clapping her hands to gather everyone's attention. "There's much work to do; get back to your occupations."
As the small group of shipgirls dispersed, she noticed one figure who had remained still in place. August was standing stiffly, her back turned, looking out to the sea. The carrier's face was obscured by her long, dark bangs, and Bismarck couldn't figure out what was going through her mind without seeing her expression. If she had to guess, August had probably just put up another façade, pretending to have gotten over the matter earlier. Now that the shipboy was gone, reality was likely hitting her harder than she wanted to let on.
"Don't worry, August; everything's going to be all right," Bismarck said, trying to comfort her friend. "It's not like he's going alone."
But her words didn't seem to reach her. On the contrary, August's shoulders began shaking as she clearly tried her hardest to keep it together.
Bismarck panicked, her eyes darting around for help until they settled on Friedrich. The other battleship had also noticed this and decided to respond to Bismarck's request for help.
"It's okay, child," she said as she walked up to August, wrapping her in a comforting embrace from behind. "All those emotions that you've bottled up... It's perfectly normal. Let it all out, and don't feel ashamed."
With that, the dam finally broke. August fell to her knees and began crying, her shoulders shaken by a series of sobs as Friedrich kept holding her against her chest.
Bismarck's heart clenched. She struggled to find the right words, desperately looking for a way to comfort her friend. She cursed herself and her cluelessness as she racked her brain, but finally, she came up with something.
"August, you know what they say, 'Absence makes the heart grow fonder,' right?" She piped up awkwardly. "He'll be back before you know it."
The carrier shook her head, keeping her eyes down. "No… You don't understand... *sniff* I didn't tell him..."
"What are you talking about?" Bismarck inquired in confusion. "What didn't you tell him?"
August looked up at her, her face streaked with tears, and brought a hand to her belly.
"I'm pregnant…"
Ryan didn't think he'd be back to the Sanctuary so soon. The place was in much better condition than when he had last been here. The rubble occupying the residential area had been completely removed, and the place had been rendered habitable once again, with new apartments and accommodations that the Sakura shipgirls had already occupied. The port and the other damaged installations had been repaired, bringing the harbor back into working order.
It wasn't exactly back to its previous beautiful and colorfully picturesque state; you could still see traces of the previous battle, with taped-off sections of condemned areas that hadn't yet been cleared, and it certainly wasn't as bustling with life as before, but thanks to the bulins Ryan had sent to help, Nagato had managed to bring it back up to standards.
"Nervous, Shikikan?" The Sakura flagship asked the Commander.
"A bit, I'll admit," Ryan admitted.
"It's only normal," Nagato said. "We are trying to do something unprecedented here."
They were standing on the temple grounds, overlooking the base from above. Behind them was the hulking figure of the Sacred Sakura Tree, its massive trunk plunging into the bay in the middle of the base; further behind, at the back of the island, there was a clearing. It was a large, flat expanse covered in green grass, perched a few dozen feet above sea level. The clearing overlooked a steep, rocky cliff that plunged into the water below, where waves crashed with a series of thunderous roars.
That was the location that had been chosen for the installation of the portal.
The thing was complete now. Ryan could clearly see its frame even from afar. They had made it right on time with its construction, all thanks to Jean Bart, who had brought over the remains of Tower's rigging. As planned, the materials had been repurposed to compose the portal's missing framework. Hauling it all the way up there would have been difficult if it hadn't been for her and her flying ship.
Upon returning to the joint base with the cargo a few days earlier, Jean Bart had been looking forward to some well-deserved respite after carrying the stuff through two different oceans. Imagine her reaction when she was told she'd have to bring it all the way to the Sakura Empire, adding more weight to the load to boot.
She had joined the joint fleet as representative of the Iris Orthodoxy, not so that she could become its transport ship. But instead of complaining, the pirate woman had rolled up her sleeves and had loaded the metal platform that was supposed to function as base for the portal on her vessel and had delivered it to the Sanctuary, along with everything else she had been transporting.
Now, Jean Bart was taking a well-deserved rest, saving her energy in case of need. Another person whose efforts the Commander would have to find a way to repay somehow.
"Oh, I've gotten used to that by now," he said to Nagato. "It's something else I'm worried about."
"The Sirens…" Kawakaze commented in a breath from beside her liege.
"We won't let ourselves be caught off guard this time," Nagato declared, thinking back to the siege. "We've taken plenty of precautions. If they do show up, we will give them the welcome they deserve."
Indeed, to ensure the enemy wouldn't approach the Sanctuary undetected like it had happened last time, the Commander and the Priestess of the Sakura were sparing no effort.
The entire base and the annex of smaller islands scattered within a radius of miles around it were being tightly secured. Both the Sakura shipgirls and the Kansen of the joint fleet Ryan had brought with him were split into several groups to scour the waters around the Sanctuary, while some of them were ordered to patrol the port's grounds on foot to prevent any infiltration from the enemy.
Everyone knew the stakes and was keeping their eyes wide open for anything out of place. If the Sirens wanted to interfere with the opening of the portal, they were going to have their work cut out for them this time.
But Nagato and Kawakaze were wrong; that wasn't what was on the Commander's mind. The cause of his trouble was the reason they had to move the portal to the Sanctuary in the first place.
The nature of Shinano's power had always been ineffable to everyone, sometimes even to the carrier herself. That, though, had never prevented the shipgirl from influencing some important decisions regarding the war after having one of her famed dreams. The problem was that this time, she had given no explanation as to why they were supposed to follow her instructions; the only thing she had said was that she didn't have the full picture either. Despite that, she had been adamant about it.
Ryan would have been hard-pressed to believe her this time if her visions hadn't always been one hundred percent right. Even discounting that, the Sakura shipgirls trusted their oracle, and Nagato herself had vouched for her, so in the end he'd had to relent.
And now, here they were, betting everything on a decision that would seal the fate of the world, and that had been made based on what was essentially a gut feeling.
No wonder he was feeling anxious.
"Nagato-sama, Shikikan, I just got word that the shipboys have arrived," Kawakaze spoke up after receiving a message through her radio, shaking him out of his musings.
"Good; let's go meet them and then head to the portal," Nagato said as she and Ryan began following Kawakaze.
Freedom grimaced internally as he and his brothers looked up at the portal from up close.
The structure that was supposed to hold a passage for their world loomed over them, dwarfing them. It was the size of a Ferris wheel, which still paled in comparison to the bulk of the Sacred Sakura Tree, but it was still an impressive size for a contraption made from Siren scraps.
Looking at it, Freedom couldn't help but draw a parallel with the one they had used to travel to the Original Timeline, size difference aside. The base was the metal platform TB and the others had put together back at the joint base, and it sported the same four metal arms sprouting upward on four different sides, curving inward toward the center of the contraption, giving them an ominous appearance, like claws of ribs made of metal—which was an accurate description since they had been scrapped together from the remains of Tower's rigging.
TB and Akashi had proudly dubbed it ARC—as in Alternate Reality Connector.
"This thing wouldn't look out of place in front of the gates of hell," Sparviero said, voicing everyone's thoughts. "Are we sure it's safe?"
"I certainly hope so," Freedom commented weakly.
"Having second thoughts, brother?" Lenin turned to taunt him with a snarky grin, to which Freedom replied with a sneer.
"I wouldn't hold my breath. Nothing we've done since coming here has been safe," Kurama said, shrugging. "I figured you'd have gotten used to it by now."
"You're telling me! I'm the one who has to go through it," Freedom grumbled.
"You don't have to be afraid. I've run all kinds of tests. I can guarantee your safety during the crossing, just like last time," TB's voice interjected from the side. The Antiochus was standing in her physical vessel a few feet away from them, next to the portal. She was at a console of some sort, the control panel of the contraption, with the four connectors sprouting from her back attached to it. The panel was connected to the base of the ARC by a tangle of wires and cables scattered in a disorderly manner all over the place, and she was typing away at it, triple-checking everything multiple times.
Freedom breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good to hear, TB."
"The same I cannot say about the arrival," she added. "Despite my attempts, calibrating the ARC for a specific destination has turned out impossible, so we are going to have to leave it to chance."
"Wait, does that mean we could end up at the North Pole as much as we could find ourselves inside a volcano?" Freedom inquired, feeling dread growing inside him.
TB tilted her head to the side. "The chances of that happening are quite low, but yeah, not impossible."
"Okay, now I'm really starting to have second thoughts," Freedom lamented.
"A bit too late for that, isn't it?" Another voice was heard.
They turned toward its direction to see Emperor and Leviathan waving at them. Stepping down from where the temple grounds ended to leave space to the grass of the clearing, the two shipboys approached the group, accompanied by Ryan, Nagato, and Kawakaze. Massachusetts was also with them; the Eagle Union battleship had returned with them after warping away to go pick them up.
"Finally," Kurama said as the others approached. "I was starting to think we'd have to start without you."
"You know how it is, brother; heartfelt goodbyes take time," Emperor shrugged. "And it's not like you get to decide when to start," he snarked.
"So… how did it go?" Sparviero tentatively asked them. "Any problems with the girls?"
"Well, they weren't exactly thrilled…" Emperor trailed off wistfully. Before Massachusetts came for him, plenty of Royal Navy shipgirls had gathered to see him off. It had been an emotional and bittersweet ordeal, with Chaser and Hermione fighting to hold back tears and failing miserably at it when Unicorn asked him how long he'd be gone for; even Queen Elizabeth couldn't stay completely impassive in front of that.
"It wasn't easy, but it's how it has to be," Leviathan solemnly commented. "We are ready to go at any time."
"By the way, when exactly is that going to be?" Ryan asked.
His question hung in the air for a few instants as everyone turned to TB. She finished typing on the console, then raised her head to meet their gazes.
"Right now, Commander."
AN: There's a bun in the oven! I repeat, THERE'S A BUN IN THE OVEN!
Y'all knew full well something like this would happen eventually. It was a matter of when, not if, and now was the perfect time to bring it up.
Next Chapter: The Depths of a Bond