Freedom, Sparviero, and Littorio were inside the Commander's office. They were sitting on the couches surrounding the small coffee table, sipping the tea Belfast had prepared for everyone.
Ryan had just finished explaining the situation. Among other things, he had received a communication from Vittorio Veneto. The Eternal Flagship had decided to let her sister take her place as representative of the Sardegna Empire during the meeting. On top of that, Musashi and Peter Strasser, after having a good talk with their leaders back home, reported to him that three of the four missing shipboys were coming alongside their flagships and their fleets.
"I see. Emperor, Leviathan, and Kurama will arrive in a few days," Freedom said, sinking in his seat, relief clearly showing on his face.
"That means the only one missing is Lenin," Sparviero said, clutching a cup of tea in his hands. The fact that their brothers were safe and were heading for the base was a relief, but they couldn't help worrying about their younger brother, about whom no one had any news.
"Don't worry, we'll find him too," Ryan said confidently. "I'm expecting a call from headquarters. I'll let them know everything about you guys and your situation. With their help, we'll be able to locate him in no time."
"Thank you, sir," Sparviero replied politely.
"Comandante, I will gladly take my sister's place for the upcoming meeting, though it truly is a shame," Littorio tried to change the topic of the conversation. "I really wanted her to meet our new comrade, but I suppose it can't be helped this time."
"It makes sense, though. You just arrived, and it would be silly to send over another Sardinian fleet when you are already here," the Commander grimaced. "All because that runt of a queen couldn't give us a little more notice."
Realizing his blunder, he quickly scanned the room for Belfast's presence. Good thing the head maid had already left. He doubted she would appreciate him referring to her queen in such a crass way.
"Bene, if there's nothing else to say, I would like to take a look around the base. Signori, is there anyone who would like to escort me?" Littorio asked the three men in the room.
Ryan didn't want to deny her, but he still had a lot of work to do. Luckily, Freedom came in clutch.
"Actually, I was hoping to have a chat with the Commander today... in private, if it's not a problem." The shipboy sent him a telling look; it was serious.
"Not at all, Freedom," Ryan said. He didn't know what the matter was, but if the male Kansen had some more information to share with him, he was ready to listen.
Littorio wrapped her arms around the other man in the room and brought her face close to his ear. "That leaves only you, dear Sparviero. Surely you won't deny me such a simple request, right?"
"Uh… Of course not. I also wanted to get some air," the carrier replied, trying to hide his embarrassment.
The two bid their farewells and left the room. Once Ryan and Freedom were left alone, the officer addressed the shipboy.
"So, what did you want to talk about?" He asked him.
"It's about Purifier."
Leviathan woke up looking at the ceiling of one of the Bismarck's cabins. He moved his head to the side and noticed that August was sitting on a chair right next to the bunk he was lying on.
The last thing he remembered was watching U-556 fight back that Siren before passing out from exhaustion right after Liebe dealt the final blow to the monstrous rigging and the Mirror Sea vanished.
Upon noticing his gaze, she scooted over to check on him. "My dear, you are awake. How are you feeling?"
"I'm fine. Are the others all right?" He asked his lover. Sitting up on the bed, he noticed that there was no trace of wounds on his body and that his black and red uniform had been repaired.
Before August could reply to his question, the door of the cabin swung open, revealing the figure of a tall shipboy dressed in white and black with dirty blonde locks and a tricorn hat on his head.
"You never cease to amaze me, brother. Always concerned about others, even on the verge of death."
"Emperor, you are here." Leviathan smiled, stood up from the bed, and strode up to the newly arrived shipboy, who was waiting for him with outstretched arms. The two met in a tight hug and patted each other's back.
"I assume that you are the one who healed me?" Leviathan asked him.
"Yes, I also just finished taking care of the wounds of the other two ladies; they are sleeping in the cabin right next to this one."
"And for that, you have mine and the whole Iron Blood's gratitude, Herr Emperor," August intervened, extending a hand for him to shake. "Your intervention was providential."
"Ma'am, it was my pleasure," the shipboy replied by grabbing her hand and kissing her knuckles with a light bow. "What sort of gentleman would allow such lovely ladies to suffer in pain if he could avoid it?"
After reaching the agreed meeting point, Emperor and the others had found Bismarck and the rest of the Iron Blood Kansen on the deck of the flagship, trying their best to tend to the unconscious forms of Leviathan and Scharnhorst. Greetings and pleasantries were set aside as Emperor urgently jumped atop the Bismarck with urgency, took out his polyhedron, and encased the two wounded Kansen inside what seemed to be a transparent, futuristic-looking coffin. It was one of the many forms his polyhedron could take, and it had curative properties for the Kansen who stood inside of it.
After their wounds healed, they were transferred below deck, and he was able to attend to the last injured shipgirl, a girl with a red streak in her short white hair. The poor heavy cruiser had been patiently waiting her turn, enduring the pain her mangled hands were causing her the entire time, just to let the other two more heavily injured Kansen be treated first.
"Ahem…" Leviathan loudly cleared his throat. Emperor was still holding August's hands and was looking at her with his usual flirty smile on his face.
"What is it, brother?" The oblivious shipboy asked.
In response to that, August chuckled and moved right next to Leviathan, hugging his arm and pressing herself into his side with a smile.
Emperor blinked. Connecting the dots, he brought his hands to his face to cover his slack jaw and suppress a scream of excitement.
"Shut the fuck up!" He breathed out. "Are you shitting me right now?"
Emperor snatched Leviathan from August's grip, wrapped an arm around his neck, and repeatedly punched his chest in a playful way. "You prick, I always thought you didn't care about romance and stuff, and it's not even been three days; you sure don't waste time, brother."
He let go of the shipboy and smiled at the two of them. "I want to know everything about the two of you, and you better not make up any excuses. We have all the time we need before we reach Azur Lane."
Leviathan and August shared a glance. "Actually, we need to talk about something important."
While Emperor tended to the injured shipgirls, Bismarck and Elizabeth had retired to the former's bridge, where the Iron Blood leader recounted the events leading up to the Royal's arrival.
"I see, so it was Strength. The last time we encountered her, she didn't even react to our presence and left the battlefield without firing a single volley," Elizabeth said with a pensive expression on her face.
"According to Graf Spee, she appeared out of nowhere and attacked her and Leviathan, referring to him as an 'external variable.'" Bismarck finished recounting the events. "It's safe to assume that the Sirens aren't happy with the presence of the shipboys in this world, at least not the Arbiters."
"You are right, though it wouldn't hurt to know exactly why that is," Queen Elizabeth sighed. "I wish we had arrived sooner; maybe together we could have captured her alive."
"I doubt it," the taller battleship stated with a downcast expression. "She was the kind of opponent we couldn't afford to hold back against. We were lucky we were able to fend her off without losing anyone."
"Then why are you looking so gloomy?" Elizabeth called her out. "Your subordinates are alive, and Emperor is taking care of their injuries. Is something bothering you?"
Bismarck sighed. She was upset at the near defeat they had almost experienced, but that wasn't the only thing on her mind. She took off her cap and went to sit at the table inside the command center, followed by the shorter shipgirl.
"During the fight, Strength tried to get in my head." Elizabeth raised an eyebrow at her declaration but didn't say anything. "She didn't try to make a deal or anything like that; she just put images in my mind. Nonetheless, at that moment, I panicked. If it weren't for Parzival, I probably wouldn't be here right now."
"I understand. At least everything turned out all right in the end," Elizabeth replied, then smirked. "Good thing you didn't lose your mind a second time; I really wasn't in the mood to put down a rabid dog today."
Bismarck glared at her, and then a grin made its way onto her face. "I find it hard to believe you'd be able to do that. Mind control or not, it would take at least a dozen of you Royals to take me down."
"Oh? You are awfully confident for a battleship that just got her arse kicked by a single Siren."
The two faction leaders regarded each other with murderous glares before their frowns turned into smiles, and they both started chuckling lightly.
Bismarck scoffed at herself. If someone had told her in the past that she would have had a heart-to-heart conversation with the Queen of the Royal Navy, she would have laughed in their faces, and yet here she was, exchanging friendly jabs with a former enemy and confiding her worries to her.
When their laughter subsided, she asked something that had been on her mind for a while. "How's Hood?"
"She has made a full recovery," Elizabeth answered. "Though it's going to take a little while longer for her to be back in top shape."
"Does she hold a grudge against me after what happened?" Bismarck asked, trying to maintain a neutral voice and not show any emotion on her face.
Inside that cursed Mirror Sea, when she had lost her mind trying to fight back the power of the Sirens, the one that got it worse than anyone else, for some ironic twist of fate, was Hood herself. When Bismarck recovered from the murderous frenzy she had fallen into and realized what she had done to her friend, she almost passed out from the shock.
"You can ask her that yourself. She's waiting for us at Azur Lane."
For a brief moment, silence fell over the bridge before Bismarck responded with a sonorous "What?!"
"You heard me. I assigned her to Commander Travis a few months ago, though it was more of a health trip than a proper transfer," Elizabeth replied, unfazed by Bismarck's stupor. "She's been under Vestal's care since then."
The Iron Blood flagship sank in her seat and brought a hand to her face. She never had the chance to properly apologize to Hood, either because she was still recovering or because of the many obligations her position as faction leader put on her shoulders. The more time passed, the more she felt ashamed and nervous. She figured she'd use the current opportunity to bring it up with Elizabeth, but she never expected the sudden revelation; Hood was only a few days away, and she wasn't prepared to face the consequences of her actions.
In a way, she already did. After the failed conjoined operation, the Royal Navy wanted her head on a silver plate, and her position as flagship within the Iron Blood was hanging by a thread. It was only thanks to Elizabeth and the at the time newly appointed Commander Travis that the situation didn't escalate. They convinced the Royal Navy higher-ups not to take it out on the Iron Blood, and she was able to get away with a slap on the wrist from her superiors.
To this day, she still couldn't wrap her head around Elizabeth's motivation; the queen should have been the one bearing the deepest resentment against her instead of being the first to come to her defense. Maybe it was Commander Travis' intervention that convinced her to look at the situation from another perspective; after all, having the leader of the Kriegsmarine indebted to you was a chance no one would pass up. Whatever the case, Bismarck wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth, and she was ready to repay the debt she owed them at any moment; her honor wouldn't allow her to do otherwise.
But she wasn't ready to face Hood on such short notice.
"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" Bismarck asked with an accusatory tone.
"Because I really wanted to see that panicked expression on your face," Elizabeth answered, grinning mischievously. Bismarck sighed in frustration and hung her head upon realizing she had to spend the rest of the trip at the mercy of her teasing.
She was spared any further mocking by the door swinging open, revealing the figure of a certain shipboy entering the room.
"Pardon the interruption, ladies," Emperor announced himself as if he hadn't just barged uninvited inside the Iron Blood leader's bridge. Bismarck didn't seem too bothered by it and acknowledged his presence with a nod of her head, while Elizabeth winced.
He approached the table the two flagships were sitting at and leaned over the shorter battleship, putting his hand next to her and regarding her with a very unpleasant smile. "Your Highness, don't you have something you wish to tell me?"
"You'll have to be more specific, Emperor," the queen replied, crossing her arms and holding his gaze. Her seated position made her appear even shorter than she already was, especially next to him.
"I'm talking about the fact that one of the Sirens from my world came all the way here and I didn't know about it, but apparently, you did." His voice took on a more menacing tone. "Not to mention the fact that Leviathan almost got killed fighting it. I can't help but wonder why exactly you didn't feel the need to inform me of my brother's condition sooner."
Unperturbed by his proximity and the menacing look he was giving her, she shrugged. "I could say the same about you. The true nature of the Sirens of your world is a very important piece of information, but you still neglected to mention it when we first met, didn't you?"
"Maybe because I initially assumed there was no difference between the Sirens of our respective worlds. You, on the other hand, knew about it since the beginning, am I right?"
It's true that he failed to mention that particular detail, but he didn't do it on purpose. If he had met one of the Elite Sirens of this world, he could have made the connection sooner, but the mass-produced vessels he had encountered during his first day her bore little dissimilarities to the ones he was familiar with; he had no reason to doubt his own certainties.
The two kept staring at each other; sparks of electricity could be seen flying between them until Bismarck drew their attention by clearing her throat.
"Please save this kind of quarrel for later; I believe we have much more important stuff to take care of," she rebuked them. "Emperor, I assume your brother informed you about the Cube?"
"That's correct, ma'am, he just went to fetch it from his rigging," the shipboy, answered.
"All right then, let's round up the others. I'll see you all inside my mess hall."
Leviathan knocked on the door of the cabin where Graf Spee and Scharnhorst were resting. He had just retrieved the Cube from Liebe, and the others were probably waiting for him, but he figured he'd take a detour to check on their condition.
A voice called out for him to enter, and when he did, he saw Deutschland sitting on a chair next to Spee's bed. On the other side, Scharnhorst was sleeping peacefully on her bunk.
The bitchy heavy cruiser flinched at the sight of him. "What do you want?!" She bellowed. The purple-haired shipgirl stirred in her sleep at the ruckus, and he raised a finger in front of his mouth to prompt her to lower her voice.
She was about to retort, but Spee, who was awake and sitting on her bed, placed a hand on her arm to calm her down. "Schwester, can you leave us alone for a few minutes, please?"
Deutschland gave her an incredulous look but complied nonetheless, standing up from the chair and leaving the room, sending a glare of warning to the shipboy.
After the shipgirl left the cabin, he went to sit in her place next to Spee.
"Emperor told me you wanted to see me, Graf Spee." He noticed that her hands were now free from the claw gauntlets she used to wear, and they were in perfect condition, definitely thanks to Emperor. "Your hands were pretty messed up earlier; how are you feeling now?"
"Better, thanks to your brother. I'm just a bit sore," she said with a downcast expression. "I just wanted to thank you for what you did; you put yourself in harm's way to protect us, and you covered for me multiple times; I don't know how I could repay you."
"You don't have to. If anything, I'm the one who should be grateful." He gently shook his head. "I remember when you jumped in front of me to take on that Siren on your own; it was very brave."
She lowered her gaze and blushed slightly at the compliment. An awkward silence was now hanging in the air; the two were not the best at handling this kind of heartfelt conversation, and the atmosphere was getting heavy.
"Uhm… You know, if you want, you can just call me Spee." She started fidgeting with her hands in her lap. "All my closest friends do that."
She was lying. The only one who called her that was her sister. All the other shipgirls called her Graf or Graf Spee, but that's where the problem was: she didn't have any close friends. It's not that she didn't get along with her fellow Kansen at the base. It's just that no matter how hard she tried, she was never able to get as close to any of them as true friends did; her shyness always kept her from taking that step forward.
Unfortunately, her shyness was not the only problem she had to deal with. She felt very self-conscious about her rigging. Her claw gauntlets were cumbersome and inconvenient; not being able to remove them at a moment's notice only made matters worse for her, preventing her from participating in many of the most common leisure activities with her fellow Kansen. On top of that, they were intimidating and didn't exactly give her the appearance of an approachable person; she usually ended up scaring away the junior Kansen because of them.
That's why, when she was assigned to Bismarck's retinue for the trip to Azur Lane, she felt ecstatic. She figured she'd take advantage of the situation to overcome her issue, and hopefully, during her stay, she would make lots of friends at the joint base.
She figured she'd start with the shipboy himself. Despite what her sister thought, he wasn't a bad person, and that became even more clear to her during their encounter with the Arbiter. She still found him very hard to approach, though. During the trip, he had kept mostly to himself, and even when they were all together, like during meals, he didn't talk much unless he had something he wanted to say, and that didn't help her in her attempt to befriend him.
Luckily for her, Leviathan was very perceptive. "Do you want me to be your friend?"
Her eyes widened and her cheeks reddened slightly, not expecting him to be so direct. "N-no, I just... I mean… I would like that. If you don't mind."
He raised an eyebrow at her, perplexed at her embarrassment. "What do you mean? Why would I mind?"
"It's just that… I'm not good with this kind of stuff; I wouldn't want to bother you," she admitted, going back to fidgeting with her hands.
His lips quirked up in a smile. He wasn't very good at this kind of stuff either and that's why he could relate to the heavy cruiser. She reminded him too much of his old self during the first years of the war, when he was completely incapable of building any kind of lasting relationship with anyone, even with his two real brothers.
He reached out with his hand and patted her head, ruffling her hair a bit in the process. She looked up at him, blushing under his touch. Then he clenched his fist and brought it down in front of her. She looked at it, perplexed, before realizing what he wanted and mirroring his gesture, their knuckles touching in a light fist bump.
"There, now we are friends," he stated matter-of-factly, getting up from the chair. "You are a sweet girl, Spee. There's no way you could ever be a bother."
She looked at her closed fist with eyes sparkling in barely contained joy, as if she had just received the best present in her life and didn't know how to react properly, much to the shipboy's amusement.
The truth was that August had already told him about the two sisters' issues beforehand. Thanks to her, he had learned about Spee's insecurities and Deutschland's inferiority complex. His lover hadn't asked him directly to intervene, but he figured if she had decided to tell him, then she was probably hoping he'd act on it one way or another.
Initially, he decided to just ignore them since he didn't have the right to meddle in their personal business. But then he noticed the clumsy attempts Spee was making to approach him.
It was cute, in an awkward and endearing kind of way, and he had decided to just let it play out naturally and see where it went from there, at least until the attack of the Siren called Strength. Watching the little cruiser put her life on the line to protect him while he was basically a dead fish in the water had moved him; he still regretted not being able to help her out in that situation, so he decided to at least try and ease her burden.
"Hey, isn't that great, Graf? You've got a new friend." Scharnhorst's sleepy voice came from the side. They both turned their heads to the purple-haired shipgirl, who was sitting up on her bed and rubbing the sleep out of her single eye.
"I'm sorry, Scharnhorst. We were being too loud, and we woke you up," Leviathan apologized.
"It's fine," she said, stretching her arms. "I was awake the entire time; I just didn't want to interrupt," she added, much to the dismay of the shorter shipgirl, who was now dying of embarrassment. "Besides, I've been sleeping for too long. Time to stretch my legs a bit."
"I was about to go meet with the others. Want to come with me?" Leviathan asked the two of them.
"Sure. Let's head out."
"That goes for you too, Deutschland." He turned to the closed door, slightly raising his voice.
A thump came from the other side of the door, followed by the sound of footsteps scurrying away. He couldn't help the laughter that came out of his mouth, and Spee sighed internally.
"Thank you for your time, Miss Vestal," Carabiniere said to the repair ship.
"Don't mention it. It's my job, after all," the pink-haired shipgirl replied with a smile.
"If there's nothing else, I'll be going." Carabiniere saluted her before darting outside the infirmary.
"Remember not to take it easy for a while!" The repair ship called out behind her, but the destroyer had already left the room.
She went outside and hurried to the drydocks, where she had left her vessel before following Vestal to the infirmary. When she arrived, she noticed that the manjuus that had been flocking to her ship earlier had left and that the damage to her hull had been repaired. Now it looked as good as new.
She reached it with her mind and recalled it. Her hull disappeared in a flash of light and a flurry of azure cubes, which went to surround her form before solidifying into the shape of her rigging. She took a good look at it, checking for any kind of imperfection, but it seemed the manjuus did a commendable job with the repair.
Satisfied, she dismissed her rigging and headed back to the dorm.
After the Commander, Littorio, and the shipboys had retired inside the former's office, Carabiniere and the other Sardinian Kansen were shown their new dorm. It resembled more a villa than a dorm, and it was styled in a familiar Sardinian motif, not old enough to be considered outdated but not too modern either.
After they all had settled in, Zara forced her to go see the repair ship on base. Carabiniere had tried to protest, saying that her injury had already closed up and wasn't that serious, but the cruiser had threatened to tell Littorio about it. Not wanting to upset their leader again, she had decided to comply.
The checkup had been quick and painless. The damage to her hull was quickly repaired by the manjuus, and she had almost completely recovered from her injury, but Vestal had recommended that she just rests for at least a couple more days before taking on any sortie.
And now, on her way back to the dorm, she came across Littorio and Sparviero. They were walking in her direction, the battleship with the carrier under her arm, while he walked next to her, feeling around with his cane.
"Ah, my lovely subordinate, we were just looking for you," the battleship addressed the destroyer. "Zara told us you were going to the med bay. Are you feeling better?"
"Sissignora, I've completely recovered," Carabiniere replied, saluting smartly. "Miss Vestal told me to take it easy for a couple of days."
She felt something tugging at the back of her mind, telling her to lie about her medical report, but she figured it was better to tell the truth. Lying wasn't her forte, and Littorio had an incredible sixth sense for this kind of stuff.
"That's perfect. You can start with your new assignment right away," the battleship beamed, motioning with her head to the shipboy at her side.
Right, that. Carabiniere had almost forgotten about it until Littorio reminded her; she was supposed to babysit the shipboy, at least until his other brothers arrived and they could take him off her hands.
The Glory of Naples let go of the shipboy's arm and kissed them both a farewell on the cheek before striding away with her usual gait and a satisfied smile on her face.
With only the two of them around, the atmosphere became suddenly heavy.
"Um… Littorio told me about our new arrangement," the male Kansen said. "Are you sure you don't have a problem with that?"
"It doesn't matter if I have a problem or not," Carabiniere stated matter-of-factly. "As her subordinate, I will follow her instructions to the letter."
"Right," he muttered, noticing that she didn't deny it.
He didn't know how to feel about it. When Littorio had told him about her intention of dragging him into Carabiniere's punishment, he wasn't exactly thrilled. He had tried to turn her down, but she had insisted, saying that it was the best way to keep the destroyer out of harm's way, at least for the beginning. He remembered how Carabiniere had almost gotten herself killed during that Siren encounter, and after thinking about it some more, he had decided to concede to Littorio's request. Though, judging from Carabiniere's tone, she didn't seem happy about it.
"So... want to take a look around?" The blind man tried to crack a joke, sending a smile toward the voice of the shipgirl.
The following silence made things even more awkward, and he started feeling frustration building up. How was he supposed to understand what she was thinking if she didn't even talk to him?
Unbeknownst to him, the destroyer was trying her best to stifle a snort. The sudden dark humor had caught her off guard, and she couldn't let him know how effective it was on her. She had to compose herself quickly.
"Maybe later. It's almost lunchtime, and we should hurry to the mess hall before all the seats are taken." She grabbed his free arm by the wrist and started walking, adjusting her pace to his, leading him towards the canteen; luckily, she was able to keep the mirth in her voice at bay.
Apparently, all the dorms had a shared kitchen and a small dining room for those who wanted to cook for themselves, but they were mostly used for dinner since most of the Kansen usually choose to grab something to eat on the fly at the mess hall for lunch, then quickly go back to their occupations. Carabiniere failed to account for that, and when they arrived, the place was almost entirely full.
After waiting in line for a solid twenty minutes, they started looking for a couple of empty seats; rather, she started looking. Since her companion couldn't see, she had to fill his plate in his place, lead him around the tables while also balancing the trays of food they both were carrying and avoid bumping into any of the occupants. After a few close calls, they were able to find a couple of empty seats at a table that was already occupied by four other destroyers.
"I'm sorry, can we sit here?" Carabiniere asked in a pleading tone.
The destroyer with the Iron Blood cross in her hair nodded to her, and she placed her tray on the table before doing the same with Sparviero's. Then she guided the shipboy onto the chair and went to sit in front of him. She collapsed into her seat, letting out a long sigh.
"Is everything all right?" The Iron Blood destroyer sitting to her left asked.
"Yes, we just weren't expecting the place to be so crowded," Carabiniere said. Realizing how ill-mannered she was behaving, she straightened up and introduced herself to the group. "I'm Carabiniere of the Soldati-class. Destroyer of the Sardegna Empire. I came this morning with the Sardinian delegation. It's nice to meet you."
"Ah, then you must be Freedom's brother, right?" The girl next to him with long white hair and rabbit ears asked.
"I am. My name is Sparviero; it's a pleasure," the shipboy said, turning his head to his right, where the voice had come from. "I take it you've already met my brother?"
"Indeed. He helped us a lot when we were in a tough spot. My name is Z23, but you can call me Nimi. These are my friends, Shimakaze, Ayanami…" She gestured to the two Sakura shipgirls sitting to his right, "...and Laffey." Then she pointed to another girl with bunny ear-looking headgear to her left who was dozing off with her head on the table.
"Freedom didn't mention that one of his brothers was blind. How are you able to fight like that?" The girl named Ayanami asked.
Z23 had been careful not to say anything unpolite in front of the shipboy, and for that reason, she was left slack jawed at her friend's unawareness. She figured she had to expect something like that coming from Ayanami, even if she didn't have any ill intentions.
"Ayanami! Apologize to our guest immediately," she scolded her clueless friend, but Sparviero let out a soft chuckle, completely unbothered.
"Don't worry, Nimi. I don't see the problem with the question," he joked, and Carabiniere almost choked on her food. "Ayanami, right? The truth is when I remove this blindfold, the power of my Cube starts seeping out of my eyes. They show me the position of my enemies so I can strike them down with my planes."
"Is that true?" Shimakaze asked with sparkling eyes.
"Oh, I want to see it."
"Me too," added the sleeping destroyer, who had just woken up from her slumber.
"Of course. When I get the chance, I'll be happy to show you."
"Herr Sparviero, please don't encourage her," Z23 pleaded.
The light tone of the conversation kept going for a few minutes with jokes and laughter until all of them finished their meal, and the group of four destroyers invited the two Sardinian Kansen to go out with them.
"We have a couple of days off. Want to come with us to the hills outside the base? There's a beautiful view- I mean, the wind feels really good up there," Shimakaze stuttered.
"And the shade of the trees makes for a great napping spot," Laffey added.
Not expecting to find company so soon after arriving at the base, Carabiniere looked at Sparviero, almost pleading with her gaze, even though the carrier couldn't perceive it. "I'm supposed to be his escort while I'm here, so..."
"We'd be happy to go, but I have to warn you, I'm not that good of a hiker," the shipboy stated.
"In that case, let's go, and don't worry, we'll lead the way for you," said Shimakaze.
The six Kansen filed out of the mess hall one after the other and slowly made their way to the back of the base, heading up towards the hills that surrounded the buildings.
"Maybe this arrangement will turn out to be fine, after all," Carabiniere thought, looking at the man she was leading by the arm with a soft smile.
Leviathan entered the mess hall, followed by Spee and Scharnhorst. All the other Kansen were waiting inside. Gneisenau approached her sister to check on her, and Spee went to stand next to Deutschland, whose inquisitive gaze switched alternately between her sister and the shipboy. Bismarck was leaning over the counter of the kitchen, flanked by U-556, Queen Elizabeth, and Warspite. August was quietly conversing with Illustrious while Unicorn and Javelin were helping themselves to a tray of sweets, courtesy of Hermione, and Chaser was standing next to Emperor, who was the only one sitting at the end of one of the tables.
Leviathan walked over to his brother and handed him the Yellow Cube without uttering a word. Emperor took it from his hand and started trying to establish a connection with it on his own, while his brother went to greet the Queen.
"Your Majesty." He brought his fist to his chest and bowed his head to her. "I am honored to finally meet you in person."
"Likewise, Leviathan. I'm glad to know that at least one of you brothers is such a refined and courteous gentleman," Elizabeth replied, glaring at the other man in the room, who was too preoccupied with the contraption in his hand to register her words.
"Did my brother do something to displease you, Your Majesty?" The shipboy inquired, already knowing the answer to that question.
"You don't know the half of it," Warspite deadpanned from the side.
"As much as I would like to vent my frustration, we are here for another reason. We should cut the chatter and get to it," the queen declared.
Bismarck nodded from the side and addressed the shipboy. "Herr Leviathan, you can start whenever you are ready." The others had already gathered around Emperor, trying to get a better look at what he was doing. He was clutching the Cube in his hands with his eyes closed and a frown on his face.
"Any luck, brother?" Leviathan approached the table and sat in front of him. Queen Elizabeth and the others also approached the group. He noticed that Bismarck was keeping her distance, her concern barely hidden behind her poker face.
"Nope. It's just like you said. It completely sealed itself away," Emperor said, depositing the Cube on the table and crossing his arms over his chest. "But it's clearly up to something; I can feel it."
"Do you think we'll be able to break into its mind?" Leviathan asked him.
"You and I together? I have no doubts."
"Can you guys please explain what exactly you are about to do?" Gneisenau asked the question that was on everyone's mind. From what they could gather, the shipboys were basically about to try to read the Siren's "mind" to gather some information from it. As to how, though, the answer still eluded them.
"We are going to use our Cube's energy to create an opening inside this Siren's mental barriers. Then we will forcefully drag its consciousness inside our own mind, where it will be at our mercy," Leviathan offered a brief explanation.
"Is this similar to what you did that time when we first met, Emperor?" Warspite asked.
"You can say that, but the outcome will be pretty different."
"Enough chit-chat, boys. We are all waiting for you to begin." Elizabeth's stern words prompted them to focus on the object in front of them. Leviathan raised a brow at his brother, and Emperor answered with a half-smile and a shrug. This is what he had been subjected to for the entire time of his stay.
"Chaser, Hermione, watch closely," Emperor warned the two women behind him and extended his arms towards the Cube, his fingertips barely touching the surface. Leviathan did the same. They both took a deep breath and initiated contact.
Leviathan's green eyes and Emperor's hazel eyes shone with a bright light before they closed their eyelids and focused their mental efforts on the object in front of them. The Cube responded by trembling slightly before it began hovering a few inches above the table.
The shipboys had fallen into a trance. Their shoulders relaxed and their breathing became steadier, but their focused expression didn't leave their faces even with their eyes closed.
Silence fell over the room, and many seconds passed. The two men didn't move an inch as the Cube kept floating in the air between their extended hands.
"Um… Anyone knows how long this is going to take?" Javelin asked, perplexed and bummed at the display. She wasn't sure what to expect, but definitely not something so anticlimactic.
"We just need to wait and see what happens," Bismarck declared. She internally breathed a sigh of relief and stepped further back from the group to go lean on the counter again.
The others were about to do the same, but suddenly a low hum started permeating the room. It was coming from the Cube, which began to tremble slightly from its hovering position. The shipboys' faces adopted an expression of exertion, their teeth clenching tightly and sweat forming on their brows. The yellow light inside the Cube slowly increased in intensity, and the humming with it. The device was now spinning wildly between the two Kansen, and it was slowly getting higher.
All the shipgirls took a step back. Bismarck put an arm in front of Parzival, and Unicorn tightly hugged Illustrious' gown. The light was so intense that it was hard to look at it, and the hum had turned into a deafening blare. When it reached its peak, the Cube released a shockwave that was powerful enough to topple the chairs around the room but not strong enough to cause any damage. They all covered their faces to shield themselves, and the two men were sent flying backward.
Once the light and the sound subsided, the Cube fell back onto the table unceremoniously. Everyone stood there, baffled at the unexpected turn of events. The shipboys recovered from their trance, and Emperor rubbed his head as a splitting headache assaulted him. Chaser and Hermione approached him to help him up.
Leviathan, for his part, violently shook his head and quickly stood up on his own, with an aggravated expression on his face. Without warning, he summoned one of his chain blades and leaped forward, his target, the Cube resting on the table.
He struck a blow at the alien device, but before the blade could connect, the Cube lit up again, and it enveloped itself in a transparent, yellow, circular barrier. The shortsword's tip sank into the barrier, stopping a few inches away from the contraption. Leviathan put his other hand on the hilt and pushed with all his strength, but the barrier resisted.
"Leviathan, what happened?!" Bismarck yelled at the shipboy.
"We must destroy this thing. Now!" The man yelled back, his arms shaking from the effort.
Warspite darted forward, unsheathed her greatsword from its scabbard, and swung it down with a double-handed grip on the Cube. The blade met the barrier and sank into it until it stopped at a breath of air from the cubic device.
"Javelin, hurry up and finish it!" Warspite cried out for the destroyer.
The purple-haired girl, not expecting to be called out in such a situation, hesitated for a second before summoning her rigging and rushing in next to the two Kansen. She thrust at the Cube with her javelin, and this time, the barrier couldn't entirely stop the blow. The tip of the spear sank into the barrier, and when it touched the Cube, the energy shield collapsed. The three lost their balance and stumbled a bit, but Leviathan immediately retracted his sword and stabbed it again; this time, without the protection of the barrier, the point of his blade reached the Cube like a chisel and cracked it like a glass bottle.
Having defused the situation, Leviathan breathed a sigh of relief. Emperor, who was being helped up by Hermione and Chaser, addressed his brother. "You think we made it in time?"
"It might be too late," the shipboy frowned.
"Hey, you two! What in the bloody hell was that?! Explain, now!" Elizabeth's voice bellowed in the room.
"It was sending a signal. Like a distress call for its kind," Emperor replied, still trying to find his bearings. August, realizing what his words entailed, widened her eyes and looked at her faction leader. Bismarck and Elizabeth froze at his statement, realization slowly dawning on them.
"They are coming."
AN: I just wanted to say that these "budding friendships" and the brother-sister relationships in the story will all be kept pure and wholesome. Though I'm not sure if I want Sparviero and Carabiniere to end up together. I initially thought of not pairing him up with anyone, so I'll have to think about it, but if it happens, it will be further down the line.
Next Chapter: Open-Hearted Conversation