The battle was over.
The ocean was littered with metal scraps and burning wreckage all around them. South Dakota and the others, led by King George V, had conducted one last push and were finally able to beat the Sirens. The shipgirls were now standing in the middle of the battlefield, holding onto each other for support, both physical and emotional.
Zuikaku approached her sister. Shoukaku was failing miserably at holding back her tears while being consoled by Ark Royal, who was soothing her back with her hand. "I'm sorry, senpai… You shouldn't see me like this."
"Don't fret over it; let it all out," the veteran said to her recently acquired junior.
"Shoukaku-nee, are you all right? You are not wounded, are you?" The Sakura carrier asked her sister.
"No, I'm fine, Zuikaku," she replied, wiping the tears from her face. "Just… the thought of Shikikan losing his life under the escort of my planes was too much. I couldn't live with myself if something happened to him."
"You have nothing to feel sorry about, Shoukaku," Ark Royal interjected. "It's true, his plan was reckless, but thanks to that, we were able to turn the tide of the battle. Without your planes holding out as much as they did, he would have never met that male Kansen, and without him, Massachusetts would have ended up dead. Maybe we would have still won, but we would have suffered too many important losses."
Shoukaku sniffed and smiled. "Thank you, Ark-senpai."
Zuikaku winced at that and turned to where Massachusetts was being snuggled by South Dakota and Alabama.
The two battleships had grabbed a hold of their sister and were now squeezing her between them in a hug, the former burying Massachusetts' face in her chest, the latter burying her own face in her hair from behind.
Dakota was silently crying, tears flowing down her cheeks. She was holding her sister in her arms as if she could disappear at any second.
"Sisters, please. You don't need to squeeze me so hard. I'm fine, I promise…" Massachusetts wasn't hating the display of affection, but it was getting hard to breathe.
"I can't believe we almost lost you, and it was all my fault for not being able to protect you… I'm sorry, Mamie," Shout Dakota breathed out.
Massachusetts looked up at her sister in bewilderment after hearing her words. She struggled to get free with all her strength and then addressed her elder.
"Don't blame yourself for something you didn't do, sister," she said with a serious expression on her face and a tone that didn't admit any objection. "I don't want you to feel guilty for something you had no control over, and that goes for you too, Alabama," she added, turning to her other sister, who was doing her best to hold back her own tears. "It was my own inattention that put me in that situation; I'm the only one to blame for that."
The two battleships, not expecting to be chastised, could only nod their heads dejectedly.
"That is actually not true," Enterprise interjected in the conversation, accompanied by three of their comrades. "We were the ones engaging Purifier; she was able to do what she did because we weren't skilled enough to hold her back."
Next to her, Zuikaku and Belfast deeply bowed to the three battleships. "We are truly sorry for that. Next time, I'll be far stronger to prevent it from happening, I swear," said the Sakura carrier.
"What they said. Seeing you alive and well is a relief and watching that deep sisterly bond you share has warmed my heart," Prinz Eugen added with a genuine smile on her face. "But enough of that depressing stuff, let's talk about the stud that saved your cute butt; how did you like playing the part of the damsel in distress?" The Iron Blood cruiser asked Massachusetts without mincing her words.
The others looked at her in disbelief; they were expecting her to bring up the topic more delicately, not with such bluntness.
Massachusetts' eyes widened and a slight blush came to her face; she didn't know how to respond to that, all she knew was that she was still alive thanks to him.
"I don't know; I think that just thanking him for saving my life wouldn't be enough. I'm trying to think of another way to show him my gratitude," the shipgirl said with a pensive look on her face.
"Don't worry about that, Mamie. I got you covered." Another voice joined. It was Howe; she and George were heading towards them, with the former leaning on the shoulder of the latter. Their roughed-up appearance clashed with the big smiles on their faces.
"There's only one thing you can do to show your gratitude to a man in such a situation." With a wink, the battleship began explaining her idea.
Purifier was dead, and Freedom was tired; he could recover his energy by absorbing another Cube or two if he needed, but that wouldn't help him with his mental fatigue. Besides, consuming too much energy and recharging his own Cube multiple times a day would put it under too much strain, and it wasn't good for his health.
He turned around and watched as the shipgirls gathered up in the distance, where they had been fighting until then.
He really wanted to go and properly say hi to them, but he wasn't sure how much longer his engines could keep up, so he decided to head to the oil rig and take a rest there.
The closer he got to the platform, the more figures he could make out. There was Commander Ryan flanked by another group of Kansen, a man who must have been another officer, and his sailors, cheering in excitement while clapping their hands and high-fiving each other; they were probably the technicians who assembled the jamming device.
He watched as Ryan whispered something in the ear of the other officer, who then turned to address the sailors. After that, they stopped their celebrations, returning to the innermost part of the platform, probably to attend to the device and prepare for the trip back. He was grateful for that; he wasn't in the mood for a crowd dive.
Upon reaching the platform, he stopped the energy flow to his wings and landed on top of the metal surface, a few feet away from Ryan and the shipgirls. He then focused on his Cube and dismissed his wings, which retracted on his back before disappearing in a purple flash.
Breathing a sigh of relief as the weight was lifted from his back, he stretched his shoulders and popped his neck. Ryan was already in front of him, going for a handshake, which he returned right away.
"We finally have enough time for a proper chat, Freedom." The Commander addressed the male Kansen with a professional but cheerful voice, the typical tone of a young officer on a mission who was on the verge of breaking protocol to show his happiness. Their previous exchange had been conducted in a hurry, in the middle of the ocean, while he was holding the officer in his arms and flying at high speed, trying to get him away from the Siren aircraft that were trying to kill him.
"That's right, Commander," Freedom replied with a tired smile. "Though I would like to put it off for later if you are okay with it. I'm too tired for any meaningful conversation at the moment."
"I can imagine; you take a rest while I organize the fleet for the trip back. We'll talk business when we're back to the safety of our base."
"Hold on a second!" The voice of a certain heavy cruiser interrupted their conversation. "You might be fine with it, but I'm not. He might have saved your life, and I'm grateful for that, but we can't trust him just because he did a good thing. We don't know anything about him, and you want to bring him to our base? Did you hit your head on your way back here or something, Kommandant?" Hipper came to stand next to the Commander, ready to confront the male Kansen.
Ryan was about to berate the cruiser not only for issuing his orders in front of a stranger but also for disrespecting the man who saved his life but was able to keep his composure; he didn't want to make a scene right in front of the destroyers, who had retreated behind a metal crate not too far from there, from where they were peeking with their heads.
Breathing through his teeth, he addressed the troublesome Kansen. "Hipper, this man not only saved my life and Massachusetts', but he fought an entire fleet of aircraft and an Elite Siren to do it. If it weren't for him, I wouldn't be here, and we probably would have failed the mission, or worse, we could all be dead; so, if I say he is coming with us, then he is coming with us, and I won't accept any objection coming from you or anyone else."
The cruiser, taken aback by his tirade, started stuttering. "I-I… but… Ugh, fine, as you wish, dummkopf," Hipper said, puffing her cheeks and pouting like a baby.
Before he could reprimand her further, the voice of her elder sister was heard.
"Kommandant, were you finally able to tame my troublesome schwester?" Prinz Eugen, who had just jumped on the platform from the water below, followed suit by the rest of the Kansen, addressed the Commander. "It was about time," she said with a playful tone, strutting toward her sister.
Before Hipper could say anything, Eugen caught her in a bear hug.
"Eugen, what are you doing?! Let me go! This is embarrassing." Hipper tried to struggle through her sister's hold, but it was all in vain. After a few seconds of cuddling, Eugen let her go.
"What has gotten into you? We are still on sortie, you know?!" Hipper shrank in embarrassment, trying to hide the slight blush on her face.
"I just felt like holding you close to my chest, dear schwester, that way, maybe I can pass you a little bit of my… softness."
"T-that's not how it works, and you know it!"
Letting the two Iron Blood cruisers lose themselves in their banter, the Commander addressed the rest of the fleet who had gathered around them.
"Allow me to do the honors again. Ladies, this is Freedom; he'll be staying with us for the foreseeable future," he announced. "Freedom, these are the Kansen of Azur Lane under my command, the fiercest warriors of the sea."
"Aw, please, Commander, you'll make us blush," Howe chirped, jokingly feigning embarrassment.
Freedom was finally able to take a good look at them. It was a varied and colorful group; he recognized Sakura's typical outfits and Iron Blood's red and black color scheme alongside high-ranking Royal uniforms and other more… revealing outfits. They were all gorgeous in their own way, and just looking at them was a feast for the eyes, even after such a hard battle.
The fact that Kansen of so many different factions were able to fight alongside each other without any animosity between them was reassuring. It meant that the political situation of this world was not as messed up as he feared. Then again, he doubted it could get any worse than his own world in the past.
"Hey y'all, I'm the lead ship of the Freedom-class cruisers, USS Freedom; it's nice to meet ya," the man said, addressing the colorful group of Kansen in front of him. "I made a deal with Commander Ryan here; I'll help out as best as I can against the Sirens, and he'll do his part in helping me find my brothers."
"That's correct. I want you to welcome him as an unofficial member of the fleet for the time being, at least until we figure out what to do with the higher-ups."
"Roger that, Commander," came a chorus of reply.
"And before I let you go, allow me to say this." Ryan straightened up and looked them in the eyes, one by one. "You were great out there. This was one of the most intense battles we've had, and we were able to come out on top because you all worked together like a true joint fleet, in the face of those who belittled us, saying that Kansen from different factions could never get along and work alongside each other. You've come a long way since Azur Lane was re-established. I'm proud of you, and I'm happy to see you all alive and well, even if a bit roughed up."
The other Kansen were left without words at his brief speech, fumbling with their hair and the hem of their clothes, blushing like schoolgirls, and Freedom was too. For a second, Ryan reminded him of a certain officer and friend back home.
He smiled to himself. "I'm glad there's people like him in this world too."
After that, the Commander dismissed himself, deciding to go check on the conditions of Cleveland and Helena and see how the remaining subs were doing, leaving the Kansen to take a well-deserved rest. While leaving, he passed next to the four destroyers and winked at them. "Come on, girls; don't be shy."
Shimakaze, gathering her courage, was the first to come out of their hiding spot. She moved next to their friends, wanting to take a better look at the new arrival. Z23, Laffey, and Ayanami followed suit.
"Hi, I'm Shimakaze, destroyer of the Sakura Empire," said the destroyer, raising her hand as if she was in class. "You said you have brothers; does that mean there's more like you around the place?" The lapin destroyer came up to him, regarding him with eyes full of curiosity.
"Yeah… even though I have no idea where they could be, we were together inside of a Mirror Sea when we got separated," Freedom replied.
"And what were you doing inside a Mirror Sea? Is that where you come from?" Z23 asked him in turn.
"That is actually classified information; I'm sorry. I'll talk about it with your Commander when I have the chance later." He tried his best to answer without dampening the mood of the enthusiastic destroyer.
Before anyone could say anything else, South Dakota stepped up to the man, initially regarding him with a suspicious look. Freedom met her gaze without flinching, trying his best not to let his eyes drift downwards. He was expecting her to make a scene like the Iron Blood cruiser from before, but the expression on her face softened, and she extended a hand for him to shake.
"South Dakota, name ship of my class," the battleship stated. Surprised and relieved by the sudden friendliness, he shook her hand. "I wanted to express my gratitude for what you did; you saved my sister's life, and I can assume that Commander Travis is safe only because of you. I owe you more than you can possibly imagine."
Freedom could relate to the woman; he had many brothers himself, but not all of them were brought to life by the Cubes, and the others had died during the war against the Sirens and the other factions. He just didn't like to recall those times because it brought up painful memories.
The only brothers he had left were the ones he found after the big turmoil; they were all assigned to the same team by the higher-ups. It wasn't easy at the beginning, with all of them being from different factions and having many bygones with each other, but now he cared about them as if they were his true family, and he was ready to do everything for them, even searching around the entire world with his wings alone if he had to.
He smiled, putting his hands forward. "There's no need to make a big deal about it; I only did what your Commander asked me to do. Besides, there's no way I could let those dirty Sirens get away with their actions without paying."
Someone coughed in their hand behind her, trying to get their attention. It was Alabama, and beside her, Howe was pushing a reticent Massachusetts towards the man, encouraging her. "Come on, Mamie, don't chicken out at the last second."
"I'm not chickening out; I just didn't know when to bring it up," Massachusetts said, averting her gaze from the man in front of her.
South Dakota sighed. "Are you really doing this then?"
"Please no, it's not proper…", "Hell yeah, she's doing it." Zuikaku and Ise said respectively, having totally different opinions on what was about to happen.
Freedom was puzzled. What could they be talking about? It definitely involved him, since this was the girl he had saved earlier.
The Kansen in question came to a stop in front of him, still unable to meet his gaze; he couldn't help but admire her beauty, her reserved demeanor making her even more alluring to his eyes.
"Hi, my name is Massachusetts, I wanted to thank you for saving me. Also, I've been trying to think of something I could do to show you my gratitude, but I couldn't come up with anything," the battleship said, finally able to meet his gaze.
"So that's what it was about," he thought.It still didn't answer his question, though.
"After consulting my friends, I've decided that the best way to reward you is with a... kiss," Massachusetts added with a neutral tone to her voice.
Freedom's brain short-circuited for a second.
"It is tradition in the Royal Navy that when a damsel in distress is rescued by a knight in shining armor, she is to reward him with a kiss of gratitude." She paused for a second. "At least, I was told so," she said the last part turning her head to Howe, who gave her a thumbs up and a nod with her head.
Hell no, there was no way he'd accept that kind of reward; he wasn't a playboy. Not even Emperor with all his brazenness would do that… Okay, maybe he would, but what kind of impression would he make in front of his new allies if he accepted?
"Um, Massachusetts, right?" He began. "Listen, I appreciate the thought, but as I've already said to your sister, I didn't do what I did for any ulterior motive; I only wanted to keep my end of the bargain with Commander Ryan. There really is no need for you to do that." He tried to get her to listen to reason.
"But you didn't save me because the Commander told you to. He asked you to help us with Purifier, but instead of going immediately after her, you went out of your way to help a stranger when you could have exploited that moment to attack her while she was wide open," Massachusetts insisted. "You said it yourself, you were relieved I was safe; I want to repay you for that. Unless you find the idea of me kissing you unappealing?" She diverted her eyes from him with a genuinely hurt expression on her face.
"What?! No, that's not it…" He spluttered for a second, trying his best to find a way to counter her argument. He even looked at the other shipgirls for help.
"I suggest you stop trying to dissuade her and accept the offer already," Enterprise stated.
"When something gets into Miss Massachusetts' head, it's impossible to make her change her mind," Belfast added from her side.
"Come on! Why are you getting so worked up over a simple kiss? Show some balls if you are a man," Hyuuga booed.
"Hyuuga, please! Watch your tongue!" A shocked Shoukaku scolded her.
"Wuaaa, are they really going to do it?" Shimakaze covered her mouth, trying to hide her excitement.
"I can take her place if you want." It was Eugen, who had shifted her attention from teasing her sister to watching the events play out. Hipper herself was too stunned to even think about retorting.
He couldn't believe it; they were all on board with this.
"You know what? Fuck it!" He had a rough day, and a kiss from a gorgeous lady was exactly what he needed to lighten up a bit. Besides, they were right. Why was he getting so self-conscious over a stupid kiss?
"Very well then, if you are okay with it, I have no qualms either." With a resigned sigh, the male Kansen gave up his resistance.
Massachusetts nodded. Having received her consent one last time he leaned forward, tilting his head to the side and offering his cheek to her.
She stood up on her toes, grabbed his face with both her hands, and planted a kiss on his lips.
Silence fell on the platform.
Everyone was too shocked to react. With their eyes bulging and their mouths agape, they could only watch as the two were basically making out in front of them.
Freedom was also too astonished to react, but after the initial shock, he leaned into the kiss, wrapping his arm around her and pressing their bodies together. It lasted only a few seconds, but for him, it felt like an eternity. Her lips were soft and cool, but he could feel heat spreading through his core like wildfire; they tasted like steel, gunpowder, and... something sweet that he couldn't quite make out.
When the two broke apart for air, they couldn't stop looking into each other's eyes.
"Licorice..." murmured Freedom.
"What?" Massachusetts was perplexed.
"You like licorice by any chance?" He asked her, overcoming his embarrassment.
"How did you…" an even more perplexed Massachusetts trailed off.
Howe was the first to recover from her stupor and immediately called out to her friend. "Mamie, on the cheek! I meant a kiss on the cheek!" Her words felt like a bucket of cold water for the two.
Massachusetts froze like a deer caught in headlights; her eyes widened, and her face blushed even more than it already was. Only then did she realize that Freedom's arms were wrapped around her, one resting on her hips and the other on her back.
She slowly extricated herself from his grasp. "I need to take a nap, if you'll excuse me," she said, striding away to find a quiet place to compose herself.
Everyone turned their heads toward Howe.
"Ops."
Emperor entered the bridge of the Serendipity, where Queen Elizabeth and her retainers were waiting for him. The Queen, having already recovered from the embarrassment, was sitting on the captain's chair. The shorter girl with the cat-like hairstyle was standing next to her, regarding him with a hostile look; the other woman was giving her back to them.
When he made his presence known, she turned around, holding in her hands a tray with a tea kettle and multiple cups on it. She walked to her Queen's side, setting the tray on the table in front of her.
The Queen gestured for him to sit down across from her. Not uttering a word, he complied, reaching for one of the cups; he waited for her to do the same, and then they both sipped their respective beverages.
With a good dose of theine in their body, they were ready to start the conversation. He let the monarch go first, according to protocol.
"You already introduced yourself, so it's mine and my retainers' turn to do it," the battleship started. "You are in the presence of the Queen of the Royal Navy, the dreadnought Queen Elizabeth. This is my faithful retainer and sister, Warspite, and this is the Acting Commander of my order of Knights, Prince of Wales." The other two women nodded their heads in greeting but avoided uttering a word, barely trying to hide their looks full of suspicion. If Elizabeth was aware of that, she made no sign of acknowledging it.
Their distrust toward him was misplaced but not uncalled for. It didn't bother him, but it would definitely be a hassle to deal with in the future.
"It's a pleasure and an honor to meet you, ladies, but please," he said, addressing the other two women. "If you keep looking at me like that, you'll make me blush."
"Spare us the sweet talk," said the taller woman. "You have a lot to explain, and we don't want this to take all day."
"As you wish then, Acting Commander." Emperor replied putting emphasis on the "acting."
Surprisingly, it elicited a reaction from the stoic shipgirl, her brow twitching slightly.
"Where do you want me to start?" He asked.
Warspite put a hand on the table, leaning over it. "From the beginning. We want to know where you come from, why you have the name of one of our ships, and what your intentions are."
"I have the name of one of your ships because I am her, or rather, I am the Kansen born from the HMS Emperor of my home world," he replied, taking a long sip from his cup. When he finished downing the content and looked at his questioner, they were fixing him with wide eyes.
"Oh dear… what happened? Cat got your tongue?" Emperor asked, bringing his hand on his face, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Will you be quiet, servant?" His brow twitched at the moniker, but he decided to ignore it. "We are currently trying to process the bombshell you just dropped on us," Elizabeth said with a pensive expression on her face. She figured he was some kind of unregistered Kansen, born from a defective cube that had reacted with the ship in the past, and was only now getting his human form. But coming from another world? It sounded familiar.
"So, you are like one of those Ashes?" Warspite asked, more to herself than to him.
"Ashes? Care to elaborate further?" Given the amount of information in his possession, he didn't expect to be the one asking questions this time around.
Wales looked at her queen; after receiving a nod of approval, she explained. "'Ashes' is the code name we use to identify all those Kansen we've met inside a Mirror Sea. They look, act, and speak like some of us, but they are not exactly the same; from their words, we were able to extrapolate that they hail from the future or something like that, but we've never been able to talk to them in a comprehensive manner, especially because they were hostile at worst and uncooperative at best."
"Oh, I see now." It looks like he still had the upper hand when it came to the information side of things; he had to decide how much he was willing to disclose. "It's not surprising. The simulations the Sirens like to run are not exactly stable; no wonder you've met different versions of yourselves or alter egos of your friends in there."
Elizabeth narrowed her eyes. "You seem to be pretty well informed about this topic." She was starting to feel like he was hiding something important.
Since the first time they met the Ashes, they started suspecting that some kind of time control shenanigans were involved with the Sirens and their actions. Of course, it was just groundless speculation, and the only people aware of such an important piece of information were the higher-ups, the Kansen, and her servant, the Commander of Azur Lane since he encountered a few of them in person during his sorties with the others. Every piece of information about the Ashes and the Sirens was vital to them.
She had to find a way to make him spill the beans.
"The things you call 'Ashes' are just the result of the Sirens and their time-looping shenanigans; they do come from your world, but they belong to a different timeline, in which the events that have occurred there may or may not be the future that expects you all. We have them too in our world; we call them 'Beacons' and they are much nicer," he explained.
"Hm, I see," Elizabeth pondered. What he was saying made sense with the pieces they had gathered so far.
…
"Wait a second, why are you spitting out all this stuff so easily?!" She slammed her hands on the table and bolted upright, making the pottery clatter. "You are not supposed to spill this kind of stuff to the four winds! Aren't you afraid we'll take advantage of it?!"
"Relax, Your Majesty. I'm just trying to show you my good intentions here," he replied His casual tone was only fueling her disbelief.
"But you can't possibly be an alternate version of the HMS Emperor, since she was never brought to life in the first place." Prince of Wales interjected before Elizabeth could retort to him. "If she were, she'd be a woman just like the rest of us, and her Ash counterpart would also be a woman. So, if you are not one of the Ashes…"
"Then what are you supposed to be? You said they come from our world but a different timeline; how is that different from you?" Warspite finished.
Emperor breathed deeply. Time to stop with the jokes and get serious. "As I have already said, I am the HMS Emperor, just not the one you are familiar with. I don't hail from any of the timelines those Ashes come from because my home is not linked to yours, but it's very similar. We share the same origin and the same enemies. The names of some of our ships and our faction perfectly match. Do you see where I'm trying to get here?"
The three shipgirls were hanging from his lips; the anticipation was killing them.
"I'm from a parallel universe. Our worlds overlap but don't intersect with each other. Their shared similarities make them almost perfectly equal, and yet there are substantial differences that make them clearly distinguishable. Be it the name of a ship or a historical event playing out in a different way."
He stood up from the chair and headed to the window of the command center.
"In my world, the Sirens attacked immediately after the Second World War. They took advantage of the fact that all the nations were too worn out to put up a fight. They destroyed everything that stood in their way, slaughtered every single person they encountered while stealing any form of energy and sustenance they came across, bringing humanity to the brink of extinction."
"The only things humanity could use to fight back were the Wisdom Cubes. They discovered by chance that those things could give birth to us Kansen, but from that moment on, thanks to us, they were able to stand a chance against the Sirens and push them back. After that… well, the story doesn't end here, and I'm sure your history shares many similarities with mine, but…"
He turned around from where he was standing to face the three shipgirls again.
"…To answer the last of your questions, the reason why I'm here is that my brothers and I undertook a mission that sent us into the middle of a very specific kind of Mirror Sea. Stuff… happened in there, and now I'm stranded here without knowing what to do or how to go back. And even if I knew how to do it, I'd have to go look for my brothers on my own first."
Feeling that he had dampened the mood a bit, he decided to end on a note of mirth.
"And in case you are wondering, yes, every single one of the Kansen in my world are male. Don't ask me why. Maybe humanity in my world sees us warships differently from how it does in this, or maybe the Cubes are just weird, who knows, we can only deal with it," he finished with a sly smile.
In the few seconds of silence that followed, Elizabeth tried to keep her composure and process the new information. Indeed, his history had many things in common with theirs, like the appearance of the Sirens after WWII. But in their world, the appearance of the Sirens coincided with the mysterious finding of the Cubes, which led to the war between the factions, while in Emperor's world, humanity discovered the Cubes only when the Sirens brought them on the brink of extinction, and they were able to make a comeback thanks to that.
Also, the Sirens described by Emperor seemed to be a lot more brutal. For starters, the Sirens never cared much about energy sources. Sure, they would attack convoys with provisions and supplies to hinder them, not showing mercy for anyone, but they were a lot more methodical in their approach. The ones Emperor described, however, seemed more like bloodthirsty monsters.
She decided to get to the bottom of this eventually. First, she had to address another point.
"And you are telling me all this because? You need help finding your brothers?"
"That's correct, Your Majesty." He nodded to her.
Elizabeth didn't even need to think about it. Wales and Warspite came to the same conclusion.
"Very well. I, Queen Elizabeth, have heeded your cry for help, and considering your willingness to share information of such importance, I'm willing to offer you the aid of the Royal Navy in your search."
Emperor's eyes glinted, and a smile made its way onto his lips. "You have my thanks, Your Majesty; I'm honored to have the blessing of such an upstanding individual like yourself." He brought a hand to his chest and slightly bowed his head to her.
"Flattery will take you nowhere, servant," the battleship said, flipping her hair with one hand and reveling in the shipboy's compliments. "And remember, I expect you to bring your best to the table if you want to keep being worthy of my help."
At that moment, someone knocked on the door of the command bridge.
"Enter." Elizabeth called out. From the door, Captain John Walker came in, holding an envelope of cloth in his hands.
"Pardon the intrusion, Your Majesty; I've come to bring something to our lad over here. I hope I'm not troubling you."
"No trouble at all, Captain; you've come at the right time," Emperor replied, taking the envelope that was offered to him from the hands of the captain.
"There you go, lad. Just as you requested, if you need anything else, don't hesitate to ask," the man said, dismissing himself after offering a salute to those present.
After he closed the door, Warspite addressed the shipboy. "What is that supposed to be, Emperor?"
"Something I asked the captain to recover for me," he said unraveling the envelope, revealing a small purple cubic object in it. "The Cube of the battleship I destroyed earlier."
The Cube was releasing a dim purple light, like a dying animal exhaling its last breaths before death. It was slightly bigger than a tennis ball, but still small enough to stay within his palm.
"And for what purpose? A few more minutes and it will lose all its remaining vitality; at that point, it will be as useful as an alien paperweight."
Emperor suppressed a smirk. "Thanks for the confirmation, Warspite."
Holding it in his right hand, he brought it to eye level and closed his eyes. Focusing on his own Cube, he mentally manipulated its wavelength, making it resonate with the one in his hand. Then he clasped it tightly. Putting all his Kansen strength in his right arm, he crushed the Cube into pieces, under the incredulous looks of the three shipgirls.
"How?! I thought the Cubes were virtually indestructible."
"You are not wrong, Warspite; they can't be destroyed with any conventional method."
After he broke the Cube, an ominous purple cloud of smoke started spreading from its leftovers, enveloping his wrist and climbing up his arm to his chest. He let the scraps of the alien contraption fall to the floor, allowing the smoke to enter through his body and reach his own Cube, restoring the energy he couldn't recover by sleeping.
"W-what did you just do?" Elizabeth couldn't contain her shock.
"Your Majesty, earlier you said that I had to do my best to keep deserving your help in the future; well, here is how I'll be doing it." He focused again on his Cube and held out his hand. "Wisdom Crafting."
His hazel eyes started shining with a bright light. He raised his hand again, calling out his Wisdom Craft. His Morphing Polyhedron started materializing on his hand, hovering a few inches above his palm, then the light subsided.
The three shipgirls were captivated by the contraption and the procedure that brought about its appearance. It resembled an octahedron, but the two pyramids that formed its structure were not connected to each other; they were hovering a couple of inches apart, their bases barely touching, and were slowly rotating in opposite directions. The edges were plated in gold, its faces were made of transparent silver, and it had a futuristic appearance.
"Is this your rigging? No, it can't be. What is this thing? And what did you do with that Cube?" Elizabeth got closer to him, and he lowered his hand, allowing her to take a better look at the contraption.
Then, he mentally commanded the polyhedron to switch form; it responded to him, rearranging its structure and color to match his will. It took the form of a light gray tricorn hat, and the shipboy put it on his head with a swift move.
"This is called Wisdom Crafting, and I'm willing to teach it to you."
AN: About the whole "different world≠different timeline" stuff; the explanation is just a supercazzola I came up with for the sake of the story.
About the Ashes, I'm not sure if I will use them as an important plot point for later, or if I will just leave them as something that happened in the background but didn't have an impact on the great scheme of things. I already know where I want this story to go, but the Ashes are the only grey spot for now. Time will tell, I guess.
Next Chapter: Binding Chains