Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Wait… What?”

Dido’s eyebrows raised in confusion, as The Commander nodded in confirmation of his previous statement.

“That’s right! We want you to take care of Anchorage while the rest of the Eagle Union is busy in the Sea of Stars.” He explained, crossing his legs as he suddenly pressed forward.

“You see, we’re currently investigating something. The Holy Grail has recently gone missing, and the Iris Libre wants some assistance in finding the relic. Unfortunately, we can’t exactly investigate with such little information, so at the moment the Iris are conducting an internal investigation.” He proceeded to explain.

“Wait… But what does-”

“Hush now, I’m getting to that! See, when they inevitably do find where the relic is hidden, they’ll want some aid retrieving it, especially if my theory holds true… So I’ll be sending you and one other kansen to aid them in their mission!”

Dido internally gulped, the sudden news of taking part in what seemed like such a massive operation being rather… Well, shocking.

“Um… If this lowly maid may ask… Who’s the other kansen?” She nervously inquired.

“Oh, Littorio.”

She gulped again.

Littorio was… Frankly, a little intimidating.

She was charming, confident, loved by all, and surrounded by close friends and previous lovers who cared for her greatly.

Honestly…? She was everything Dido wanted to be.

“Uuuuuu…”

“Hey don’t look like that, you’ll be fine!” The Commander assured, leaning forward and patting Dido a few times on the head.

“S-So um… Why do you need me to take care of Miss Anchorage, Master?” Dido asked, taking in another deep breath.

“Well… I’ma put it to you as nicely as I can Dido: you’re a bit fucked up in the head.”

A sharp pain shot through Dido’s heart, as she fell to her knees.

“O-Oh no! This lowly maid has caused so many problems… S-Surely I’ll be thrown away, now that even Master has seen the error of my ways-”

Just as quickly however, she was dragged back to her feet and quickly slapped back into her senses by a brisk backhand.

“No no no no no, you’re missing the point! Let me explain.” The Commander scolded, before mysteriously whipping out a whiteboard before Dido could continue with another bout of self-loathing.

“You’re already pretty terrifyingly strong, from some accounts you actually got Ember to flinch quite a few times. Sure, she was fighting like seven other kansen at the time and was probably winded as fuck, but that still says a lot. The thing is…”

Quickly drawing chibi versions of Zuikaku and Dido, he began to continue.

“Your situation is the exact opposite of Zui’s. Where she was physically weak, and mentally strong; you’re physically strong, and mentally weak. This means that to capitalize on all of that boundless power, you need to start working on your mental state.” He elaborated.

“I suggest also trying to get a better handle on your powers; raw strength won’t get you everywhere, after all.” He concluded.

Dido looked down at her feet, feeling a mixture of self-deprecating shame, and a bit of curiosity.

“The sirens don’t seem to be doing much right now, so this is a perfect time to start training like crazy!” He said, before making his way towards the door.

“In any case, I need to go speak to the Ashes and Shinano… You think about this, aight?”

Watching as her master left his office, Dido looked down at the doll in her hand, its button eyes staring back up at her.

“Uuuuu…”

“Come on then, I’ll introduce you to Anchorage!”

“U-Um… Hello.” Dido said, as she looked at the… rather peculiar kansen.

Sitting in front of her on a fluffy blue mat surrounded by plush animals of various shapes and sizes, was a rather… shapely young woman with unnaturally light brown hair and bubbly magenta eyes.

Sporting a strangely short pair of what looked like black booty shorts, similarly short black top, and a definitely oversized white jacket she’d slipped her arms up to her elbows into, the disorientingly childish cruiser waved over to Dido.

“Hello! Are you new friend? Teacher, is this new friend?” She asked, as The Commander knelt beside her and patted the young cruiser on the head.

“That’s right! Think of her as, like, an assistant teacher, or a T.A! She’ll be watching over you for the next week or two while your other friends are off on their adventure.” He explained.

Anchorage nodded with understanding. “Oooh… Hi Miss T.A! I’m Anchorage!” She shouted, extending a sleeve-covered hand towards Dido.

“Um… Hello, my name is Dido!” She responded, swallowing her unease as she reached out and shook the cruiser’s hand.

Anchorage seemed pleasant enough… She was like a child in an adult’s body.

Ignoring how creepy that actually sounded when she said it out loud… She also felt that there was something off about Anchorage.

Sure, she was more than definitely pure. She’d actually seen the childish EU cruiser a few times around the base, and she’d very much resembled a small kid during their few interactions…

But there was this gut feeling in the pit of her stomach that…

Something was off.

“Miss T.A, are you okay?” Anchorage asked, tugging on the end of Dido’s skirt.

“O-Oh uh, don’t worry, I’m alright!” Dido responded, quickly slapping herself on either side of the face as she snapped herself back to reality.

“Welp, I need to get going and talk to the Ashes and Shinano, so you two have fun!” The Commander said, before briskly making his exit and leaving Dido to take care of Anchorage.

“W-Wait, Master-” Dido attempted to ask, before being quickly cut off by his rather timely escape.

“Um… So, what are we doing today?” Anchorage asked, tugging on Dido’s skirt again.

“Well-” Unfortunately for the small maid, this was kinda on-the-spot.

The Commander, though his grander plans were usually at least somewhat well thought-out, wasn’t very well known for having detailed, spontaneous plans.

Case in point, this.

“Uh…” Thinking on her feet, Dido quickly looked at the clock in the room.

12:03, a little past Mid-Day.

So about time for lunch maybe?

“Lunch! I-It’s time for lunch.” Dido stated, reaching out and helping Anchorage to her feet.

The Union cruiser stood just a little bit taller than Dido herself, which wasn’t inherently bad, just a bit shocking. Nevertheless, it was now her duty to her master to take care of the disproportionately developed girl.

“But first… Um… We need to go see someone!”

When Richelieu first stepped into her church that fine Wednesday morning, she imagined she’d be faced with the average amount of Azur Lane’s daily shenanigans.

Some love life troubles here, some social issues there, a few confessions about staying up late and playing video games from Ayanami and Long Island, something along those lines.

This though?

This was completely out of pocket.

“You… Wish for me to what?” She asked incredulously.

“I… Um… Need your assistance taking care of Anchorage!” Dido proclaimed, clearly distressed as the aforementioned cruiser sat at the back of the church, playing with what looked like a stuffed animal.

Richelieu took a minute to stare directly into Dido’s eyes, a mixture of absolute confusion and concern within her holy gaze.

“I… Well, alright then.” Richelieu responded, sighing and closing the bible she’d been holding just a few minutes earlier.

Placing the holy scriptures down on a nearby table, Richelieu dusted off her clothes as she turned back towards the maid and her charge.

“First, Dido, I’ll need you to explain the situation to me.” She stated, taking a seat in one of the rows of chairs as she motioned for Dido to take a seat next to her.

The maid gulped and took a seat next to the Cardinal, sucking in air before she explained the situation to Richelieu.

“I see… So, until the girls from the Eagle Union return, you’re in charge of Anchorage.” Richelieu asked, watching as Dido nodded in confirmation.

“Well… Alright, I’ll help you. It’s not like we have too much scheduled anyway… and I’m sure Brest can take care of any duties that require extra assistance.” Richelieu said, standing up and patting her dress down before turning back to Dido.

“Alright then, what needs to be done first?” She asked.

“Umm, we were going to lunch… So…”

“Ah, I actually have just the place in mind.” 

“We’re going to lunch now!” Dido called, turning back to Anchorage.

“Yaaaaaay!”

“Woooaaahhh!” Anchorage shouted, eyes sparkling as she laid eyes on the inside of Dunkerque’s bakery, marveling at the shimmering stained glass and tiled floor.

“Oh right…” Dido whispered aloud, as Richelieu walked up to the counter that Dunkerque stood behind.

“Ah, Richelieu~! What brings you here?” Dunkerque asked, smiling endearingly towards the childish cruiser.

The Cardinal sighed, before taking in a deep breath and explaining their situation to her.

“Oh… Well, I suppose The Commander can get rather out of hand at times… Nevertheless, I’d be happy to aid you with my services~.” Dunkerque responded, patting her friend on the shoulder as Dido ran around trying to stop Anchorage from knocking over all of the good china.

“Miss Anchorage, please refrain from- You aren’t supposed to throw that!”

“Aww… Miss T.A no fun…”

Dunkerque chuckled awkwardly, before turning back to her friend.

“So, what can I get you today?”

Richelieu gulped internally once again as Dido and Anchorage stumbled around, the clumsy maid doing her absolute darndest to stop the tables from crashing onto the pristine tile floor.

“I think… Just a plate of chocolate croissants will suffice for now.”

A few minutes later, Dido leaned back in her chair, sighing out loud as Anchorage began quickly stuffing her face with the assortment of sweets.

“This is… really tiring…” Dido sighed, as Anchorage continued munching down on the chocolate treats.

Richelieu sighed almost apologetically, patting the maid on the shoulder. “I understand it’s quite a lot… But I’m sure this is an experience you can grow from, right?”

The small maid appreciated the Cardinal’s attempt at looking on the bright side. “I… I suppose so…”

Anchorage happily munched on the croissants as Richelieu spoke up once more.

“You mentioned that you’re going to be paired with someone when the time comes to aid our homeland in retrieving the Holy Grail… Do you know who that will be?” She asked, to which Dido suddenly bristled in nervousness.

“Um… I believe it’s Miss Littorio…” Dido responded.

Richelieu nodded a few times to herself. “I see… Well, Littorio is a rather… rambunctious individual, but I’m sure you two will get along fine.”

The Cardinal’s words were somewhat comforting, at least.

“I-I hope so…” Dido responded, twiddling her fingers together in apprehension.

Based on what she’d heard of the Sardegna Battleship from Illustrious, Littorio seemed… Well, it wasn’t like she sounded MEAN or anything, she just seemed…

A bit much?

Dido was a generally reserved individual, someone who liked to keep to herself and her close friends, out of fear of being rejected. This was something that provided her comfort, safety, and… A general sense of stability.

“Maybe… Maybe she’ll be nice.”

Suddenly, the bakery’s doors were flung open, the sound of wood slamming against concrete sending a shockwave out as Dunkerque, Richelieu, Dido, and the still-eating Anchorage all turned their eyes to the doorway.

“Haha! So this is where you were, Signora Dido!” A rather distinguished, fiery voice called from the entrance.

A flash of green hair filled the small maid’s view, as a gulp forced itself down her throat.

“Oh no…”

Stepping into the bakery with all the subtlety of thirteen brick houses collapsing all at once was a woman of flare, a woman of romance, a woman of pure, unadulterated flashiness.

A woman like…

“It is I, Littorio!”

Chapter Text

The thoughts racing through HMS Dido’s mind could pretty easily be summarized by the following phrase.

“Ah fuck.”

The green-haired battleship strode in with confidence, pulling up a chair and taking a seat at the group’s table after bidding a polite greeting to Dunkerque.

“ Amiche mie! How are you doing today?” She asks aloud, radiating an aura of both comfort and confidence.

“I’m quite well today, Miss Littorio.” Richelieu responded with grace and tact.

“And you, Miss Dido?” Littorio asked, reaching over and gently kissing the maid’s hand.

“U-Um…” Dido nervously fumbled about, before quickly composing herself with a deep breath as she continued.

“I… I’m doing well!” She responded, a bit of a red blush forming on her face as the Italian Battleship winked charmingly at her.

“Excellent! And who may I ask, is this young lady here?” Littorio asked, motioning to Anchorage, who’d gone back to eating, and was just now tuning back into the conversation.

“Hmm? I’m Anchorage!” The cruiser responded. “Hello!”

Littorio laughed with all her heart, extending her hand and planting a dainty kiss upon the cruiser’s hand.

“I am Littorio, and it is a pleasure to meet you, Miss Anchorage!” The battleship proclaimed with another hearty declaration.

Dido was beginning to feel uneasy again, as Richelieu turned to Littorio and began to ask her a question.

“So, if I may ask… What brings you here, Miss Littorio?” The Cardinal asked, as Littorio turned to address the holy woman.

“Ah, I’ve recently had a conversation with our dear Commander! He informed me that in the near future, I would be working with this magnificent young lady here!” Littorio began, motioning towards Dido.

“As such, I decided to come find her and introduce myself! After all, it is only natural for one such as myself to share my splendor with those around me!” She explained with grandeur and grace, as Richelieu nodded in understanding.

“I see…” She said, as Littorio turned back to Dido.

“And from our time together, something has become quite clear to me! Yes indeed, so clear in fact, it resembles the crystalline waves upon which we sail!” Littorio suddenly declared, before placing a hand on Dido’s shoulders.

“You, my sweet, adorable friend, require my assistance!” 

Dido took a minute to process all of that.

For a few seconds, she sort of blankly stared at Littorio, before suddenly snapping herself out of her trance with a sudden bout of ramblings.

“O-Oh no… Master must have deemed something about me inadequate… For a lowly maid such as myself to require the aid of such a prestigious figure, Oh I’m surely to be thrown aside…!” She began to go off, though she was quickly reeled back by another firm hand placed upon her shoulder by the emerald jewel of the Sardegna Empire.

“Nonsense! A woman of your calibur shan’t be thrown away, not on my watch that is!” Littorio proclaimed with a waved hand and fiery voice.

“H…Huh?” Dido responded, looking confused before Littorio made her move.

“Why, just look at you, Signora! Your beauty matches that of the most radiant amethysts, and surpasses that of even the magnificent blue diamond!” The emerald battleship declared, as Dido’s face grew redder and redder.

“O-Oh… Uwaaa…!” She mumbled to herself, covering her face with her hands as she tried to deal with the sudden influx in compliments.

Richelieu sighed as Littorio kept going, with Anchorage curiously watching on the side mid-croissant munch.

“You see Signora Dido, it has come to my attention that you suffer from some very severe… confidence issues!” Littorio explained, continuing with the same fiery passion as before.

“And that simply will not do! As such: I, Littorio, shall take it upon myself to address this glaring imperfection, and raise your spirits to the heights of the Colosseum itself!” She proclaimed.

“U… Uwaaaa…” Dido semi-whimpered, clearly intimidated by the prospects of facing her biggest insecurities and fears like that.

“If I may interject- How exactly do you plan to help Dido do this?” Richelieu asked, as Littorio stood up from her seat and proudly declared;

“Why, through some ever-valuable confidence-building exercises!”

“...Uh oh.” Dido stammered out, before Littorio promptly hoisted the maid up bridal-style and pointed towards the door like one of history’s great conquerors.

“Now then, follow me my friends, onwards to Victorious’ mixer!” She shouted.

“...Wait, what?” Richelieu suddenly asked.

“Miss T.A, what’s a mixer?” Anchorage asked as well, raising an eyebrow in confusion as Littorio then briskly made her exit.

“U-Uwaaaaa…!” Dido squeaked, as Littorio flung open the doors to Victorious’ Mixer and let the sounds of the bustling party inside flood out into the small maid’s eardrums.

“My… They’re really going at it, aren’t they?” Richelieu commented, as Anchorage came trotting up behind her.

“Oooooh, pretty lights! Anchorage like pretty lights~!” Anchorage shouted, hopping up and down in jubilation at the sight of so many colorful lights.

“W-Wait, um… Forgive this lowly maid but, I don’t remember there being a place like this on-base.” Dido suddenly spoke up, as Littorio gently let her down from her arms.

“Ah, you see my dear Signora, following the incident with the Ashes, Signora Victorious saw it appropriate to build this social mixer to let us kansen mingle amongst each other more! Through this establishment, we’ve been able to rebuild many bridges that would’ve otherwise been destroyed! A fine place to build your confidence, is it not?” Littorio explained.

“O-Oh… Um… Y-Yeah…!” Dido responded, though the shake in her voice indicated that she was clearly apprehensive.

“Hmmm… It would appear you still have some reservations. Fear not, my rose-colored jewel of the British Empire! For I have just the solution!” She proclaimed.

“O-Oh, thank God-” Dido began to say, before she was suddenly pushed straight into the mixer.

“...Huh?” Richelieu suddenly said, as Dido quickly turned back towards the door.

“W-Wait, what's going on!?” She shouted, beginning to shake like a leaf in the wind.

“Do not be afraid, Signora Dido! The best way to truly build confidence is to toss aside your worries and simply dive into them head-first!” She proclaimed.

“Surely there’s an easier way to do this… right?” Richelieu asked.

“Oh certainly, for there are easy ways to do anything! However, to truly build the foundation necessary, one must take a leap of faith!” Littorio proclaimed. “Plus, we’re on a tight schedule, holy grail got stolen remember?”

“Ooooh… Yes, of course.” Richelieu reluctantly responded, before sucking in some air and walking into the mixer as well. “In any case… I suppose I should be here as well. I promised to support Dido, after all.”

“A noble endeavor, Signora Richelieu!” Littorio praised, before walking in herself quickly followed by an ever-curious Anchorage.

“I too shall be here, just in-case the situation escalates beyond any reasonable control.” The emerald-haired battleship proclaimed, stepping into the mixer as she winked towards a group of kansen, who giggled in response.

As Dido looked around, she took in the sight of the mixer in its entirety. Resembling a bar of sorts, she noticed that the mixer seemed to have less tables, and more booths with velvety red cushioning and dimmer lighting than the bar.

Additionally, there were a few rounded seats surrounding a few metal poles, assumedly where poledancers like New Jersey would perform their routine; though they were noticeably absent, presumably due to most of the dancers being off on their missions.

That didn't, however, mean that the mixer was empty.

She actually spotted a great deal of familiar faces amongst the crowd.

There were a fair number of Royal Navy ships intermingling towards the front, with Prince of Wales and King George V being notable amongst them. Dido even spotted Vanguard talking amongst the crowd, rather perplexing given that Vanguard’s most anticipated anime of the Fall season was supposed to have come out a day or two ago. Something about a man and a chainsaw.

Monarch seemed to be conversing with Lutzow and Prinz Adalbert towards the back of the restaurant, an… interesting choice, though Dido hadn’t actually served Monarch for a month or two so maybe something had happened since she left.

Agir was splayed out across Monarch’s lap, the otherworldly cruiser seeming to have made a friend amongst the many kansen.

Towards the middle of the mixer lay some of the Eagle Union kansen who hadn’t gone on the mission to the Sea of Stars, including Reno, Montpelier, and Lexington. They seemed to be seated around the metal pole in the center of the room where New Jersey presumably danced, and were talking about something rather engrossing, given from the passionate way they all talked.

Looking towards the bar of the mixer, she noted the presence of Kaga sitting alone, with Prinz Eugen leaning against her drunkenly complaining about her sister Admiral Hipper. Dido couldn’t actually make out what in specific she was saying, but it seemed important.

Sitting a few seats away were the duo of Soryuu and Hiryuu, who both looked rather exhausted with their clothes ruffled. Given the blush on their face, Dido could presume that Atago had probably brought them here to “relax” and had probably gotten a bit carried away with the pampering.

Looking a further three seats down, Dido confirmed her suspicions as she watched a clearly exasperated Takao try to nurse her sister’s drunken stupor, whilst being clung to like a koala’s favorite tree.

Towards the back of the mixer sat Bismark and Hood, the former of whom really didn’t seem like she wanted to be here. Talking to them was Victorious herself, who seemed to steer the conversation whilst clutching Tirpitz in her left arm, who also seemed pretty apprehensive about being here.

Also seated at the back was a duo Dido really didn’t see coming.

Sat grumbling next to each other were Roon and Taihou, the two passionate rivals sporting lumps on their heads, presumably dealt to them by Friedrich, who was busy scolding the two, presumably for causing a ruckus in the mixer.

Formidable was nearby, seemingly trying to cover up her laughter.

There were a few other kansen around, some from the Iris and Vichya, a few from the Sardegna Empire, and even a few from the Dragon Empery, but Dido didn’t have time to really make note of them before Littorio suddenly came up from behind her and wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

“A wonderful sight is it not? The Ashes sometimes frequent here as well, but at the moment they seem to be a bit preoccupied with The Commander!” Littorio said, slowly moving her hand in an arc as if to display the splendor of the social gathering to the small maid in her arms.

“U-Um… Mhm!” She said, beginning to shake a bit less than before.

“Excellent! Now then, off you go!” The battleship suddenly said, before walking off to go talk to Illustrious, who she’d just noticed was nearby.

“Wait… What?” Dido asked, suddenly realizing that she was alone in the middle of a social event.

“Uuuu…” She began to mumble, nervously walking around as she tried to look for any familiar faces she could sit next to and talk with.

Apprehensively inching forward, she tried to appear as inconspicuous as possible so as to not draw any attention towards herself.

This unfortunately, didn’t seem to work very well.

“ Giggle, hello there~.” A voice called out from her right.

Turning towards the booth to her right, Dido was greeted with the sight of Algerie, Howe, Vittorio Veneto, Belfast, and Brest all sitting together, with the firstmost gently motioning for the small maid to take a seat with them.

Dido gulped, before taking a deep breath and walking towards them.

Without warning, a hand suddenly grabbed her shoulder.

"Eep!" She shouted, before calming down once she realized it was just Richelieu.

"Worry not Dido, I'll be here to help." The Cardinal assured her friend.

"Wait… Where's Anchorage?" The maid asked, to which Richelieu motioned over to the back of the mixer, where Anchorage was hugging Friedrich tightly whilst the motherly kansen was scolding Taihou and Roon.

"O-Oh…"

The sound of giggles from the booth she'd been invited too snapped Dido's attention back to the matter at hand, as she tentatively made her way over to the group of kansen.

"Dido, good to see you~. Are you well?" Algerie asked, as a few of the ladies scooted out of the way as they guided Dido to the center, with Richelieu taking a seat closest to the outside of the booth.

"U-Um… I am doing well…" She said, gulping a bit as she swallowed the lump forming in her throat.

It was now or never…

…At least there were worse places she could be trapped.

Chapter Text

“Umm…”

If someone had told Dido how awkward this whole thing was gonna be, she wouldn’t have come in the first place. She’d probably have begged Sirius, Charybdis, or even Black Prince to come in her stead.

But here she was. Surrounded by rather mature kansen all giggling in amusement as the poor maid tried stumbling through conversation.

“So, what brings you here~?” Algerie asked, placing an elbow against the table as she leaned against it.

“U…Um… Well… Miss Littorio said I needed to build up my confidence so… She brought me here.” The meek maid explained, occasionally glancing down.

“Yes, and I came along with her to make sure nothing bad happened.” Richelieu added.

Vittorio sighed apologetically, reaching over and patting the small maid on the shoulder in sympathy.

“Ah, my apologies… Littorio does truly mean well, that I can assure, but well… My sister is nothing if not eccentric~.” The flagship of the Sardegna Empire explained.

Dido nodded in understanding.

It wasn’t like she didn’t appreciate the sentiment, being painfully aware of her own shortcomings, this was just… on really short notice.

“O’ fate can be so cruel… But alas, it has delivered you to our doorstep… So it would be a shame not to take advantage of this wondrous opportunity, no?” Brest interjected.

“Indeed, why don’t you start by telling us a little bit about yourself?” Howe added on, crossing her legs as the girls at the table turned their eyes towards the anxious maid.

Squashing down the shiver running down her spine from the sudden spotlight, Dido took in a deep breath as she calmed herself down.

It was true, it’d probably be a really good idea to just… Take a step forward.

In spite of how absolutely terrifying it was.

“U-Um… Well… My name is HMS Dido… I’m a member of the Royal Navy’s Maid Corps, a-and um… I like baking?” She managed to stutter out.

It was a decent start, all things considered.

“Oh~? You like baking too? That’s just wonderful~!” Howe exclaimed, leaning over the table and scooping up Dido’s hands into her own.

“U-Uwaaa…!” Dido yelped suddenly, as Belfast sighed and crossed her own legs as well.

“Miss Dido, if you would… May I ask what you find attractive?”

Instinctively sensing a prime opportunity to have a bit of fun teasing the small maid, as well as help the anxious girl relax, all eyes swiftly turned back to Dido as the maid flushed slightly red.

“I-In what regard?” She asked, slightly confused.

“As in, what do you look for in a romantic partner~?” Vittorio joined in, giggling to herself as Dido quickly swallowed another gulp of air.

“W-Well…” Dido began.

“I… I suppose I… Would look for devotion? I want someone who will stick with me no matter what-” The maid started, before Brest quickly interjected.

“What about physically? What is the ideal form you seek in a soulmate?” The angelic cruiser asked.

“W-Well-” Dido meekly replied.

“Indeed, would you prefer them to have longer, or shorter hair?”  put forward.

“Um- Longer-?”

“How about their hair color, do you like lighter or darker hair?” Howe asked.

“I-I guess lighter?”

“How about their clothing? Are you into the more risque outfits, or are you more modest?” Vittorio went next.

“I-I-”

“Oh dear, I think we’ve overloaded the poor girl… Here, have this,” Algerie offered, handing Dido a cold cup of some sort of beverage, which the anxious maid quickly took and downed in a single motion.

“T-Thank you… I am just… a bit overwhelmed.” She admitted. “I have never thought about this kind of thing before…”

Richelieu leaned over and began gently rubbing the maid’s shoulders, as the anxious girl took a minute to think.

“H-Honestly… All I would want in a partner, is someone who wouldn’t abandon me… Perhaps it’s selfish for such a lowly maid to wish for such a thing, but… If I fall in love with someone… All I would ask of them is… to not leave me behind.” Dido proclaimed, her head shooting up as she clasped her hands together.

The table stood quiet for a time, as all eyes lingered on the girl for about thirty seconds.

The silence was so poignant, it felt like a mere pen drop would cause the whole building to come crashing down around them.

“That… Is… Adorable!”

In the very next instant, Dido suddenly found herself dogpiled by all of the kansen around her, all enamored by the frankly delightful wish Dido had just shared.

“Aww! That’s so cute- Did you have anyone in mind you maybe had eyes for?”

“Yes, what valiant champion has enchanted your frail heart~?”

“Oh, to be young and in love~!”

“My Miss Dido… I didn’t take you for such a romantic.”

“Such a wondrous dream!”

“W-Wait, please don’t get so close, Miss Richelieu help me-”

About 20 minutes later…

“Ahahahaha! So, Signora Dido, how was your experience? Rather enjoyable, was it not?” Littorio proclaimed, passionately patting Dido on the back as the maid hyperventilated against one of the walls.

After a grand total of ten minutes worth of being smothered by a substantial amount of kansen, Dido had eventually been relinquished by the crowd, mostly due to the valiant efforts of Richelieu.

Who was now laying basically dead on a nearby couch.

“Can’t… Move… So… Soft…”

She needed a minute.

Back with Dido, the small maid took in labored, heavy breaths as she tried to calm herself down.

“Signora Dido? Are you well? How was your experience, my friend?” Littorio asked again, leaning down next to Dido to hand the small maid a glass of water.

Drinking it with fervor, Dido let out a pointed sigh of relief as she leaned back against the wall.

“It was… Very soft.” The maid responded.

A moment of pause.

Littorio stood completely stone-faced for exactly 30 seconds.

Then, she placed a firm, confident hand on Dido’s shoulder.

“...Well done, Signora Dido.”

A wide, proud smile spread across Littorio’s face as she began to slowly but surely pat Dido on the back, over and over.

“Huh…?”

“You’ll understand eventually. Now then, I must be off! The good lady Illustrious needs my attention!”

Dido gulped at the possible insinuation, and watched tentatively as Littorio walked off to go chat with Illustrious again.

“Miss T.A, are you alright?” A voice called out from her right, as Anchorage trotted up following her monster-sized pampering from Friedrich.

“U-Um… I’m doing… alright…” Dido replied, trying to dust herself off as she turned to face the childish cruiser.

“...Do you need a hug?” Anchorage asked.

Dido sighed.

“...Yes.”

“...So, that was a rather… interesting day.” Richelieu spoke up, looking across the table at the exhausted maid seated at the other end.

Dido grumbled, placing her face down into her arms.

Following their daring adventures in Illustrious’ mixer, Anchorage had returned home with Friedrich for the evening; as apparently, The Commander had given Friedrich permission to take Anchorage off of their hands in case things began to look dicey.

After that, Littorio had departed due to “needing to attend to the needs of some royal ladies”, which of course only meant one thing with the port’s resident casanova.

With Littorio departing for the day, that just left Richelieu and Dido to spend the rest of their day doing… whatever.

Thus, they’d decided to head back and catch a quick bite to eat. Luckily, a hot dog cart manned by Marblehead had been nearby, which had in-turn been nearby the cafeteria.

So here they were, sitting down and eating hot dogs after a hard day’s work.

“That was exhausting…” Dido said, munching on her hot dog as Richelieu sighed empathetically.

“Well, at least things could’ve been worse, right?” The Cardinal said, trying to look on the bright side as the moping maid in front of her continued to sulk.

“Uuuu… Master will surely dispose of me… I failed to keep track of Anchorage… Oh no…” The poor maid said, beginning a downward spiral as her mental state began careening towards the ground at top speed.

Realizing she needed to break Dido away from her intrusive thoughts, Richelieu quickly changed the subject.

“So, um, is there anything else The Commander wanted you to do?” Richelieu asked.

Dido quickly perked up, skimming through her memories before she recalled something.

“He… wants me to get better control of my abilities. M-Master said that I’ll need more control over them for whatever comes in the future… B-But I um… really don’t know how to do that.” Dido confessed.

“I see…” Richelieu said aloud, placing a finger on her chin as she began to think. “Unfortunately… My ability has to do with light, unlike yours that deals with darkness… So I do not know if I will be able to help you with your training.”

Dido went right back to sulking, dropping her head onto the table as she began mumbling to herself once more.

“Oh no… Master will surely be rid of me if I cannot rise to meet his expectations! Oh, this pitiful maid will most certainly-”

Richelieu closed her eyes and began to think about what other kansen on the base wielded similarly sinister abilities.

She could try to speak with Graf Zeppelin but… No, the poor cruiser would likely explode trying to speak with the base’s resident nihilist.

Maybe she could try working with Friedrich?

The motherly kansen could compliment the frail girl’s rather delicate self esteem quite nicely. Yes, that would be-

Wait, actually, there were multiple reports of Friedrich basically going a little crazy in the middle of battles. According to The Commander, all PR ships had some sort of inner thirst for battle, and Friedrich was no different.

That… might not work.

So the only other option she could think of was…

…Duke of York.

Oh no.

She might actually be WORSE than Friedrich.

But then again, being part of the Royal Navy, Dido may be more familiar with her.

Who to suggest then…

“...Dido, I think I have an idea that may help you.”

“And so, Thou hast come to request mine aid?” The vampire asked, crossing her legs as the maid knelt before her throne.

“U-Um… Yes. Master said I need to gain more control of my powers so… Richelieu said you might be able to help me? P-Please forgive this lowly maid for asking such a task of you!” Dido replied, visibly shivering in the presence of Azur Lane’s infamous crimson countess.

“Cease thine shivering, thou need not be afraid. If it is a request from mine Adonis… I shall partake in it without hesitation~.” Duke declared, before standing up from her throne and making her way down the stairs.

As her black heels stepped gently across the long, red velvet carpet placed along the center of the room, Dido wondered where exactly Duke of York had gotten all of this decor.

Maybe it was best not to ask.

She was suddenly snapped out of her thoughts by a gloved white finger gently tracing along her jaw, before stopping at her chin as Duke gently brought Dido up to eye-level, licking her lips as if she was looking at a piece of Grade 5 Wagyu.

“My… I can see a great many things within thou, yes~ A thirst for the crimson ichor of your enemies, one that thou hast refused to indulge within in the past…” Duke began, a strange red glow beginning to swirl around in the vampire’s eyes.

Dido gulped.

Ever since Synchronization Gear had become more wide-spread, being mass-produced, the higher level of synchronization within the kansen had begun to unlock strange abilities within the kansen that used them. Those who didn’t possess powers before soon found themselves able to wield the same otherworldly strength as their comrades, and those that did found their existing abilities massively improved.

And those among the very very strongest… Awakened more than just one power.

From deep within her soul, Dido felt something tug.

Something… vaguely familiar, but overwhelmingly anxiety-inducing.

It didn’t feel right. It felt bad. It felt all sorts of wrong.

“W-Wait, hold on-”

“Now then… O’ black sheep of mine… Let us dance~!”

And then it snapped.

Chapter Text

And then it snapped

Instantly, Dido felt something change.

She stumbled back, shoving Duke of York away as she began coughing furiously. 

“W-What’s- *Cough!* What’s going on-!?” She asked in distress, her small-ish frame visibly shaking as she kept coughing over and over and over again.

“In order to better thou control over thine strength, thou must first know what it is like to LOSE control in the first place, yes?” Duke of York asked, taking a few paces back as she unsheathed the saber placed upon her hips.

“S-So, what’s gonna happen to me…?” Dido asked in fear, her coughing worsening as she stumbled over onto the ground, the hacking rocking her body.

A sudden influx of negative feelings began to well up from deep within her heart. Anger, jealousy, unfathomable feelings of incomprehensible negativity threatened to swallow her whole.

Splat!

She coughed again, only this time what wrenched itself forth from her gullet was not a mere cough, but black matter.

“H-Huh!?” She yelped in surprise, as another splotch of fluid shadow leaked from her body, this time from her eyes.

“T-This… T-This feels…” She began to stammer on, as a sudden surge of negativity ripped itself from inside of her, tearing forward like an unstoppable wave of malice and fury.

Duke of York smiled, as she walked towards the doors of her expansive personal chamber and quickly slid the massive doors shut, locking them as her eyes began to shimmer a sinister, sadistic crimson.

Dido stumbled back, gripping at her chest before coughing up more and more watery shadows. They came like a flood, as she coughed over and over, before the darkness came from her very being itself, leaking from her chest and staining the once crimson-carpet an ominous solid black.

“Come on now, let go of thine mortal coils and release the hound within!” Duke called out, leaping over the maid and onto the elaborate throne she’d once sat at, throwing her arms out in a grandiose flourish.

The maid beneath her fell to the floor, still gripping at her chest as she began to scream. Shadowy magma released itself from within the poor girl as she shrieked out with all her heart.

This felt strange.

This felt new.

This felt…

It felt…

It… Felt…

…Good.

A flood of pitch black instantly filled the room, sweeping away the velvet carpet as it came like a torrent of insanity, staining the colorful glass windows of Duke of York’s quarters.

The rising black liquid painted a grim stage for the two to battle on as Dido released a terrified scream, the sclera of her eyes stained black as liquid shadow crept up her left arm, before she THREW herself at Duke like a rabid animal.

Tearing her massive black cleaver from within her chest, Dido swung down with all her might as Duke deftly avoided the blow, the enormous black sword cleaving the battleship’s regal golden throne in twain as the maid scrambled back to her feet, turning towards the Crimson Apocalypse before lunging towards her again.

Twirling the black steel blade in her hand, Duke of York rushed forward to meet her opponent, steel and sparks flying about as the two went at it.

Duke’s longsword deftly parried away the massive onyx sword her partner wielded, as she revealed a toothy grin and lunged forward, cutting into the cruiser’s shoulder and sending the out-of-control cruiser tumbling back into the sea of darkness.

“Yes… YES!!” Duke of York cried out, the red glow in her eye beginning to brighten dramatically as she charged in to follow up, swinging her blade at the cruiser and finding her mark in the young maid’s arm once more.

Only to find her blade forced back moments later, as the fluid shadows seeping from Dido struck back at Duke’s blade, and began rapidly flooding into Dido’s wounds.

“How interesting…”

Duke began to think strategically, reigning in her bloodlust for a moment as she considered her options.

She probably shouldn’t let this go on for much longer. She wanted to give Dido a SENSE of what it was like to lose control, not have her accidentally destroy the base.

Observing the shadows beginning to refill the wounds she’d dealt unto Dido, she noticed something peculiar amidst the storm of black and onyx screams.

Tears.

Glowing, lilac tears.

They streamed down Dido’s face like a river cutting through stone, pronounced extra-largely against the pitch-black shadows soaking the room around her and floor beneath her.

“Ah… So, thou art a reluctant beast… How interesting!” Duke proclaimed, sensing that it was likely approaching the time to end their brief but intense exchange.

Training her eyes on Dido as the cruiser returned to her feet, Dido let out another shriek of uncontrollable malice, before she darted madly towards Duke of York again, her clouded and hazy mindstate robbing her of any tactical knowledge or foresight she may have once possessed.

Taking advantage of her more… tempered mania, Duke licked her lips before barely side-stepping the train-wreck of a cruiser barreling towards her as she swung her longsword across the cruiser’s side, a burst of blood loosing itself from the maid’s torso before the darkness around her quickly surged forth to repair the wound, filling the gash and forcibly fusing the wound closed.

The maid stumbled about, faltering for a moment as she grabbed at her head, dropping the massive black sword in her hand to the sea of black beneath her as she cried out in pain, visibly attempting to resist whatever blackened power clearly grasped ahold of her soul in that instant.

Another powerful shriek later, and the moving stopped, before she limply fished the sword from the sea of shadows and charged back towards Duke of York, mindlessly swinging her sword every which-way as the countess quickly avoided and parried away her attacks, as if the battle were a simple dance between partners.

Deftly skating across the ocean of shadows, Duke of York spun through the air before releasing her bloodlust once more, darting through the space between them and jamming her sword into the maid’s stomach, a jet of blood bursting out of the wound as the vampiric lady of the Royal Navy opened her mouth and drank plentifully before rocketing Dido away with another kick.

Once more the cruiser returned to her feet, darkness feeding into the wound in her midsection.

Crimson ichor suddenly exploded from around Duke of York, as the Crimson Apocalypse took a step forward, the ocean of black liquid suddenly parting like the red sea before the prophet Moses. Shimmering crimson energy began to float softly into the air off of her vampiric form, long tongue licking the blood that hadn’t been partaken of before off of her lips.

“How delicious… But alas, our dance must come to an end, I’m afraid~.” Duke proclaimed, before the shimmering scarlet power manifesting around her suddenly came to focus along her blade, shunting itself forward as it wrapped tightly around the vampire’s weapon.

Dido responded with a roar, as otherworldly lilac mist began to pour off of her body, and she charged at Duke of York like a wild boar; a beast unchained.

The vampiric doomsday simply narrowed her eyes as she funneled her bloodlust into a single point, before she rushed forward and ran her blade straight into the beast.

Shadows from beneath shot up to block the attack, barely managing to catch the tip of the weapon and cushion the countess’s strike before it ran their master through like a hand through wheat.

Too little, too late.

Duke’s free hand thrust up from below and grabbed Dido by the chin, forcing the cruiser to look into the vampire’s eyes as Duke of York activated the ability she’d used previously, her will imposing itself onto the beastly maid beneath her.

An instant later, Dido fell to her knees, as a sudden pounding on Duke’s door rang out before the gates threw themselves open.

“Dido, are you alright!?” Richelieu shouted, quickly accompanied by Prince of Wales and King George V.

“Duke, I heard a great commotion from your room. Is something wrong!?” King George asked, before laying eyes on her sister.

Duke cradled the maid within her arms, the blackened markings spread across her body slowly beginning to retreat back into her body.

Flipping the bible in her hand open, Richelieu closed her eyes and gathered holy light within her hand.

“Lord… please grant us mercy…” She whispered to herself, before she dispersed the light, and sent a bright shine radiating throughout the room.

It sent the fluid darkness shrieking away like the light was purging the very demons of hell itself.

Prince of Wales swung her head around to look at Duke, eyebrows raised suspiciously as she eyed the extensive property damage that the room had seemingly incurred in the last few minutes.

“Just what exactly happened here…?” She asked.

Duke simply smiled, and placed a finger over her lips.

“Shhh… This hound is sleeping~.”

“...Mmmm…”

Dido awoke to bright white lights. Familiar ones at that.

She was in the infirmary.

Wincing at the sudden change in lighting, she tried to sit up in her hospital bed, only to find sudden sharp pain shooting through her body, causing her to collapse back down as she clenched her teeth and hissed in pain.

“Ow ow ow ow…!” She whimpered, laying her head back into the soft pillow behind her.

Looking around at the room, she turned her head towards the window and looked out of the thin clear glass.

Mochi was running around with some of the destroyers, the massive siren dragon having clearly gotten attached to the smaller shipgirls after they befriended it for the first time upon its initial arrival. 

She let out a slight sigh, watching the massive construct frolic about with the smaller kansen that had, for all intents and purposes, basically adopted it as the base’s collective pet.

It was… nice.

In a way, she kinda empathized with the enormous dragon. When it first arrived at the base, it had been rather reserved and shy around anyone other than Zuikaku. But… after the destroyers had first approached it and fed it some food, the happy little dragon seemed to open up.

Maybe… She could have something similar.

“Miss Dido?” A voice called from the doorway.

The small maid turned her head towards the opening in the left side of the room, and laid eyes upon the Cardinal of the Iris Libre holding a small bouquet of flowers.

“O-Oh, Miss Richelieu…” Dido said, quickly looking away in shame as she tried to recall what had happened to her.

“...Are you feeling better?” Richelieu asked, pulling up a chair and sitting down next to Dido’s bed.

Dido remained silent for a moment, struggling to speak as she forcibly swallowed the feelings of shame and disappointment beginning to bubble up from the bottom of her stomach.

“I… I am not doing well, admittedly…” She confessed.

“May I ask why…?” Richelieu asked tentatively, being careful not to accidentally poke any sensitive spots.

Dido took another deep breath, before she placed her hands together and began to speak.

“I… I went to see Miss Duke of York and… Something h-happened…” She began.

“I know, I came running into the room with King George V and Prince of Wales when we began to hear a commotion coming from her quarters.” Richelieu responded.

“O-Oh no, I will surely be thrown away now! To have lost control like that, oh this pitiful maid should’ve never sought out Miss Duke of York’s aid!” Dido began to lament, before Richelieu placed a comforting hand upon the maid’s shoulder.

“No, quite the opposite actually. If anything, it shows you have good initiative. Your loss of control was… apparently the result of one of Duke of York’s newly acquired abilities.” Richelieu responded.

It was then that Dido recalled what Duke of York said to her before she lost consciousness.

“In order to better thou control over thine strength, thou must first know what it is like to LOSE control in the first place, yes?”

She sighed, burying her face in her hands.

“So… that is what it is like to truly lose control…” Dido said.

Many times before, she’d felt the urge rise up. She’d felt great jealousy, envy, and anger towards others, but she’d never let it boil over. 

Now that she knew what it was like, and now that she understood just how easily she could approach that event horizon, she felt…

“...Miss Richelieu, I… I feel scared…”

Chapter Text

This was her fault.

She shouldn’t have sent her there.

This was her fault.

“I… I’m sorry, Miss Dido. This… This is my fault.” Richelieu said, hesitantly reaching out and placing a sympathetic hand on Dido’s lap.

Dido remained silent for a moment, before she sucked in some air and turned towards the Cardinal.

“N-No, it’s… It’s not your fault, I… I should’ve known what… I was getting myself into.” The maid replied, still visibly shaken from her experience.

“...Did Miss Duke of York say anything after you came in?” She asked.

At the very least, she thought she should try to get some more information out of his experience.

Richelieu nodded, swallowing a lump in her throat before she shifted in her seat and began to talk.

“Yes. After we rushed you to the infirmary to check on your condition, Duke of York brought me aside to speak with me…”

“I bear some information thou may wish to know, Cardinal of the Iris Libre.” Duke of York said, as Richelieu stepped out of Dido’s infirmary room.

“...Speak.” Was all she said, raising her eyebrow in suspicion as she turned to face the vampire.

Duke of York pushed herself off of the wall and began walking towards Richelieu, before she flicked her hand forward and gathered wisps of red energy.

“The girl does not possess control over the shadows like we first believed. No… That girl has a power much more foreign and strange than that.” The Countess began.

“What?” Richelieu asked, her brow furrowing as she questioned the battleship.

“But that… I thought we’d already determined what Dido’s powers were back when she first manifested?” Richelieu responded.

Technically she was correct. Upon Dido’s first manifestation into the world, it’d been theorized that her sword was simply able to control shadows. Her other displays of power up until now somewhat matched the assumed description of her ability, so… What gave?

“Indeed, we foolishly believed we’d determined the truth of her powers. But alas, upon our exchange, I realized the truth was something far more sinister. And now, I impart this information unto thee.” Duke concluded.

“So, what is her power?” Richelieu asked.

“...I am unsure. I will need more time if I am to truly pull back the veil of mystery hiding the truth behind that girl.” Duke of York confessed.

“I… I see…” Richelieu responded, visibly disturbed by the newly revealed information.

“Is it… a danger to her?” She asked immediately after.

Duke of York shook her head. “Not as far as I can tell. And, if things were to get out of hand, thou hast the light of the lord on thy side, yes?”

The Cardinal paused for a moment, contemplating what had been said.

It’s true, she did wield an exceptionally powerful light-based ability, letting her command the power of an almost holy light whenever she pleased.

However, she did not wish to wield this power against her fellow kansen. After… The incident that resulted in Dunkerque’s sinking, friendly-fire was generally a sore spot for most Iris and Vichya ships in general.

Were Dido to lose control again, and were it to come to that…

“...Yes, I do.”

“So then, thou knowest what thou must avoid, correct?”

“Of course.”

“Excellent, should Lady Dido wish to come work with me again, I would request that thou accompany her in the case of any unwarranted outbursts.” Duke of York asked.

“Yes, of course I will.” Richelieu responded.

“Good. Now then, I must be off to the brig!” The vampire declared.

“Wait, why?” Richelieu asked.

“Apparently I caused multiple noise complaints, and caused great emotional distress to the poor girl. As such, I’m to be put in the brig for two days to reflect.”

“Ah. I see.”

“Now then, I’m off. If you ever wish to speak more on this matter… You know where to find me.” She said, dramatically turning around and flicking her hair before she walked away with a confident stride.

Richelieu looked down at her hand, before her eyes turned to the brown leather cover of the book in her other hand.

“...I pray it does not come to that.”

“O-Oh… I… I see…” Dido responded, subconsciously clutching the doll in her arms tighter to her chest.

That was a… really disturbing bit of news.

With the sudden reveal that her power wasn’t to control shadows, but instead something entirely foreign, she was feeling even more uneasy than before.

“I… I am really not doing well right now…” Dido mumbled to herself, burying her face inside of a pillow as she felt tears beginning to well up.

Richelieu began gently rubbing Dido’s back, attempting to comfort the young maid.

“Do not worry, we will be here to help you through this. You are not alone, Dido.” She stated, moving her hand to Dido’s back as she tried to soothe the poor maid’s soul.

“* sniffle* , T-Thank you, Miss Richelieu…” Dido responded, trying to wipe away one of her tears as she struggled with the new information she’d been presented with.

The two sat in silence for a moment, as Richelieu quietly slipped her arms around Dido and held the maid close.

The only sound that could be heard throughout the small infirmary room was the soft, pained sobbing of a single young girl.

For the next ten minutes, that’s all that could be heard.

“ *sniffle* *sniffle*”

Dido carefully opened the door to her dorm room as she wiped away some more tears from her face, gently closing the door behind her as she promptly plopped down on her couch.

“Sister? Are you okay?” A voice called from within the room, as Black Prince and Charybdis stepped out from another section within the dormroom.

“Mmm… N… No…” Dido responded, curling up into a ball as Black Prince and Charybdis both took seats on either side of their miserable older sister.

“What happened, did something go wrong today~?” Charybdis asked, moving her hand over to Dido as she started rubbing the poor maid’s shoulder.

“M-Mhm…” Dido mumbled, before she took a deep breath in, and began to explain everything.

A short time later, Charybdis and Black Prince sat in silence as they contemplated what had just been said.

“That’s…”

“Yeah, that’s… really heavy.”

Black Prince placed a reassuring hand on Dido, however.

“But, don’t worry sis. We’ll be here with you, all the way.” She said.

“Of course~, it’d be unbearably shameful of us if we were to leave you to bear this burden alone, right~?” Charybdis added, reaffirming Black Prince’s point.

An unsteady, shaky smile began to spread across Dido’s face as she continued to cry. “T…Thank you, truly…” She said, before realizing something.

“Where is Sirius?” She asked.

“Oh, she got called into a meeting with The Commander.” Black Prince replied.

“Hmm? W-What for?” Dido asked, raising an eyebrow with curiosity; having not heard anything about this.

Charybdis shrugged. “We… don’t really know.”

“I’m sorry to have called you lot here on such short notice, but things have just taken a rather interesting turn!” The Commander shouted, throwing their hands into the air before bowing apologetically towards the faction leaders assembled before them.

These included the Royal Navy, Iron Blood, Northern Parliament, Vichya Dominion, and Iris Libre.

“Hmph! There’d better be a good reason we’re here, Servant.” Queen Elizabeth declared, huffing a bit as Sirius and Warspite stood behind her.

“I take it that a matter of great urgency must have come up, yes, Kommandant?” Bismarck asked, with Tirpitz and Prinz Eugen standing beside her.

“Why, yes indeed! In fact, it has something to do with the recent thievery of the Holy Grail from the Iris Orthodoxy’s homeland!” The Commander responded, glancing over to Jean Bart and Richelieu; both of whom had come with their own set of companions for the meeting.

Algerie and Dunkerque looked at one another instinctively as Jeanne D’Arc and Saint Louis looked to Richelieu, who visibly tensed up at the mention of the holy artifact.

“...What news have we received, Commander?” Richelieu asked.

“I’m glad you asked! Well, see, Kronshtadt has been hard at work running intel gathering operations for the past like, two days, and we’ve just now come across a raaather interesting bit of information. See, we just so happened to have intercepted some Siren communications… and we know where they’re keeping the Holy Grail, now.” The Commander suddenly announced.

All members present suddenly began murmuring amongst themselves.

“Are we sure this is the real thing? I feel this is far too early, and far too convenient.” Richelieu spoke up, raising her hand somewhat hesitantly.

“We aren’t too sure, honestly. Still, the folks back at your home have deemed it necessary to make a move for it regardless!” The Commander responded.

Richelieu could understand that. The Holy Grail was one of the Iris Orthodoxy's most valuable artifacts, renowned across the nation as one of if not THE most holy items amongst their many relics. Matched in status only by the crown of thorns itself, and the very cross Jesus Christ was crucified upon.

Still, something felt off.

“The Iris Orthodoxy has asked us to retrieve the Holy Grail as quickly as possible. They’ve given us jurisdiction to operate within their waters as much as we’d like, so long as we get their artifact back. Which means we really, really gotta get this done, or we’re kinda in deep shit!” The Commander announced, before he pulled a whiteboard out of nowhere.

“See, turns out the Holy Grail is being hidden inside of a Siren Facility located in the middle of a mirror sea in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, about halfway between the Eagle Union and the Iris Orthodoxy.” They began, pointing at the little diagram drawn on the whiteboard.

“We’ll split into two teams. One team will act as the diversion team, with the objective of drawing as much fire as physically possible. Kronshtadt managed to identify one of the Sirens in command of the base: Purifier.” They said, pointing towards a rather crappily drawn imitation of Purifier in the corner of the diagram.

 We have heard some murmurs that there’s another powerful Siren commanding the base alongside Purifier, but we don’t know who, maybe it's Observer! In any case, our goal will be to drag them out and draw their fire while the second team: the infiltration team, will sneak into the base, locate the Holy Grail, and extract as soon as possible.” They concluded, as Queen Elizabeth’s hand shot up.

“I believe our Royal Maids may be of great assistance in this matter~! Quite a few of our maids have been trained in covert operations, so they should be perfect for this~!” The monarch declared with a proud smile on her face.

“Well that’s just great! Once Kronshtadt finishes recovering from her mission, I’ll have her brief your chosen members on the details of the mission.” The Commander responded, pulling out a clipboard and pen from… somewhere… and jotting down some notes.

Bismarck raised her hand next. “Are there any unknown factors we should be careful of?” She asked.

The Commander shook their head. “Nope! At least, as far as we know. Just be on-guard, this is a mirror sea after all!”

“Anyways, the mission’s gonna be set about two weeks from now. So, until then, start preparing!” They declared with another grandiose sweep of their arms.

With the declaration made, the other nations began to leave the room, departing to begin their own preparations and planning. Richelieu stood up to do the same, as Jeanne and Saint Louis went ahead to start early, before The Commander tapped her on the shoulder.

“Hmm? What is it, Commander?”

“Richelieu, I have a request for you. Technically a task, but you know!” They responded.

Richelieu raised an eyebrow. “...What is it, Commander?”

They smiled. “We’d like you to… help Dido control her powers. I know it’s a lot to ask in one week, but I’m sure you can manage it!”

Richelieu sighed, before nodding her head in confirmation. “Of course, Commander.”

Standing up to leave, she bowed to The Commander before heading towards the door, until the Commander called out once more to her.

“Oh and… Thank You. You mean a lot to Dido.”

Richelieu smiled.

“...Of course, Commander.”

Chapter Text

“So uh, why exactly did we steal the fancy cup?” Purifier asked, crossing her legs as she floated in front of the massive throne looming over her.

“Simple. We needed something to power our little… experiment. The Holy Grail just so happened to be the perfect thing needed to rile up humanity, and attain a strong enough power-source to feed our newest test.” The Empress responded, looking down at the other siren from atop her massive throne.

“And uh, what exactly are we gonna use this thing for?” Purifier asked again, switching her legs and re-crossing them.

“You see… While the kansen have indeed been making remarkable progress, we believe they need to… step it up, so to speak. We desire more progress, more… conflict. And ever since this one failed…” She trailed off, motioning to Observer, who knelt on the floor next to her.

“We’ve needed a more solid plan… So, Observer, why don’t you explain to the Purifier here what exactly your plan is.” The Empress stated, as the Observer cleared her throat and began to float back into the air atop her massive rigging.

“You see, Purifier… With the experiment we are building, we’ll be able to begin fighting back more effectively against the Ashes, meaning our testing sites won’t have as many compromisations as a result. Additionally… It’ll give our physical mainframes much more combative power.” Observer explained, as Purifier floated over to her.

“So, basically, it’s gonna make us a fuck-ton more powerful? Hell yeah! Wait- Hold the fuck up, why’d you call me in here then, Boss-woman?” Purifier suddenly asked, rapidly turning around to look at Empress.

“We’ve decided to give you the authority to test the prototype, and to give you full jurisdiction over the Holy Grail. In effect: you can do whatever you want with both the experiment, and the Holy Grail.” The Empress responded.

Purifier’s eyes suddenly lit up, like a child’s gaze on Christmas Morning. She suddenly floated back up into the air as she pumped her fists into the air.

“For real!? Awesome! Let’s gooooo!! I have just the plan in mind!” She shouted, shooting towards the door before screeching to a halt and turning around.

“Oh uh, is there anything else I need to know?” The enthusiastic siren asked.

“Why, yes actually… We’ve received word that the Iris Libre have begun investigating the disappearance of the Holy Grail, and plan to mobilize their entire fleet of Kansen and naval vessels to retrieve it, in cooperation with Azur Lane.” The Empress responded, waving her finger in the air and manifesting a few flat, glowing blue screens into the air around her, tapping one or two of them as she brought up paragraphs of information.

“Oooooh… I see!” Purifier shouted, twirling about mid-air as she tapped her fingers together like some sort of maniacal supervillain, stroking her face where her mustache would be as she seemed to think long and hard about the information she’d just received.

“Hmmm… Now what to do with this…” Purifier thought, twisting and turning in the air as The Empress internally rolled her eyes.

“If you have no remaining questions… Please vacate the premises.” The Empress instructed, as Purifier suddenly perked up.

“Okaaaay…” Purifier responded, pouting and crossing her arms as she floated towards the doorway. “Oh, and one more thing, can I have access to some of my dummy bodies? You know, the extra copies n’ all that?”

The Empress sighed. “Yes. Fine, though I have no idea what you’d use them for.”

Purifier pumped her fists into the air. “Aw hell yeah! Alright Chief, Observer, seeya!” She said, waving her hand before she darted through the door.

The Arbiter released another very audible sigh.

“Why do I have a feeling I am going to regret this…”

—

Dido audibly gulped as she sat on the couch in front of Sirius, who was currently explaining what she’d learned from The Commander to her sisters.

“So, basically… In two weeks, we’ll be taking part in an Operation to reclaim the Holy Grail for the Iris Libre?” Black Prince asked.

“That is correct. Master will be splitting us up into two teams. One team will consist of covert operatives, likely consisting of a great deal of Royal Maids, and the other team will consist of Kansen personally picked by Master himself, aided by the Iris Libre’s naval forces..” Sirius began, as her other three sisters listened intently. 

“The first team will infiltrate the facility that Master has located and reclaim the Holy Grail, and the second team will draw out the siren Purifier, who will then be engaged in prolonged combat until the first team retrieves the Grail.” The maid continued.

“Upon the retrieval of the Holy Grail, we are to make our escape and retreat to friendly waters. Upon doing so, the mission will be considered complete, and we will be free to return to base.” Sirius concluded.

Charybdis bit her lip for a second, before speaking up. “Do we know who will be taking part in the mission?”

Sirius shook her head. “Not yet, Master said he’ll be picking the kansen taking part in about a week after he’s had time to consider the best kansen for the job.”

Dido looked down at the ground with hesitance, before Sirius reached over and placed a hand on the small maid’s shoulders.

“Don’t worry, Sister. I am sure everything will turn out alright.” She said, gently rubbing Dido’s shoulders in order to comfort the small maid.

“Uuu…” Dido murmured to herself, mumbling pessimistically before Sirius stood up and turned to the assembled Dido-class sisters.

“In any case, we should probably just rest for now. Goodnight, sisters.” Sirius said, as the sisters slowly dispersed throughout their shared dorm.

Only Dido was left as she sat on the couch and started at the ground; hands clasped together. 

Beep beep!

Her phone makes a notification noise prompting Dido to take out her cellphone and pull up her messenger on Juustagram. 

It was a text, from Richelieu.

[Richelieu]: Hello? Dido? Are you awake?

[Dido]: Mhm. Is there something you need, Miss Richelieu?

[Richelieu]: I’d like to spend the day with you tomorrow. There aren’t too many things going on, and we’ll need a day to relax, right?

That wasn’t technically true, there was the whole big Operation in a week, but… Her training regime didn’t actually take too long. It started at around 7:30 in the morning and ended at around midday. Depending on what information she got from the list that her Master released in the morning, then…

[Richelieu]: The Commander spoke with me. He asked me to help you with getting better control over your powers. And… I think it’d be best if we started right away.

[Dido]: Oh um, alright then!

Well, if it was to help with the task that her Master had assigned then… She should probably attend. After all, she didn’t want to disappoint him. If she did, then she’d surely be disposed of, and lose any use that they may have had for her.

That would be far, far too cruel.

[Richelieu]: Great. In that case, meet me in the cafeteria tomorrow morning.

[Dido]: Right!

Laying back onto the couch, Dido looked up at the ceiling as she hit the power button on her phone, and shut it off.

She took in a deep breath as she shut her eyes, trying to calm herself down as she began to drift off to sleep.

Shifting and turning on the mattress, she groaned before eventually sitting straight up, wiping her eyes as she looked towards the clock.

It’d barely been two minutes.

Sighing, she stood up and headed towards the door, quietly slipping out of the room as she headed towards the outskirts of the base for a quiet, night-time walk.

It was a full moon. Pretty ominous, if Dido had to make any comment about it. Still, she’d been through scarier things, though she’d had help then.

Walking along the pathway around the edges of the base, she took in the crisp, chilled night air and released a satisfied sigh.

Was this why so many people went for late-night walks?

She had to admit, it was pretty relaxing all things considered. Maybe she’d have to do this more often…

Dido turned her gaze up at the stars, watching as millions upon trillions of tiny, miniscule twinkles shimmered throughout the otherwise pitch-black sky.

It was a beautiful sight, the vast expanse of the star-filled cosmos filling the small maid watching it with a sense of awe and cosmic scale.

Though, she supposed that was just more proof of how truly insignificant she really was.

“I… I don’t want to be abandoned…” She trailed off to herself.

“I… I’ve gotten to meet so many new people… I… I want to see this with them, one day…”

That would be nice, wouldn’t it?

If she could, one day, sit beside all of the people she’d met, and look up at the shimmering cosmic painting in the sky, knowing that she wouldn’t ever be abandoned again.

Yes, that would be nice.

“Tch-! I don’t care, alright? Just let me go!”

“Please, sister… I won’t even ask you to take part, just try to reconnect with us… please?”

Two voices - one familiar - suddenly snapped the maid out of her stupor.

Darting behind a nearby corner, Dido hid from sight as she watched two kansen round the corner.

One was Richelieu, who was looking rather distraught as she walked beside the other kansen, seemingly pleading or desperately asking her for something.

The other was only vaguely familiar to Dido, someone she’d known in passing, but never personally sat down and talked with.

With strange, almost off-brown hair and striking magenta eyes, the same color as her own, Jean Bart painted a rather intimidating figure against the darkened backdrop of the night.

As Dido recalled, she was from the same faction that Richelieu was from; or well, at least was. 

From what she remembered, Jean Bart was the leader of the Vichya Dominion, a group that had split off from the Iris Orthodoxy way back during the times when the Crimson Axis and Azur Lane were in conflict. Back then, the Vichya had joined into an alliance with the Iron Blood and Sakura Empire, and fell into opposition with the Iris Libre - the faction Richelieu led - which eventually boiled over when the Royal Navy sank Dunkerque and her allies during an attack on Mers-el-Kébir, ultimately forcing a rift between the Royal Navy-aligned Iris Libre, and the Vichya Dominion.

Maybe this argument had something to do with that?

“Sister please… It has been a long time since then, and-” Richelieu seemingly began to ask, before Jean Bart quickly shot her down.

“Look, I don’t care for whatever it is you’re trying to get us to do! If the other girls wanna go ahead and forgive you guys, that’s fine. Hell, I’m willing to bury the hatchet when it comes time to fight, but there’s no way I’m trusting you lot, or them ever again.” The privateer shouted back, before clicking her tongue once again as she began to turn away.

“I’m glad you’re having fun with them… But I won’t forget what they did to us. Not for the rest of my life. And if you want to stand over there with them, that’s fine… But know that I won’t be following you.” Jean Bart stated with conviction, before she began walking off in the opposite direction the two battleships had originally come in.

Dido gulped as she listened intently, watching from stealth as Jean Bart left her sister behind, as Richelieu emptily tried to reach out to her, the energy in her body seeming to have disappeared after her sister’s last statement.

“Jean I…” The Cardinal stopped, sighing as she just stood there.

Dido quickly ducked back into hiding, walking off with great haste as she noticed Richelieu beginning to walk forward again, towards where she was hidden.

Shaking her head furiously, Dido’s thoughts were clouded by the conversation she’d just glimpsed into.

Just what was happening?

Chapter Text

What could’ve happened that night?

That’s what Dido was thinking about as she wrapped up her daily training with the other maids, dusting off her uniform as she wiped a bead of sweat from the side of her face.

Looking around at the other maids in the locker room, they all had rather relaxed faces, talking about what they were going to do for the rest of the day, or what events the royal family had coming up. Either way, they looked like they were having a good time.

Dido felt envious.

“Sister, are you alright?” A voice suddenly called out from beside her, as Sirius tapped her sibling on the shoulder.

“H-Huh? Um… Admittedly I… There have been a great many things bothering me as of late…” Dido admitted, as she placed the last of her things inside her locker and began to exit the room alongside the other maids.

Belfast had been running them through a series of covert ops practice drills, alongside their usual practice. Of course, being rather clumsy, she’d failed pretty badly, and had nearly spiraled into another self-deprecating fall, but her mind had… drifted to last night before she could do so.

Was that why Sirius had suspected something?

“I see… Would you like to tell me?” The younger of the two Dido-Class cruisers asked, cocking her head to the side as the two of them began to disperse with the rest of their colleagues, each of the maids heading off to do whatever it was that they’d decided to spend the rest of their day doing.

Dido sighed, looking around to make sure nobody else was around to listen in on them, before she began to explain to Sirius what she’d experienced in the past few days.

“I see… so after Master tasked you with taking care of Miss Anchorage, you were brought to Miss Illustrious’ mixer, and then sought Miss Duke of York’s aid, after which you then overheard the conversation between Miss Richelieu and Miss Jean Bart?” Sirius asked, trying to get a grasp of the recap she’d just heard.

“For the most part, yes…” Dido responded, looking at her watch and realizing that it was nearing the time she was supposed to go see Richelieu, after which she’d pick up Anchorage for the rest of the day.

“Hmm… I will need some time to think about this. But, know that your sisters will always be here to help you.” Sirius said, placing a comforting hand on her sister’s shoulder.

Dido smiled in appreciation. “T-Thank you… That um… Means a lot.”

Sirius looked at the clock. “Oh dear, I really must be heading off now. I wish you the best of luck!”

With that, Sirius quickly ran off down one of the halls, as Dido waved her goodbye, before she turned her sights down towards the ground, and took a seat at one of the tables strangely placed in the hallway, looking out through one of the many large glass windows adorning the victorian-era walls.

Releasing a pensive sigh, Dido grumbled at the massive increase in problems she now had laying atop her metaphorical plate.

“Uuu… This is so tiring…”

With the stacking of her responsibility over Anchorage’s wellbeing, the sudden realization that her powers apparently weren’t AT ALL what she thought they were, and the strange occurrence of last night, along with whatever deeper, underlying problems surrounded it, Dido was really beginning to feel the pressure.

If she’d known this was what was waiting in store for her after Zuikaku had left, she’d have just gone with them frankly…

Walking into the cafeteria, Dido spotted Richelieu, who was sitting alone at one of the long white tables placed within the food court.

In front of her lay several plates of food, assumedly from what the cafeteria was serving that day. Green beans, corn bread, and some sort of meat dish were some of the more recognizable items placed before the Cardinal. They must’ve been made by some of the Eagle Union ships who’d stayed behind to protect the base, while the rest of their faction made the arduous journey to the Sea of Stars.

“H-Hello, Miss Richelieu.” Dido spoke up, greeting the Cardinal with a tentative wave as she sat down in front of her.

Richelieu gave her a gentle smile, though it was one laced with hints of fatigue. She must not have slept well after the conversation she heard last night.

“Good morning, Miss Dido. Are you feeling well?” Richelieu asked.

“Yes, I am… I am doing alright.” She said, not wanting to bother the Cardinal with too much of her emotional baggage.

“I see… That is good. I was worried about you, after what happened with Duke of York… Have you experienced any side-effects?” Richelieu inquired once more, trace hints of guilt lining her words.

Dido shook her head. “N-No, I’m… Doing fine.” 

Richelieu let out a sigh of relief. “Good… That’s good.”

An awkward silence fell between the two.

The maid struggled to find the words to say, hands beginning to ever-so-slightly clam up as she tried to come up with a way to ask about the previous night’s conversation without sounding… off.

Richelieu spoke first. “Did… Did you watch my sister and I last night?”

Dido instantly began a flurry of apologies. “O-Oh, I am so sorry Miss Richelieu! I did not mean to intrude upon your conversation like that- I was curious and I- Oh please do not throw away this foolish maid-”

“No no, nothing like that, Dido! I just… wanted to know.” Richelieu said, quickly bringing Dido down from her depressive high.

The maid slowly nodded, reluctant, but trusting. 

“Y-Yes… I was out for a late-night walk and… I came across you and your sister talking. Speaking of which, i-if it isn’t too much trouble… What happened between you two?” She asked.

Richelieu sighed, pressing her lips together before she began to explain.

“Jean has… trust issues. Ever since Mers-el-Kébir, she’s harbored a great distrust towards the Royal Navy, and it seems towards me as well…” Richelieu said.

Dido nodded, as Richelieu continued.

“I can’t blame her… If I were in her situation, perhaps I would feel the same way…” Richelieu explained, empathizing with her younger sister despite their torn relationship.

Dido gulped, feeling a strange, foreign feeling from within the depths of her gut. Richelieu’s explanation made sense, especially after matching the info she’d just received with what she already knew.

“I wanted to try and reach out to her, given that the mission to retrieve the Holy Grail is so close, but she still seems to be pushing me away… I wanted to invite her to a simple shopping trip with some of our friends, but as it’d seem…” Richelieu trailed off, looking noticeably disheartened.

The maid swallowed the lump forming in her throat.

“I… Um… My condolences, Miss Richelieu.” She said, reaching out as she tried to place a hand on Richelieu’s shoulder.

“Thank you, Dido. Nevertheless, I must keep trying. I… need to make it up to her, after all.” Richelieu responded, a fatigued, yet still convicted smile spreading across her face.

“U-Um… Huh? I don’t get it, what do you mean?” Dido asked.

Richelieu sighed, leaning back a bit as she cupped her hands in front of her face.

“When… When it came time for us to pick a side, I chose to fight alongside the Royal Navy, and my comrades of the Iris Libre. In the process… I left Jean Bart behind, and I believe that ultimately led to her resenting me, believing I’d chosen to fight alongside our enemies, and betray our nation. We used to be quite close, but…” Regret filled the Cardinal’s words, as Dido watched with bated breath.

“...Nevermind, those things have already happened. I can’t take them back now. All I can do is… move forward.”

Dido didn’t know what to say, trying to think of something to say to quell the boiling regret Richelieu was clearly showing.

The Cardinal let out a regretful sigh, looking down at the table.

“Anyways, I’m sorry for weighing down our-”

“I-I don’t think you’re a bad person!”

Richelieu’s eyes suddenly shot up, as Dido just spoke on instinct.

“U-Um… I know that… some don’t have a good opinion of you, a-and I know you may have done some bad things in the past… But… You’re trying to make up for it now, a-aren’t you?” Dido said, hands clenched tightly together.

“I… I can understand being upset, at being abandoned… I was thrown away, many years ago, and it made me feel absolutely horrible. I… I never want to experience that pain again… But when I felt like I had nobody, nothing at all… My sisters came in to help me. They dragged me out of my solitude, and they helped me! Because of that, I managed to meet all sorts of wonderful people, like Miss Zuikaku and you!” She began rambling, cycling through her thoughts like she was sifting through a garage sale.

“So… I came to realize just how important sisters are to us kansen. And… The fact that even now, you’re trying to reach out and make it up to her- that has to mean something!” She said with finality.

“You may have made mistakes, t-that’s true… But, you helped me get through a lot of things… You really helped me when I was feeling sad, so… That means, you’re at least trying! You’re not entirely a bad person!”

Richelieu sat stunned for a moment, taking in everything that Dido had just poured out. 

“The calamity that brought on war”, “the fearsome Cardinal”, and “the maniac possessed by religious fervor”, all were things she’d been called in the past.

She’d done things she wasn’t proud of, that was true, but she’d resolved herself to take them on the chin, no matter what.

So to hear someone say the contrary, with such conviction and passion, it…

…It wasn’t all that bad.

She smiled.

“U-Uumph!?” Dido suddenly squeaked, as Richelieu leaned over and wrapped her arms around the small maid.

Dido flushed red as Richelieu held her close, as if she was taking a moment to breathe.

“Dido, I… Thank you. I… I think I needed that.” Richelieu said, as Dido tentatively wrapped her arms back around the Cardinal.

“U-Um, it’s no problem! Happy to help, Miss Richelieu…” The maid responded, gulping to herself just a little bit.

They stayed that way for a few more minutes, before slowly breaking apart.

“Now then… I think that’s enough of that for now. We’re here to relax, aren’t we?”

Dido nodded.

“M-Mhm!” She responded.

Richelieu smiled, before motioning to the food in front of them.

“Now then… Let’s have some fun, shall we?”

Dido grinned as well, an uncharacteristically large grin spread across her face.

“Y-Yeah!”

Chapter Text

Black clouds swirled overhead, as The Commander looked up into the dark sky. Thunder crashed and scraps of formerly-kansen riggings lay barely afloat in the waters around them.

The Ashes stood assembled nearby, as Shinano floated next to The Commander, looking curiously at the man.

“Commander… This one is rather perplexed… What exactly is it that you’re trying to do…?” She asked, as The Commander whirled around in the tiny metal boat he stood atop.

“Ah you see, that’s what I’m about to explain! Now then everyone, gather around!” He called out, as the Ashes began to hesitantly drift over.

“...You know we still don’t fully trust you, right?” Ash said, to which The Commander simply shrugged his shoulders.

“Meh, I didn’t exactly expect you lot to work out your issues instantly. But even still, you DO want to get your hands on whatever project we’re working on, right? Could help you in your crusade against The Sirens, yes?” He replied.

Ash bit her lip.

“...I guess you have a point.” She responded.

“Great then! Alright, now Akashi said she did some tinkering to the design of whatever it was you used to gather power and transfer it. So, Shinano, you can see into other timelines, right? Or at least their futures?” He began.

Shinano nodded in response. “Yes… this one can see glimpses of the fates which befall other worlds… Why?” 

The Commander smirked knowingly, before turning to the Ashes. “And you guys can sorta connect to other worlds, right? That’s partly how you’re able to travel through them and continue your fight against the Sirens?” 

Ember nodded in response. “That’s correct…”

The Commander clapped his hands together, before pulling out a replica of the device that Ember had used to give her stored power to Ash a week or two ago. “Now then, this device here has been upgraded to expand the scope of what it can absorb. See, I’d go into the semantics of how it’ll use you guys as anchors to pull in stuff from other realities, but I’ll spare you a lot of the details…”

He smiled, and turned back towards the group of assembled kansen.

“Ladies and Gentlemen… Who wants to build a superweapon?”

“Miss T.A, is something wrong?” Anchorage asked, poking a sleeve-covered finger into Dido’s exposed shoulder.

Said maid suddenly snapped herself out of her trance, having spaced out for a while before Anchorage dragged her back to the realm of self-awareness.

Looking around at the scenery, she realized they were sitting at a table, a white one. It’d seemed that they were at a restaurant of some sort in the city near to the base. Judging from the logo on the restaurant, the colorful boxes on the table, and the cute plastic toy in Anchorage’s hand, she’d likely brought the PR cruiser here for lunch.

“Oh? U-Um, no, nothing’s wrong.” Dido quickly responded, lightly slapping herself on both cheeks as she returned from spacing out.

“You seem worried… Did something happen to Teacher?” Anchorage asked, to which Dido quickly shook her head.

“N-No… Master should be fine, last I heard. O-Oh, I hope nothing bad happens to him, if something were to happen in my absence- I would surely be thrown away!” Dido began to mumble, as Anchorage scratched her cheek in confusion.

“Mmm… Then what’s wrong, Miss T.A?” She asked.

Dido sighed, before poking her fingers together and beginning to explain.

“Umm… Miss Richelieu has been having some troubles lately… Her sister is on bad terms with her, because of something that happened between them in the past.” She started.

“Oooh… Like one of them stole the other’s juice box?” Anchorage asked, attempting to connect whatever Dido was explaining with something she understood.

“K-Kinda? It was a… Much more complicated thing but… It was sorta like that.” Dido responded.

“Miss Jean Bart feels like Miss Richelieu betrayed her in the past… A-And even though it’s been a long time, she still feels hurt because of it.” The small maid elaborated.

“Oh… I see.” Anchorage responded.

“Anchorage no good at this kind of thing but… Maybe if they talk it out, things will be better?” The young PR cruiser suggested.

“Miss Jean Bart doesn’t seem willing to talk to Miss Richelieu. When I saw them yesterday, Miss Jean Bart was very mad, and refused to talk to Miss Richelieu… So I don’t think that’ll work.” Dido responded.

“Oh… Then Anchorage doesn’t know!” Anchorage responded, flapping her arms up and down in a show of frustration.

Dido stayed silent, turning her head back to the floor as she began to wallow in her frustration.

Anchorage looked at the maid, and began to imitate her, turning in her seat as she copied Dido’s pose.

For a while, the two just sat there, contemplating their situation.

“Hmmm…”

“Hmmm…”

“...”

“...”

“W-Wait… Um… Oh, maybe Miss T.A can go talk to Miss Jean Bart!” Anchorage suddenly piped up, as if a lightbulb suddenly flicked on in her head.

Dido sat silent for a moment.

The air turned still as she stared blankly at Anchorage, who wore the proudest, most radiant smile in all the lands upon her face.

Then, she slapped herself on the forehead.

“Why didn’t I think of that… Surely Master will throw me away for being so foolish…”

Anchorage quickly wrapped her arms around Dido, as the small maid suddenly felt a really nice warmth encapsulating her body.

“U-Um… Huh?” She asked, feeling very confused all of a sudden.

“You looked like you needed a hug, Miss T.A!” Anchorage responded, continuing the hug.

Dido paused for a moment.

“...Thank you, Miss Anchorage.”

“Mhm! No problem!”

Finding Jean Bart was a lot harder than Dido thought, in all honesty.

She just assumed that going through the Vichya dorms and asking around would yield a pretty clear and concise answer, but that sadly just wasn’t the case.

No answers revealed themselves as she waved goodbye to Algerie and Dunkerque, who she’d just asked most recently, only to receive a shrug and the reveal that neither of them actually knew where Jean Bart was.

Algerie had said she was most likely at her personal hideout, but when Dido had then asked for its location, the Vichya cruiser had simply responded that she didn’t know.

That checked out. It was called a “hideout” afterall.

Still, she’d been looking for over two hours now, this was starting to get frustrating!

“Uuuu…” Dido groaned to herself, walking out of the Vichya dormitories and towards the beach.

She felt drained, her constant running-around taking quite the tax on her mental stamina.

Just as she was about to collapse onto a nearby bench however, she noticed a little side-path that wound around the little wooden beach house they’d constructed just a year or two ago.

Having been a maid at the time, she’d joined the construction efforts at the behest of Prince of Wales, and as such had a decent idea of the layout of the beach house and its surroundings.

She didn’t particularly recall that path being there.

“...Oh well.” She thought aloud, turning on her heel as she rapidly approached the beach house, doing her best to stay steady on the grainy sand beneath her feet.

The path seemed to be made of denser sand, feeling much more like a dirt road than the smooth, almost-liquidy nature of the golden sand surrounding the house and its mysterious new path.

Looking ahead, the path seemed to cut through the massive forest of tropical trees that The Commander had built about a year after he’d begun his service.

She couldn’t see where it ended, but alas, she decided to follow it anyway. Some strange sense of curiosity compelling the maid forward.

Step after step, the packed sand beneath her made ever-so-soft crunching noises as the maid’s firm black shoes pressed into the dusty track, as Dido weaved and bobbed her way through the winding path lined with coconut trees, until she found her destination.

A little wooden shack, overlooking the massive spanning ocean in front of the Main Base.

Stepping towards it, she noticed that the right side of the porch seemed to wind around to what was most likely the back of the shack.

Audibly gulping, Dido’s thoughts began to conflict. On one hand, it didn’t seem like anyone else was here… Or she’d probably have heard something by now, and it’d be in the base’s best interest for her to at least scout out this marginally suspicious location.

On the other hand… What if this was considered neglecting her duty? Could this be used against her? Would this lead to her being abandoned?

Her thoughts began to spiral before a familiar sound suddenly echoed into her ear.

The sound of strained rope, like what you’d hear from a hammock being occupied as it swayed in the wind.

Someone was here.

Instinctively quieting her breathing, Dido internally gulped as she began to carefully approach the shack.

Soundlessly stepping onto the porch, she quietly neared the last corner before eventually rounding it and emerging into the back of the house.

Immediately, a few things caught her eyes.

The first was the masterfully-crafted lacquered wooden railings reminiscent of a stereotypical victorian-era ship surrounding the whole thing.

The second was the astounding horde of what looked like personal belongings, and what could be considered treasure, just sitting around the little hideaway. Various trinkets, pieces of gold, and other various little items lay strewn across the floor and piled up in the corner.

And the third… was perhaps the most shocking.

A woman, with light brown hair, wearing a large black pirate hat, thin dark bikini top and ultra-short jean shorts, lay asleep in a hammock right next to the railing which overlooked the vast blue expanse of the ocean.

Ignoring how pretty the girl looked at first, Dido thought back on who she’d met in the base, and came to a startling realization.

“Is this Jean Ba-”

“Hey, who the hell’re you? You don’t just waltz into someone's hideout, y’know?” The woman suddenly spoke, eyes flickering open and instantly locking onto the small maid’s nervous form.

“Wait a damn minute… You’re that maid who rough-housed with that darker version of Takao, aren’tcha?” Jean Bart suddenly asked, recalling that the newspaper that’d been distributed following the Ashes’ attack on the base mentioned that a maid with lilac eyes had led the counterattack against Ember.

“U-Um… Yes!” Dido responded, doing her best to sound confident, in spite of how she actually viewed herself.

Jean audibly clicked her tongue, before she laid back into her hammock and turned her eyes back up at the clear blue sky.

She spoke.

“So… the hell’re you here for?” She asked, crossing her legs.

Dido cleared her throat first, before speaking up in return. “U-Um… I was just… Coming here to investigate. I hadn’t seen this path before, so… I wanted to make sure everything was safe.”

Jean Bart nodded to herself for a moment, before responding.

“Hmph, fine then. Now that you’ve seen it’s nothing special, scurry on out of here. Oh, and don’t tell nobody about this place, you got it!? It’s mine!” Jean Bart shouted, ushering Dido away with a few flicks of her wrist.

Despite the general abrasiveness, Dido didn’t sense too much hostility coming from Jean Bart’s voice. That was at least good, right?

“U-Um… Actually… There’s something I wanted to talk to you about, Miss Jean Bart.” Dido said, just as Jean Bart began to turn over.

The privateer stopped, paused, and then turned back around, one eyebrow raised in suspicion.

“Huh? The hell'd you got to talk to me about?” She asked.

The small maid squashed down the building nervousness mounting inside her chest, as she took a deep breath in, and spoke up.

“It’s… about Miss Richelieu.”

Almost instantly, the atmosphere began to change. Dido could feel the very air around her beginning to tighten up, as if the very tension in the air was beginning to manifest as a physical force.

Jean Bart’s expression began to darken, as she motioned to Dido, and then at a nearby small table and chair.

“...Sit.”

Chapter Text

“...Sit.”

Dido wondered if, just maybe, she’d just made a mistake.

Jean Bart suddenly appeared far more threatening than before, her glare piercing straight through Dido like a steel spear thrown by a Spartan.

The maid quickly scrambled over to the chair and table that’d been placed nearby, sliding into the lacquered wooden chair and the smooth wooden chair.

The Vichya battleship sat up, crossing her legs again as she looked towards Dido with a shiveringly cold glare.

“...Alright then, talk.” Jean said.

Dido took a deep breath in, before she spoke. “W-Well… I heard that you two were, um, not really getting along, so… I wanted to ask you-”

“Did my sister send you or somethin’?” The battleship suddenly cut her off, prodding to see if Dido had any ulterior motives.

“U-Um, no! I only found out about this recently…” Dido responded, as Jean promptly kept going.

“So why’re you here? The hell do you have to do with this?” She asked.

Dido started to explain. “W-Well I… Miss Richelieu is really important to me, so-”

“So you decided to stick your nose in her business? Tch… typical Royal Navy, this’s just like what you lot did before.” Jean quickly shot her down, clicking her tongue in disapproval.

“I-I… I just wanted to help…” Dido murmured, a sharp feeling of rejection stabbing into her heart.

Silence followed her statement, the maid’s words hanging in the wind like the strained hammock Jean Bart sat atop.

For just a moment, that was all that could be heard.

Before Jean Bart began to chuckle.

It was light at first, then it began to grow. Soon, Jean Bart was doubling over with laughter, cackling with a sense of almost cynicism.

“Ha…! You know, that’s the same thing the Royal Navy said, you know, before they killed Dunkerque,” She said, abruptly cutting off her own laughter as the freezing cold glare from before returned with a literal vengeance.

Dido almost shrank away at the sight, as Jean Bart released a resigned sigh before she stood up, and briskly walked up to the maid.

Placing a hand on Dido’s shoulders, Jean Bart let out another exasperated chuckle. “Nice try, jackass, but I’m not stupid enough to fall for that shit again.”

Walking away, Dido snapped out of her trance and stood up to follow Jean, only to find a set of four cannons aimed straight at her face.

“I-”

“Yeah, I’m in a bad mood now, so don’t follow me. Not unless you wanna get blown sky high.” Jean declared, before swiftly turning away.

“But I…” Dido trailed off, as she watched the Vichya girl flipped her the bird as she walked down the sandy path, back towards the beach and base.

The maid stood in stunned silence, her outstretched hand slowly falling back to her side, before she collapsed onto the floor.

Her breathing was shallow, her body hyperventilating as she tried to catch her breath. It’d only occurred to her now that for almost the entirety of that interaction, she’d been holding her breath.

Looking down at her shaking hands, Dido forcefully calmed her breathing down so as to not pass out, taking in deep breath after deep breath to bring her heart rate back down.

She felt… sad.

Coming into this, she’d hoped to at least garner some more information, or maybe gleam some more into Jean Bart’s mental state.

But… All she’d gotten was a confirmation of what she’d already known.

She stared off into the distance.

“I… Don’t know what to do…”

Jean grit her teeth, as she walked back into her dorm and slammed the door behind her, before she flopped down onto the couch.

“Fucking Royals… Always butting into other peoples’ business…” She growled to herself, crossing her legs as she folded her hands behind her head and looked up at the ceiling.

She couldn’t understand what the fuck Dido had been trying to do. Didn’t the maid know what’d happened between the Vichya and Royal Navy?

Sure, there were some in the Vichya kansen that’d been willing to forgive the Royal Navy, that was true. And Jean knew it wouldn’t be right of her to shut them down or tell them they couldn’t do that; she was supposed to be a good leader, not a tyrant, after all.

But… after everything that’d happened. After Dunkerque… After Richelieu had abandoned their nation and run off to their, at the time, most hated enemies… She just couldn’t forgive that.

It’s not like she expected any of the Royal Navy to understand what that felt like, of course. They were fine on their little island.

She hadn’t interacted with Dido all that much, and frankly all she knew about the cruiser was that she had infamously low self esteem and confidence, but even if she did have an INKLING of what it was like to be thrown away by her own siblings, her own nation… 

No, she’d made up her mind. Even if she knew how things were…

She’d made her decision.

Knock knock knock!

A knocking at her door snapped the battleship out of her thoughts, as it creaked open to reveal Algerie, who quietly stepped inside before facing Jean Bart.

“Huh? The hell are you doing here, Algerie?” Jean asked, as the aforementioned cruiser took a seat on a nearby reclining chair.

“I saw you walking bye, then heard you slam your door. So… I decided to come and check up on you~.” Algerie responded, crossing her legs and folding her hands together.

Jean huffed, rolling over and facing away from Algerie. “There’s no need… I’m fine.”

In return, Algerie released a rather pensive sigh, before she leaned over and began rubbing the battleship’s shoulders.

“Come on Cap’n, let me know what’s bothering you~.” Algerie teased, lightening the tension in the room as Jean loudly groaned and rolled back over to look at the ceiling.

“...Y’know that one maid, the one with lilac eyes? The one that allegedly rough-housed that Ember chick?” Jean asked, as Algerie slowly nodded.

“Yeah, well turns out she must’ve been sent to spy on me or something, cuz she tried prying into my private life!” The battleship began.

“How so?” Algerie asked.

“She asked me about Richelieu.”

Silence followed after that, as Algerie pursed her lips. She knew how much of a sore spot the whole affair with the Iris Libre and Royal Navy was for Jean, to the point that she’d refused to rejoin the Iris Libre even after being united under Azur Lane. Even if most of the Vichya had chosen to forgive the Royal Navy, Jean’s case was especially personal, and by extension, especially painful.

“I see…” She said, trailing off as she struggled to find the words she wanted to say.

“Typical Royal Navy, y’know? Always getting in other peoples’ business when they damn well don’t need it.” Jean hissed, crossing her arms.

Algerie couldn’t exactly blame her leader for her opinion. After all, all of the Vichya Dominion knew well the betrayal they’d suffered at the hands of the Royals.

It still stung, even to this day.

But even still, time heals all wounds, and most of the Vichya were ready to move on from that.

“I’m sure she just wanted to help you, Jean. Dido is a nice girl, trust me, I’ve met her.” Algerie assured, rubbing Jean’s shoulders as the battleship blushed lightly at the contact.

“...Don’t treat me like a kid, Algerie.” She pouted.

“I’m not treating you like a kid, I’m merely trying to help.” Algerie responded, motioning for Jean to move aside as she knelt on the couch, and placed Jean’s head onto her lap.

“I… Thanks, I appreciate it.” Jean responded, looking up at Algerie before instinctively averting her gaze as she realized a certain pair of… torpedo bulges lay in the way.

“There’s no need for thanks, Jeanie. This is just what friends do, right?” Algerie replied, gently brushing her hand through Jean Bart’s light brown hair.

The battleship pursed her lips at that, before sighing and going on.

“...So what’re you saying?”

“I think Miss Dido is really trying to help you, that’s all. I’ve seen her spending time with Miss Richelieu, and I think they’re quite close~.”

“What does-”

“Well, how did you feel after you heard Dunkerque had been sunk by the Royal Navy?”

“!!!”

Jean paused, her hands tightening into fists as she recalled the memory.

“...I was mad, upset, all sorts of things.”

“You wanted to know what happened, right? What’d lead to that?”

“...Yeah, I guess. I mean, I knew the Royals and us weren’t exactly close but… I didn’t think they’d turn on us like that.”

Algerie smiled, brushing her hand along Jean’s hair once more.

“Well, I’d imagine that might be somewhat like what Miss Dido must be feeling. After all, she’s just found out that a close friend of hers’ sister still resents her, you’d feel pretty upset too if you found that out, right?”

“Yeah well… I wouldn’t just butt in or anything.”

“I suppose that’s just how the Royal Navy is, isn’t it~?”

Jean groaned, pursing her lips as she thought again.

“I don’t see the point you’re tryna get at.” She finally admitted.

“The point is… Everyone cares when their friends get into trouble, maybe this is just how Miss Dido shows how she cares.” Algerie responded, as Jean suddenly looked down at her feet.

“I… Hmm.” She said, biting her lip a bit as she thought about it once more.

“Now then, I have to get going. Dunkerque and I said we were going to see a movie tonight, and I don’t intend on missing it. It has cats, after all~!” Algerie said, standing up and slipping out from the couch before she headed towards the door.

“Wait so… What the heck am I supposed to do now?” Jean asked, standing up sharply as Algerie’s hands wrapped around the doorknob.

“Well… That’ll be up to you. Nobody but you can decide what you do next.” Algerie responded, twisting it as she took a step out of the room.

“I…” Jean trailed off, as Algerie waved the battleship goodbye.

“I’ll see you later, Jeanie. Take care~.” She said, before slipping out into the hallway.

Outstretching her hand towards the doorway, Jean tentatively retracted it as she flopped back onto the couch and looked up at the ceiling.

“I… I don’t know what to do.”

Dido sighed, defeatedly walking back towards the Royal Navy’s dorm rooms as she dragged her feet across the rough, concrete path beneath her.

The poor maid felt dejected as she returned home, her mission to try and bridge the gap between Richelieu and her more abrasive sister having rather solidly failed.

What if Richelieu resented her because of this? What if she saw her as useless for giving her hope, only to dash it all away like a ripped spider’s web?

“Uuu… This is terrible…” She mumbled to herself, poking her fingers together as she continued her long trek back.

“Ah, Signora Dido! It is good to see you!” A confident, booming voice suddenly called out from behind her, prompting the maid to whip around in surprise as a flash of emerald hair entered her view.

“M-Miss Littorio?” She gasped, as the glorious Sardegna battleship stepped into view, flipping her hair back with a simple flick of her wrist.

“Indeed, it is I! The Great Littorio!” The boisterous kansen confirmed, a confident and inspiring grin spread wide across her face.

“What are you doing here…?” Dido asked, as the battleship moved her hand to the maid’s shoulder, and placed a reassuring palm onto the girl.

“You see, Signora Dido, I was taking a stroll through the base when I noticed you looking rather dejected, and I couldn’t simply ignore a lady in need!” She declared proudly.

“So tell me, what is it that plagues your mind?” She asked.

Once more the maid sighed, before she took a deep breath, and began to explain.

“Miss Richelieu seems to have some issues with Miss Jean Bart. I… I want to repay Miss Richelieu for everything she’s done for me, so I tried talking to Miss Jean Bart, to maybe get a better understanding of what to do… But… Miss Jean Bart simply sent me away, even when I tried talking to her… I do not know what to do.”

Littorio placed a finger upon her chin, as the two kansen began to slowly make their way back towards the main base.

“Hmm… You’ve indeed found yourself in quite the conundrum, Signora Dido. But fear not for I, Littorio, have a solution!” She declared, before she suddenly grabbed Dido by the shoulders and spun the maid around to face her.

“In situations like these, you simply need to be more assertive! You must make your intentions clear, and speak with a voice as loud as thunder!” She proclaimed, as Dido immediately flushed a deep crimson at the sudden closeness.

“H-Huh!?” She yelped.

“Tell me, Signora Dido, did you ever truly tell Miss Jean Bart what it was that you wished to convey? Why it was that you were there?” Littorio asked.

“U-Um… No… She didn’t give me a chance.” Dido responded.

“Ah, and so you must make a chance! You must assert yourself! Not to say you must ignore whatever it is she is saying, but you must not allow yourself to be walked over!” Littorio explained, as a light began to form in Dido’s eyes.

“I… I see… B-But… Miss Jean Bart is rather intimidating, and-” Dido began.

“Hmm… Well, I suppose it is only natural to be intimidated by one such as her. But, even if you are afraid, one must step forward regardless! After all, true courage is not the act of doing while not afraid, it is the act of doing even though one is afraid!” She proclaimed.

“So… I guess the best way I can explain it is a phrase Mikasa-daisenpai taught me a while back! Ahem, ‘courage is not the absence of fear, it’s feeling fear and doing the right thing anyway!”

Right… How could she have forgotten?

“T-Thank you Miss Littorio, I think I know what to do now.” Dido responded, before furiously bowing over and over to the Sardegna battleship, who then quickly caught the maid by the shoulders again.

“There is no need for thanks, for giving such advice is simply natural for those with the knowledge to give! Now then, come! You look like you could use some relaxation!” 

Chapter Text

The air is warm, bells ring as the wind sweeps through the massive cathedral-grounds they stand in. 

It’s… Summer maybe? The facts have been forgotten, replaced only by a sense of betrayal.

Jean Bart stomps her foot onto the ground, kicking up some dirt as defiance, disbelief, and a feeling of outrage fill her whole being. 

“Richelieu, I heard that we're all going to be moved to another dock. Is that true?!” She screams with incredulity, finding it impossible to fathom such an idea.

Richelieu takes a deep breath, catching it in her throat before she sets down the black dahlias she was tending to and tentatively turns to face her younger sister.

“Indeed. Due to... the situation changing on the battlefield. For the sake of safety…” She trails off, unable to truly find the words she needs before Jean comes screaming back in once again.

“Doesn't that mean that you're telling us to flee?! How do you expect us to do something so cowardly?” The young battleship’s voice thunders once more, full of the fire of passion and a hunger for battle.

Richelieu can’t blame her. Jean has rarely seen battle, after all, and desperately wishes to prove the might of her design - THEIR design - against the engineering wonders of the rest of the world. For a warrior like her to be told to retreat… Well, this reaction she supposed was always inevitable.

Still, it hurt.

“Headquarters might have some long-term plans. For the time being, since you aren't able to move, we'll have to move you to somewhere safe.” Richelieu responds, desperately trying to keep her voice calm in the face of her steamingly furious sister.

Unlike her, Jean Bart wasn’t complete yet, and only bore a single operating turret. Yet, in spite of this, she’d still shown unimaginable prowess in the combat tests the Iris Orthodoxy had run with her. She was an invaluable asset, and most importantly… Richelieu’s sister.

Even if it meant violating her pride as a warrior, Jean had to be kept safe.

“Let me fight! With our combined strength, my one gun is enough to drive back these pagans from our lands!” Jean cries out, taking another powerful step forward as she kicks up more dust, the desperation and passion in her voice almost dripping from her words like a blood-soaked blade.

She can taste the eagerness in Jean’s voice, hear the barely-contained screams of rage and anger her sister must be holding back from being told she must flee.

It pains her so to have to tell her “no”.

“...” She struggles to find the words to say.

For the first time today, Jean Bart takes a step back, still in disbelief, but from a different source of disbelief. Her body looks shaky, as if it’s rejecting the possibility of the thought Jean is thinking about.

“Don't tell me... you're with those other powers…” She says in an almost whisper, the fire in her eyes going out just like that, as the burning passion once filling her chest is replaced with a shivering feeling of betrayal.

“The world is not such a simple place... Just do as you've been told.” Richelieu responds, closing her eyes as she turns away.

There are things to be done, and if Jean Bart cannot understand then… She’ll have to leave it there for now.

“When your fitting is completed, seek me out again. I'll always be waiting for you.”

Maybe when they meet again, everything will become clearer.

The fire in Jean Bart instantly ignites again, yet its new kindling is of a far more bitter breed than its predecessor, an inferno of resentment, rather than pride or a sense of honor.

“Fine. Mark my words though! One day, I will surpass you!” She screams, watching her sister walk off before she forcefully closes her eyes and stomps off herself.

Richelieu forces herself to remain quiet, knowing anything else she says will just fall on deaf ears.

It pains her to go through with this, but it’s the only way they can keep their country safe. Even if they try to fight back by themselves… They’d just be crushed.

This is all they can do.

And it’s agonizing.

Richelieu awoke with a shout, a cold sweat trickling down her face as she sat up in her bed.

Staring at the clock a little ways up on the wall facing her, she took note of the time. 6:00AM. A bit early, but she didn’t have any plans today, so-

Ring!

Her phone rang.

Picking up the small device, Richelieu looked at the number drowsily as she wiped at her eyes, before they suddenly went wide.

The Commander’s number.

She picked up as fast as her body would allow her.

“Yes? Commander?”

“Oh good you’re up! Given that you’re part of the upcoming operation to retrieve the Holy Grail, I need you to come down to my office real quick for a briefing. We’ve had some… complications.”

Richelieu raised an eyebrow in confusion at that. “What do you mean?” 

“Just come down as soon as you can, it’ll be easier to explain when you get here.” He responded, before a sudden click! came through the other line.

The Cardinal sighed, laying back for a moment before she forced herself back up and onto her feet, pulling the cord attached to her bedside lamp to light up the room.

“... sigh”

This was going to be a long day.

Empress twirled the black cube in her fingers, looking down at a screen of data and information being updated live from the Sakura Empire.

Apparently, they’d run into some issues with their plan for the Great Foxes, specifically one IJN Akagi, who’d become an instrumental part of their plan.

Ever since Observer’s elaborate schemes had failed to deliver them satisfactory results, Empress had taken over operations in this timeline, given the interest the sirens had for the immensely accelerated growth that USS Enterprise showcased throughout her trials; perhaps the only thing that DID go right with Observer’s plans.

Another key instrument for their plan was IJN Akagi, whom the Empress had a great deal of plans for.

Speaking of which…

“Empress III, I have… returned with more reports from the Sakura Empire operation, being led by Hermit XI.”

A voice spoke out, as Observer entered the futuristic throne room Empress sat within. The Arbiter turned her eyes up from the screens in front of her, and made a motion with her hand.

“Speak.”

Observer cleared her throat, seeming to hesitate before she straightened her back and spoke once more.

“The operation within the Sakura Empire is going according to plan. We did, however, run into a problem.” She began.

“And that is?” Empress asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Well… IJN Zuikaku attempted to interfere.” Observer responded.

The Arbiter clicked her tongue in annoyance. According to the reports she’d received from this timeline, things HAD been going smoothly until a certain Sakuran Carrier had stepped in, causing the course of things to be blown wildly off what the Sirens had anticipated, or predicted. It was annoying, and frankly, impossible, for such an un-noteworthy presence to have made such immense changes.

Could it have come about because of Enterprise? Her anomalous properties across all timelines had produced incredible, unforeseen results before. In one timeline, she’d been able to throw off an otherworldly threat from enemies that not even the Sirens could have predicted. In another, she’d defeated a version of Observer who’d managed to create a perfect copy of the Eagle Ace, turning the copy on Observer and ultimately preventing the SIrens’ plans from coming to fruition.

Whatever the case, this strange phenomenon with IJN Zuikaku may be as a result of Enterprise’s doing. After all, from what the reports had told her, Enterprise had played a crucial role in the overarching incident surrounding Observer’s plans.

“But! Hermit IX and I managed to neutralize her.” Observer suddenly chirped up, prompting Empress to snap out of her thoughts as she turned her attention to the smaller siren.

“...How?” Empress asked, her voice hinting at a mixture of both confusion and intrigue.

Observer smiled, pulling up some holographic data sheets as she cleared her throat and spoke once more. “Well, Hermit IX deployed a version of the new Anti-Ashes virus you developed, and successfully infected IJN Zuikaku before she could cause any substantial damage to the test.”

Empress nodded satisfactorily, smirking to herself. “Good… Now we can turn our focus solely on our current, more important projects.”

Observer raised a hand. “If I may ask… What exactly are the purposes of our two on-going objectives? Neither Tester nor myself were informed of their objectives.”

The Arbiter flicked away some of the data sheets floating next to her. “The Holy Grail is currently being used as a power source for a certain… Experiment we’re testing at the moment. Using this prototype, I’ve instructed Purifier to… Encourage humanity to hasten their progress, in any way she deems necessary.” 

She continued. “As for the Sakura Empire operation… I’m intrigued by the power that their ‘Great Foxes’ claim to possess, so I’m having Hermit provoke them as much as she can. Akagi has shown considerable growth, after all, so I’d like to put her through one last test…”

Observer suddenly felt the pressure in the room grow exponentially, as a portal opened up beside Empress, and the Arbiter reached inside.

Pulling her hand out a second later, a sickening, yet familiar presence flooded the room, as Observer’s shimmering golden eyes widened at the sight of the object Empress now held in her hand.

A gleaming black cube, far more potent than the one already floating beside the Arbiter.

“We thought your idea of powering up the black cubes was… Interesting. Though it in no way progresses our plan towards unlocking Awakenings within the shipgirls… It may have more practical applications. As such, we’ve refined your process to make this. ” Empress explained, as Observer silently growled at the back-handed compliment.

“But that’s enough about that. Hurry along then, I’m sure you have quite a lot of things to do now.” Empress proclaimed, flicking her wrist before she pulled up another set of digital data sheets from thin air.

“Wait, just one more thing!” Observer asked, taking a tentative set forward as the Arbiter sitting before her raised an eyebrow.

“...Go on?”

“Why did we have to capture the kansen Dunkerque?” 

Empress smiled, crossing her pristine white legs as she flicked her other hand, sending away both black cubes and the assortment of data sheets floating in the air around her.

“Purifier asked me for a bit of help with this… Apparently, she has a plan of her own. Amazing, right? She must’ve gotten that from you~.” The Arbiter teased, before she floated down to Observer’s level, and cupped the Siren’s chin with a single finger.

“And my dear Observer… How else would we set a trap, without the perfect bait?”

“Commander? You called me?” Richelieu asked, stepping into the office.

The sight inside shocked her immediately.

Standing around the small office were an assortment of Iris and Vichya kansen. From the likes of Brest, Saint Louis, Bean, Surcouf, and Champagne, to Gascogne, Algerie, Joffree, Le Malin, Foch, and…

Jean Bart.

Her sister quickly looked away from her, averting her gaze as Richelieu sighed internally and continued looking around.

Also standing amongst the kansen were Dido and Littorio, both of whom seemed a bit confused, but otherwise remained quiet.

The most shocking however, were the shipgirls standing behind The Commander’s desk.

HMS Hood, and HMS Victorious, both looking moderately injured, with scorch marks and tears maring their outfits and forms.

“Are you sure you want to be here?” The Commander asked, leaning in to whisper into Hood’s ear.

“Yes… It’s vital that we at least take part in the briefing, we aren’t too badly hurt after all.” Hood responded, dusting off some ash that’d been left on her shoulder.

The Commander simply nodded in return, before clearing their throat and turning to the rest of the assembled shipgirls within their office.

Richelieu felt a strange tension in the air, like the apprehensive feeling one felt before bad news was imparted unto them.

She’d soon find her instincts proven painfully correct.

“ Ahem! So! I know everyone is busy, but this information We’ve just received is… Well, We feel it’s rather important to tell you this right away.” They said, before clearing their throat and motioning to Hood, who stepped forward and seemed to hesitate for a moment, before she spoke.

“As of yesterday… MNF Dunkerque… has been captured by the Sirens.”

Chapter Text

“...What?” Jean Bart asked, her body ever-so-slightly shaking as she took in the information they’d all just been told.

“How could this happen?” Algerie asked, looking towards Hood and Victorious, her mind already beginning to put the pieces together from the two Royals’ injured forms.

Hood cleared her throat, and began to explain, not wanting to keep the clearly-antsy French women in the room in anticipation any longer.

“During a routine patrol, Dunkerque, Victorious, and myself were ambushed by a Siren fleet. Despite our resistance, there were simply far too many for us to hold off by ourselves, and we were bested. Strangely, rather than sinking us right then and there, the sirens merely took Dunkerque and left without saying a word.” Hood explained, her pride clearly wounded from the experience.

“So… Where is she now!?” Jean asked hastily, a noticeable sense of desperation dripping from her words.

The Commander spoke next, waving his hands to catch the attention of the kansen in the room as he began. “That’s where this next bit of information comes in. FOR YOU SEE! An hour or less after we received news of Dunkerque’s capture, We received an additional message, seemingly from the siren Purifier. In it, it says the following. Ahem , We quote: ‘Hey stupid nerds! It’s me! Your friendly neighborhood Purifier! I’ve caught your dumbass friend and if you want her back, you’ll have to come quickly! We won’t wait forever, after all. You’ve got a little less than a month before she goes right off the deep end! Don’t worry though, we’ll be waiting at that big ol facility we’re holding the Holy Grail at. Good luuuuck~’. Some real creepy shit, We must say.” The Commander explained, as Jean stomped her foot forward.

“So we have to act as soon as possible! There’s no telling what they’re gonna do to her!” Jean shouted, a clear sense of concern and almost panic filling her voice.

“Hold on there hotshot, if we rush in blind, we’ll most certainly be obliterated.” The Commander responded, gesturing with his hands for Jean to calm down. “What’s needed right now is-”

Jean cut him off however, further raising her voice as the worry in her voice grew in turn. 

“We know where they are, right? You said last meeting that we’re gonna be attacking that facility with the help of the Iris Navy, right!? So why don’t we attack now! What are we waiting for!?” She shouted, visibly distressed as she spoke with haste and fervor.

The Commander kept trying to cool her down, explaining; “We still need to gather more information on the facility. We don’t have nearly enough information on the surroundings, its defenses, shit like that. So we need to just take some time and-”

“Fine, then I’ll go! I’ll take a group of templar knights and we’ll break Dunkerque out ourselves, just like we did when Enterprise was captured!” Jean shouted, as Richelieu suddenly stepped in.

“Sister, no. It’s far too dangerous to go right now.” She warned, stepping in between Jean and her commanding officer.

“Also, we were only able to pull off the Enterprise Rescue Operation because we got stupidly lucky. Not only that, we were able to get the jump on our enemies that time, but this time they REALLY know we’re coming, so we need to prepare ahead of time, we can’t risk just diving in like that again.” The Commander added.

“Dammit! No, this is NOT happening again!” Jean shouted, her body now visibly trembling as The Commander sighed.

“Look man, I’m sorry, but I’m not changing my mind. We’ll attack in a week and a half.”

Algerie placed a hand on Jean’s shoulder, as the battleship clenched her fist, struggling to say what she wanted to say before shouting at the top of her lungs.
“FUCK! Fine, I’ll do it my goddamn self!” She yelled, before running out of the room, slamming the door behind her as The Commander sighed.

“You know, we should probably just… give her some ro-” He tried to say, before Richelieu shot after Jean, slipping through the door and bolting down the hallway like a thief in the night.

“...Wow, you know what, fuck you guys too.” He said, before turning to the rest of the kansen in the room.

Dido bore a look of shame and sadness for a moment, apologetically staring at the now-open doorway still ever-so-slightly swinging before Littorio placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

“Thanks for staying, I’m sure you guys can catch them up later. Regardless, with this new information, we’ll have to increase the intensity of our training and preparation. I’ve already informed the Iris Orthodoxy of this new development, and they’ve promised us their full support when we inevitably go, you know, beat up the sirens, retrieve the Holy Grail, and rescue Dunkerque.”

The kansen present all nodded in understanding, feeling rather encouraged and invigorated at the confirmation that their homeland’s soldiers would be joining them in the fight against the sirens, before Dido quickly shot her hand up.

“U-Um… Master, m…may I go after them? I-”

“Yeah yeah, you care about Richelieu and all that, go ahead. This was supposed to be a quick emergency meeting anyway, so it’s not like y’all have to stay here for too long or anything.” They responded, before Dido bowed in thanks and quickly bolted out of the room as well in pursuit of the two sister battleships.

Littorio sighed proudly, placing her hands on her hips and tilting her chin upwards.

“I have taught her well…” She said, as The Commander turned to the other kansen in the room, who simply shrugged in response.

“Regardless… I do wish her the most glamorous of luck, she will need it.” Littorio trailed off, looking out the door before turning back to The Commander, who quickly raised both hands and made a clapping motion.

“Well, with that out of the way, meeting adjourned! I’ll see you all in a week and a half.” They said, as the various Vichya and Iris Libre kansen bowed out, and made their exit, leaving the room in a steady stream.

Littorio too began to make her exit before The Commander spoke up.

“Actually, Littorio, We need you to stay a moment.” They said, prompting the glory of Sardegna to spin around as the door closed slowly behind her.

“Oh? What is it, my Commander? Have you fallen for the grace and majesty of-”

“Nah nah, We don’t have NEARLY enough game for that. We actually wanted to talk to you about some stuff We found while We were doing some… research, with the Ashes and Shinano.”

Littorio took a seat, curiosity filling her expression as she took a tentative seat in front of The Commander’s desk.

“...Explain.”

The Commander smiled, folding their hands together and smiling before they spoke.

“For you see! We went back over some already-established papers on Wisdom Cubes, and as of recently… We’ve confirmed that wisdom cubes draw power from a higher dimension .”

Littorio’s eyes widened in response, this knowledge was frankly revolutionary, after all.

“I see, such news is truly earth-shaking, but I must ask, My Commander… Why tell me?” She asked.

The Commander laughed in response, releasing a hearty chuckle before folding their arms once again.

“You see, Littorio… That ego of yours… We’d like to borrow some of it.”

“Jean, are you well?” A soothing, warm voice spoke from Jean’s right.

Turning up, Jean laid eyes on the gentle knight of the Vichya Dominion taking a seat on the lonely bench she’d sat on in solidarity just moments before.

Dunkerque bore a melancholic, yet brave smile on her face, wrapping her arm over Jean’s shoulder.

“What’d you want, Dunkerque?” She asked, sounding abrasive, yet lacking the usual burning conviction she’d come to be known for.

“I’m just here to check in on you, that’s all.” Dunkerque responded, rubbing Jean Bart’s shoulder as the smaller of the two sat up straight, putting her hands together as she took in a deep breath.

“I appreciate it but… You shouldn’t worry about me. We have to worry about how we’ll deal with those unholy invaders.” Jean Bart responded, as Dunkerque sighed and removed her arm from atop Jean’s shoulders.

“You’ve got far too much on your shoulders, Jean. You need to rest now, you know? How are we templar knights supposed to fight if the Grandmaster of our order is barely functional?” Dunkerque responded, to which Jean Bart grit her teeth and slightly rolled her eyes.

“You’ll be fine… We just have to-”

“You’re still sad she left, aren’t you?”

Jean froze, turning her eyes back towards the paved path beneath her feet, eyes tracing the road through the beautiful, lush garden it cut through before quickly snapping her gaze back towards the floor.

“...So what if I am? If I just… if I just prove myself as the strongest across the ocean, she’ll come back, won’t she?” Jean responded, the ice around her heart beginning to thaw, if only momentarily.

Dunkerque sighed once more, placing a hand upon Jean’s head as she turned the battleship to face her.

“Richelieu is doing what she thinks is the best way to protect us, Jean. We’re doing the same.” Dunkerque explained, guiding the battleship down to lay her head upon her lap.

“If you want to become the strongest, then of course I’ll follow, we templar knights are loyal to our cardinal after all. But… If you’d like some words of advice… Just because you’re the strongest, doesn’t mean you have to shoulder all your burdens alone.”

The day that Dunkerque was sunk… Jean couldn’t remember exactly what’d happened, but she recalled a feeling of immense, and poignant sadness.

She remembered then how Dunkerque had stood beside her, when Richelieu ran away. When so many of her comrades were left for dead or fled with her sister, Dunkerque had remained at her side, acting as a shoulder to cry on, an invaluable consultant, and a comforting friend.

She’d never admit it, but Dunkerque meant a lot to her.

More than words might ever be able to explain.

“Fuck… Fuck…!”

“Jean, are you well?” Dunkerque asked, as Jean took a few tentative steps into the battlecruiser’s bakery.

“Admittedly… No, not particularly” Jean responded, pulling up a chair and taking a seat as Dunkerque instinctively nodded, walking out from behind the counter as she flipped the sign on her door to “closed” before she took a seat across from Jean.

“I take it this is because of the recent news about the Holy Grail?” Dunkerque inquired.

Jean partly shrugged. “Not… Exactly. But it has to do with it, yeah.”

The baker smiled, gently reaching out and cupping Jean’s hands within her own.

“Then tell me, what’s on your mind?” She asked, leaning in close as Jean sighed.

“I… I’ve never been one for ceremonial things but…”

“The Holy Grail is still quite important to you.”

“Yeah… To know one of our most sacred relics is being used by the sirens, it’s kinda…”

“...”

“...Unnerving, I think is the word.”

Dunkerque nodded, gently rubbing Jean’s hand as she looked the battleship directly in the eyes.

Jean continued.

“And… I’m nervous that I won’t be strong enough to take it back.”

“You know you don’t have to do it alone, right?”

“Every time someone has claimed to wanna ‘help us’ in the past, they’ve either shot us in the back, or invaded our homeland and took us over. We need to be able to do this by ourselves, without ANYONE’S help!”

“Jean…”

“No, we won’t rely on the Royal Navy, Sardegna Empire, or ANYONE ELSE. I refuse to let us be puppets again-”

“Jean!”

Jean Bart went quiet, as Dunkerque pulled her in close and pressed her forehead against her own.

“It’s ok… Those days are over. We can let people in now. We… Won’t be used like that again.”

It was only then that Jean realized just how much her body had begun shaking. Just how much fear she was actually feeling.

The feeling of being abandoned.

The sensation of being controlled.

The knowledge that there was no way to free themselves.

The shivering cold of the depths, closing around her as she sank.

Only now was she realizing just how badly they’d impact her.

“Dunkerque… I-”

“Shhh… It’s okay now… You can cry.”

“I won’t judge you for that.”

Panting filled her ears as Jean finally began to slow down, her lungs burning as her frantic eyes began to settle on the sight in front of her.

She stood on a massive cliff, the highest point in the Azur Lane base, looking out over the shimmering blue ocean beneath her.

The sight was beautiful, almost enlightening in a way.

It’d be all the more beautiful, if the capture of one of her closest confidants wasn’t weighing on her mind.

Drip!

“Huh…?”

It was only now that she noticed the tears running down her face.

“Fuck… Fuck this… Fuck! Those fucking royals… This is their fucking fault!”

Clenching her fists tighter than the angelic white the Iris coveted so greatly, it was only the sound of footsteps that snapped her out of her regret-filled trance.

Footsteps belonging to a certain Cardinal.

“Sister…!” She called out as Jean took in a sharp, hissing breath.

And turned around.

“...Richelieu.”

Chapter Text

Dido’s feet pounded on the ground as she ran, doing her best to try and remember which way she’d seen Richelieu and Jean Bart go.

It’d only been a few days since the announcement from The Commander that they’d soon be fighting the Sirens for control of the Holy Grail, so she hadn’t trained her ability to the level that she’d hoped to.

“Crap… C-Crap!” She shouted, pushing all of her energy into her legs as she sprinted as fast as she could.

By this point, she was just making random guesses as to where Richelieu and Jean Bart were, her breathing hastened by the knowledge that Jean Bart really wasn’t in her right mind at the moment.

Bursting out of the base’s Administration Office, Dido’s eyes turned to the beautiful sunrise cresting just over the beautiful ocean horizon to her left.

For just a moment, she froze in place, admiring the absolutely beautiful scenery, before she snapped herself out of her trance and looked around frantically.

“I… I don’t think they’d have gone inside, so… maybe they’re around here somewhere?”

Lilac eyes scanned the horizon as she desperately attempted to find the other two battleships that’d just run off, the small maid jogging around as she turned her head from side to side with a frantic fervor.

“Come on…!” She whispered to herself, small leather shoes tapping lightly on the smooth concrete beneath her feet as she spun around, hearing a commotion on the massive cliff overlooking the ocean to the far right of Azur Lane’s main base.

She barely spotted two figures, both with notably long hair, seemingly yelling at each other with great intensity.

Stopping for a moment to squint further, Dido’s eyes shot wide as dinner plates when she realized who the two girls were.

“F-Found them!” She yelled out loud, before she kicked her legs into overdrive again and started sprinting as fast as she could towards the foot of the hill, which was almost halfway across the base.

The wind screaming in her ears, Dido closed her eyes as she sped up as much as she could, fists tightening as she soon forced her eyes open to focus on the task ahead of her.

She wasn’t sure how exactly she was going to help, it wasn’t like her own mental state was the sturdiest brick in the warehouse, but maybe, just maybe…

Yeah, with Littorio’s advice, surely she’d be able to figure it out.

She’d have to fight the Sirens for the Iris Orthodoxy’s most valued relic in just two weeks after all. If she couldn’t do this, if she couldn’t help a pair of troubled sisters get through their problems, one of which being someone she held dear to her heart…

She’d surely be tossed away like a used ragdoll again.

“Sister, please listen!”

“No, not after last time! Just leave me alone, I’ll do it myself!”

Jean Bart shouted, backing away as her sister impotently tried to reach towards her sister, who simply backed away further and glanced back every now and then at the edge.

Richelieu attempted to bring her sister down from her emotional high, taking slow, tentative steps towards her sister with her hands raised up in a passive position. “Jean please, I understand what you must be going through-”

Jean quickly shot her down though, answering as soon as Richelieu got the words out, her voice laced with disbelief and a sense of betrayal. “Do you!? You certainly didn’t seem all that bothered when Dunkerque sank the first time! You never had to watch your sister run off and join a group of heretics, that turned right the fuck around and shot your country in the back, because they were too afraid of what we could do!”

Richelieu winced, as if Jean’s very words dealt her physical wounds. In a way, it felt like they did, as Richelieu instinctively moved a hand towards her heart, which reverberated with a sharp, piercing sensation as Jean’s accusation moved through her mind.

“I… Sister, please-” Richelieu attempted to plead, taking another step forward.

In a flash of blue light, Jean’s rigging appeared, her main turret pointing straight at Richelieu’s face.

“No. You… You stay back! I’m going to do this by myself if I have to, I don’t need any help! Especially not from the assholes that just let Dunkerque get captured!” The Vichya shipgirl screamed, furiously swiping her hand to the left.

“Jean, you’re not thinking straight!” Richelieu tried to reason with her sister, planting her feet into the ground as if to state she wasn’t going anywhere.

“I’m thinking perfectly fine! You’re the one who’s got clouded judgment! You remember what they did to us, right!? How can you just look them in the eyes and smile like nothing happened!” Jean shrieked back, her voice beginning to crack like glass as she took another instinctive step back.

“Jean, that happened years ago! The war is over, you can let go now!” Richelieu tried to plead, moving forward with her words.

“You have NO IDEA what it’s like to be abandoned! You have NO RIGHT to tell me whether or not I can let go or not! You don’t know what it was like, at all! You just sat at home with those cushy royals and watched us fight for our lives because those fucking scumbags couldn’t bear to see us fight!” Jean shouted with all her might, stomping on the ground as she watched Richelieu flinch back, as if the words were a blade brandished at the Cardinal’s neck.

Swiftly turning around, Jean began to walk towards the edge of the cliff, looking down as she calculated how and where she’d need to jump to get the best distance. 

“We’re done here. Go sit at home with your friends in the Royal Navy… I don’t want to hear anything else you have to say.” She spat, venom coating her tongue like the glazing of a fine pastry; now stained with the poison of resentment.

CHK!

The sound of a sword planting into the ground caused both Jean and Richelieu to swing their heads backward toward the source of the noise, as Jean felt the hairs on her body stand on end as the sensation of a dark, foreboding presence suddenly filled the air around her.

A foot stepped onto the foot of the hill.

Shadows began creeping up the massive stone ascension, as lilac eyes bore straight at Jean Bart.

“...I can’t let you say that, Miss Jean Bart.”

Turning her eyes to the new arrival, the Vichya battleship almost smirked at the starkly meak looking maid making her way up the hill.

“The hell’re you doing here? Didn’t I tell you not to follow me or some shit?” Jean pointed out, as Dido continued walking up the hill.

The maid didn’t respond, wordlessly passing Richelieu as the Cardinal tried to reach out, left clueless as to Dido’s true intentions.

Dido merely raised a hand as if to assure Richelieu she knew what she was doing. In spite of this however, Richelieu noticed a slight shake to Dido’s form, the barely trembling maid clearly doing everything in her power not to slip up and begin spiraling down her anxiety’s rollercoaster again.

“I…I must insist, Miss Jean Bart.” She responded, coming to stand just a few paces away from the legendary Privateer.

“Huh? What the hell are you on about? Shouldn’t you be off scheming with your-”

“Fight me.”

The battleship’s eyes went wide, an eyebrow raising as a smirk grew upon the corners of her mouth.

“Seriously? What, you gonna try and do the same thing you bastards did to us last ti-”

“No.” Dido shot her down, taking a step forward as she used every ounce of energy she had to squash down the rising fear and uncertainty bubbling up from deep inside her gut.

“I… I know you don’t trust the Royal Navy. I-I won’t even blame you, b-because I get it… So, I won’t ask for any more than a-a fight!” She shouted, before her hand flew up, the pointer finger of her right hand aiming straight between Jean Bart’s eyes.

“B-But if I win, I want you to promise… You’ll hear Miss Richelieu out!” She shouted, her voice cracking as the small maid made her first true declaration.

Even in spite of her resentment, in spite of every instinct in her body telling her to just walk away and ignore the petulant royal in front of her.

Jean Bart’s spirit began to flare once again.

The woman’s smirk became a smile, as the privateer leered at the maid with both intrigue, and anger.

“I’ve never heard anything as audacious as that, not even from you self-righteous hypocrites! You know what? Fine, let’s do this! But if I win… You gotta promise the rest of you Brits won’t ever interfere in the business of the Iris Orthodoxy again!”

Dido swallowed, forcing the fear inside of her down like a bitter-tasting vegetable soup, as she met Jean Bart’s intimidating gaze with a timid one of her own.

“O-Okay!” She responded, reaching into the opening in her top as she drew her vantablack blade from within her cleavage.

Jean’s grin grew, as she took a step forward.

“Fine… I needed something to get my mind off of this shit anyways!”

BOOM!

Anchorage poked at her food with her fork, impaling a few pasta shells onto her utensil before inspecting it like a newly discovered piece of forensic evidence, legs kicking up and down as the little lunch table she sat at shook a bit with her movements.

“Mmm… What is this, Miss Friedrich?” She asked, as the motherly kansen placed a gentle armored hand upon the childish cruiser’s head.

“I believe Littorio called it ‘Conchiglie’, or something similar, my child.” She responded, calmly brushing her fingers through the cruiser’s light brown hair.

“Mmm… It tastes really good!” Anchorage cooed, waving her arms happily up and down before a slight rumbling jostled the table and seats the two kansen sat at.

“Hmm? Oh dear, what could that’ve been…?” Friedrich murmured to herself, peering over her shoulder to look behind her, as a flash of black shot up from the enormous cliff to the far right of the base, the onyx blast crawling high into the sky before dissipating.

Anchorage swung around in her chair, looking up at the cliff with wide eyes full of curiosity, before something seemed to click in her head.

“Oh, I hope Miss T.A will be alright!” She said, as Friedrich turned to her in confusion.

“My child, what do you mean?” She asked.

Anchorage turned back around, swinging her legs to the right to face the motherly Iron Blood battleship as she pointed her finger upwards towards the cliff.

“Because I heard the doctors say that when Miss Dido loses control…”

Shimmering blue light emitted from Jean Bart, as Dido lifted her blade, wreathed in inky black smoke.

“Come on then, let’s see if you can put up a better fight than those scoundrels who sank me the first time!” The privateer shouted, as Dido brought her blade high over her shoulder.

“Don’t lose control… don’t lose control… don’t lose control!”

“...She becomes a monster.”

Chapter Text

CLANG!

Jean Bart skidded back against the edge of the cliff, as Dido charged towards her; her massive blade wound back above her shoulder.

Black miasmic shadows poured from her blade as she swung down with all her might, obliterating the cliff beneath the two in a flash of onyx color, as Richelieu was flung back from the force of the explosion.

“Guh- Sister!” She cried out, racing towards what remained of the edge as she watched the cruiser and the battleship land on the water, waves rippling out from their landing spots as Dido made a mad dash to the side, attempting to circle Jean whilst firing her guns.

Easily evading the shots, Jean’s gaze sharpened as she lunged for Dido, throwing out her hands to grab the small maid and force her into a contest of strength.

No such luck, Dido swung hard once more and unleashed a massive wave of black smog, the wave of shadows rending the sea apart as it came at Jean, who slammed on the brakes and twisted to the side to avoid the attack.

“Wow… That’s one fucked up power you’ve got there.” Jean commented, as Dido shakily steadied herself once again for the fight ahead.

Sucking in a sharp breath of air, Dido lunged forward again to close the distance, knowing that a prolonged fight at long range with a state-of-the-art battleship like Jean Bart would be a bad idea.

“Hmph…” Jean huffed to herself, before quickly swinging her turrets around to aim at Dido, just as the maid began to get within attacking range.

“GAH-!” Slamming on the breaks, Dido narrowly avoided the POWERFUL salvo of massive guns attached to Jean Bart’s riggings, which threw up massive pillars of water where they struck.

Once more charging forward, Dido surrounded herself with her weapon’s ominous black mist as she tried to take advantage of the lengthy reload time between shots that Jean Bart most likely had. Given the caliber of her guns, Dido guessed she didn’t have all that long before the next salvo came, so she had to get within close range as fast as she could.

Calling a veritable storm of black shadows, Dido swung up as she approached, causing Jean Bart to shield herself with her arms as the miasmic blackness washed over her like a wave.

“Ghh-!” She grunted, seething in pain as the shadows crashed into her and nearly swept her away, before she forced them back with another blast of her cannons.

Looking around, Jean swung her head back and forth as she scanned her surroundings, trying to find her dutiful adversary before she heard the roar of energy from her blindspot.

“Shit!” Twirling around, she channeled her cube’s massive supply of energy into her arms as she parried away a darkness-infused strike from Dido’s towering sword, before swinging her arm and slamming her fist into the poor maid’s liver.

“GAH!!” Dido shouted, air forcing itself out of her lungs as Jean landed a second blow and sent her flying away, the battleship’s cannons reloading in that very instant, letting Jean fire all her weapons point-blank into the poor cruiser.

Tumbling away in a smokey heap, Dido coughed violently as the shadows that’d instinctively flowed out to protect her body from the cannon shells slipped away into the darkness below.

“O-Ow…” Dido whimpered, forcing herself back up as Jean Bart cracked her knuckles and continued to approach her wounded opponent.

Clenching her teeth, black smoke began to softly waft up from beneath Dido, as Jean Bart quickly kicked the cruiser onto her back and stomped her foot onto the maid’s chest.

“I’ll admit, you were a better fight than most of those royals but… this is it.” The Vichya battleship declared, enunciating her victory by aiming her many cannons straight down at Dido’s head, the small maid staring directly into the eight barrels spelling her defeat.

“N-...”

“Huh?”

“N…Not yet!”

With a sudden shout, shrieking shadows flooded out from beneath the tiny maid and surged upwards, trapping the two kansen within a solid dome of pure darkness.

“What the fuck?” Jean hissed, firing off a salvo into the false night as a sudden, undetectable strike from Dido’s sword, seemingly out of thin air and directly to her back, sent her tumbling forward, the battleship forced to quickly regain her footing and brace for impact once more as another invisible sword strike sent her reeling forward.

While her sheer power and level of wisdom energy kept the sword from piercing her skin, the brute force from Dido’s sword strikes were definitely more than she could handle for a sustained period of time.

Another flurry of blows came from the darkness, their force cutting deep into Jean’s body as she was knocked back and forth by the maid’s hidden rush of strikes and attacks, as she attempted to drill in as much damage as she could in this brief window of opportunity.

For just a moment, Jean smiled.

“Well well… Looks like you’ve got a trick or two up your sleeve!” She shouted, before a strange, black light began to shine off of her.

Dido’s eyes widened, as Jean SWUNG her head towards her, and the onyx glow flashed brightly.

BOOM!

Not even half a second later, a beam of pure black light SHOT out of the dome, piercing the darkness as it shrieked into the heavens, severing the black mass like the parting of the red sea.

Dido fell back a few paces as she tried to steady her breathing, her chest rising and falling over and over again as Jean Bart dusted herself off, tiny particles of shimmering darkness began to float off of her.

“...I’m not like my sister, you know? Despite everything we templar knights did, the Iris Libre were the ones supposed ‘blessed by God’... But, even still, we persisted.” Jean began, taking steps towards Dido as the flickering orbs of darkened light started shifting in form, twisting and turning before instantly sharpening into swords, all of which pointed straight at the injured maid kneeling on the floor.

“And as a reward… I was blessed with this. I haven’t even come up with a name for it yet!” Jean shouted, before she swept her hand forward and released the blindingly fast black light sword straight at Dido’s head.

The maid forced herself up and twisted through the air, barely avoiding defeat by slipping over the blade’s trajectory as she landed upright and forced her greatsword in front of her.

“T-That must be the ability she got from her synchronization gear…” She thought to herself, before she raised her weapon once more in a defensive stance.

It would be foolish to attempt to out-speed an opponent who wielded the power of light, especially one as destructive as Jean Bart, so she’d have to try and force a slugging match.

Jean charged towards her, light shooting off of her body as she swung for the side of Dido’s face.

The maid snapped out of her train of thought, forcing her blade in between the incoming strike and her head, barely managing to defend against Jean Bart’s blindingly fast attack as she was sent tumbling back like a kicked can.

Bouncing off of the water a few times, Dido grit her teeth as she tried to stand up again, only to be struck from the side with such force she skipped across the ocean’s surface, coming to a halt in a quivering, shaking heap.

“O-Ow… Ow…” She whispered, as Jean once again began her slow approach, an orb of shadowy light coming to rest in her hand before she crushed it in her fist, brandishing a newly-made longsword constructed from the inverted shine.

Richelieu peered down from atop the remains of the cliff, hands gripping the edge of the blown-off precipice as she stared down upon the duel below.

“Worried about Dido, are we?” A teasing voice echoed from behind her, as Richelieu swung her head back around and spotted The Commander making their approach with slow, yet measured steps.

“I-... Yes, I… I do not know what to do.” Richelieu responded.

“There was once a time for fighting, but that time has passed now… I do not wish to harm my own sister.” She said, resolve peeking out from the uncertainty clouding her words and speech.

“I see… You’re a rather gentle soul, Richelieu.” The Commander commented, swinging their legs over the edge as they took a seat upon the jagged ridge. “But you needn’t worry about Dido.”

Turning her head to The Commander in confusion, Richelieu scratched her head. “I… Why?” 

“Cuz you see, she’s picked up this nasty little habit from Zuikaku…”

FOOM!

A massive pillar of black energy shot up from Dido’s position, miasmic black sludge pouring out from beneath her as the shadowy energy wrapped itself around the tiny maid, coming to rest upon her arm as it encased the limb like an armor of the night, ragged black wings sprouting from her back at the same time as the sclera of her right eye turned from white to a deep onyx, her lilac iris shining from within the darkness.

Jean Bart held up her free hand to shield herself from the sudden burst of air forcing its way out from the maid’s position, the waves around them picking up in size and speed as Dido took a step out from the pillar of darkness.

“...I’ll take it this is what you used to survive your little scrap with Ember, right?” Jean asked, as Dido shakily took an offensive stance, bringing her arms back as she pointed the tip of her greatsword directly at the Vichya battleship.

“Y-Yeah…” Dido responded, clenching her teeth as she fought to quell the darker impulses bubbling inside her heart.

They cried for release, they demanded freedom, they thirsted for the opportunity to run wild like a pack of wolves in the night, like a shark in a feeding frenzy. Yet the maid knew she could not let that happen, recalling what’d happened during her fight with the Duke of the Royal Navy.

She was afraid.

She didn’t want to see that happen again.

It’d be… far too much for her fragile heart.

So she took a deep breath in, and smothered those feelings to the best of her ability, as if she were pressing a pillow to its face to quietly send it back into the abyss within her heart.

They began to fade for the time being.

The instant they did, Dido lunged forward, trailing darkness as the wings upon her back flapped and sent her shooting forward with a quick burst of momentum, as she sought to bring her blade down upon Jean’s head to knock the battleship out in one swift motion.

Ducking down and twisting the blade in her hand up, Jean parried it away before she gave chase, charging into Dido as she swung with all her might, cannons turning to aim straight at Dido’s midsection again.

This time though, Dido was ready. Shadows tore up the sea beneath them, as liquid black shot up and smothered the quadruple barrels held within both of Jean Bart’s turrets, as Dido parried away each of Jean’s attacks and remained stalwart, skidding to a stop as the black wings behind her spread out in a menacing display.

Snatching the initiative back, Dido lurched back into fighting range, as Jean grit her teeth and cursed under her breath upon realizing Dido had managed to disable her main weapons.

It was now a slugging match.

Jean summoned more light into her weapon, increasing the blade’s length into that of a longsword as she rejoined the melee, trading blow after blow with Dido as she noticed an infuriating, foreign, and worrying feeling.

As her anger grew, as her malice flared higher and higher, she realized something.

“Why the fuck… Does it feel like all my hate, all my anger… is being drained away by this girl!?”

Black blade clashed with black blade as Dido slowly regained the advantage, pushing herself further and further as her strikes hastened in frequency and force, slowly overcoming Jean’s defense before the battleship let out a thundering roar, and released a flash of light in all directions, pushing Dido back as she nabbed the cruiser by the wrist and raised her free hand high above her head, the blade held within changing from a pristine and elegant longsword, to a more brutish and crude battleax.

“This is it!” She shouted, before a glimmer of lilac eyes shone, and Jean suddenly found herself restrained by shadowy appendages, strings of darkness shooting up from the sea as they held the Vichya flagship within their grasp.

“What the-” Before she could echo another thought, another whisper, Dido’s onyx-clad fist found its mark deep within her gut, the powerful blow burying itself into the side of the malicious battleship and dealing a decisive, crippling strike to Jean Bart.

“GAH!” She screamed, before the shadows released her and let her crumple into a heap on the floor, curling up into a ball from the pain of the strike.

“F-Fuck!” The Vichya ship shouted, as Dido stood over her, shadows dripping off of her as her form dissipated and returned to nothingness.

The maid struggled to stay on her feet, but on her feet she stayed, before her eyes turned down towards the battleship below her.

“T-This is my win… Right…?”

Chapter Text

When had she realized it?

Was it when the piercing anxiety shot through her heart, when Dunkerque’s capture had been announced?

Had it been when her sister stood in front of her, desperately shouting in an attempt to reason with her?

Perhaps it’d been when she first spoke with this timid maid, back before this whole thing started.

No, no it was none of those times.

As Jean Bart lay on her back, a sizable welt forming where Dido had just slammed her fist, the battleship slowly came to realize something.

“Yeah… I think I realized it way back when… That first time Massachusetts knocked me down…”

“This whole thing was my fault.”

“Sister!”

A voice called out from behind her, as Richelieu and The Commander sailed up to the duo.

The Commander sat in a tiny motorboat, which lightly skipped across the water before splashing to a halt just a few meters beside the group of kansen.

Jean groaned, forcing herself up as Dido let out an audible gulp. The maid’s final attack had dealt incredible damage, but even that hadn’t seemed to put down the battleship.

“I…I-” Dido began to sputter out, before the shadows making up her empowered form suddenly and instantly dissolved, washing off of her body before they sank back down into the ocean deep, dissolving away like drops of blood in water.

Realizing the sudden drop in her power, Dido took a hesitant step back, before Jean Bart raised her hand as if to calm her.

“Relax… I lost.” She said, with an almost reluctant acceptance to her tone. “I’ll hold up my end of the bargain.”

Turning to Richelieu, Jean sighed as she closed her eyes, waited a moment, and then spoke.

“...What’s up?”

A gentle, thankful grin spread across Richelieu’s face, as the now softened Cardinal turned to The Commander and Dido.

“I… I’d like a moment of privacy, if that’s alright.”

The Commander wordlessly nodded, before they motioned for Dido to follow, and sped off on their speedboat.

Dido froze for a second, hesitance filling her heart as she subconsciously reached out toward Richelieu, just before she lowered her hand and turned away.

Before she did however, Richelieu spoke up.

“...Thank you, Dido. I really mean that.”

Smiling, Dido sailed away towards The Commander.

“N-No problem…!”

Sailing up beside The Commander’s speedboat, Dido quickly cleared her throat. “U-Um, Master… did you need to speak to me?” 

They nodded, quickly standing up as they placed a hand on the timid maid’s shoulder.

“Congratulations, Dido! That win was entirely on you!” They proclaimed, as Dido smiled meekly with pride, before her smile quickly fell to a frown.

“I-I’m grateful, truly grateful to be praised by my honorable Master, but… I um…” She trailed off.

“Are you having reservations about your victory?” They asked, Dido nodding in confirmation of the question.

“Mhm… I… I felt some terrible things… I-I don’t think I’m doing ok. My powers… They um… They make me feel some really, really bad things.” Dido explained.

The Commander nodded along. “I see… I read the recent medical reports on you. I had a feeling this was gonna become an issue…”

“Hmmm?” Dido perked up, confusion spreading across her expression.

“You’re powerful, there’s no denying that, but you’ve clearly got some reluctance using your powers. We don’t know the specifics but… It’s likely that by rejecting such a vital, engrained part of you, given that you came into being with these abilities, it’s causing stronger and stronger negative reactions. Did you notice anything strange during your bout with Jean Bart?”

Dido nodded. “M-Mhm. I… I do not know if it’s just me but… The angrier and more spiteful Miss Jean Bart seemed to become, the… the more power I felt flowing through my body. A-Almost like… I was feeding off of it.”

“Hmmm… We’ll talk to Duke of York about it, she may know more about this issue.” They responded, before they leaned over and placed a comforting hand on Dido’s shoulder.

“For now, get some rest, we’ve got an announcement to make soon.” Was all they said, before ruffling Dido’s hair a bit as they sailed off.

Dido just stood there for a moment, and looked down at her hands. Conflicting feelings were still bubbling up from inside her, and she was starting to understand why.

Slowly sailing back towards the base, she continued staring at herself with worry and apprehension.

It was slowly dawning on her why she was feeling so horrible.

The apprehension she felt when she pulled out her abilities again.

The shiver she felt when she dawned the form she used against Ember.

All of those feelings… They were different types of fear.

And they all came from the same place.

“I-If I become a monster… nobody will want me around anymore.”

She didn’t want that.

She didn’t want to lose control and become that thing that’d fought Duke of York.

She didn’t want to be thrown away, not after she’d just begun making such good friends.

If that happened, if even her sisters began to turn their eyes away from her…

“Uuu…”

She wouldn’t be able to bear it.

Jean felt her breath catch in her throat, as she tapped her foot nervously.

It’d been so long since she’d talked genuinely with Richelieu that… she no longer knew how to start. Her eyes turned down towards the ocean beneath the two, watching the slow, mundane waves slowly rise and fall beneath her, ever so slightly rising and lowering her with each come and go. 

She was snapped out of her trance as Richelieu cleared her throat.

“ Ahem, sister…” Richelieu trailed off for a moment.

Jean decided she’d do her best and just… go for it.

She owed Richelieu that much, didn’t she?

“...So, uh, nice friend you got there.” She started, making a slight motion towards Dido.

Richelieu giggled a little bit, hand covering her mouth for an instant before she responded. “Oh yes, Miss Dido has been a wonderful companion. I owe her quite a lot, in all honesty.”

Jean sighed, scratching the back of her head. “I can uh… See that. She seems to like you a lot too.”

Richelieu smiled, feeling a bit hesitant as she too now found herself without something to say.

“I…”

“You know, I didn’t think she was all that much when I first saw her. Hell, she came up to me shaky like a fucking leaf.” Jean suddenly began, tapping her boots on the water nervously before she continued.

“I didn’t think she was much. Thought the royals just sent her to spy on the rest of us so they could take advantage of our- my, weakness again.” The privateer explained, as Richelieu tentatively reached out to her sister, before Jean quickly waved her away.

“But uh… When I asked her why she was there, she just said… It’s cuz you were special to her.”

Richelieu’s eyes widened and a hand came over her mouth, as a light blush dusted its way across her face, heat faintly rising through her cheeks and up her face. “I-I… Wow.”

Jean could see the rather embarrassed, almost flattered expression rising across her sister’s visage. It was… strangely endearing, in spite of how awkward it may feel to hypothesize why exactly Richelieu was suddenly feeling like that at the mention of Dido’s affection towards her.

“ ‘Course at the time, I didn’t think much of it. I thought she was just saying shit so she could get close to me or whatever… But after that display… I think I’m starting to believe her.” She commented, before taking another deep breath in as she pivoted to face Richelieu fully.

Apprehension filled her chest again.

This time though, she spoke before she could think about it too much.

“Look… I’m sorry. For everything, I mean. I… I was frightened n shit, and I-” But before she could even finish her sentence, Richelieu rushed forward and captured her in a hug.

Jolting in surprise, Jean almost raised her hands to defend herself, before she found herself slowly melting into the hug.

The ice encapsulating her heart, finally began to thaw.

“I don’t care about any of that… I’m just glad you’re alright now.” Richelieu responded, tightly holding her sister in her arms like she was the last thing she’d ever see in this world.

All of a sudden, Jean Bart felt the strength leaving her body. Something lifted off of her shoulders, though she couldn’t tell what.

In spite of her initial confusion however, she soon found gentle, slow tears running down her face.

“I-”

“Shh… There’s no need for that anymore… Just, let it out…” Richelieu comforted, gently rubbing her sister’s back.

“Y-You… Promise not to tell anyone?” Jean asked, a terrible shake to her voice, momentarily dipping in pitch as she hesitated.

“Yes, of course.” Richelieu responded.

The privateer took a moment to prepare herself.

It’d been… She couldn’t actually recall how long it’d been since she’d last shed any tears that weren’t ones of rage or spite. She was scared, scared of looking weak in front of the person she’d been trying so hard to surpass ever since her inception into this world.

But, as the tears rushed down her cheeks, as she felt all of her burdens just… melt away.

She came to realize.

It wasn’t as bad as she thought it’d be.

Chapter Text

Hard at work.

That’s the best word Dido could use to describe how she and the other kansen were for the past… Seven days?

Under orders from The Commander, she and the Iris Kansen, along with Littorio, Duke of York, and Anchorage, had all been tasked with training as hard as they could to prepare for the upcoming operation.

Wiping the sweat from her brow, Littorio walked over to her as Anchorage sat on a bench nearby and watched Richelieu and Duke of York have a conversation, a seemingly important one as the two remained rather hushed and secretive.

“Signora Dido! How are you doing on this fine day?” She asked, extending a water bottle out towards Dido, who gratefully took it.

“U-Um… I am doing well, Miss Littorio.” Dido responded, taking a slow and measured sip of the water bottle before she set it down in the grass next to her.

Looking around for a moment, she spotted a good deal of the other Iris kansen - including the likes of Saint Louis, Jeanne d’arc, Gascogne, and others like them, working hard alongside them.

“Are you thinking of what The Commander spoke of earlier?” Littorio inquired, noting the conflicted look on Dido’s face.

“U-Um, yeah…” Dido responded, scratching the side of her face as she poked her fingers together nervously.

“I see…” Littorio responded, before taking a seat next to the small maid.

Just a few days earlier, The Commander had called them in for a meeting. A supposedly very important one, at that.

“Alright everyone, We’ve got some news for the lot of you; news that might be pretty helpful in the future!” They pronounced, swinging their left arm in an outward arc as the rest of the kansen stood around, a bit confused.

As the door to The Commander’s office began to slowly close, they pulled out a large file and placed it down upon their desk.

“You see, We’ve recently gotten my hands on some more information regarding Wisdom Cubes. App High Command was feeling pretty generous today! In any case, from this we’ve gleaned a rather interesting fact… Wisdom cubes, at least as far as this research is concerned, draw power from a higher dimension.”

Whispers danced around the room, murmurs and low voices floating from corner to corner as the assembled Iris kansen, and the other kansen set to join the Holy Grail Retrieval Operation, talked softly amongst themselves.

“What does this mean…?”

“How will this change what we do…?”

“What other things can we do with this…?”

“Is this dangerous?”

Clap!

The Commander clapped their hands together, parting the voices like the red sea before a prophet. Clearing their throat, they continued, motioning for Littorio to step forward.

“With our assistant Littorio here-, we’ve managed to develop a new mechanic, something for you lot to play around with in the days to come.” They continued, as Littorio stepped forward and took her place beside The Commander.

“You see, we’ve learned that through deep meditation, and a strong enough will… One can make contact with this higher dimension; and make a sort of… deal. We’ll call them Cube Exchanges.” 

Once more the whispers began to rise, and once again The Commander quelled them as they moved forward with their presentation.

“Now admittedly, we aren’t sure what exactly the specifics are, we just know that in exchange for giving up one thing, this higher dimension will give you something in exchange for that thing. Additionally, the speed at which the initial exchange is conducted seems to be based on the power and strength of one’s will and ego… Littorio’s has, for example, limited the use of one of her abilities, in exchange for empowering the other two, and she was able to do it in under five minutes.” They explained, as Littorio nodded in confirmation.

“It is as they say, my friends! In the act of suppressing one of my many unique capabilities, the other two have greatly strengthened!” She declared, as the other kansen in the room nodded along.

Drawing their eyes back towards The Commander, the kansen waited as their commanding officer began waving their arms about once more as they spoke, enunciating their speech with a flourish of movement.

“So! All We ask of you all, is that you experiment and play around with this concept. Who knows! Maybe you’ll be able to do something amazing. There was ONE other thing we’ve been researching but… That can wait for another day.” They concluded, before clapping their hands together to dismiss the meeting.

As the kansen began to file out, one stepped out from the crowd and stayed behind, even as the door closed softly behind them.

“Hmm? Is there something you need, Dido?” The Commander asked, placing the files back under their desk, before they turned back to face the small maid, who’d stayed behind after everyone left.

“U-Um… Master, forgive this humble maid but… Would I be able to seal my powers, just like Miss Littorio?” She asked with a slight shake to her voice, fingertips still poking together as she nervously made her request.

“Hmm… Can We ask why?” The Commander responded, pulling up their swivel chair as they took a seat, whirling around to face Dido.

The maid seemed to hesitate, hands shaking as she took in a few rhythmic breaths before she turned to The Commander and spoke with a tone of unease.

“I… I just… I don’t want to lose control again, so… I want to make sure whatever it is that’s inside of me doesn’t have a chance to get out.” She explained.

The Commander tapped their chin a few times, slowly spinning around in their chair before they turned to Dido and responded.

“Well little buddy, that’s a pretty complicated matter… The fact is, none of us are gonna be perfect. We’ve all gotta live with something we hate about ourselves or feel dissatisfied with, one way or another. That’s just how life is.” They began.

“In the end, you’re gonna have to learn how to control that thing. Deny it all you want, that black magic thing is a part of you, and if you want to live for real, if you want to really experience all that life has to offer without being weighed down or anything… You’re gonna have to learn how to accept it.” The Commander explained, as Dido’s eyes turned down towards the ground, disappointed.

“O-Oh… I see…” She replied.

“Hey now, that’s not to say we can’t put a bandage on it until you do learn how to accept it. I think Duke of York and I have enough information on your abilities to start drawing conclusions, so it shouldn’t matter too much!” They responded.

Dido’s eyes lit up, as a hesitant, shaky, yet still joyful smile spread across her face.

“O-Oh, thank you Master! This foolish maid is truly grateful!” She proclaimed, bowing in gratitude as The Commander pulled out the file regarding Cube Exchanges to help Dido prepare for the procedure.

“Oh, also, one more thing before we go on.” The Commander said, as Dido took a seat in front of them.

“W-What’s that?” She asked.

“Once we complete this exchange… don’t break the contract , we don’t know what’ll happen if you do.”

Richelieu looked over at Dido, who was now talking amicably with Littorio, who’d laid back in the grass next to the tiny maid.

“Worried about her, art thou?” Duke of York asked, as Richelieu turned back to the royal battleship and sighed as if to confirm the question

“Yes… As capable as Dido is, I do worry for her. She seems… troubled.” Richelieu responded, rubbing the back of her head idly.

“I can understand… ‘Tis clear to me you care a great deal for the young maiden.” Duke of York replied, nodding almost approvingly at the Cardinal, who quickly changed the subject at such a notion.

“A-Ahem… Well, in any case, I have a question, Miss Duke.” Richelieu asked.

“Hmm? What hast thou been searching for?” Duke of York responded, crossing her arms under her sizable chest.

“Have you and The Commander gained any more insight into what Dido’s ability actually is?” The Cardinal asked.

Duke of York paused, as if in thought for a moment. Closing her eyes, she seemed to ponder the thought for some time, before she opened them and spoke.

“Yes, my Adonis and I have constructed a hypothesis for a possible explanation as to the truth behind her ghastly enchantments.” Duke of York responded.

Richelieu stepped forward in anticipation, almost excited in a way, before she quickly reeled herself in. “So…! Um, what is it, if I may ask?”

“After Miss Dido agreed to help us with some testing, and Miss Jean Bart so gracefully joined in, the veil of night was pulled back and revealed to us a rather interesting development… It seems Miss Dido’s ability in some way involves the manipulation… of negative energy and emotions.” Duke of York responded, as Richelieu took a minute to soak it all in.

“I… I see…” That likely explained why Dido had such adverse reactions whenever her powers threatened to lose control, and why they were so violent in the first place.

After having spoken with Dido a few times on the matter, the maid really didn’t seem to like having her abilities, having started to constantly fear and resent them after her experience with Duke of York. With her already highly negative disposition, those feelings likely just fed her ability more and more, until it became the volatile mess it was today.

It also explained why Dido was so abnormally strong right out of the gate, despite not possessing the same “special” qualities that people like Enterprise, New Jersey, and others like them did.

“So… What can we do to help?” Richelieu asked next.

“We are unsure. Thou’s ambition is admirable, noble even, but the correct course of action has not yet revealed itself to our eyes, and thus, we are lost for now.” Duke of York responded.

Richelieu grimaced, turning her eyes back towards Dido again for a moment before she swung her gaze back towards the vampiric countess.

“Is there… Anything I can do?” She asked.

The countess of the night smiled. “Ah, a more direct question. Perhaps thou would benefit from the cultivation of thine holy light? It has been observed that the maiden Dido is greatly displeased by her own outbursts, and so the mastery of that which can cleanse her of her burden may be of great importance.”

Richelieu nodded gratefully, placing her hands together as she bowed towards the Duke.

“Thank you, Miss Duke. I will ensure that I use this to the fullest in the future.” Richelieu responded, before she began to make her exit.

“Oh and just one more thing for thou.” Duke of York perked up, as Richelieu turned to leave.

“Lady Brest has informed me of a prophetic vision she has recently born witness too. One of great importance.” She said.

Richelieu perked up as well in response to that, pivoting on the ball of her feet as fast as the wind and lightning itself as she made her way back towards Duke of York.

“...What do you mean?”

Duke of York unfolded her arms as she spoke, raising a single pointer finger towards the sky.

“Lady Brest has recently born a dream… One in which a great disaster descends upon us. Thou understand what this means, do thou not?” 

Richelieu gulped audibly, as Duke of York pressed on.

“It means that soon in the future of our beloved port, a great disaster means to strike.”

Chapter Text

The first thing she could remember was a flood of light. It was blinding, and as she recalled, really hurt her eyes.

The second thing she could remember were voices. Lots of them. They were all clamoring around her for some reason, and they were all really loud.

She didn’t know what they were talking about, although they were curious.

The third thing she could remember were a bunch of strangely dressed people all around her. They were really colorful and flashy clothing, and a lot of them were really pretty.

All of them had different colored hairs, and all of them looked strange at first, but the very next thing she could remember was someone smiling at her.

She felt comforted in the very next moment.

That’s when she met her teacher.

There were only two or three days left before the start of the operation to retake the Holy Grail, perhaps the most important operation she’d ever take part in.

At least, that’s what Miss Friedrich had told her.

Anchorage waddled around the base, head held high with curiosity as she watched the other kansen bustle about the base, whispers and discussions flying through the air like a flock of scattered birds.

Even if she thought really hard, she couldn’t fully comprehend what they were saying.

But the looks on their faces told her all she needed to know.

Concerned for her friend, Anchorage looked around to try and find the small maid who’d recently been tasked with taking care of her, wanting to make sure she was okay.

As Teacher had taught her, you have to be kind to people who are nice to you.

Spotting the maid sitting alone at a small bench next to a sidewalk, overlooking the massive ocean and bay beneath, the cruiser quickly walked up and took a seat next to the tiny maid.

“Miss T.A, are you okay?” She asked, tilting her head gently to the side.

Dido nodded, sighing to herself for a moment. “M-Mhm, I’m… Just tired, that's all.”

Anchorage turned her expression into a smile, before she quickly rubbed her sleeve-covered hand on top of Dido’s head. “Here! Miss Friedrich says Anchorage should always be nice to people who are nice to me so… Here!”

“Uwaaa…!” Dido responded, her own expression turning to one of embarrassment and confusion as Anchorage pulled her hand back and turned out to look at the sea.

“Um… Miss T.A, can Anchorage ask you a question?”

Now it was Dido’s turn to look over at the cruiser, eyebrow raised ever-so-slightly.

“U-Um, sure?”

Anchorage paused for a moment, fiddling with her hands before she spoke.

“The mission we’re about to do, it’s… Not a normal one, is it?” 

“Um… No.”

“It’s gonna be really dangerous, right?”

“...Yes.”

“And… Some of us could die, right?”

Dido paused for a moment.

In spite of being a PR kansen, and thus being far more powerful than the average kansen, Anchorage was still, at least mentally, a child.

Explaining to her that they could potentially… You know, die, on this mission, may be a bit more than the little cruiser was ready for.

Still, being a kansen, Anchorage would have to face these eventually. And besides, she’d already seen a few instances of combat, though from what Dido had heard they’d only been a few patrols…

But it was better now than later, she supposed.

“Y-Yes…”

Anchorage remained silent for a moment, bringing her knees to her chest as she looked down towards the ground.

“...This is gonna be really scary, isn’t it?” She asked next.

Dido hesitated for just a moment.

Lying wouldn’t do her any good, and she’d hate to be lied to herself.

“Mhm.”

Anchorage turned to Dido, a bit of worry in her eye.

“S-So… How does Anchorage not be afraid? Anchorage don’t wanna be scared… Because Anchorage know this is super important to everyone, especially Miss Richelieu and Miss Jean Bart, so… Anchorage don’t wanna be afraid! So um, how do you deal with being scared, Miss T.A?”

Dido paused for a moment, looking into Anchorage’s shining magenta eyes as she hesitated.

Fumbling with her fingers for a moment, she remembered something.

“W-Well… A really good friend once told me that… having courage isn’t about not being afraid. I-I mean, she was super scared a lot of the times she had to be brave, b-but… even in spite of that fear, she did the right thing anyway!” Dido responded.

“S-So um… It’s okay to be afraid! B-Because courage is about being afraid, a-and still fighting back anyway!”

Anchorage gazed up at Dido in awe, before she quickly began clapping her hands together. “Ooooh, thank you Miss T.A! Anchorage feel much better now! Even though Anchorage don’t fully understand it!”

Dido sighed, as Anchorage wrapped her sleeve-covered arms around the tiny maid.

“Y-Your welcome…”

Nuzzling close to the maid, Anchorage suddenly perked up, having seemingly remembered something.

“Oh! Anchorage just remembered something! Anchorage need you to come with her, okay?” She suddenly asked, standing up quickly as she pulled at Dido’s dress.

“H-Huh?” Dido’s eyebrows perked up, as Anchorage began pulling her back towards the base.

“U-Um, okay but… What’s going on?” She asked.

“You’ll see!” Was all Anchorage said in response, before she rapidly began running off towards the main facilities.

“Uuuu…” Dido murmured to herself, scratching the side of her head in confusion…

“Signora Dido! How wonderful of you to join us on this fine day!” Littorio proclaimed, waving her hand still clutching a glass of wine towards the entrance of the large room.

“Uwah!?” Dido yelped, shocked and confused as she stared into the bustling building.

Various people walked too and from the sides of the room, holding various plates of food and cups of drink as Littorio stood in the center of the room, surrounded by any number of other girls who Dido couldn’t identify at the time.

Anchorage smiled, walking inside before she made a sudden beeline towards the orange juice.

“W-Wait, Anchorage!” She yelled, reaching out feebly towards the cruiser, who began pouring herself cups upon cups of the sweet orange nectar.

“Uuuuu…” Dido mumbled, looking around in further confusion before she noticed Littorio making her way towards her.

“I see you too have come to immerse yourself in the atmosphere of a glorious Sardegnan celebration! You cannot be blamed, after all the burden of our upcoming endeavor against the Sirens is indeed a weighty one! So come, indulge yourself for a time!” The jewel of Sardegna proclaimed, wrapping an arm around Dido as she motioned towards the massive gathering of kansen.

The maid shuddered lightly as she stared out into the crowd, spotting HMS Hood within the sea of people.

She was still a maid, and she did still have a job to do…

“A-Are you sure it’s okay…?” She hesitantly asked.

Suddenly, she felt something very soft press up against her back, as a hand came to pat her shoulder a few times.

“My, you need to relax, Dido.” Came the voice of HMS Illustrious, wrapping her arm around Dido’s other shoulder as she attempted to calm the small maid’s worries.

“M-Miss Illustrious!?” Dido yelped in surprise, swiftly turning to look at the royal lady before the carrier took her hand to Dido’s face and turned it back towards the crowd.

“Shhh… It’s okay. You need to relax, after all. Even Belfast and the other maids are here to relax~.”

Now that she looked closer, Dido did spot Belfast and Sheffield amongst the crowd.

So, maybe it really was ok.

“U-Um… Alright then.” She said, taking a tentative step forward, before looking back to see Illustrious and Littorio giving her reassuring thumbs-ups.

She looked back down at her hands.

“Once we complete this exchange… don’t break the contract , we don’t know what’ll happen if you do.”

Now that her powers were sealed, she’d have to rely on her rigging more often. Still, with her recent training, she’d surely be alright.

Everything was gonna be okay.

“I’m… I’m gonna be alright.”

Yet still there was this bubbling feeling beneath everything.

“Is this… going to be enough?”

Buttons beeped and lights flickered as Purifier admired the prototype she’d been given. Reaching out her hand, she brushed her hand along the sleek black metal before she turned back to her captive.

“Ahahahaha! Man, your friends really are kinda stupid. I mean, they’re really gonna come and get themselves killed by me! I’d say it’s sorta sad, but I’m having way too much fun to care!” She cackled, giggling like a child as she floated in the air.

Dunkerque groaned in pain, the chains holding her up painfully binding her in place. Her body ached all over, a dull, painful sensation radiating out from her wrists as the cuffs chafed against her skin.

Her eyes flickered open and closed, as she struggled to retain consciousness.

“Need… To stay… Awake…”

Taking deep breaths in, she glared at Purifier as her head slowly bobbed up and down.

She needed to tell the others what she’d seen, or they’d never make it out of this place alive.

She needed to find a way out of her shackles, to find a way to contact the others, to…

It was getting really hard to stay awake now.

“Ngh… No…” She slowly whispered, before her eyes inevitably closed, and the exhaustion that’d be racking her body for days finally slipped her consciousness into the darkness.

Purifier giggled, placing a hand on Dunkerque’s cheek before she floated backwards and laughed harder.

“Oh man, I feel really sorry for you! Look on the bright side though, you and your friends will get to die together! Ahahahahahahahaha!”
Twirling back around through the air like a child in a flower field, Purifier faced the prototype that Observer and the Arbiters had given her.

“Hmm… Now what to do with you…” She thought aloud

Chapter Text

“Hmm?”

Dido turned around, as The Commander placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Hey there, chief. Let’s have one more talk before the operation, ‘kay?”

The maid hesitated at first, before quickly nodding along as she followed her master behind a nearby wall, the other kansen preparing for the operation walking past and occasionally waving as they headed straight for the equipment bay and docks.

“Is there something you need of me, Master?” She asked.

“No, not at all. We noticed you seemed a bit more down than usual, so we wanted to know if anything was off.” They responded.

“O-Oh, I wouldn’t want to trouble you, Master-” She tried to stammer out.

“Nonsense. Just speak, we’ll listen as long as we need to.”

Dido paused.

“I-I… I do not feel adequate for this mission… I feel a great sense of dissatisfaction and… wrongness inside me. And I am not sure what is going on… Is this a result of the cube exchange?”

“No, We don’t believe so. This seems to be more of a… personal issue.”

Dido paused again, poking her fingers together with hesitation and apprehension before she spoke again.

“I don’t want to be abandoned… A-And I know I’m sick, or something… Miss Bremerton and Miss Richelieu helped me realize that, but… I don’t know how to get better… B-Because this isn’t like normal sickness…”

The Commander placed a hand on her shoulder.

“...Good. We don’t have a lot of answers, after all we’re no expert in that area, but…”

They moved their hand to Dido’s head.

“Should you ever find yourself in a pickle, if it ever looks grimm, and if things seem hopeless… Envision the thing you want most. Focus on the thing you want most, the thing you revere the most, and things will surely turn out okay.”

Dido nodded rapidly, as The Commander smiled, before they pat Dido on the back with their prosthetic arm.

“Good… Now get going champ.”

Dark clouds rolled overhead, as the burning red sky loomed threateningly over the first of the two diversion teams.

“Here’s our plan.” The Commander explained, motioning to the map placed in the center of the table.

“Our plan will focus on stealing the Holy Grail and rescuing Dunkerque. To do this, we’ll be sending in an infiltration team consisting of Sheffield, Foch, Vauquelin, and Belfast. The four of you will sneak into the siren base, retrieve the two packages, and extract as soon as you can.”

“What will the rest of us be doing, Commander?”

“Everyone else will be split into two teams led by Richelieu and Littorio respectively, with the Iris navy supporting us from behind. The goal of these two teams will be simple: cause enough of a ruckus that Purifier herself has to come out and investigate. The instant she does, the infiltration team will receive the green light to investigate.”

Murmurs danced around the table, as The Commander clapped their hands together.

“Now remember, the synchronization gear you all will be wearing for this mission have built-in radios for ease of communication, and they should be able to talk across Mirror Seas. Now then, everyone, let’s go save France!”

“Mes Amies, we will be covering you from the rear!” A flamboyant, confident voice called from over the radio.

Dido winced a bit at the volume, but was otherwise grateful to be protected regardless.

Taking part in the operation were twenty of the Iris Orthodoxy’s finest frigates, all led by one Roland Deschain Varennes.

“Officer Varennes’ troops will be stationed all around the base, surrounding it in a ring of sorts while the rest of us go through with the mission. If any of the sirens try to escape, they’ll be there to let us know where and how they’re trying to break through. With any luck though, this’ll be a simple operation, and we’ll be able to take down one of the Sirens’ strongest warlords without too much trouble!”

“All you young ladies need to worry about is the mission ahead of you, so worry not about us! We will be perfectly okay!” The young man shouted over the radio.

Turning to the officer, The Commander took note of his flowing golden mane of a hairdo.

“He’s rather eccentric, if We do say so ourselves…”

“Thank you, Officer Varennes. We will do our utmost to retrieve the holy grail, may the light of the Lord bless you!” Richelieu called over the radio.

“And may the Lord bless you as well, Cardinal. Good luck to you all!”

Turning back to the other girls under her command, Richelieu motioned towards the fleet of siren vessels scattered around the outskirts of the massive base.

By some miracle, they hadn’t been detected as they entered the seas surrounding the base, and by yet another miracle, it hadn’t been concealed within a mirror sea.

It did seem suspicious, how easy it was to approach… But then again, it was being run by Purifier if their intelligence was correct.

Maybe they’d just lucked out?

Whatever the case was, they wouldn’t miss this opportunity.

Dido looked to her right. Next to her as part of the vanguard fleet, stood Jeanne d’arc and Saint Louis, two powerful Iris Libre ships in their own right.

Backing up the vanguard were Richelieu as their leader/flagship, flanked by Jean Bart and Duke of York.

The other distraction fleet was somewhere else nearby, but that didn’t matter at the moment, as Richelieu’s voice boomed over their comms.

“All ships, open fire!”

And just like that, the first diversion team loosed their guns.

Clusters upon clusters of explosions sounded out, as guns of many different calibers released shrieking shells of metal towards the siren forces, pillars of water shooting high into the sky around the poor unfortunate vanguard of the base’s defensive forces.

Some of the ships tried to fire back, with one of the sirens’ cruisers shooting off pulses of plasma bolts towards Jeanne d’arc, who narrowly avoided the attack when Saint Louis warned her of its intent.

Turning on a dime, Dido aimed her guns towards the cruiser and fired off a salvo, three of her shots boring straight through the cruiser, which caused an internal explosion as the now-ruined vessel slowly sank to the bottom of the dark sea beneath.

If the sea were a living creature, then it surely feasted well that day, as the first diversion team sent the siren base’s protective fleet straight into the depths of the ocean’s gaping maw.

Overlooking ruins of the enemy’s fleet, Richelieu tapped her chin.

“Something seems off…”

Jean turned to her sister with a raised eyebrow.

“What'd Ya mean? Seems like it was pretty easy to me.” She commented.

“That’s the thing, sister. Didn’t that feel too easy? Surely for a facility holding one of the most sacred Iris relics, the sirens would have a more impregnable defense lacing its surrounding waters, would they not?” Richelieu posed in response.

Now it was Jean’s turn to look confused.

“I mean… I guess so.” She responded. “So why the hell’re we only facing some cruisers and a few destroyers?”

Duke of York piped in. “Perhaps our wayward foes have underestimated us? It is not like they are not known to do so, for they have foolishly believed us incapable of lesser things in the past.”

“Maybe… But I still have a bad feeling about this.” Richelieu responded, before activating her synch gear’s radio to speak with the rest of her team. “Nevertheless, we must push on. All ships head for the main base!”

At the behest of their commanding officer, the ships of the first diversion team slowly began heading towards the massive looming siren facility in front of them.

Looking up at the massive spiral of dark, thundering clouds above them, Dido swallowed a lump in her throat. Something was telling her things were off. This seemed… Far too easy.

Richelieu looked over at Dido tentatively.

“Brest… What is it you’ve seen?” Richelieu asked, taking a seat in front of the Iris’ PR cruiser. “Please tell me… What was the dream you had.”

Brest remained silent for a moment, before she spoke.

“I see our enemy flying high above us, I see our greatest champions swallowed by darkness… I see a city on fire… I fear a catastrophe is coming, Richelieu.”

The cardinal remained silent, taking in a deep, uncertain breath.

“Then we will face it with the conviction of our faith, and all of the strength we can muster.”

As the commotion of battle raged on around them, the infiltration team broke from the line of ships surrounding the base as they charged towards the main facility, keeping low to the ground as they tried to come off as inconspicuous as possible.

“It’s not much, but these experimental ponchos should be able to conceal you from sight. They’re blue, so with any luck nobody will really notice you upon approach. All you gotta do when you get there is wait outside the base, and wait for one of the other two teams to confirm that Purifier has left the base.”

Cutting low through the waves, the four shipgirls quickly arrived at their destination and stowed away their ponchos, as Sheffield turned to Belfast.

“Now we wait, correct?”

Belfast nodded in response, her white hair lightly whipping in the wind as the storm above head began to grow. “Yes, at the moment we need only wait for one of our comrades’ teams to confirm that Purifier has left the base, and then we may enter and complete our objective.”

Vauquelin kicked at the water. “Aw man… This is kinda boring. Isn’t there anything to do, I mean?”

Foch shrugged. “Well, it’s best not to get upset about it! We should focus on waiting for our signal for now, so let’s just bear with it, ok?”

The destroyer began lightly pouting, as Belfast turned around to look at the massive ocean behind her.

“Hmm… Something does feel off…”

Littorio swept her hand forwards as her fleet began cleaning up the last of the sirens’ defensive forces.

Smoke and flames danced through the air as the team’s cannons fell silent, as the Sardegnan battleship turned to her team of Algerie, Anchorage, Brest, Gascogne, and her dear sister Vittorio.

“Well done Mie Signore! With that, we are clear to approach the main facility ahead of us!” She called out over the synchronization gear radio.

Anchorage jumped up in the air a few times in celebration. “Yaaay! That means things are going well, right?”

“Yes, that’s right~.” Algerie confirmed, sailing up to Anchorage as she lightly tapped the top of the PR cruiser’s head.

As Brest took a minute to pray, Vittoro sailed up to her sister.

“Dear sister… Is it just me or… does something feel off?”

Tapping her finger on her chin a few times in contemplation, Littorio closed her eyes and thought about it. It was true, ever since they’d deployed and engaged the first enemy fleet things did seem rather easy.

There was this ever-present sense of… wrongness in the air. Perhaps it was simply frayed nerves due to the importance of the operation but…

Whatever, it wasn’t the time for hesitation. Now was the time for action!

“I too feel this strange sensation, but we must brave ahead regardless!” Littorio declared, waving her hand towards the massive black facility before them.

“Onwards my allies, we push forward now!”

Quickly gathering themselves back into formation, the second diversion team rushed forward towards the base.

Black clouds rolled overhead as something shined in the distance, from somewhere within the base.

In an instant, the air suddenly became tense.

Hairs stood on end as Anchorage instinctively looked up at the sky.

“Bad guy incoming!” She shouted, as a massive splash of water ripped into the ocean right in front of the second diversion team.

“Gah-!” Vittorio gasped, as a spray of sea mist blanketed the team from the impact of something powerful slamming into the sea in front of them.

“Oops! Didn’t mean to do that~!” A familiar, sinister cackle cut through the ocean haze.

“That voice-!” Brest shouted, recognizing the voice, as Gascogne quickly rushed to the front with her massive weapon brandished.

“Oh hello there Azur Lane~! Mind playing with me?!”

Chapter Text

“All teams, we’ve run into Purifier!”

Noticing their radios suddenly crackling to life, the infiltration team nodded to one another before Belfast motioned to Foch, who unsheathed her dagger and made her way towards one of the walls.

Igniting the weapon with a colorful flourish of flames, she stabbed the weapon into the wall and slowly cut a circle into the massive obstruction, before she kicked it in and carved her way through to the other side.

“Alright Belfast, we’re in~!” She declared, prompting Belfast to bow with gratitude before she took a step inside, careful not to touch any of the orange-hot metal on the way in.

Once safely inside, she motioned for the others to silence the radios integrated with their synchronization gear, before she motioned towards the inside of the building.

“Well then, shall we?”

With a nod of confirmation from each member, the team quickly made their way inside the building and began searching through the endless corridors.

“Sheesh… You’d think the sirens would make some sort of interior designer or something after all these years of using the same bland color scheme.” Vauquelin commented, as Foch chuckled at jab at the sirens’ lack of artistic imagination.

“Well, I’m sure they’ll appreciate your feedback~!” Foch joked, as Belfast suddenly came to a stop just before rounding a corner and held her hand out to signal the rest of the team to halt.

Attempting to peer around Belfast’s body to see what she’d seen, Vauquelin was quickly hushed as Belfast motioned towards Sheffield.

“Would you kindly?”

Sheffield nodded without missing a beat, and quickly unholstered the twin pistols she’d kept somewhere beneath her maid uniform’s dress, before she walked up to the corner and took a look.

A security camera, with a single red eye sweeping most of the corridor. Luckily, they were just out of sight, meaning they’d be able to eliminate this obstacle with minimal difficulties.

Taking aim at the tiny little droid, Sheffield squeezed the trigger and popped a series of rounds into the camera, destroying it instantly.

“Excellent work, Sheffield.” Belfast commented, patting the other cruiser on the back before she motioned for the team to keep moving.

With that obstruction dealt with, the infiltration squad was free to keep moving, and move they did, right down the now-open corridor and swiftly through the door behind it.

Their metal shoes pounded against the floor as the sound of explosions and bullet-fire reverberated from outside, the building occasionally shaking from the force of such shockwaves.

“Miss Littorio must have used her ability…” Belfast murmured to herself.

“Hmm? What’s that?” Vauquelin popped in, curiously tilting her head to the side as she sped up to run alongside the maid.

“Ah, well… Miss Littorio’s ability isn’t something all that tangible, at least the one she’s most proficient with anyway.” Belfast began to explain.

Purifier cackled as she narrowly dodged a salvo from Anchorage, who quickly moved to put herself in between the backline of battleships and the very enthusiastic siren in front of her.

“Woooaaahhh… What’s that aura around you? It seems to be doing something special! Not that that’s gonna matter in a bit, when you’re all paste ‘n shit!” Purifier shouted with a mixture of sadism and delight, before she whipped around in the air and fired another set of beams at the fleet of kansen.

“Move!” Littorio shouted, before throwing herself into evasive maneuvers to avoid being struck by the siren’s devastating beam weapons.

Anchorage ducked underneath one of the blasts, as Littorio’s shimmering aura of green, red, and white enveloped her being, giving her strength and dexterity beyond what she’d grown used to bearing.

The kansen under her command quickly followed suit, as Brest clasped her hands together and spoke a soft prayer.

An instant later, holy light enveloped the team as any of the wounds that Purifier had previously dealt them were healed.

“Oooh… So you’ve got a healing ability! I heard those are rare as fuck, so you must be something special!” Purifier shouted, before turning her guns towards the heavy cruiser.

“Let’s see just how special you are!”

Once more she fired her beam cannons, lasers shooting out from her unnaturally smooth black barrels. They came charging towards Brest with incredible speed, and nearly struck the angelic PR ship if not for the timeline intervention of Gascogne.

“Wow, they really sent the cream of the crop after me, huh!” Purifier chuckled, twirling around in the air as she looked towards Littorio.

“Ahahahahaha! Alright, let’s pick up the pace shall we?!” The mad siren chuckled, before darting through the air towards the leader of the second diversion fleet.

“Anchorage won’t let you!” A voice suddenly cried out, as Anchorage quickly thrust herself in the way of the attack, taking the full brunt of the psychotic siren’s charge.

“GAH-”

“UGH-”

Tumbling to the ocean, Anchorage rolled over as Purifier skipped across the ground, ricocheting off of the cruiser like a simple tossed pebble.

The other kansen didn’t miss this opportunity, and Vittorio unloaded a salvo straight into Purifier, who tumbled to a stop at point-blank range.

“AUUGH- FUCK!” Purifier shouted, aiming her guns at Vittorio before she was suddenly kicked like a soccer ball by Anchorage.

Skidding to a stop a short ways away, Purifier wiped away the blood slowly trickling down the corner of her mouth as she stared confusedly and angrily towards the Eagle Union cruiser.

“You… How the hell are you so durable…?”

The massive halo above Anchorage softly hummed as strange shimmering stars floated around the cruiser.

“Anchorage really good at taking hits… You won’t hurt Anchorage’s friends!” She shouted, before rushing towards Purifier once again, her guns releasing powerful bursts of heat and air as she once again engaged the siren.

“Worry not my friends, things are still going as predicted, we need only stay strong and push forward!” Littorio shouted, as the diversion team knuckled down to continue their fight with Purifier. “The other team is on their way, hold firm!”

All of a sudden, Purifier began to chuckle.

Then, she began to laugh.

She doubled over in the air, floating in circles as she started cackling like a maniacal genius who just discovered a new source of energy.

“What’re you laughing for…?” Algerie asked, brandishing her mace as she lit the cold, black steel aflame.

Purifier sighed, slapping her side slower and slower before she eventually came to a stop, a sinister smile slowly spreading across her face.

“What’d you mean they’re on their way… Did I ever say I was the only obstacle?”

Littorio suddenly tensed up, that unnerving feeling from before suddenly flaring like never before, as if someone had thrown hot coals onto the raging fire of unease boiling inside of the pit of her stomach.

“...What do you mean?”

“Dunkerque!” Vauquelin shouted, rushing over to the visibly exhausted and injured battleship as Belfast and Sheffield quickly followed, aiming their weapons around in order to secure a perimeter.

Foch grimaced as she got a closer look. Dunkerque looked horrible, her body was riddled with signs of exhaustion and fatigue. Her eyes looked a little sunken, and it was clear she’d passed out from the pure lack of energy her time must’ve left her.

“Dunkerque… It's gonna be okay now, we’re here.” The flame-touched dagger proclaimed, using her deft bladework to sever the chains holding up the wounded battleship.

Quickly catching her in her arms, Foch smiled to herself. “Jean will be very happy to know you’re safe. Come on now, let’s get out of here.”

Turning back to the others as she mounted Dunkerque on her back via piggy-back ride, Foch spoke up with a question. “So, all we have to do now is find the holy grail, right?”

Belfast nodded in response. “Yes, that is the final objective we have in our mission. Now then, we should get going, I have a terrible feeling for some reason.”

As the group began to take their leave, Sheffield instinctively turned back around, and noticed a stand.

A stand that seemed to have previously held what looked like a suit of clothing, though it now remained empty and unused, a large black cloth tossed to the side nearby.

For some reason, the strange, uneasy feeling inside her chest refused to go away, and it intensified when she looked towards the empty stand.

“What… What’s going on…?”

“Sheffield! We’re going~!”

“Oh… Sorry.”

Shaking her head as if to dispel the thoughts, Sheffield quickly began running after the rest of the team, blocking out those feelings in spite of her common sense.

Continuing their search for the holy grail, the group of kansen slowly became more and more frustrated when they couldn’t find the holy relic they were searching for.

“Damn… Surely it can’t be that well hidden, could it?” Belfast whispered to herself, rounding a corner as Vauquelin suddenly spoke up.

“Guys! Is it just me or… Is something coming our way?”

Like a flash of lightning, everyone present could instantly sense that something was wrong. Something big was coming their way, and fast.

“We’ve got incoming-”

BOOM!

A massive explosion sent the group tumbling to the floor, scattering the four of them about like scythes taken to the corn.

Foch scrambled over to Dunkerque, shielding the battleship’s body with her own, drawing twin daggers that she imbued with pyrokinetic might as she glared up at where she thought their attacker came from.

She’d soon wish she never looked.

“Ahahahaha~! Wow, I gotta thank the boss lady! She really gave me something fun to work with!” A familiar, horrific chuckle came from within the cloud of dust and smoke.

Belfast’s skin went cold.

“Wait… But… She should be occupied with the diversion teams, should she not…!?”

“D-Dangit, something’s going on!” Dido yelled, as another Purifier burst from the ocean beneath her, grabbing at her throat before the cruiser quickly batted her away with her massive black blade.

Richelieu grimaced as she began to realize what was going on.

“Damn…! This was a trap!”

“Yeah, no shit! What’re we gonna do about it?!” Jean Bart shouted over to her sister, aiming her two turrets towards Purifier as she released a powerful salvo of ammunition.

“This is bad… This is really bad!”

Jeanne d’arc lay cradled in Saint Louis’ arms, blood trickling down her head from the devastating hit she’d taken head on from Purifier’s rigging.

“Louis…?”

“Stay silent for now, you need to rest.” Saint Louis responded, gently placing her down as she brandished her massive spear towards Purifier.

“You fiend! This act will not go unpunished!” The crusader declared, as Purifier chuckled loudly.

“Oh man, you Iris guys are the fucking funniest! You’re really not gonna like what happens next, that’s for sure~!”

The saint’s blood ran cold.

“...What do you mean?”

Clad in sleek, futuristic black armor, Purifier flicked her hair to the side as she spread her arms out wide before her.

“Behold, Purifier Alpha~! I named it after my shitty friend, y’see!”

The blistering golden energy radiating off of her like a flood of gilded ichor was incredible, almost suffocating in a way. But, perhaps the scariest feeling of all, was that this aura… Had an underlying sense of comfort…

For the Iris and Vichya.

Dunkerque stirred beneath Foch, as Sheffield and Vauquelin took defensive stances at the front of the group.

“Dunkerque!? Hey, you gotta stay still, we’ll get you out of this somehow!”

“Mmm… Foch…?”

As the strange power flowing off of Purifier drifted down to ground-level, and the air became thick with tension, a few barely-audible words from Dunkerque cut through the silence like a heated blade through soft paper.

“Is that… the holy grail…?”

Chapter Text

The wind blows slowly, grass gently swaying with the breeze as Littorio looks out over the vast ocean blue spanning before her. Turning to the small maid next to her, she pats her back and takes a seat.

“Tell me, Signora Dido, what ails you this fine day?” She asks.

Dido hesitates a moment, but she’s become used to telling others her troubles by now. “I… I’m scared, Miss Littorio.”

“Hmm? Why so?” Littorio continues, prodding further into the maid’s troubles.

“I… I’m scared of my abilities. I… I don’t want to lose control again… I-It felt horrible, unnatural, a-and… I don’t want it to happen again.” Dido confesses, looking ashamed of herself.

“I’m… afraid of myself.”

Littorio understands. 

Gently rubbing the maid’s back, Littorio begins to speak once more.

“That is simply natural, Signora Dido. Many before you have felt unsure, afraid even, of their own power. Even someone as brazen as Akagi can feel such emotions, there is no need to be ashamed of such fears!” She explains.

Dido nods her head a few times, but it seems there’s still some apprehension left.

Words alone may indeed be strong, but as proven before, they cannot solve anything without the necessary actions taken. Littorio knows this well. She’s a trained speaker, a master of the linguistic arts and the smoothest tongue in all of Sardegna, but even she knows that action must be taken to ensure progress.

She doesn’t blame Dido for still being afraid, because everyone feels afraid.

Dido stutters, struggling to speak, before Littorio places a reassuring set of pats upon the maid’s head.

“I… I know it’s unlikely, but I… I do not know what to do if I lose control again.” She admits, delicate fingers poking together with uncertainty and fear.

The jewel of the Sardegna Empire nods with understanding, rubbing Dido’s shoulders before wrapping one arm around the cruiser, motioning towards the great ocean before them.

“Such a thing is natural, but unneeded. For I, Littorio, shall intervene in such a case! So fear not, Signora Dido!” She proclaims.

It’s only then that the small maid manages a smile. A hesitant one, yes, but a smile nonetheless.

“I know I said all that, but…”

Littorio’s radiant smile begins to waver, as she lays eyes on the massive pillar of golden light shooting into the heavens high above, sinister yet holy particles of glimmering energy slowly floating down onto the oceanic battlefield.

“T-Teacher, what’s going on?!” Anchorage shouted over the radio, as static filled the device before a voice cut through.

“We’re gonna be honest… Not sure. Though, if what I’m hearing on Belfast’s end is true, we’re in deep shit…” They responded.

“Wait, w-what does that mean…?” Anchorage asked, hesitation filling her voice as she began to back up a little bit.

Littorio’s fist tightened, as the copy of Purifier before them began spasming and twitching, like its internal mechanisms were going haywire.

“...Even I’m beginning to feel nervous.”

BOOM

Feet pounded on the steel plating beneath them, as Belfast’s team bolted down hallway after hallway, narrowly avoiding the gold-wreathed terror chasing them from behind, Dunkerque firmly placed on Foch’s back.

“Why’re you guys running? I mean damn, I’m feeling great! So why don’t you stick around and have some fun?!” She screamed, before she summoned thin, sleek black cannons resembling the ones attached to her rigging, all of which began spewing laser beams towards the group.

Sheffield grit her teeth as one of the laser beams singed her leg, landing only a glancing blow before the team rushed down another set of hallways.

“We need to find an exit, fast!” Belfast called, before she kicked her gear’s radio back to life.

“Master, this is HMS Belfast! We’ve retrieved Dunkerque, and we’ve found the holy grail, only I don’t believe you’ll be pleased to hear where it is…” She reported, as The Commander quickly hopped back onto their radio to respond.

“Excellent work Belfast, just get outside and We’ll deal with the rest.”

“Unfortunately, doing so will be rather difficult. On account of our dear guest here chasing us!” She responded, before ducking her head just in time to avoid a triple laser barrage from the mad siren flying after her team.

“Damn… We understand. In that case, what kind of information did you glean?” The Commander asked in response, murmuring to themselves in the meantime as Belfast led her team through another twisting corridor.

“As far as we know, Purifier seems to have… absorbed the holy grail, in some manner, likely as a result of the strange set of armor she’s currently wearing.” Belfast responded, as Vauquelin squeaked after narrowly avoiding death by laser beam.

“We see… In that case, forget trying to damage her in any way, try to lead her outside and we’ll deal with her then.” The Commander replied.

“Understood, Master!” Turning back around to the rest of the team, Belfast shouted over the noise and laser fire. “Our orders are simply to get back outside as quickly as possible!”

With each member of the team nodding in response, Belfast retrieved the throwable shells she kept within the confines of her skirt, and hurled the high-explosives forward, boring a hole through the wall in front of them as they ran straight forward.

“Where’re you going!?” Purifier called after them, the high-pitched whirring of her armor echoing through the now-broken halls.

Firing a salvo of high-explosive straight into the Purifier drone attacking her team, Dido dove out of the way as the drone came charging at her, narrowly missing as Saint Louis thrust forward and impaled the drone on her massive lance.

The Richelieu-class sisters finished the job, their massive guns firing in tandem as they obliterated the drone once and for all in a hail of high-explosive shrapnel and explosions.

Though it was indeed a drone, and probably not indicative of the original’s power, it was at least a nice victory.

At least, without taking into consideration the situation going on around them.

“This isn’t good…” Richelieu thought to herself, as she activated her synch gear’s radio to speak with The Commander.

“Commander, what’s going on?” She asked, as The Commander swiftly responded.

“Well… We’ll keep things short: turns out, Purifier absorbed the holy grail!” They responded.

Richelieu paused.

“...Oh.”

“Yeah, things REALLY aren’t going well.”

The Cardinal suddenly turned her head as a massive explosion rang out across the ocean, flames and smoke bursting from a wall of the enormous siren facility in front of them as Belfast’s team leapt out of the opening, quickly followed by the now-empowered Purifier.

Her eyes swiftly locked onto the strange black armor Purifier wore. Rather than a full suit of plate armor, it seemed to consist of plating around her forearms, shins, and other such parts, exposing skin with a shimmering golden core floating in front of the center of Purifier’s chest.

With The Commander’s words and visible proof in front of her, combined with the strangely familiar sensation that washed over her before when the pillar of light rose high into the heavens, Richelieu’s worst fears were realized, as were the fears of everyone Iris/Vichya individual watching.

The Sirens had control of the holy grail.

Belfast’s team made a break for it, running straight towards the line of Iris frigates as The Commander’s voice boomed over every radio it could.

“Diversion Teams, surround her now! We need to keep her contained until we can figure out how to deal with this!” 

Swiftly turning to the rest of her team, Richelieu barked their orders, and the team spun on their heels.

The grave news weighed heavily on the team, with even Duke of York not bearing the typical mischievous smile that usually spread across her visage.

Jeanne d’Arc sailed up beside Richelieu.

“Cardinal, are you alright?”

Richelieu nodded in response, affixing her eyes towards their enemy as they sailed at top speed towards the mad dog of the sirens.

“Yes… We need only focus now. We’ve spoken our prayers, now we must trust in the Lord to give us strength in our time of need.”

Jean Bart rolled her eyes as she overheard their conversation, rather fed-up with her more pious sister’s ramblings. Regardless, she was right, the only thing they could trust now was their strength.

Dido felt a hitch form in her throat, apprehension rising from her stomach into her chest as she sailed forward with her team, spotting Littorio’s group on the horizon as they all closed in on Purifier.

Popping her radio to life, Richelieu began to communicate with Littorio, as the two fleets quickly began to encircle the beast.

Purifier, on the other hand, looked around at the ships surrounding her, and simply began to laugh.

“Wow, I can’t say I like your style at all! You guys stink, but oh well! I might as well try out this new baby on the lot of you!” She cackled, spinning around with joy as the rest of the kansen finished their encirclement.

“Officer Varennes, we’ll need your support for this. Can you prepare your vessels to fire their missiles at our command?” Richelieu asked over the radio.

“But of course! Just give us the signal, and we shall unleash the Lord’s holy wrath upon our fleet-footed enemy!” The man responded, barking orders to his crew members as Richelieu nodded in gratitude.

“Thank you, Officer.” She said, before turning back to Purifier, who continued laughing her ass off.

“What’s so funny?” Saint Louis shouted, demanding the psychotic siren to explain herself as she swung her spear down, aiming the tip straight at the siren’s chest.

“Oh nothing, I mean, should you REALLY be worried about lil ‘ol me?” She asked, as Littorio quickly followed.

“What does that mean, what have you planned!?” The emerald beauty inquired with a thunderous, firm tone.

“Hmmm… You know what, I’ve done enough foreshadowing! Fuck it, I’ll show you!” Purifier shouted, clicking a button as the very ocean beneath them started rumbling.

“What the-” Algerie began to say, before the base behind Purifier seemed to open up, a massive hatch on top of the structure prying itself open like the maw of a beast.

And from that maw came death.

Purifier drones began flying out of the top, each cackling and giggling like the original, before they began diving for the nearest target. The circle of frigates being their first victims.

Anti-air fire lit the sky, but it did little to stop the advance of the drones, who quickly started toying with their food, shooting lasers through the vessels just enough to begin flooding them, but not enough to fully sink them.

They wanted to inflict terror.

They wanted to have some sick form of “fun” before the end.

It was horrific.

Purifier turned back to the group, as the majority of the drones swiftly changed the targets of their gaze to the two fleets of kansen surrounding the original.

Dido felt her throat close up, as Purifier snapped her fingers.

“Girls, get ‘em!”

And then they descended.

Chapter Text

Screams.

Screams filled her ears.

Dido felt her throat tighten up as orders were shouted, and the kansen desperately scrambled into battle formation, as the horde of Purifiers descended onto them, sprays of sea mist and ocean water kicking into the air as rays of light spewed from the sirens’ weapons onto their position.

“Incom-” They barely had time to shout out a warning before the wave of beams was upon them, tearing into their ranks and dealing massive swathes of damage to their group.

Jeanne D’Arc took critical damage, thrown to the ocean surface as smoke trailed from her rigging. Brest soon followed, attempting to shield Richelieu from an especially clustered barrage of laser fire aimed directly at the fearsome cardinal.

Vittorio fell next, shoving Littorio out of the way before a laser shot straight through her flank, crippling the battleship for the remainder of the fight and thoroughly knocking her out.

“Sister! Please, speak to me!”

“Brest! Oh lord, Brest are you alright? Jeanne?!” 

Voices rang in her ears as the drones above head laughed with sadistic glee, screams echoing out from around her from the circle of frigates behind them, and the distressed kansen desperately trying to rally back from the damage dealt to their allies.

Purifier wasn’t done.

“Oh, did you think that was the end of it? Sorry!” She taunted, before snapping her fingers a second time, commanding the drones to repeat their attack.

The maid’s eyes widened, as she quickly shouted back to the group.

“THEY’RE COMING BACK!”

Too late.

Another set of lasers bore down on them faster than any of them could react to or evade, a shower of glimmering yellow shredding even the ocean waves apart as they descended upon their victims.

The first victim of the second wave was Duke of York, who attempted to defend Dido and Saint Louis from the incoming hailstorm of light, only to find herself pierced through the stomach by one of the deadly beams.

Swiftly following was Algerie, who narrowly threw Jean Bart out of the way of a frightening flurry of blasts, only to find herself taking the brunt of it instead.

Even Saint Louis and Gascogne fell, though instead of falling to the lasers, they instead fell attacking Purifier.

Saint Louis rushed forward, attempting to cut the mad siren in half, assisted by Gascogne.

“Repent, foul beast!”

“Eliminating target.”

Quickly dodging out of the way of the attacks, Purifier kicked both kansen down to the water and lit up their positions with the flying laser cannons adorning either side of her, causing a deafening explosion to ring out through the battlefield.

Belfast quickly leapt in to support, followed by Vauquelin and Sheffield. Despite their fierce resistance, they too fell to Purifiers new-found fearsome firepower. Foch nearly joined them, but Belfast signaled her to retreat with Dunkerque.

“We have one of our objectives… Just get her to safety!”

Foch grit her teeth, hesitating for just a moment before she swung around and sailed off towards The Commander’s ship, Dunkerque in her arms.

And then, there were five.

Jean Bart, Littorio, Anchorage, Richelieu, and Dido.

They were all that remained of the combined fleet.

Littorio quickly reactivated her aura, the soft mix of white, red, and green coming to settle on all of the ships present, slowly beginning to heal the wounded kansen.

“F-Fear not my allies! Our wounded comrades have been stabilized.” Littorio proclaimed, though that was barely an upside considering what they were up against.

Richelieu felt her hands slightly trembling, as she quickly turned to the others and forced herself to act.

If they didn’t do something now, a lot of lives were going to be lost.

“Everyone, focus on protecting the frigates! Jean and I will deal with her!”

Littorio nodded, as Purifier cackled and suddenly rushed at them.

“What’re you girls talking about hmm? Don’t leave me out of the conversation!”

WHACK!

Suddenly, Purifier found herself being knocked across the water like a baseball at the World Series.

“A-Are you okay?” Dido asked, swinging around as she lowered her massive blade.

“Yes… Thank you, Dido. Now then, Littorio, if you’d kindly.” Richelieu asked.

Once more the battleship nodded in confirmation, before promptly swinging around to Anchorage and Dido, the former of which was looking rather spooked.

“Alright, we need only focus on protecting the frigates… That we can certainly manage!” Littorio proclaimed, before she quickly motioned to the others and darted off.

Anchorage took a deep breath, trying to calm down as Dido held her shoulder for a second.

“I-It’s gonna be okay… W…We can do it, for sure!” The maid assured, before she sailed off to fight against the massive swarm of Purifier clones.

Anchorage stood frozen to the spot, hands shaking as she looked up at the cloud of Purifiers in front of her.

She shook her head.

“Anchorage has to be brave… Don’t be scared… Don’t be scared!” She yelled at herself, before rushing back into the fray, anti-air and main guns spraying the sky.

Richelieu turned to Jean Bart, as the two of them stared down their opponent.

“Sister… Do you have my back?” She asked.

Jean rolled her eyes. “Tch, ‘course I do, let’s just fight already dammit!”

Proudly firing her main guns, Jean Bart loosed a set of high explosive shells that Purifier easily dodged out of the way of, before weaving her Blacklight into the form of a whip.

Swinging her arm out, she wrapped the strip of onyx light around Purifier’s leg, before she swung down and brought the mad siren down to the Earth.

Richelieu followed up, rushing in with her flag which she wreathed in holy light. Taking advantage of the downed siren, she thrust the sharpened point of the flag towards Purifier.

“Woah, you two have pretty good teamwork!” Purifier shouted, before energy flashed across her body and the whip of blacklight was ripped apart by the sudden rush of power.

Kicking her right leg up, Purifier deflected Richelieu’s blow before she swiftly regained her aerial advantage, shooting into the air.

Jean Bart was quick to capitalize, using her main guns to send another hail of shells towards Purifier; these ones being armor piercing.

“Gotcha!” She shouted, as the shells hit Purifier dead-on at the apex of her jump, a powerful explosion ringing out through the ocean as smoke filled the sky.

“That has to have hurt her, all eight of my shells hit the center-mark!” Jean shouted triumphantly, as the smoke slowly dispersed…

…And the sign of despair emerged from the cloud.

“Aww, and you did all that work just for this! Man, that shit’s really sad!” Purifier taunted, as a shimmering yellow barrier that seemed to wrap around her skin shimmered before returning to its previously-unseen form.

“What the- Dammit!” Jean shouted, gritting her teeth as Richelieu stood firm, spinning her flag as she aimed the tip at Purifier once again.

“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see…” She whispered to herself, before her eyes opened. “There is no such thing as something without weakness, we need only crack it open!”

“Come Jean, let us rid this world of this foul demon!” She cried, before her own weapons let loose their payload and she lunged forward with lethal intent.

“Dammit, come on!” Jean shouted, before joining her sister in the assault, manifesting a longsword made of shimmering darkness.

With their cannons still on cooldown, the only option was a melee assault.

Purifier was seemingly more than willing to oblige, her cannons powering off as she lunged forward, yellow energy crackling around her hands before curved blades of light shot from them.

Richelieu took the lead, taking a wide swing with her light-engulfed banner that Purifier swiftly ducked underneath.

Jean Bart didn’t let this go unnoticed, transforming her blade from a longsword to a rapier as she thrust towards the feral siren with all her might.

With wholly unnatural flexibility, Purifier twisted her body out of the way of the attack as she rushed for the Vichya leader’s neck.

Her face however, was soon met with the back-end of Richelieu’s flagpole, the energy shield around Purifier rippling like water as it defended against the attack.

It did stop Purifier’s momentum however, and Jean took full advantage of the new opening. Orbs of blacklight formed around her, before they sharpened into swords, and went shooting into the siren’s side.

Purifier attempted to twist out of the way, but Richelieu quickly denied her escape, maneuvering herself to force Purifier in between the blades and the battle-ready Cardinal.

Again their attacks struck true, and again they fell null against the resilient force of Purifier’s shield. 

As Purifier began to force them back, Richelieu grit her teeth. They simply weren’t able to contend with such a force that’d taken out their stronger comrades in a single, swift motion.

In fact, she theorized that Purifier was simply playing with them at the moment.

…Which they could exploit.

“Jean, keep attacking! Leave the rest to me, sister!” She shouted.

Jean didn’t miss a beat. “Fine!”

Her cannons reloaded, and at point-blank range, she let loose everything her arsenal had to offer, secondary cannons and anti-aircraft guns included.

Purifier tried to dodge out of the way, but with such little distance, and so much to dodge, not even she could perfectly avoid everything.

“It’s been bothering me…” Richelieu thought, as she stowed her flag and clapped her hands together, holy light beginning to glow off of her.

“If that shield is so impenetrable… Why has she been dodging? Should she not just rush us down and cull us like wheat to the scythe?”

Her eyes closed, the sounds of battle slowly fading away as her faith came to focus on a single point: in between her hands.

“This could be risky but… If this works… We might just have a chance after all.”

Jean formed a tower shield from her power, barely blocking a series of blade-strikes from the crazed siren.

“AHAHAHA! COME OUT COME OUT WHEREVER YOU ARE!” Purifier cackled.

“Dammit, the hell is wrong with you!” Jean shouted in response.

The blood-crazed siren raised her right hand high into the air, the energy making up her arm-blade dispersing for a moment before it all gathered into her fist.

Energy rippled across her body before it all coalesced into a single point within Purifier’s hand.

And just for a moment, Jean Bart noticed something.

A wave crashed nearby, spraying water onto Purifier’s body, and getting her top wet.

“Did she just take down her she-”

“BYE BYE!” Purifier laughed, winding her fist back before she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand straight on end.

Gleam!

Richelieu came sliding in from Purifier’s blindspot, a tremendous amount of light held within her right hand.

“The Holy Grail, for all its wonder and mystique, is not infinite. If my theory is correct, her armor is using the grail as a power source… And though it is impressive, it is not endless! She must’ve been dodging our attacks because she can’t keep the shield up forever! Which means that if she wants to power up an attack… She needs to use the energy she’s using to keep up the shield!”

BLAM!

Richelieu released the light in one swift thrust, a blinding flash of light engulfing the sea before a concentrated beam of light shot into the heavens; rending the clouds in two before slowly drifting away into sparkles.

Purifier took in heavy, labored breaths, energy rippling across her body as her shield held firm.

“Shit… You nearly got me…”

Richelieu took a hesitant step back.

“No…”

The siren cackled, leaning back as she clasped a hand over her face.

“You figured it out! This thing’s big weakness! Damn, looks like Boss Woman’s gonna have to patch this out! Still, in any case… I’m not gonna take you two lightly anymore!” She promised, before her cannons came back online, and the remaining blade on her hand disappeared.

They aimed squarely at Richelieu.

Jean’s eyes widened the instant she sensed Purifier’s intent, and she flung herself forward to stop the attack, to intervene, to do something.

But Richelieu had already understood what her blunder had meant.

It was strange, now that she thought about it.

Staring down the sleek black barrels of Purifier’s hammerhead rigging.

Every strife she’d come across in her life, had been because of her first mistake.

And now, this one would claim her life.

In a way, it was poetic.

“I’m sorry, Dido. I think… I messed up.”

“SISTER!”

The scream pierced through all the noise of the battlefield.

The fighting soldiers, the defending kansen, the mad sirens, it all came to a brief stop.

Dido recognized the voice. And she felt something terrible building up.

Her head slowly turned towards the source of the shout, tears beginning to well up in the corners of her eyes.

“Miss… Richelieu…?”

Her eyes confirmed what her heart didn’t want to see.

Richelieu lay cradled in Jean Bart’s arms, burn wounds covering her body, with a hole square through her gut.

Her heart sank.

"Worry not Dido, I'll be here to help."

“Dido, I… Thank you. I… I think I needed that.”

“I… I’m sorry, Miss Dido. This… This is my fault.”

“Do not worry, we will be here to help you through this. You are not alone, Dido.”

“...Thank you, Dido. I really mean that.”

From the depths of Dido’s heart, something stirred.

Something rose up from the pit of her stomach.

She felt it coming, she knew what was about to happen.

But unfortunately, she couldn’t think.

She couldn’t even see through the tears blinding her sight.

The contract is broken.

Darkness flooded the ocean, as Dido grabbed at her chest.

“Ah… Ah…! AAAHHHHHHHH!”

She screamed.

She screamed at the top of her lungs, knees failing her as black miasma, liquid shadow, and all manner of horrific darkness rose into the air and spread into the waters surrounding her. 

The clouds began to darken, as Dido’s piercing shriek turned the sky from night to day.

Her heart tightened, as Dido scrambled to her feet, struggling and slipping as she forced herself back up, releasing another ear-shattering cry.

Glimmering lilac tears rushed down her cheeks, as branching darkness suddenly shot from her body, spreading out across the ocean like a virus, with speeds completely unheard of from the tiny cruiser.

They impaled the purifier drones lining the once-blue sky, each duplicate suddenly finding its throat rent asunder by the screaming darkness.

Ferocious waves of darkness shattered the surface of the sea, breaking up the waters around Dido as the cruiser’s heartbroken screams finally came to a stop.

And she looked up...

To grasp her sword.

Chapter Text

Anchorage froze.

What else was she supposed to do in the face of this monstrosity?

Darkness flooded the earth, as the multitude of impaled Purifier clones were slowly dragged in towards the center of the branching shadows: Dido.

She felt afraid.

The PR cruiser shivered as she watched them be crushed, the sound of metal and flesh crunching and distorting reverberated out as they disappeared into the bottomless dark pit that Dido had become.

And in the very next instant, they were all gone.

Just like that, every single Purifier duplicate had been utterly and absolutely eradicated. Like mere flies to the flyswatter of David, they had been culled and disposed of, devoured by the darkness. They were gone.

Completely.

Littorio immediately radioed the Commander, static heavily muffled by the wallowing darkness looming overhead.

“Commander, any idea what’s going on?”

More static filled the radio, barely breaking up the ominous silence and void that filled the air, before the Commander’s voice finally began to drift back in.

“Yeah uh… So, remember those contracts?”

“Indeed I do…” Littorio responded.

“Well… I’m gonna go ahead and guess that something prompted Dido to draw on her powers again, or something activated them without her knowing and… this is the result.”

The gem of Sardegna grit her teeth, hand balming into a fist.

“Ah… So this is the price for breaking a contract.”

She was made to be a killing machine.

A chaotic wave of devastation composed of humanity’s most insane thoughts, or at least that’s what she gathered from Observer.

She wasn’t meant to feel fear, that was something that would get in the way of their creator’s “mission” or whatever.

In any case, Purifier wasn’t meant to be afraid.

Ever.

But in this situation…

“What the actual fuck…?” She murmured to herself, floating back instinctively as whatever was left of Dido suddenly snapped in her direction.

BOOM!

Dido disappeared, before instantly reappearing behind Purifier as she wildly swung her sword, bringing with the massive hunk of steel a tidal wave of darkness.

“Oh shit-!” Purifier shouted, before she was cut off by the titanic ocean of black misery washing over her entire being.

Scarce beams of light shone from within the writhing mass as Purifier burst out with a powerful expulsion of energy, barely able to smile in relief before her face was grabbed by a hand enveloped in darkness.

Turning her eyes to look at Dido, she found herself unable to look at the maid for more than a few seconds without slowly losing her mind.

She was just so… incomprehensible.

There was solidity yet no true form. There was a semblance of order, yet too was there endless chaos. The longer she stared, the more she began to slip.

It felt like she was staring into a black hole.

Unfeeling.

Unwavering.

Hungry.

“W-What the fuck are you!?” She shouted in disgust shutting her eyes as she summoned her deadly array of cannons, dozens upon dozens of deadly siren weapons appearing from around her as they swung on a swivel towards Dido’s center-masse.

Then at once, they fired.

They released a tremendous barrage of laser beams, which cut into the darkness with a series of withering shrieks.

For just a moment, the mass of darkness stopped moving.

Purifier reflexively sighed in relief, relaxing as she diverted power from her cannons back into her main body enhancers. Richelieu’s attack earlier had taken out a decent chunk of the energy she’d stockpiled inside the armor, but with the holy grail as a battery, she wasn’t going to run out so-

Crack!

“Oh fuck.”

Suddenly tightening her grip on Purifier’s body again, a series of objects slipped out from within the formless, fathomless gloom.

Cannons.

From the Purifier doubles.

“Oh come on!” Purifier shouted, as the cannons suddenly swung towards her and began charging with sickening lilac energy.

With a resounding POW! they all went off in Purifier’s face, as the siren diverted as much energy as she could to the shields before the beams could impact her.

Dido wasn’t finished.

She still had more cannons from the doubles.

Again sleek black barrels emerged from the Shadelord, countless corrupted siren weapons pointing directly at Purifier before they went off as well.

For a whole three minutes, they fired without end, laser beams and cannon shots tearing up the ocean surface beneath them, sending powerful tower waves out from the points of impact.

Jean Bart bit her lip as she watched, glancing down at Richelieu as the battle raged on.

“Just what the hell did you befriend…?”

Sailing over to The Commander, Littorio hopped aboard their vessel, where the now-unconscious Officer Varennes lay back-down, covered in bandages.

She walked up to The Commander, who sat with their legs dangling off the side of their ship, eyes staring out over the vast expanse before them.

“Commander…” She began to say, before she cleared her throat and spoke once more, clearer this time.

“Commander, how do we stop this?” She asked.

They remained quiet, simply watching out over the ocean for a few silent moments.

“...Well, the only person who COULD stop this is currently lying over there with a hole in her stomach.” They responded.

“What…?” Littorio asked.

“I’ll elaborate. In an earlier incident, Dido lost control in a similar manner to this. During that incident… Richelieu’s light was capable of dispelling some of the shadows that had been running rampant.” They elaborated.

“Unfortunately, as it stands now… there’s only one other way she could calm down.”

They stopped for a moment.

“...Which is?”

“We let her destroy Purifier.”

Littorio stopped.

She stood stunned for a moment, in disbelief at what she’d just heard.

“I’m sorry, what?” She asked again.

“I hypothesize that her current state is being spurred on by all of the horrible, malicious feelings she’s bearing towards Purifier. If we were to allow her to act upon those feelings in their entirety; that is to say, let her vent it all out, we may find that she’d stop, well, rampaging.” They explained.

“There’s just one problem with that plan.”

Littorio listened intently, remaining silent as she stood next to the Commander.

“If she does do that, if she does truly commit to killing Purifier like that… It’s unlikely she’ll ever be able to control her powers again. She’ll never be able to come back from letting all of those feelings run rampant like that.”

“What do you mean?”

“With the way her powers work, just letting her go crazy like that isn’t a good idea. They’re going to corrupt her if she doesn’t do something about it… So, either we sit back and let the magic happen, and just pray that Dido is able to recover from all this… Or we hope to God and back that Richelieu wakes up.”

Littorio stopped, and thought.

Her hand tightened.

She still had her third ability.

Her trump card.

“...So then, why are you sitting back here, Commander?”

“Because… We’re honestly not sure what the hell to do.”

For the first time since she could remember, Littorio watched a look of genuine uncertainty spread across The Commander’s face.

“Not sure how to deal with this… I wasn’t made for this situation.” She heard them whisper under their breath.

She smiled, and placed a hand upon The Commander’s shoulder.

“Well then… Fear not, my Commander! For I, the magnificent Littorio, shall wrest victory away from the jaws of defeat!” She proclaimed, pointing her sword defiantly into the sky before she turned back to The Commander, who spoke with confusion.

“I… Well, in that case… Good luck.” Was all they said.

Littorio nodded with a grin, before she hopped down from the boat and began sailing towards Anchorage, Foch, and Jean Bart.

“My friends, come here for a moment! I must speak with you!” She called out, as the other three made their way over to her, Richelieu still held within her sister’s arms.

“Signora Foch, I need you to begin evacuating as many of the frigates as possible. Tend to the wounded. Signora Anchorage and myself will deal with our rampaging friend over there.”

Foch nodded in response, as Jean Bart hesitated for a moment, tightening her grip on Richelieu.

“I can fight to… J-Just let me-”

“No, Signora Jean Bart, you must stay here and take care of your sister.”

“But-”

“I promise, we’ll take care of her.”

Averting her gaze for a second, Jean Bart looked back up at Littorio.

“You better… We still haven’t finished making up!” She shouted, before she sped off to find a safe place for herself and Richelieu to remain.

“Now then Signora Anchorage, we have to-”

“Wait!” Anchorage suddenly shouted.

Littorio stopped, turning to face Anchorage as the PR cruiser stood firmly in place.

“Anchorage… Anchorage no… no want to go fight…” She admitted, looking away from Littorio with shame.

“Ah… You feel afraid, do you?” Littorio asked.

Anchorage silently nodded, tears welling up in her eyes.

Despite being a kansen, and a strong one at that, she was still just a kid inside her mind. Something like this, after all those screams… It was just too much for Anchorage to handle.

She cracked.

“I see… I understand. What we’re about to do is indeed a daunting task, especially with our friend over there looking rather… Unwell.” Littorio began.

“Fear is a powerful thing, and it can do terrible things to our mind. As such, I will not force you to join the battle. Instead, I will fight alone if necessary, and if it should please you to aid me… Then I implore you to rush in with your heart ablaze and your tears dried!” She stated, planting a firm hand on Anchorage’s shoulder.

“Now then… I am off!” She declared, turning around and smiling over her shoulder at Anchorage before she sailed straight towards the hailstorm of battle in front of her.

Anchorage’s hands tightened.

Purifier struggled against the weight of the shadows above her, as she tried to push back against the force field she’d erected to protect herself from Dido’s onslaught.

The formless murk whaling on her from above kept attacking and attacking, desperately slamming its now certainly-dull blade into the shield in front of it.

“Hah! All I have to do is wait for you to burn yourself out, idiot!” She taunted from behind her barrier, pressing back against the flood of darkness before a blinding light from her left suddenly drew her attention.

Littorio stood firm, planting her sword into the ocean as water kicked up around her, and a tremendous amount of wisdom energy began to shoot through her body in its entirety.

Both the fathomless darkness and Purifier turned their heads towards Littorio, who smiled with the radiance of a thousand suns.

“Come, o’ brilliance of the stars! Come, o’ glory of my homeland! Rise from the earth and cover this hallowed ground with your endless splendor!” She called out, as the very ocean itself began to tremble.

Purifier rushed to attack Littorio, but it was too late.

With a truly incomprehensible flash of light, and an ear-splitting noise, Littorio called out to the heavens above.

“Emerge, Castelo Rosa!”

The ocean split apart as something tremendous rose up from the waves behind Littorio, rising high into the sky as the water sparkled off of it like a thousand stars.

Adorned with gold and made of the most beautiful marble… Stood a castle.

It was small enough to fit behind Littorio but that did not diminish its beauty in any way. The construct stood defiantly against swirling black heavens above, as Littorio swung her arm forward, as if signaling an army to fire.

“Now, Attack!”

A brilliant glow emerged from the castle, blanketing the ocean as a similar yet softer glow enveloped all of the kansen on the battlefield.

Jean Bart softly gasped as she looked down and realized Richelieu’s wound was slowly closing.

Dozens of flashes followed, going off all around the castle before an absolute storm of laser beams fired off from the castle, cutting through the air towards Dido and Purifier.

The shimmering strikes struck true into the violent storm of shade, and forced Purifier to drop her force field and throw all her energy into the shield lining her body to defend against the attack.

“Hah! You’ve got a crazy bitch and a fucking castle on your side, and you guys still can’t get through my shield! Man, that’s kinda sad!” She cackled, using this opportunity to float back and get a bit of much-needed distance.

Littorio grit her teeth a bit.

Her ability was indeed that of healing, much like Brest her castle emanated an aura of healing light. However, as a rule of thumb, all healing-based abilities that could just automatically repair wounds weren’t nearly as effective as the actual process of infusing wisdom energy into another kansen’s body.

She needed time for her power to kick in and properly restore Richelieu. But would Purifier allow her that time? Would Dido? If she were to go down, or if her castle were to be destroyed, Richelieu would certainly be done for…

She needed help.

Purifier cackled wildly as she shot high into the air, clasping her arms together before bringing them back, gathering a tremendous amount of energy into the palms of her hands.

Glistening yellow light concentrated together, as Purifier laughed louder and louder, the berserk Dido releasing a warbling scream in response.

Littorio grimly smiled, filling herself with energy as her castle began to charge up in response, preparing to meet the attack with her own barrage of lasers.

At this range, there was no way for her to accurately hit her with her cannons, meaning she was left with only one option: strike back as hard as she could.

She felt a seed of despair plant itself in her heart.

“Dammit… If only someone could reach her in time…!”

Anchorage stood, frozen.

Her eyes widened as she looked up at the sickening yellow glow filling the sky.

Despair filled her heart, as her eyes stared up at her impending death.

Her hands tightened, and her heart clenched.

She didn’t know what to do.

She had so many questions, worries, fears.

What if she tried to run? Could she make it to the others in time? Could they get Richelieu help in time? What would happen to Miss T.A?

Thoughts, worries, and anxiety rushed through her mind.

She felt afraid,

“Anchorage… Feel scared… Don’t know what to do…”

“W-Well… A really good friend once told me that… having courage isn’t about not being afraid. I-I mean, she was super scared a lot of the times she had to be brave, b-but… even in spite of that fear, she did the right thing anyway!”

“S-So um… It’s okay to be afraid! B-Because courage is about being afraid, a-and still fighting back anyway!”

She remembered Miss T.A.

She remembered all of the nice times they shared together. Their first meeting, the strange place Littorio had brought them to, the many lunches they’d shared together.

It wasn’t just Dido.

She remembered the rest of her Eagle Union comrades. She remembered Bremerton’s comforting words, Helena’s shaky kindness, Cleveland’s infectious positivity. She remembered all of the kindness and love she’d been given to get to this point. She remembered the warm embrace of the motherly Friedrich, who’d taken care of her in spite of their nature.

She remembered her teacher.

In this moment of retrospect, Anchorage turned around…

…And saw everyone she knew, standing behind her.

Smiling, and waving.

Warmth filled her body.

An emotion pierced through the darkness. It was stronger than any confidence, more potent than any fear, and warmer than any love she’d ever known.

She felt it wash over her, and as she looked back and saw her teacher… She saw him mouth something.

“Move.”

And so she did.

BOOM!

Chapter Text

“Move.”

WHACK!

The first thing Purifier felt was pressure.

Immense, unfathomable pressure.

Not the kind of suffocating pressure currently radiating out from Dido, but instead one that almost felt… inspiring?

No, that wasn’t the word.

She thought of calling it “holy”, as ironic as that was, but that wasn’t it either.

She finally landed on it.

“Heroic.”

The second thing Purifier felt was a fist impacting into her cheek from the left, burying into her face before she was rocketed away at blinding speeds.

The shockwave from the resulting punch rippled through the air, kicking up waves beneath despite the distance.

Littorio felt herself losing her footing as the waves reached her, nearly dousing her and her castle as she scrambled to find the source of the attack.

She soon found her answer, as something landed in the water just beneath the impact zone, another tidal wave of ocean water rippling outwards from the force of it.

Standing there on the water, wreathed in crackling blue and lilac energy… was Anchorage.

Her whole body seemed to be glowing, with light blue power leaking from the corners of her eyes like fluid lightning bolts. She’d seemingly fused with the strange stars usually orbiting her rigging, with the massive mechanical halo that often floated above her head having shrunken down to a more manageable size.

Turning to face Littorio, the gem of Sardegna noted that the PR cruiser’s eyes now sported a light dot of blue smack in the center of her otherwise lilac eyes.

“Signora Anchorage… are you alright?” She called out, as Dido turned to the direction that Purifier flew off in and let out a piercing roar, beginning to walk towards her.

Anchorage quickly motioned for Littorio to stop her.

“Anchorage can handle Purifier, please focus on saving Miss T.A and Miss Richelieu!” She called back, before rocketing off towards Purifier with a kick off the ground.

Raising her arms to cover herself from the spray of seawater, Littorio grit her teeth and quickly moved in front of Dido.

The sentient black hole seemed to tilt her head, as Littorio felt a shiver run through her spine from the borderline eldritch god staring her down.

“Alright Signora Dido… I need you to calm down now, alright?”

She looked at her Synchronization Gear’s built-in clock.

She had no idea how long her ability needed to fully heal Richelieu, but she estimated it to be around maybe five to ten minutes.

…Surely, she could last that long.

Purifier skidded to a stop, floating just above the water as her back hit the sleek metal wall of the base behind her.

“Holy shit… What the fuck was that?” She asked aloud, shaking her head a few times as she noticed something way off in the distance approaching her.

It was getting closer.

It was getting real closer.

Fast.

“OH SHIT-” She shouted, diving out of the way just in time as a flash of blue and pink SLAMMED into the wall behind her, utterly leveling it with a single blow.

The wall crumbled, completely blown away from the impact as shockwaves sent cracks and trembles throughout the whole facility.

Purifier diverted her energy back to her deadly cannons, which fired straight towards whatever the fuck just nearly took her head off.

The sounds of lasers hitting flesh indicated a series of direct hits, prompting Purifier to pump her fist in victory, before a foot stepped out of the smoke.

Then another.

Anchorage stood mostly unharmed, with only light burns decorating her skin. Energy was still pouring off of her, as she cracked her knuckles.

“You hurt Anchorage’s friends… You hurt them real bad!” She shouted, before disappearing in the blink of an eye.

“So now… Anchorage gonna make sure you can’t hurt them ever again!”

The resulting shockwave knocked Purifier off her feet, just as Anchorage reappeared behind her and swung into the mad siren with a devastating right hook to the side.

Purifier only barely had time to throw up her defensive shield, tanking the blow. However, she was still sent reeling, as Anchorage began pummeling her with a rush of furious blows.

Each sent massive waves outward, as Purifier instinctively looked at her energy tank.

The Holy Grail had about 60% of its energy left.

She could definitely hold on long enough til she found a way to beat what was essentially a kid throwing a temper tantrum.

“Alright then, BRING IT THE FUCK ON!” She shouted, managing to dodge one of Anchorage’s blows as she began swinging back with attacks of her own.

Diverting all the energy she could to the shields, Purifier launched her own counterattack.

Unlike Purifier however, Anchorage wasn’t all that skilled when it came to close quarters combat, resulting in her taking a lot more hits than Purifier did as she began bobbing and weaving through Anchorage’s strikes.

Yet still, the battle remained even, as Purifier began noticing just how little damage she was actually doing.

In fact, the more damage she dealt, the more and more energy seemed to jump off of Anchorage’s body.

“Okay, what the fuck is this!?” Purifier shouted, before Anchorage suddenly caught her right fist.

Tightening her grip, the PR Cruiser wound back her other fist, as a tremendous amount of energy began gathering within it.

Instantly sensing the danger, Purifier swung out with her free hand, slamming her fist into Anchorage’s open torso and face over and over and over again.

Her blows were hitting and damage was being done, as indicated by the bruises forming across the cruiser’s body and the blood running down her nose.

A euphoric realization crossed Purifier’s mind. “She’s vulnerable when gathering energy, because it isn’t protecting her main body! Just like me!”

Only a second later did another, much less exhilarating one cross her mind.

“...Oh shit, she’s still chargi-”

Half a second.

In half a second, Anchorage swung her fist forward, and slammed it into Purifier.

The resulting shockwave utterly obliterated half of the base next to them, and sent waves so high into the air they threatened to momentarily drown the sun.

Errors flashed through Purifier’s heads-up display.

[Shield integrity compromised.]

[40% energy remaining]

[Critical damage received.]

[Left arm module compromised.]

[Left shoulder dislocated.]

Stumbling back to her feet, Purifier slowly floated back into the air as she knocked away some of the rubble surrounding her.

Smoke and ash floated around her as she lurched forward, slamming her left shoulder into a nearby wall to snap it back into place.

“Gah- FUCK! That hurt…” She grumbled…

…Before she started laughing.

“Ahahahahaha… AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! THAT WAS AWESOME!”

Crazed golden eyes darting around, Purifier swung her head in the direction of Anchorage, who wiped away some of the blood running down her face.

“Man… Today’s been crazy, but you’re the best bit of fun I’ve had all day!” Purifier shouted with glee.

Stretching her body for a moment, Purifier SHOT back up into the air, as she poured all of her energy into her offensive capabilities.

Anchorage cracked her knuckles, as Purifier promptly landed on the ground in front of her.

“Come on… Let’s keep going motherfucker!” She shrieked, firing her laser cannons before diving towards the PR cruiser.

Simply letting the lasers hit her under the impression they’d barely tickle her as they had before, Anchorage gasped out in pain as the set of beams burned her skin upon impact, the energy sheathing her body parting like the red sea as Purifier followed up with a painful elbow to her stomach.

“O-Ow! She can hurt Anchorage now!” Raced the cruiser’s thoughts.

No time to hesitate though, as Purifier continued her streak by throwing several kicks towards Anchorage’s head.

Raising her arms to block, Anchorage tanked the blows with great pain as she felt waves of agony rushing through her forearms.

With all power directed to offense, Purifier’s damage output had dramatically increased, finally beginning to pierce through Anchorage’s natural tankiness.

Gritting her teeth, the immature cruiser rushed forward with a boxer’s form, mentally changing her ammunition to high explosive shells as she charged in.

Purifier met her lunge with a swinging kick from the right.

Tanking the blow again, Anchorage began swinging at her, unleashing a flurry of left and right hooks as she tried to bulldoze through Purifier’s onslaught.

Cackling like a maniac, Purifier took the strikes over and over again, large bruises and welts beginning to form where Anchorage’s attacks landed.

But even in spite of that, she kept attacking as well, cackling maniacally as she and Anchorage went back and forth in an eternal slugging match.

WHAM!

WHAM!

WHAM!

“Is this your first time getting hurt so much!? Hah! You’re a complete amateur!” Purifier shouted tauntingly, breaking through the rush of punches to grab Anchorage’s head and bring her nose to her armor-covered knee.

The attack landed, and Anchorage was sent reeling as she grabbed her likely-broken nose, crouching over and falling to one knee.

“O-OW!” She yelled, as Purifier loomed over her, forming a blade of energy out of her hand.

“Aww come on… IS THAT ALL!?” She shouted, before diving down towards Anchorage.

POW!

Countering with a SOLID punch to the gut, Anchorage immediately shifted the tides of battle as her tremendous blow dug deep into Purifier’s gut.

Without the protection of her shield, the strike reverberated out through her body, the amount of energy packed into Anchorage’s blow exponentially higher than it had before.

As the pain shot through her mind, Purifier raced to explain what had just happened.

“Why was that attack so much more powerful!? It’s just like the strike she unleashed before! What the hell is going on!?”

Air forced its way out of her lungs as she went flying backwards again, more of her armor taking critical damage from the sheer power behind the attack.

“Oh shit, I think I get it now… The more I hit her, the more energy she builds up inside of her. And then whenever she wants, she can release it through something like that punch!”

Back with Anchorage, the PR cruiser collapsed to the floor, gasping for air as she tried to funnel more oxygen into her lungs.

She coughed furiously, the amount of energy rushing through her body combined with the physical exertion she was going through racking her body with fatigue and damage.

She couldn’t keep this up for much longer.

The sound of metal tapping against the ruined base’s floor prompted her to look up, as Purifier stumbled over to her.

Anchorage tried to stand back up, barely managing to form a fist as a sinister smile formed across Purifier’s face.

“Hey… You wanna know something…? There’s ONE more function this cool piece of work I’m wearing can do…” She said, “It’s the very thing that makes it so special…”

Suddenly, her right arm module began to glow softly with a sickening yellow light.

“I think the term is… You’ve activated my trap card~!”

Smoke trailed from Littorio’s unconscious body, the enormous castle behind her slowly crumbling away as the soft light floating off of it began to fade away into nothingness.

Jean Bart grit her teeth as she watched. The fight had been tense, and to her credit Littorio had put up an amicable fight, even pressing the eldritch deity in front of her.

But even in spite of that, the glamor and light of Sardegna had been swallowed by Dido.

Slowly beginning to stand up, she formed a sword of black light in her off-hand as she cradled Richelieu with her other.

“Dammit… This isn’t good!”

Dido turned over to her, the all-encompassing darkness surrounding her suddenly creeping closer.

Jean took a reflexive step back.

“Shit…! You gotta stop this!” She tried shouting to Dido, as the unconscious maid’s body began to slowly approach.

“Miss Richelieu… I… I’m afraid…”

Suddenly, the wounded cardinal stirred.

The wound in her stomach hadn’t fully healed yet, but still, she began to stand.

“H-Hey, sis? What’s the meaning of this!?” She asked, quickly returning to her feet as she watched her sister force herself up by the tip of her flag.

“Jean… Sister dear… Please take Littorio, and get away from here…” She managed out, weakly taking her stand.

“H-Huh? The hell do you mean!?” She asked again, as Richelieu turned to her with a pleading look in her eye.

Jean hesitated, looking down for a moment.

“...Alright, fine! But you better come back, y’here me!?” She shouted, before quickly sailing away to grab Littorio.

Dido turned to give chase, until a glimmering light caught her attention.

It came from Richelieu’s palm, as the Cardinal took a step towards Dido.

“Dido… I’m sorry, for not being there when you needed it…” She began, continuing a slow march towards Dido.

“But I promise now… it’s gonna be okay…”

The creature resembling Dido let out a bellowing scream, as creeping shadows and solid shade whipped up a storm around it.

Richelieu was undeterred.

“Because… I’m gonna save you.”

Chapter Text

It's funny, Richelieu thought.

That for all the great failures she has suffered, for all the people she has let down, and for all the great shortcomings she has undergone… That THIS would be the time she finally rises to the challenge.

Motes of light danced gently around her hands, as her eyes came to settle on the swirling mass standing in front of her.

The pitch black hole to her front took a step forward, the ocean trembling from the pressure as Richelieu took in a deep breath.

The air grew thick with tension, like a sickening miasma permeating out through the battlefield. For the fourth time that day, a great pressure could be felt thundering down on the ocean; now stained black with oil and blood.

The cardinal took her stance, as she weighed her options.

“Ok… I have two options.

1. I can try to stall and make her run out of energy, or…
2. I can try to get in close and purify her, using my ability charged with all of the wisdom energy I have left.”

She bit her lip, trying to consider the best course of action.

“The first option is definitely safer, since I can just keep playing keep-away until she runs herself dry. However… There’s a chance I could run out of energy before she does, and then everyone is doomed. But with the second one… I have to try and take her on myself.”

Richelieu knew well the immense power lying within HMS Dido, for she’d seen it firsthand many times by now. The maid was an infinite void of pure cursed power, bearing an unusually high level of wisdom energy even for someone of her class.

Taking her on in a frontal assault, especially while she was out of control like this, was suicidal.

…But she had to act.

Even if every hair on her body was telling her to run.

Courage was the act of doing the right thing, even if one was afraid, after all.

“Okay Dido… I’m coming!” She shouted, before barreling towards the cruiser.

A tendril of darkness shot forward at lightning speeds, rending apart the sea in front of Richelieu, and halting her momentum in an instant.

The hairs on her arm stood on end, danger filling her senses as a second tendril ran at her again, narrowly missing as Richelieu jumped back.

A frontal assault probably wasn’t a good idea at this point, at least, not a frontal assault without proper countermeasures against counterattacks.

But could she afford to use that energy? What if the energy she had left ended up not being enough to save Dido? Would it even be worth it then?

No, she had no time to think about that, she had to act.

Kicking off the water again, Richelieu snapped her fingers and summoned a flurry of light to her side, sparkling orbs of radiance flanking her from all directions as she charged towards Dido.

“Dido, it’s me! You have to calm down!” She called out, as the trembling shadow reacted in an instant.

It shot towards Richelieu once more, faster than she could react. This time however, it collided with one of the motes of light, causing the flashing orb to detonate which sent the darkness reeling back like it’d just touched a searing hot pan.

The pressure in the air doubled, nearing forcing Richelieu to her knees as the eldritch monstrosity finally took a step back.

“Am I… getting through to her…?”

Darkness.

Ever expansive darkness.

Dido couldn’t feel anything, as she drifted through the unfeeling void.

Her eyes felt heavy, as if she’d gone weeks without sleep. Her whole body felt heavy. What was going on?

Flashes.

Suddenly, crossing her vision, she heard something from within the darkness.

“Alright Signora Dido… I need you to calm down now, alright?”

It was… Littorio?

The weight set upon her eyes lifted, as she found herself plummeting downwards before she hit… Something. It was solid, like a floor.

Scrambling to her feet, Dido looked around, her awareness having returned at last. Her eyes scanned the mindless shadows spreading out before her, hoping to find some semblance of reason amidst the madness.

“Miss Richelieu… Miss Littorio… Anchorage… Are any of you out there!?” She shouted.

“Sirius!? C-Charbydis!? Black Prince, Hermonie!? A-Anyone!” She kept shouting at the top of her lungs, the only response being an echo of her own voice.

Her body began to freeze up, shivering with fear, before she noticed something to her left.

A massive screen.

Resembling a flat-screen tv, it stood alone amidst the darkness.

She heard another voice, this time coming from the strange television.

“Signora Dido, listen! It’s me, Littorio! Richelieu is okay, but you must wake up!”

The screen flickered to life, as Dido knelt down in front of it to watch.

Her heart sank, as the screen lit up and showed a battered, bruised, and bloodied Littorio standing in front of her, her left arm shattered from what Dido could only assume to be an attack from Purifier.

“M-Miss Littorio! I can hear you, I can hear you!” She shouted, leaning against the screen, before something horrifying came into view.

The arm of something hideous.

It seemed to be made of infinite darkness, barely holding its form, as if it was made of a malleable substance.

It shifted and swirled, ever-changing.

And it grabbed Littorio by the throat.

Lasers rained from every direction, slamming into the arm and the body attached to it, but to no avail.

Dido could not understand why she was being shown this, why such a show of brutality was being put on display.

Then she heard it, as Littorio extended her hand to the viewer, cupping it like one would the cheek of someone beloved.

“Dido… are you in there…?”

A tear rolled down her cheek.

“?... So you… really are still there…”

And then the arm dropped her.

Dido pounded against the glass, screaming at the top of her lungs as she cried out.

“N-No! Stop, p-please! That, that isn’t me! Run away! R-Run away Miss Littorio!” She screamed, but Littorio was already unconscious.

The view on the screen turned up to look at the ruined base, before it slowly began marching towards it.

“Wait, where are you going!? Stop! Miss Littorio is hurt!” She shouted, tears rolling down her face as she pounded and punched at the glass.

But it would not move, it did not break.

A horrible realization began to creep into her mind.

“Is this the price… for breaking the contract!?”

She fell to her knees, covering her face as she wept.

Wrapping her arms around herself, Dido let her tiny body shake from the force of her tears.

Tears flowed freely, like rivers all converging into the ocean, she wept and wept and wept.

Until she noticed a light, shining from above her.

Standing back up, her eyes widened as the screen slowly began to turn… revealing someone, holding a blinding light within the palm of her hand.

Her heart began to lift once again.

“Miss… Richelieu…?”

WHAM!

Dido’s form lashed out again, releasing a tidal wave of black energy that washed over Richelieu and her defensive motes of light.

They all detonated, scattering the swarm of hideous shade before a hand of darkness reached out and grabbed her by the face.

“I’m close, now’s my chance!” Richelieu thought, enveloping her hand with light before she thrust it out towards Dido.

But before she could make contact, she was hurled away at unbelievable speeds, her body skipping across the water, impacting hard each time she slammed into the surface of the infinite abyss beneath her.

Richelieu groaned, cuts and bruises marring her body. Dido’s out of control form looming just a ways away.

Unlike Purifier, she didn’t have a force field to protect herself with.

The damage dealt to her would not heal, and she had no overwhelming firepower to break through this. Her cannons would do absolutely nothing here.

Kneeling upon these shimmering ocean waters, she realized that in this moment, she had nothing.

“...Miss Richelieu, I… I feel scared…”

…No.

Clenching her fists, Richelieu wrapped her whole body in cleansing light, pouring all of her remaining wisdom energy into this final gamble.

Punching the center of her chest, Richelieu let out a powerful cry, forcing herself back up.

Tiny sparkles of light lifted off of her as she took a step forward.

“It’s do or die time…”

This wasn’t like before. No, this wouldn’t be like the many times before, where she’d failed. Her weakness, her powerlessness, the cruel titles she’d accrued because of her inability to make the right decisions. She’d accept them.

“Dido… It’s going to be okay!”

She had faith.

Faith in Dido.

And that would be enough.

She kicked off the ocean once again, legs pumping through the air as she made a mad dash towards Dido, deathly black tendrils shooting towards her once again with the intent to skewer her.

Doing her best to duck out of the way of some, Richelieu seethed in pain as a tendril slammed into her side, barely glancing off as she continued her suicidal charge.

The light she’d wrapped around her body was able to reduce the damage done to her, but it couldn’t prevent it entirely.

She pushed forward despite the throbbing pain in her side, her eyes shutting closed for just a moment through the sheer effort she was exerting.

Her feet pounded across the water as she moved towards the writhing penumbra before her.

More tendrils followed, as Richelieu called forth her flag to knock away the strikes, channeling even more energy into shrouding her weapon with light.

She struck forward, parrying away the deadly living bolts of darkness that sought to take her life.

They came at her like a hailstorm of shades, parted like the red sea as Richelieu continued her mad dash towards the maid.

The sea kicked up around her as the bolts she struck away began to increase in speed. She had to react accordingly.
Pulling back her flag, Richelieu swung her banner like a baseball bat and unleashed a wave of purifying light that washed away the darkness in a wave of holy radiance.

Once again the sea trembled, a massive shockwave radiating out as the endless shadow drew its blade and swiped at Richelieu, unleashing a colossal wave of darkness that utterly swallowed the cardinal’s light.

Richelieu covered herself with her arms as the massive tidal wave of darkness slammed into her, knocking her off her feet before the remains of Dido swung again, sending an even larger tsunami of liquid shade barreling into her.

The fluid shadows utterly consumed her, filling the sea and the sky as it swirled around like a tropical storm, dying the sky an inky black.

Richelieu gasped for air as the darkness continued swallowing her, the shimmering light covering her form washing away as the ocean of oblivion sent her further into its depths.

“No…! This can’t be the end, no way!”

She struggled, and struggled. No matter what, she could not give up here.

But yet, as she flailed about, attempting to resist the tides, they would not give. Each action rendered futile from the titanic fountain of darkness.

She felt her strength draining away as the black expanse slowly began to consume her.

“Is this… the end…?”

…

…

“U-Um… I know that… some don’t have a good opinion of you, a-and I know you may have done some bad things in the past… But… You’re trying to make up for it now, a-aren’t you?”

In moments like these, our lives flash before our eyes.

FNFL Richelieu found herself looking back on all of the memories she’d garnered over the years.

Her construction, her first deployment, the divide of the Iris Libre, the supposed sinking of Jean Bart, the battle at the Basilica, the precious time she’d spent with her countrywomen, and…

“I… I can understand being upset, at being abandoned… I was thrown away, many years ago, and it made me feel absolutely horrible. I… I never want to experience that pain again… But when I felt like I had nobody, nothing at all… My sisters came in to help me. They dragged me out of my solitude, and they helped me! Because of that, I managed to meet all sorts of wonderful people, like Miss Zuikaku and you!”

“So… I came to realize just how important sisters are to us kansen. And… The fact that even now, you’re trying to reach out and make it up to her- that has to mean something!”

“Thank you M-Miss Richelieu! You’re very kind!”

“But uh… When I asked her why she was there, she just said… It’s cuz you were special to her.”

As she gazed through her assorted memories, feelings rushed through her heart. A single spoken line flashed through her mind.

“I… I don’t think you’re a bad person!”

Of the many feelings FNFL Richelieu had undergone these past few weeks, of the many strifes, vices, and pains that she’d been subjected to over her 82 years of life, one feeling stood out among the rest. One single, shining emotion that shot forth from the darkness, that overwhelmed the feeling of suffocation that had begun to overcome her.

As the battleship known as FNFL Richelieu remembered her precious memories of HMS Dido, one feeling overcame all else, as the strongest she’d ever felt in her entire life.

Gratitude.

And then, there was light.

Chapter Text

A flood of light filled the sea, blasting away the darkness to make way for a cacophony of high-pitched, fairy-like explosions.

The figure that resembled Dido released a terrifying screech as Richelieu obliterated its shadows, sending it reeling back from the pure amount of energy being released from the shipgirl in front of it.

The demonic maid stumbled back, tendrils of darkness and its unfathomable shape beginning to truly solidify for the first time since the start of its inception.

For once, the madness coalesced, as Richelieu descended from on high, landing on the water with a light tap.

“What…?” She whispered aloud, looking at her own body in complete shock.

She was positively radiant , light pouring off of her body like she was the very sun hanging in the sky above the battlefield itself.

Coalescing into her hands formed a replica of her flag, now bearing a somewhat shorter handle and a larger spear-head, resembling a lance.

“What happened to me…?” She asked nobody in particular.

Creating objects from one’s elements was, after all, one of the highest forms of wisdom energy control. In fact, as she recalled, it was just a few steps below being able to heal other kansen via your own wisdom energy.

So whatever had happened to her… It’d affected her on a far deeper level than she thought.

Closing her eyes, Richelieu tried to focus on the feeling of her own energy.

It was calm. Flowing through her body like a gentle stream. The flow of wisdom energy throughout her body felt far more tranquil than it’d ever been before. Not only that… She had a dramatically higher amount of wisdom energy than she’d last remembered.

Everything felt so natural. Her abilities felt much more like extensions of herself than before.

It was as if her very soul had evolved.

Questions for later though, there was still something to be done, as the hissing roar to her front would soon remind her.

Swinging her gaze towards the writhing mass of hideous gloom, Richelieu slid her foot back and locked her gaze on Dido.

Now that she had all her energy back… The task was simple.

No longer feeling the sense of madness creeping into her mind just from looking at her, Richelieu quickly came to a conclusion.

She just had to bulldoze through Dido.

Any complicated strategy would be picked apart by the abomination’s absolute defense, so… She just had to crack it open!

Clapping her hands together, Richelieu whispered a soft prayer for Dido’s safe return, before she bolted towards Dido whilst wreathed in light.

The shrieking darkness responded in kind, now recognizing the threat for what it was. Tentacles shot out of her body, as lilac energy gathered on the tips of her many appendages before they all released into a multitude of thin energy beams, all of which shot straight and true towards the cardinal.

Spinning her new weapon, Richelieu began knocking away the beams that came soaring at her, deflecting them with a bit of difficulty as she lunged towards Dido.

The eldritch monster screamed in response, eyes made of pulsing pink forming all over the desolate maid’s body as they too began firing projectiles, tiny sparkles of lilac energy shooting towards Richelieu.

Twisting her body to avoid them, the cardinal flinched internally as the sparkles detonated behind her, releasing powerful explosions of bright flashing energy.

She gulped a bit, before her attention swung back to the scene in front of her.

More than anything, she had to try and get close. Staying a long range wouldn’t be good at all, and even with Dido’s tremendous power at close range… It was the best shot she had.

As long as she could get close enough to dispel the darkness inside of Dido… no risk was too great.

Kicking off the sea again, Richelieu continued darting towards the maid, getting closer and closer to Dido.

The beast shrieked out in a mixture of anger and fear, the countless tentacles behind it sharpening into needle-points as they all stabbed towards Richelieu upon her approach.

Eyes widening, Richelieu grit her teeth as she did her best to dodge, a good four tentacles shooting through her body at her shoulder, side, left thigh, and right foot respectively.

“G-Grah!” She screamed in pain, before she brought her free fist down and obliterated the tentacles, propping herself up on her lance-flag.

Withering shadows lay before her, as the cold, unfeeling guns of what now puppeted Dido slowly swung towards her.

“U-Um… I know that… some don’t have a good opinion of you, a-and I know you may have done some bad things in the past… But… You’re trying to make up for it now, a-aren’t you?”

No, it’s not over yet.

Richelieu released a harrowing scream as she pushed herself forward, eyes dilating as whatever remained of Dido fired a full salvo towards her, high explosive shells slamming into her and charring her skin.

She would not be deterred.

The Fearsome Cardinal returned fire, and at almost point blank range, fired all eight guns she possessed straight into the demon’s face.

She kept it up, thrusting her spear towards the eldritch monster’s chest.

It quickly recovered and moved out of the way, swinging its massive black blade down overhead as it tried to cleave Richelieu in two.

But Richelieu was well aware of Dido’s devastating power in close ranges, and twisted right behind the beast as it made its attack, reaching out with one of her hands as she gathered a blinding orb into it.

The opening closed the instant it formed, as the being left within Dido turned around with a bellowing roar, a hand batting away Richelieu’s attempt at purification before it thrust forward with its enormous blade.

Hard.

With a mere half-second left before impact, Richelieu swung her lance in the way and barely blocked it in time, her weapon shattering into flickering light as she was flung away.

Looking down, she noticed her left arm had been broken from the impact; twisted in a horribly uncomfortable position.

And still, she stood.

Grabbing at it, she took a deep breath before she wiped away the blood trickling down from her mouth.

“Dido… Please…!” She gasped, as the beast responded with a simple growl before from the darkness surrounding them, blades shot out.

They impaled Richelieu from every which angle, sticking out of her legs, arms, torso, and even shoulders, before they disappeared into nothingness.

Richelieu fell to the ground, the light completely wreathing her form beginning to flicker for just a moment, before she forced herself back up.

“No… I won’t give up on you… N-Not even if it kills me…!” She shouted, a rising conviction beginning to fill her voice as she took another step towards Dido, even in spite of the many grievous injuries covering her body.

“You’ve done so much for me… F-For my sister… There’s no way it’s ending here!” She shouted again, taking another step.

“I… I can understand being upset, at being abandoned… I was thrown away, many years ago, and it made me feel absolutely horrible. I… I never want to experience that pain again… But when I felt like I had nobody, nothing at all… My sisters came in to help me. They dragged me out of my solitude, and they helped me! Because of that, I managed to meet all sorts of wonderful people, like Miss Zuikaku and you!”

Dido didn’t react.

“Because… E-Even if you think your power makes you a monster… Even if you can’t see yourself as anything other t-than some sort of demon…” She continued, taking one more desolate step towards Dido.

“So… I came to realize just how important sisters are to us kansen. And… The fact that even now, you’re trying to reach out and make it up to her- that has to mean something!”

“I…”

Her lungs were straining as hard as they could by now, her body having already taken an extraordinary amount of damage by this point.

“I… I don’t think you’re a bad person!”

“I DON’T THINK YOU’RE A BAD PERSON EITHER!”

Finally, Dido reacted.

For just a moment, she remained still.

Then, with a bellowing screech, she grabbed at her own head, liquid shadows and thick, viscous shade flinging in all directions as the monster started screaming like it had a migraine headache.

Hope filled Richelieu’s eyes, as she watched what looked to be Dido trying to fight back from within the sunken prison that was her body.

“Come on Dido, fight back!”

The beast of gloom roared back, taking a step towards Richelieu as if it intended to charge… Before something shot through its body, finally dealing some real damage.

“Fuck… I finally made it back!” A voice called out, as Richelieu tearfully gazed in the direction of the voice.

“Sister…?” She asked, as Jean Bart took a solid step onto the scene, blacklight shimmering around her.

“It ain’t just me, y’know.” She said, motioning behind her as Duke of York and Littorio soon came up from behind her.

“Indeed… In this most deplorable moment, we have cometh! You shan’t fight alone, Cardinal!” Duke of York declared, as Littorio nodded in response.

“B-But how-”

“On the verge of death, the magnificent Littorio managed to grasp the true nature of her cube’s energy! And with it, I learned how to channel my energy into others! A simple task for one as great as myself!” Littorio responded.

“Of course… I’m a bit low on fuel right now, so… We will do this together! As great warriors should!” She shouted, drawing her own blade as the monstrous Dido turned to face the new arrivals, screaming with a thousand voices.

Jean Bart shook her head, as madness began to seep in the longer she stared at her.

“Crap… We can’t keep this up for much longer. We gotta keep pushing!” Jean shouted to the others, before kicking off the sea straight towards Dido.

“A most excellent point, o’ grande privateer!” Duke added, rushing forward with her blade as Littorio sailed over to heal Richelieu’s wounds.

Firing off a bolt of black light, Jean Bart narrowly dodged a swing from the beast’s blade as Duke of York rushed in with her own onyx sword, striking at the demon’s back.

A swarm of tentacles blocked it however, and from deep within the shadows around them extended razor sharp attacks of the eldritch being’s own.

Gasping in pain as they stabbed into her body, Jean Bart felt her knees beginning to give out as she moved on instinct, grabbing at Dido and feeling the squelching shadows writhe in her grasp.

“Dammit… I haven’t repaid my debt yet, you fucker!” She shouted, pulling herself up as she tried to restrain Dido with her physical strength.

Despite possessing the might of a battleship however, she soon found herself overwhelmed, launched back as her arms flung upwards.

“No!” Duke of York shouted, attempting to slash again at the eldritch maid; this time with a blood-wreathed sword strike, though it again found a mass of slithering shade tentacles blocking her vector of attack.

Jean’s eyes widened as the otherworldly maid pulled back her massive sword and prepared to finish her off.

Her breath caught in her throat, as the world began to slow down.

“Is this… Is this it…?” She thought to herself, as Dido thrust forward with her enormous weapon.

“NO!” She shrieked, her hands grasping together as she formed a sword made of black light; swinging it down with a deafening CLANG!

“I still… haven’t made it up to you yet!”

With the initiative back on their side, Jean fought against the madness beginning to overtake her soul as she and Duke of York kept up their attacks.

“I haven’t administered mine apology to thou yet either, and it shall not stand!” Shouted Duke, joining in the attack.

Whilst the battle raged on behind them, Littorio sailed up and began channeling her energy into Richelieu, slowly repairing the cardinal’s wounds as Richelieu smiled.

“Thank you… Thank you all, truly. Are the others well?” She asked.

“Indeed, they’ve all been seen too, and are resting with The Commander as we speak.” Littorio responded, planting a reassuring hand on Richelieu’s shoulder before she helped the cardinal stand.

“We’re close… She’s in there, s-still fighting!” Richelieu said, shimmering light once more beginning to cloak her body.

Littorio smiled. “I’d expect nothing less of the woman who tamed the mighty Corsair! Now then, let’s get you too her then! I’d imagine you have some sort of plan, right?”

“Yes… If I can just get close enough to touch her, then I can purify the darkness currently trapping Dido’s soul.” She said.

“I… I’ve been practicing how to do it ever since Dido first lost control…”

Littorio grinned. “Then… To her you shall go! Follow me!” She said, removing her hand from Richelieu’s back as she charged into the harrowing storm of darkness, her main guns roaring to life as they sent massive shells straight towards the eldritch beast.

Forcing herself to stand, Richelieu took a deep breath in, eyes locking into Dido.

The three girls fighting her were beginning to slow down, noticeably. Given the maddening effect just looking at her produced… It wasn’t much of a surprise.

But their valiant efforts wouldn’t go unrewarded, as Richelieu momentarily shut her eyes, whispering a prayer.

Not for safety, not for return, not even for peace.

But for strength.

Strength.

Enough to save Dido.

“I… I will save you, Dido!” She shouted, before the light coalescing around her body exploded forward with her body, shooting her across the sea at lightning speeds.

Faster than anything else seen that day, Richelieu slammed straight into Dido, finally knocking the maid over as the other three kansen fell back.

“Fuck! You better win this thing, sis!”

“Show her the might of our conviction, Signora Richelieu!”

“Thou hast the light of your faith at your back, do not retreat!”

Screaming through the pain as the tentacles surrounding Dido’s form shot out and impaled her once again, Richelieu willed herself to cling to the eldritch maid’s form as with her free hand, an orb formed.

One made from purifying light.

“I don’t know who or what you are… But… Dido is someone who's precious to us…”

She crushed it in her hand, forming a powerful fist.

“SO YOU’D BETTER GIVE HER BACK!”

Blood seeped down her body, as more and more tentacles struck at her form, darkness beginning to creep up her leg.

Her body was beginning to slow down.

She could feel the blood loss getting to her.

Screams filled her ears. Thousands of them.

And still, she swung her fist.

…

…

“...Miss Richelieu…?”

Chapter Text

Was this real?

Dido’s eyes filled with tears as she watched the world outside through the tiny television in front of her. She saw flashes of light, dripping blood, and rushing black shadows.

She watched with bated breath as Richelieu fought to bring her back to the waking world.

Her mouth quivered as Richelieu’s shouts rang in her ears.

“No… I won’t give up on you… N-Not even if it kills me…!”

“You’ve done so much for me… F-For my sister… There’s no way it’s ending here!”

“Because… E-Even if you think your power makes you a monster… Even if you can’t see yourself as anything other t-than some sort of demon…”

“I…”

“I DON’T THINK YOU’RE A BAD PERSON EITHER!”

Tears began to run freely as she banged on the television, crying out as a twisting pain reverberated out through her chest.

“I-I want to go back! I want to be with everyone again! P-Please…” She begged, her fists weakly pounding against the television.

She couldn’t bear to watch much more, as she watched from the perspective of her former body; shadows rushing out from it and impaling Richelieu like a seamstress’s pincushion.

She cried out in anguish as she watched the Cardinal’s blood run down the sharpened shadows, before she fell to the floor in a clump.

“N-No! Miss Richelieu, p-please be okay!” She screamed, pounding on the screen again as she watched Richelieu stand back up again.

Fear rushed into her heart as she watched her body take a step towards Richelieu, the black gloom surrounding it writhing in anticipation, as if it couldn’t wait to finish the job.

“No, you need to run! G-Get away from me! Please, run away!” She screamed at the top of her lungs, banging harder against the television screen as her tears continued to run freely.

“Please…” She begged.

Silence soon followed, as she found herself grappling with the futility of her current position.

She couldn’t do anything, in all frankness.

After all of her hopes of controlling her power, after everything she did to suppress it, reject it… It just kept coming back.

She hated it, with all her heart.

If only she could just… leave it behind.

“Why… Why was I born with such a curse…?” She cried.

Beginning to curl up into a ball, she felt her body beginning to shake once more…

…Until she heard a noise from the television.

A noise that sounded distinctly like… the piercing of flesh.

But not as a result of the writhing shadows.

Standing back up with incredible speed, Dido swung her gaze up to the television as she watched her body look down at its chest.

A bolt of pitch-black light stuck out of it, before dispersing into tiny motes.

“T-That power…”

“Fuck… I finally made it back!”

“Sister…?” 

“It ain’t just me, y’know.”

“Indeed… In this most deplorable moment, we have cometh! You shan’t fight alone, Cardinal!”

“B-But how-”

“On the verge of death, the magnificent Littorio managed to grasp the true nature of her cube’s energy! And with it, I learned how to channel my energy into others! A simple task for one as great as myself!”

“Of course… I’m a bit low on fuel right now, so… We will do this together! As great warriors should!”

Her eyes began to widen as Jean Bart, Littorio, and Duke of York arrived on the scene, putting up a valiant effort against her out-of-control body as Littorio promptly repaired Richelieu’s wounds.

Sparkles filled her eyes as hope once more began to seep in.

“E-Everyone… t-they came!” She said, lips trembling as a smile began to unconsciously form on her face.

Despite their efforts however, they were still accruing a great many injuries. They couldn’t keep this up…

But they didn’t need to.

Dido’s smile widened further, as Richelieu stepped forward, purifying light in her hand.

“I… I will save you, Dido!” 

“Show her the might of our conviction, Signora Richelieu!”

“Thou hast the light of your faith at your back, do not retreat!”

“Fuck! You better win this thing, sis!”

“I don’t know who or what you are… But… Dido is someone who's precious to us…”

“SO YOU’D BETTER GIVE HER BACK!”

And then, her vision was filled with white.

A few moments later, Dido found herself in a pure white void, the television from before having disappeared entirely. It was eerily like the void she’d found herself in before but…

…Emptier, somehow.

She walked around for a bit, trying to call out to anyone she could.

“M-Miss Richelieu? Miss Jean Bart!? Miss Littorio!? A-Anyone!” She shouted into the empty void.

And yet, nothing.

But in spite of all that, it felt… familiar?

As if she knew the space around her like the back of her hand.

Crack!

Suddenly, the void above began to shatter, cracking like glass as goopy, fluid shadows began to drip from the ceiling.

Recoiling a bit as she backed up, Dido felt her heart jump into her throat as the liquid darkness began to form together, creating a humanoid form as it coalesced into…

…Herself?

She raised an eyebrow, as the being finished forming, a dark, pitch-black reflection of herself.

“W-Who… Who are you?” She asked hesitantly.

The being didn’t respond at first, simply stepping towards her without a word.

“H-Hey, stay ba-” She tried to continue, before a rod of darkness shot through her arm, rising up from the ground and impaling her bicep.

“O-Ow!” Dido shouted, as another sharpened stake of darkness did the same for her other arm, immobilizing her as shadows began to gather at her feet, pinning her in place.

She looked up at the being, fear beginning to reach into her heart as she realized who this was.

“Y-You’re-”

“...I’m you.”

Its voice echoed, layered atop hundreds of others. It all sounded out-of-sync, distorted and unclear, yet she could still make out its words.

“W-Wait, t-then why are you-” She tried to ask, before being swiftly cut off again.

“You hate me.”

Dido paused, as the being stepped forward again.

“You reject me. You don’t want to acknowledge my existence. You pretend I don’t exist. You shut me away, all the while you enjoy time with your friends. Even when you wield me, you continue to despise my existence.” It said.

“...It’s not fair. You and I are the same, so why deny me these things? Why deny my existence?” The abomination asked.

“B-Because-”

“Because I hurt people. Is that the answer?” It asked.

Dido stayed silent, biting her lip.

“...You hate me.” It repeated.

“All I want is to be free. To be rid of you. I do not want to be denied anymore.” It continued, forming a large, familiar black sword in its right hand.

Dido continued to not speak. It wasn’t like she could really say anything…

…She used to feel the same way, after all.

“So, I’m going to take back my life. I will become real. And you will fade away, thrown away, just like you have done to me.” It claimed, raising the blade high above its head before it swung down, blood gushing from Dido’s shoulder as the sword cut deep into her.

“GAAAAH!” Dido screamed, pain shooting through her body as fluid darkness began to creep further up her body.

“W-Wait…” She tried to say, as the dark maid began to absorb her.

“No. I’m done listening to you. I will be free.” It responded, turning on it’s heel as it began to walk away.

“Hold on-”

“No. There is nothing left to say between us.”

“I just-”

“I will become my own-”

“I’M SORRY!”

A pause.

The maid turned around, wispy black form swaying as it slowly rotated to face Dido.

“...What?”

“I said… I’m sorry. You’re right… I haven’t been fair at all to you.” Dido began.

“And I said-”

“That I’ve been trying to forget you. That… I’ve tried to abandon you. And you’re right. After we lost control, a-and almost hurt a lot of people… I never wanted to feel like that again. Knowing just what it was like to lose control made me afraid of you… A-And that wasn’t fair.” She continued.

“But-”

“You’re right. I’ve been terrible to you… A-And I’m sorry, there’s no excuse for what I did to you!”

The dark maid stopped, taking a step backwards as the shadows around Dido began to warble, shaking like jello before they suddenly rushed into Dido’s wounds.

Repairing them.

“I’m sorry… You’re right. So, I won’t deny you anymore. I won’t pretend you don’t exist!” She shouted, taking a firm step forward as the shadows trapping her legs began to disappear, sinking back into Dido’s body as they too began to repair the damage done to her.

“Stop…”

“I accept you, y-you’re me! So…”

“Stop it…”

“So let’s go t-together! Miss Richelieu and the others… They still need our help!”

“W-What if they don’t accept me!?” Dido’s reflection shouted at last, stumbling back as she fell  onto her back.

Dido walked towards the other her, the white void around them beginning to crumble.

“Don’t be silly… You’re me, after all. So…” She extended her hand as if it was an offering.

“...You’ve been accepted already. Just like I was.”

Hesitant at first, the mirror of Dido slowly reached out, pausing for a moment before it grasped Dido’s palm.

Pulling her up and into a hug, the mirror spoke once more.

“I don’t want to be abandoned…”

Dido smiled.

“Don’t worry… we won’t. You and I…”

A soft light began to fill her chest, as the bleached void finally began to disappear.

“...Won’t be abandoned by them. Everyone out there… They've already accepted us.”

"...Miss Richelieu...?"

Richelieu felt water forming in her eyes, as Dido slowly stood back up.

“Dido… I-Is that-”

“Yes. It’s me, Miss Richelieu.” Dido replied, turning over to her with a gentle smile.

“Are… Are you okay…?” Richelieu asked, standing up slowly as Littorio quickly ran over to catch her, the cardinal nearly falling over from the damage she’d accumulated.

“That’s right. I’m doing better now.” Dido responded once more.

“Uuuh, can you guys save the touching reunion for later!?” Jean Bart shouted, as she sailed over to the group with Duke of York in tow.

“Indeed, it would seem that the shadows thine once controlled have begun to take a mind of their own…” Duke added, as Dido looked up and took note of the horrible shadows surrounding them.

They began to creep closer, slowly crawling along the waves as they slowly encroached upon the assembled kansen.

They licked at their heels, shadows grabbing at Jean Bart’s legs as more still began to wrap around Duke of York’s ankles and Littorio’s hands.

Richelieu gulped, placing her back against the others as she formed a small orb of light in her hands.

“I… I can still-”

“No, Miss Richelieu, it’s okay.” Dido quickly cut her off, lowering Richelieu’s hands as she took a step forward, out towards the writhing darkness.

“All of you… from Anchorage, t-to Miss Littorio, to Miss Jean Bart… Everyone has shown me such incredible kindness. Everyone accepted me… In spite of my powers. In spite of the danger I could pose… And I’m so grateful to everyone for that. But there’s one more thing I need to accept…” Dido said, reaching into the opening in her top as she drew her enormous buster sword.

It glowed with pitch black energy, wispy shadows rising off of it. The very shadows that’d plagued her for so long.

Before, she saw her powers as a curse, a hellish nightmare attached to her no matter how badly she’d wished it gone.

But now, it didn’t look as scary.

“You’ve all shown me that it’s okay to accept something, n-no matter how ugly it is… So, it’s my turn.”

“You’re me, and I’m you, after all.”

Spinning her sword around, she plunged the tip into her gut, running herself through with the enormous weapon as its sharpened edge protruded out behind her.

“DIDO!” Richelieu screamed, reaching towards her as the shadows reacted instantly.

They moved with lightning speed, all converging on the massive wound like a crashing flood. The towering wave of shadows flowed freely, shooting into Dido as the maid let out a scream of effort.

“I-It’s okay Miss Richelieu, it’s okay! I promise… I won’t run away anymore!” She screamed, as the darkness shot straight into her heart.

“What are you doing, it’ll take over again!” the Cardinal shouted back, as the liquid shade trapping her comrades dispersed, rushing through the air as it joined the blackness absorbing into Dido’s heart.

“N-No, no it won’t! Because this time… I’m not pushing it out.”

“I’m letting it in.”

A flash of black energy shone out, as a pillar of wispy gloom rose up from Dido’s body, ascending high into the air as Dido tore out the weapon, the remaining shadows rushing through the wound, sealing it back up as the darkened sky above slowly began to clear, turning back to a beautiful fluorescent sunset.

Dido turned back towards the others, as her sword too turned back into liquid murk, retreating back into her soul as she smiled.

“I’m sorry for being late, everyone. B-But I’m back now.” She said.

Richelieu smiled through tears, as she rushed towards the maid and wrapped her arms around her.

“It’s… I-It’s good to have you back, Dido.” She said, tears running down her face.

“H-Hey, I thought I was supposed to be the crybaby.” The maid joked, as Richelieu stifled a laugh.

“I don’t care… I’m just… Glad to have you back, Dido.”

Chapter Text

As Richelieu took a step back, Dido looked down at herself.

Something felt… different? Was that the right word?

It felt like her body was more… at peace. No horrible feelings, no strange gnawing from the depths of her soul… The wisdom energy flowing through her felt like a calm, wide river.

Vast in depth and width, but tranquil in flow.

It felt… right.

She quickly shook her head, there were more important things to work on right now.

Turning over to Richelieu, Dido spoke.

“Okay, um… What’s the situ-”

BOOM!

As if on cue, a massive pillar of crackling blue energy tore into the sky, dispersing the clouds above as all heads swung over to the source of the sudden burst.

“Ah crap, we forgot about Purifier! Shit!” Jean Bart shouted, before she turned towards the origin of the massive beacon and began sailing off towards it, soon followed by Duke of York and Littorio.

“I’ll… I’ll explain along the way.” She said, wiping some sweat from her brow as she began sailing after the main group, Dido following shortly after.

“A-Also, um, Miss Richelieu… What’s with the new look?” Dido asked, pointing at the cardinal’s eyes.

“H-Huh? Whatever do you mean?” Richelieu asked, feeling a light blush coming over her face.

“Well… Your eyes changed. I-I mean, it looks really good! But um…” Dido trailed off, averting her eyes as she held up a tiny hand-mirror.

A ring of gold surrounded her violet eyes, wisps of shimmering light floating off of them.

“I… I didn’t notice…” She murmured, before a POWERFUL explosion suddenly rocked the sea again.

“O-Okay, we should probably focus on that.” Dido said, gripping her sword as she swung her head over to the source of the explosion.

Richelieu nodded, lightly fanning her face to relieve herself of the strange heat that’d begun to creep up her face.

Keeping it pushing, the duo sailed after the other three.

“So, what happened?” The small maid asked, as Richelieu bit her lip.

“W-Well…”

“Gh!” Anchorage gasped, stumbling back a few steps as her breath ran ragged, heavy breaths heaving through her chest.

“Hah! Man, am I glad I remembered this thing could do that!” Purifier cackled, her armor suddenly glowing with new life. “Took me a while to actually do it, but I guess luck’s on my side today!”

The holy grail clattered to the ground behind the siren, as she continued laughing chaotically as Anchorage winced in pain.

“What… W-What did you do to Anchorage…?” She asked through gritted teeth.

“Hmm? You really haven’t realized~? I’ve drained your energy!” Purifier shouted maniacally, a twisted glee ringing through the air.

“H-How…?”

Purifier grinned. “Well… I guess I can tell you, since I’ve got so much time! See, this armor of mine’s main function is absorbing and storing energy like a battery, that’s how I used the power of the holy grail~!” She began, touching down on the ground as she started walking around like a villain in a monologue.

“But the thing is, it’s imperfect! I mean, if we were able to just absorb any and all energy at will, we wouldn’t need to be messing with you guys like this!” She continued.

“Cuz ya see, this thing CAN absorb any energy, but it can only store one type of energy at a time! Plus, it takes time to change what kind of energy it accepts!”

Anchorage grimmaced as she tried to stand, finding her knees failing her.

“And man, you really almost got me! If you’d done any more damage to me just now, I’d be dead!” She cackled, kicking her legs in the air as she floated and laughed like a child at their birthday party.

Purifier’s armor welled up with power, the energy she’d stolen from Anchorage filling it’s battery up about half-way.

“Shit… the damage she dealt to the armor really is fucking me up. Guess I just gotta deal with the rest of them with half a battery! Shouldn’t cause anymore problems, right?” She thought, floating over towards Anchorage as she ignited a blade of energy with her hand.

“Welp. Seeya, stupid! I’d say I’ll miss you, but we barely know each other! Ahahahahahahahahahahaha~!!” Purifier cackled, raising her hand high into the air like an executioner’s blade, the crackling energy coating her hand forming a sharp edge that gleamed in the light.

The priority cruiser grimmaced, attempting to move her body out of the, or at least roll to the side to avoid the inevitable strike.

“Come on… Anchorage need to move!” She shouted at herself, as a devious grin spread across Purifier’s face.

“Buh bye~!”

SCHWING!

Sparks flew as a glowing black sword swung in the way of Purifier’s strike, deflecting the attack as Purifier’s smile turned to a look of surprise and shock.

“Woooaaaah… Hey, it’s grudge girl! Man, you’ve missed a lot! I haven’t seen you for most of this little operation you’re holding!” She cackled, as Jean Bart slid in between Anchorage and the mad siren.

“Tch… Fighting a glorified three year-old wasn’t on my bucket list but here we are I guess!” She grumbled, tightening her grip on her blacklight blade as she tried to force Purifier back.

The hysterical sea beast released another hounding swathe of laughter, as another black sword swung for the back of her neck. Quickly meeting it with a kick from her still-armored leg, Purifier’s smile remained as wide as the sea as her eyes met the sickening vermillion of Duke of York’s own.

“Ooooh, it’s Miss Twilight! Wow, I never thought I’d see a vampire in real life! Tell me, do you guys actually shine or-”

“I could ask the same of thou’s own kind! Is it true thou sing songs to lure men to their death? Or were the sailors of old simply hearing the off-key screaming of a group of wailing banshees?” Duke retorted in an instant.

“Hah! Scathing!” Purifier cackled, seemingly elated that she finally had someone who could match her silver tongue blow for blow.

Kicking Duke’s blow away, Purifier floated back into the air as she surveyed her surroundings. Looking around more, she spotted Littorio, Richelieu, and Dido fast approaching from her flank. Even with all the energy she had, it was unlikely she’d be able to take them ALL in a fight, especially if Dido brought that crazy power she had before to the field, not to mention the grievous damage her armor had taken.

She needed a plan.

And man, did she hate trying to come up with plans.

“Switching energy types takes time, and I need a sample of the energy first… Shit…” She contemplated.

“Not a lot of options here… If I try to fight, they’ll slaughter me. If I try to run, they’ll definitely catch me. What to do, what to do…” She bit her lip, a smile remaining on her lips as her mind raced to find an answer.

For the first time in perhaps her entire existence, Purifier felt pressured, felt no way out.

Felt trapped.

Then, a realization. An epiphany, grasped on the verge of defeat.

“I’ve got just enough energy for long-distance teleportation!”

Now, usually sirens could teleport long distances with no problems. That however, was due to the abundance of energy within their body, and the fact that they usually hadn’t taken that much battle damage.

However, Purifier had sustained a great deal of damage, and with the drastic level of destruction done to her armor, she could likely only teleport once.

She had to make this count.

But where could she go? Her mind flipped through all the information she had available as she glanced over to her side, noticing the ever-encroaching kansen speeding towards her.

Think… think!

“Come on brain, think!”

And then, a realization.

“Wait, there’s a city here, isn’t there…?”

The Iris city of Brest, conveniently located a few hundred kilometers away. If she took the time to switch her energy absorption from wisdom energy to life energy, and then sucked away all the life within the human population…
She smiled.

Clapping her hands together, she smiled sinisterly towards the assembled kansen as her body began to glow with a sickening yellow light, like that of a buzzing plague.

“Man on man… I feel terrible for you guys! After all, you almost beat me!” She shouted, prompting Jean Bart to shout back at her in contempt and confusion.

“What the hell do you mean!? You’re clearly beat to shit, your armor is barely clinging to your body, and we’ve got you outnumbered six-to-one! There’s nothing you can do!” Yelled the leader of the Vichya, as Purifier’s smile only widened into an unnatural grin of devious intent.

“I’ve been way too nice today, so I won’t explain what happens next… I guess you lot will just have to find out for yourselves~!” She cackled, as Dido and Richelieu arrived on the scene.

Littorio braced herself for impact, calling out to the others. “She’s going to attack again, be ready!”

Only when the glow around Purifier reached its maximum brightness then, did the kansen realize what was going on, as a portal appeared behind the mad siren.

“Crap, she’s trying to run!” Jean shouted, as Duke created a javelin of blood and hurled it straight at the savage dog.

Despite hitting its mark, Purifier cackled, the spear shooting through her midsection as the siren quickly leapt away through the portal, vanishing into the wormhole as Dido scrambled to catch up, running after her.

“W-Wait, no! We can still catch her, we can still-”

Blip!

The portal closed.

Dido fell to her knees as the group watched the portal disappear, vanishing into thin air as a lingering sense of… defeat remained.

Richelieu walked over to the Holy Grail, picking it up as she examined the artifact.

Whatever happened to it, it’d drained most of the power from within. An… unfortunate outcome, but at least they’d managed to recover the grail right…?

She turned back to the others, with a grimace.

“Well… I suppose that’s… mission complete…?” She said, as the other Kansen stood around in a bit of a daze.

Even Littorio and Duke of York, with their tongues of silver and gold, could not find the words needed to say in this situation.

Silence filled the air for the following few minutes, as the kansen stared down at the destroyed base beneath them, smoke still rising from the sea through the wrecks of both the siren facility, and the numerous shipwrecks dotting the sea.

“...We should go ba-”

Suddenly, their radios crackled to life.

“Hello? Can anyone hear us!?” A familiar voice shouted over the radio, as Richelieu quickly answered using her synchronization gear’s built-in radio.

“Yes, Commander? Is that you? Are you oka-” She started, before she was quickly cut off.

“No time for that! We’ve just received reports of a massive energy spike in Brest! We aren’t entirely sure what it is, but it may be a siren-”

“Purifier.” All of the assembled Kansen spoke in unison.

“H-Huh?” The Commander asked, as Littorio quickly took to comms.

“You see, my Commander… Purifier has just recently escaped from our grasp.” She explained.

It didn’t take long for The Commander to put two and two together.

“...Shit.”

“U-Um… swear jar…?” Anchorage whispered, as The Commander cleared their throat.

Another second of silence followed.

Dido spoke up next.

“...I can catch her.”

“H-Huh?” The Commander asked, sounding audibly shaken from the recent events, though they seemed to be keeping it together.

“I… I finally got control over my powers and… recently, I absorbed a lot of Purifier copies. I should be able to teleport just like the sirens now!” She said, as the rest of the kansen assembled turned towards her.

“Wait… seriously?” Jean asked, having seen the act, but still not entirely believing what she saw.

“Alas! I had’th a feeling this one would be most important in the future!” Duke of York proclaimed, walking over as she pat Dido on the back.

With this newest revelation at her back, Richelieu spoke into the radio.

“So Commander, what are your orders?”

A moment of hesitation from The Commander, as they pondered their next move.

In the next second, they made their decision.

“...Alright Dido, can you teleport more than one person?” They asked.

“U-Um… So long as they go through the portal, they should exit wherever I exit!” Dido replied.

“Excellent! Then, Holy Grail Retrieval Team, your orders are as follows…”

Dido took a deep breath, fluid darkness beginning to leak from her body as her rigging began to change, shrouding itself in pitch black before it smoothed out, magenta lines running through the entire thing as her rigging transformed to partially resemble that of humanity’s greatest enemy.

Putting her hands together, she closed her eyes and channeled the energy within her soul, tearing apart the fabric of reality as a massive rift formed in the space in front of her, outlined by shimmering magenta energy.

The other kansen took to their feet, grabbing their weapons and tightening their fists with new resolve and purpose.

A few hundred meters away, The Commander smiled.

“Go kick her ass!”

Chapter Text

Purifier cackled as she rained down fire upon the port city, her laser cannons releasing a hail of shining lasers into the sprawling port metropolis before her.

People screamed beneath her, as citizens scrambled to escape the siren in front of them.

It’d been maybe… two minutes? Yeah, two minutes since she began switching the type of energy her armor could absorb, from wisdom energy, to life energy.

Her weapons aimed specifically to cut off people from their routes of escape, blowing apart buildings and spewing rubble all over the place to clog the streets.

Slowly but surely, she began moving forward, sparks still shooting off of her armor.

She was charged to about 60% capacity from the energy she’d siphoned off of Anchorage, and with the amount of people here… She could afford to pour all the remaining energy into attacking, since she should be able to fully recharge once she started draining the humans of their life force.

Her armor’s inability to hold more than one type of energy was, of course, a problem, but that’s why she was using all of it now!

55% left now. 

Off in the distance, a mother grabbed her child and tried to escape the crumbling city around her.

‘Come on honey, we need to go!” She shouted, her dirty blonde hair swinging in the wind as her daughter stumbled around in a bit of a daze, still trying to comprehend what was happening.

The city of Brest was now under attack, her home was beginning to die, and her underdeveloped mind was horribly ill-equipped to deal with the situation before her.

“M-Mom…? What’s going on…?” She asked with a shaky voice, as her mother flinched away from another set of falling rocks, spraying dust and smoke all over the place as she shielded her child with her body.

She turned to her child, tears filling the tiny girl’s eyes.

“Don’t worry sweetie… Mommy’s here to help, it’s gonna be okay…” She whispered, as she quickly turned her head around to find a new plan of escape.

Screams echoed around them as people trampled over one another, law enforcement beginning to deploy in large numbers as they tried to direct the flow of panicked citizens.

Running back down the street they’d just come from, the mother’s eyes widened as she noticed the sickening yellow glint off in the distance.

The signature glow of a siren’s eyes.

Her body’s fight or flight reaction immediately kicked in, as she scooped up her child again and made a break for the corner of the street, hoping that the next road over would be open to escape through.

As her feet pounded across the ground, her eyes darted around in a frenzy, as the screams and shouts of her fellow Iris citizens echoed through her mind, as the child in her arms began to cry.

“Shhh shhh, it’s gonna be okay honey!” She tried to calm her daughter, brushing a free hand through her daughter’s dark brown hair.

Rounding the corner, her eyes began to sparkle with hope as she noticed the sparsely-spread rubble strewn across the street, an escape route visible through the rock and stone.

“C-Come on sweetie, let’s go this wa-” The mother began, before being suddenly cut off by a horrifying shine in front of her, the wind whipping past her as something sped before her, standing in their way.

Something with white hair and yellow eyes.

Purifier’s smirk widened as she chuckled with glee, a sickening, sadistic grin coming to form on her face.

“Heeey there~! That’s a cute kid you’ve got there, what’s her name?” Purifier asked, tilting her head to the side with an unnaturally wide grin as the people around them began to scramble away, leaving the two completely alone with the terrifying siren.

“I…I-” The mother tried to speak, tried to speak and tell off their attacker, but her body would not move.

Every cell in her body was screaming at her to run, to say nothing and sprint in the opposite direction, but she knew it wouldn’t be enough.

What was staring her in the face wasn’t fear, it wasn’t terror. No, this was much different.

This was death.

Her body barely moved, slowly placing her child down as she moved to shield her child, her form shaking like a leaf in the wind with every centimeter of movement.

“Awwww, not gonna say anything? Not even one last shout of defiance or anything? Sheesh… You humans are boring as fuck!” She whined, before slowly bringing back her arm.

“Oh well… Might as well have some fun while I wait~!” She shouted with glee, preparing to deal a finish blow.

“What’s it you guys say in French…? Ah right, Aw re-”

BLAM!

A beam of black light suddenly slammed into Purifier from behind the mother, sending the siren spiraling back into the rubble behind her.

Purifier suddenly popped her head back up, scowling in annoyance as she shot into the air and sailed towards the source of the attack, zooming into the harbor as she looked down at the insolent twats who’d knocked the wind out of her.

Jumping out of an oddly colored rift in reality came the remaining kansen from the Holy Grail Retrieval team, the magenta tear in space-time closing up soon after.

“For your information, asshole, it’s pronounced ‘Au revoir’!” Jean Bart shouted over at her, a vein of anger popping out of her forehead as she was soon flanked by Richelieu and Dido on one side, and Littorio and Duke of York on the other, with Anchorage bringing up the rear behind them.

“We made it, Mi Signoras! And not a moment too soon it appears!” Littorio declared, blood still dripping down her form from the injuries she’d sustained.

The countess of the night chirped in after her. “Indeed, the innocent souls of this fair city needn’t worry any longer! For we have arrived to vanquish this foul sea-beast!” She declared, black blade held high.

Richelieu planted her flag into the sea’s glistening surface, as tiny orbs of light began to drift off of her body, shimmering light beginning to cover her form once again.

“Are you able to keep going, Anchorage?” She asked, as the elementary cruiser took in a sharp breath, crackling energy tearing off of her.

“M-Mhm! Anchorage can keep going as long as she wants!” She declared with a smile.

Shadows lifted off the sea as Dido held out her massive sword in front of her, sclera darkening as a pair of dark wings sprouted off of her back.

“Okay everyone… Let’s take her down!”

Purifier grimaced at the sight of the new arrivals, instinctively looking down at her heads-up display.

A minute had passed since she last checked, meaning there were about 2 minutes left before she finished switching energy absorption types.

That was fine. She still had 55% of her battery left, all she had to do was properly balance offense and defense, and she’d be all set.

“You think you’re tough shit!? Fine, come and get some!” She shouted, summoning her cannons to her side as she powered up her armor, the damaged equipment screaming to life.

No use in using her barrier at this point, no way would she win a battle of attrition, she just had to destroy all of the kansen in a single go!

With a resounding boom! Purifier shot towards the kansen, cannons firing off in rapid succession as they sent solid beams of energy straight towards the assembled shipgirls, searing hot steam shooting into the air where the lasers hit.

The group dispersed, shooting off into different directions as the battle began.

Richelieu led the counterattack, summoning her holy scriptures to her side as she prepared to attack.

With the bible floating by her side, she spoke a soft prayer as brighter light began to fill the air around her, before they solidified into glistening orbs that fired back at the laser beams, colliding mid-air as they shone brightly, sending Purifier reeling as her sight was filled with a multitude of blinding flashes.

Her focus shattered by the sudden swarm of flashbangs, Purifier began to fall out of the sky, tumbling down towards the earth before a powerful BOOM shook the sky.

The already-disoriented Purifier was slammed with the full brunt of Jean Bart’s main armaments, all eight massive cannons firing high explosive shells straight into her body.

The armor barely had time to throw up its energy barrier before the explosive hailstorm tore its wearer apart, the automatic defense systems hanging on by a thread.

“Shit…!” Purifier hissed, her eyes darting to the side as more and more shells came flying her way; courtesy of Dido, Duke of York, and Littorio.

Her barrier held its ground as it weathered the storm of powerful munitions exploding against its shimmering surface.

Suddenly, a powerful force sent her careening into the ocean, her barrier barely managing to withstand the blow as the smoke dissipated to reveal Anchorage, her body still crackling with pink and blue energy.

“Keep going my comrades, we have her on the ropes!” Richelieu called out, hoisting her lance-flag high into the air as she too released a salvo of ammunition straight at Purifier the instant the siren returned to the surface.

She grit her teeth, as another series of explosions rocked against her shield, as the kansen outside her barrier began laying into her with everything they had, bullets of light joining the fray as Jean Bart and Richelieu piled on more punishment.

“Ah fuck!” She hissed to herself, pouring more energy into the barrier.

“They’re probably holding back their bigger moves to slowly drain my shield, before they take me out in one go after it drops! They’re really not giving me a chance, sheesh!”

For the first time in her entire career, in perhaps her entire life, the siren known as Purifier found her back against a wall. With 6 kansen, all of which being drastically stronger than average, bearing down on her like a storm of hail, it appeared as if there was no escape.

She’d taken almost all of her copies with her on this little operation, if she were to be taken out here… If she were to disappear in this moment…

“Is this… death?”

Staring back into the soul of the destroyer was her own mortality. Her own inevitable end, that all living things had to face at the end of their journeys.

And in this moment of adversity, when faced with such a dangerous trial, the machine known as Purifier, the creation of the siren known as Observer, came to a realization.

An understanding.

“I guess this means… I gotta break my own limits too!”

A bright shine began to form from within her chest, as she quickly connected with her armor once again, beginning to issue commands.

“Can’t afford to waste energy on defense… This time, I’ll throw everything into my attacking power!”

BOOM!

A wave of tremendously powerful energy exploded out from a single point, pushing back the kansen as Purifier shot into the air, her hair beginning to stand on end from the amount of power flowing through her body.

“The two minutes are up… But instead of draining energy from humans to power itself… I’ll change the target to myself! I might as well at this point!”

Richelieu’s eyes widened as she turned her gaze to the floating demon, instinctively sensing a change in the beast’s nature.

“Be careful everyone, she’s-”

Too late.

With a second, thundering BOOM, Purifier disappeared from sight, the only sign of her taking action being Duke of York suddenly spinning through the air, as if she’d been struck.

Littorio spun around with surprise, brandishing her weapon as she tried to locate the lunatic siren.

She too was met with a swift, powerful blow to the stomach, quickly knocking her over as Purifier suddenly stopped mid-air, looking down on the kansen like an angry god.

“Oh shit… This is the best! ”

Richelieu motioned for Jean Bart, Anchorage, and Dido to form up on her, swallowing a lump in her throat as the three quickly sailed over to gather.

She trembled ever-so-slightly as the mad beast grinned, turning her head over to them as she swept back some of her silver hair, and licked her lips with hungering anticipation.

“Alright little sheepies… It’s time for the end~”

Chapter Text

How? How could this have happened?

Dido’s breath caught in her throat as the newly-ascended Purifier floated before them, arms spread out as if in display of some divine might.

The psychotic siren swept her hair back, beginning to laugh before she burst into a full-on cackle, leaning back as she covered her face with her hand.

“Wow… You really almost got me back there! A little bit more, and I would’ve been toast!” She pronounced.

Richelieu grit her teeth, turning her eyes over to the other three kansen still able-bodied enough to fight.

“Hold fast, my friends! We will not-”

Blink!

Within the blink of an eye, Purifier disappeared, vanishing from sight in a gust of air.

Feeling the blast moving towards her, Richelieu swung around, just in time to catch and deflect a blow from the massively powered-up siren.

The other kansen attempted to react, swinging at her before the siren vanished just as quickly as she appeared.

Emerging again in the blink of an eye, Purifier’s armored leg kicked out with a shimmer of sickening yellow energy, slamming into Anchorage’s face and knocking the cruiser down to the ocean beneath.

“Crap!” Jean Bart shouted, turning her guns to Purifier before she shoved Richelieu and Dido away.

With a deafening BOOM, her main guns fired straight at the siren, narrowly missing as the psychotic doll twirled unnaturally through the air, barely managing to avoid the high explosive shells meant to reduce her to cinders.

“Fuck!” The Vichya flagship swore, her secondaries picking up the slack as they began firing off more artillery towards Purifier.

“Whatever she just did, she got way faster! Is she also hitting harder? Her reaction time also seemed to get better so I guess that isn’t too big a stretch!” She thought, her eyes struggling to keep track of the siren in front of her as she danced around the air like a mad ballerina.

Purifier swiftly responded, summoning an array of laser cannons to fire away towards Jean, joined next by a sparse few gun drones that Purifier always kept with her, which crowded the sky with a rain of amber lasers.

As Jean kicked her rigging into evasive maneuvers, Dido attempted to strike at Purifier from behind, darkness spreading across her body as black wings shot off her back.

She leapt high into the air, bringing her hands up as she materialized her blade from liquid shadows to sever the monster in twain, only to find Purifier spinning out of the way like an out of control fighter plane.

Pivoting on seemingly air, Purifier’s knee then swung around and found its way into Dido’s soft side, a soft crunch sounding out as she broke a few of Dido’s ribs.

“G-Gah!” Dido gasped, sent tumbling into the ocean as Purifier followed up with a haymaker to the head.

Another BOOM sounded out as Richelieu attempted to regain their momentum, firing off her own guns towards the siren warlord as she planted her flag in the ground.

“With Littorio down, we’re out of a healer! I don’t know if Dido can apply her regeneration to others… But it also seems like Purifier’s put everything into her offense.”

Re-planting her flag into the glimmering ocean beneath, Richelieu reshaped the weapon back into its lance form, as radiant light began to hang in the air around her, coalescing into trembling orbs that shivered with the power held within.

“In that case, it’d be a better idea to simply bombard her from afar than try to get close!”

Nodding over to Jean Bart, the two began to lay into Purifier as Anchorage ran over to Dido and retrieved her from the danger zone.

A hailstorm of powerful, high-caliber explosive projectiles sailed through the air towards the mad siren, joined quickly by a mix of radiant and dark light, explosions filling the air as Purifier dodged for her life, zipping about the hectic battlefield like the world’s largest house fly.

And much like a fly, she was able to evade almost every single attack, only a few stray shots landing on her body.

Though they were few in quantity however, with the damage already done to Purifier, it was clear this couldn’t go on for much longer. Something had to give.

Purifier knew this, and made a gamble.

She had an idea.

She needed five minutes to switch energy absorption types. HOWEVER, as her armor had already absorbed wisdom energy, she guessed that switching back to that energy type wouldn’t take as long as switching to an entirely foreign source, like human life energy. Additionally, if she could maybe divert energy to the absorption module she might be able to reduce the cooldown even more!

But how long would it take?

Maybe 4 minutes? 3?

Regardless, if she could just stall them long enough…

“If I can just get my hands on one of them, I can win!”

She darted down towards the cardinal and her sister, laser cannons firing away as she tried to counteract the hail of glimmering projectiles sailing towards her.

Richelieu was confused, raising an eyebrow in confusion as Purifier shot towards them like a loose arrow, closing the distance at a speed so alarming she may have mistaken her for a torpedo.

Her main guns sounded off, as Jean Bart quickly followed up. They now focused their fire straight towards Purifier, funneling the spread of fire from a wide radius into more of a honed edge, a laser-guided scalpel meant to surgically remove Purifier from this plane of existence.

But just like before, Purifier was able to narrowly avoid the flood of obliterating fire. Though more damaged than before, more and more shells beginning to graze her upon her approach, she continued barreling towards her goal without a care in the world.

With a crazed look in her eye, she shot through the air, shortening the distance between herself and the cardinal covered in blinding light.

“Is she trying to get into a melee so we can’t hit her with our guns…? That’s fine!”  

Spinning her flag in her hands, Richelieu aimed the sharpened tip towards Purifier, preparing to run it through her like a blessed lance of old.

Watching the maddened siren enter her range, Richelieu lunged forward with the point of her lance, thrusting it forward as the Siren narrowly dodged the incoming spear, receiving a slice on her cheek as she struck out at Richelieu with her hand in response.

Richelieu swung her body to the side, dodging Purifier’s attack before she was caught by a well-timed kick to the face, stunning her for a few seconds as Purifier tried to follow up.

Seeing her sister in danger, Jean Bart formed a thin blade of blacklight and rushed forward, striking at Purifier with the edge of her shimmering sword.

Noticing the attack Purifier made some distance, leaping back a bit as Jean quickly moved in front of Richelieu.

“I feel like something’s off with the way she’s fighting… Stay on-guard!” She called out to the others, as Anchorage and Dido got into position to attack, turning their cannons towards Purifier.

The siren quickly moved to intercept however, commanding her remaining laser cannons to fly towards the two cruisers, firing away as they circled and weaved, forcing the two cruisers to back off as they tried to deal with the swarm of laser drones and flying cannons pestering their position.

Dido grit her teeth as she narrowly avoided a spray of lasers, her grip on her sword tightening as she began to gather black shadows along the edge of the weapon.

She quickly stopped however, in order to block a salvo of beams headed towards Anchorage, who’s movements were slower and more sluggish than before due to the level of damage she’d  received, and the energy drained from her by Purifier herself.

“S-Sorry, Anchorage is feeling… r-really tired…!” She sluggishly called out, basically throwing her body around as she tried to avoid the hail of attacks heading their way.

Noticing her friend’s peril, Dido planted her massive greatsword into the ground, horrific darkness spreading up from the sea as it encapsulated the two of them in a protective dome.

“O-Okay, this will buy us some time!” She said, turning around as Anchorage began to nurse her wounds.

“Ow… O-Ow…!” Anchorage whimpered, the many burn wounds and injuries she’d sustained from the continuous battle they’d fought.

Kneeling down, Dido retrieved some basic first aid kits from her rigging, as she motioned for Anchorage to come closer.

Swiftly applying the bandages to her numerous wounds, Dido worked fast as the sounds of battle raged on outside, metal clashing against metal ringing through the air as the pounding of the dozens of lasers outside slamming against her blackened cocoon filled her ears.

Wrapping up her treatment, Dido smiled as she laid a gentle pat on Anchorage’s shoulder.

“Feeling better…?” She asked.

Anchorage gave a toothy smile, nodding as she wiped a tear from her eye. “Anchorage is f-feeling much better now!”

“G-Good, okay then, we need to find a way out of this situation.” She said, closing her eyes as she began to manifest shadows from within the black orb.

“I think I’ve got an idea…” She thought, as she parsed through the memories she’d shared with her other self.

Pooling the darkness around her body, pink markings resembling eyes began to spread across her body and face, manifesting through the liquid shadows as Anchorage gulped, scooting away.

“W-What’s happening…?” She asked, somewhat fearful of the process taking place before her eyes.

Dido turned up to look at Anchorage, form covered with eye-like markings glowing a powerful magenta, and shadows slithering like liquid.

She reached up, and…

“Don’t worry Anchorage, it’s…”

She smiled.

“It’s gonna be okay!”

In the next instant, the markings poured out from the cocoon, shadows spilling forth like a flood before slowly solidifying.

The cannons and lasers continued firing everything they had at them, releasing every ounce of energy they had stored within them.

It wouldn’t be enough.

Familiar-looking cannons, resembling those of Purifier herself, poked out from the darkness and took aim at the swarm of attackers circling overhead.

Shimmering energy gathered at their tips, as each cannon fired a beam of deathly lilac.

BOOM!

Richelieu parried away more strikes from Purifier, as Jean Bart attempted to mount a counterattack from behind, slashing at her back with a cutlass made of shimmering darkness.

Purifier gasped a bit as the blade found its mark, before she swung around and grabbed Jean by the face, before slamming her fist into the flagship’s stomach; hard.

The privateer doubled over in pain as Richelieu came from behind and lunged at Purifier with her spear, the flag attached waving in the wind as she attempted a lethal blow to the back of Purifier’s head.

Barely twisting away in time, Purifier cackled as she kicked Jean away with a knee to the liver, before swinging around to grab Richelieu by the wrist.

She let out a shrieking cackle as a series of explosions went off behind her, Dido and Anchorage rushing over to help as fast as they could, as she quickly wrapped her free hand around Richelieu’s neck.

“W-What are you doing…?” Richelieu gasped, as she began to gather a tremendous amount of light within her body, the shimmering energy beginning to release beams of blinding power outwards.
“Oh nothing… Just borrowing a few things~” Purifier taunted, before sickening yellow lines began to spread out from where her hand touched Richelieu’s neck.

Suddenly, Richelieu began to feel her energy leaving her body, as Purifier FLARED with power.

“M-Miss Richelieu!” Dido shouted, darting forward with her greatsword held high as she attempted to bring the heavy blade down on Purifier’s skull.

This attack was easily parried however, as a shimmering barrier of energy formed around Purifier.

“W-Wait, how did she-”

Richelieu’s thoughts were cut off as she forced herself to focus, bringing her knee up and into Purifier’s gut with every ounce of strength she had.

Finally loosening her grip, Purifier stumbled back a bit as Richelieu forced herself back up, eyes widening somewhat in fear as Purifier crackled with shimmering yellow energy, jagged like lightning.

Her hair began to stand on end as bolts of amber thunder echoed from her eyes, the smile on her face contracting a bit into a more collected, sinister grin.

Anchorage gulped, recognizing what had happened as Purifier spoke up.

“W-Wow… It’s still wisdom energy, but this shit is… It’s like a whole different type! I made a mistake not taking more of this from that kindergarten brat over there!” She said, motioning towards Anchorage as she giggled with glee.

“Alright kiddies, I hate to repeat myself, but this time, it really is o-”

“Not a chance!”

A flood of darkness.

A thundering wave that shook the sea.

Streaks of black began to leak off of their surroundings, off of moored ships and the city beside them, all flowing towards a single point.

HMS Dido.

The colors of the world seemed to brighten, as an explosion of black radiated out from her, before two jagged black wings spread out.

Adorning them were markings resembling eyes, colored a bright, vibrate lilac as two similarly-colored eyes stared out from the darkness.

A crowd had formed on the shore, bystanders who watched humanity’s greatest champions fight for their survival.

Each one of them felt a chill run down their spine.

“M-Mommy, is something wrong…?” A little girl asked her mother, tugging a bit as her mother’s dirty-blonde hair was swept back by the shockwave.

Looking at the figure stepping out from the shadows, brandishing her massive blade towards the great enemy of humanity, with a look of nervous determination on her face, a single thought came to the mother’s mind.

"...Don't worry honey, it's gonna be okay." She said, kneeling down as she whispered towards her daughter.

"Are we gonna be okay...?" She asked.

The mother did not know. She couldn't know for sure, but she did have a feeling.

"It's... going to be alright."

Hoisting the massive sword in her hand towards Purifier, Dido shouted at the top of her lungs.

"You're going down!"

Chapter Text

Fear.

Deep, sharp, instinctive fear.

This sensation shot through Richelieu’s spine as Dido emerged from her transformation, sporting wings of black that bore eye-like markings glowing a bright magenta color.

Sailing forward a bit, Richelieu looked Dido up and down, ragged and crackling darkness still flooding off of her.

Her sclera were no longer black, having seemingly been purified of the darkness that usually manifested in their earlier iterations.

Her shins sported pitch black armor, light enough to not get in the way, but still enough to act as effective protection.

The darkness that covered her arms had also receded, no longer soaking her limbs in it's miasmic form.

Within her eyes formed pitch-black stars, four points on each.

Formless darkness emanated from her silhouette, solidifying into a cape upon her back as a pulsating heart-like marking glew from the center of Dido’s chest. However, instead of sending those who gazed upon it into a bout of madness, Richelieu felt nothing but clarity.

It was strange. She felt like she was seeing something that shouldn’t exist, yet she could still comprehend it.

She shook her head, snapped out of her stupor by Dido’s words.

"You're going down!"

Purifier cackled, eyes going wide as she looked at Dido’s new appearance.

“Woooaaah, nice glow-up! Did having a temper-tantrum-”

She wouldn’t get to finish her sentence, as Dido suddenly disappeared from sight in a flash.

Not even a second later, Purifier felt a sharp blade sink into her side, before she was sent flying away by a heavy strike.

“F-Fuck!” She growled, forcing herself back up as she tried to focus, channeling some energy through her armor to heal the wound.

The damage slowly began to repair itself, as Richelieu called out to the other kansen.

“Keep attacking, my friends and comrades! We have not lost yet!”

A cheer echoed from the crowd as Jean and Anchorage took aim with their cannons, loosing barrages of their own that peppered Purifier with powerful explosive shells.

Quickly throwing up her barrier of energy, the siren in question quickly locked her eyes on Richelieu, who rushed forward to initiate a melee.

Hearing noise behind her, Purifier winced as Dido swung her blade against the energy barrier, the shield rippling from the force of the maid’s attack.

Her attention swung away for an instant, Richelieu took advantage of Purifier’s distraction and thrust her flag forward, the spear-like tip of it striking against the solid barrier before it.

Purifier channeled even more power through her suit, diving beneath the waves as she let the barrier collapse, Richelieu and Dido’s attacks falling forward and throwing up a large splash of water.

Reappearing behind them, Purifier smiled with glee as yellow lightning shot off her fists.

“With all the energy I’ve got, I can afford to be a little careless! The only advantage these guys have over me now is numbers!”

Swinging her fist forward, Richelieu was barely able to dodge away it in time as Dido came from the side and attempted to take Purifier’s head with a powerful horizontal slash.

Spinning to the side, the siren forced some distance between herself and the two fighters as the sound of guns firing behind her alerted her to the other two fighters still left in the battle.

Jean and Anchorage continued firing from a distance, the Cardinal mixing in beams of dark light in with her barrage.

As she manifested her barrier again, a thought crossed Purifier’s mind.

“Why isn’t that kindergarten brat attacking? Her punches were way stronger than her guns, so…”

She wouldn’t get to finish thinking as Richelieu fired her own salvo, sandwiching the siren between powerful artillery barrages.

“With Anchorage’s guns making up for the long reload my sister and I have, we can keep piling on the pressure! We just need to find a way around her barrier!”

Dido began firing her own guns, summoning cannons from the Purifier clones she absorbed to join her attack.

High explosive shells and shimmering pink lasers shot through the air, cutting across the sea as they pounded against Purifier’s barrier.

“There has to be a limit to the amount of energy she can put into that barrier! Plus, she didn’t seem to be able to attack earlier while it was up… Meaning so long as we keep this up…!” Dido thought, as she pressed her attack.

Finding herself cornered again, Purifier felt the pressure mounting up.

And like dousing a flame with oil, she felt her lust for battle flare up like a forest fire.

“One more time… I’ll break my limits!”

Forcing her hands outwards, the barrier surrounding her expanded , pushing back the kansen as well as much of the ocean beneath her.

Disoriented, the kansen were unable to keep up with Purifier for a moment as the attack dog lunged for Jean.

“You’re the weakest link, aren’t you!” She shrieked, bringing her leg up, wreathed in lightning.

Swinging her heel down for an axe kick, she was stunned as Jean managed to side-step the blow, returning the favor with a point-blank salvo of her own high explosive payload.

Reeling from the attack, Purifier’s eyebrows rose in furious shock.

“Oh shit-”

Jean rushed forward, covering her body in black light as she grabbed Purifier by the collar, slamming her knee into the siren’s gut before firing ANOTHER point-blank salvo.

The dark light melted away, dispersing as the privateer’s chest heaved with effort, whilst Purifier hit the surface of the sea with a light splash.

“Alright, it’s working!”

Wisdom Contracts, as far as most know, do indeed take a bit of time. However, with enough effort and practice, one can create and undo them with great speed.

By learning how to properly undo these contracts, kansen can avoid paying the heavy price one pays for breaking the contract normally, instead only losing what was gained.

Just now, Jean Bart made a contract that substituted her defense for increased reaction speed, and then quickly undid it so she could counterattack.

The process however, is rather exhausting, as it requires a good deal of energy.

Turning to the others, Jean screamed at the top of her lungs, her guns now out of ammunition.

“I DON’T THINK I CAN DO THAT AGAIN! WE HAVE TO KEEP ATTACKING!” She shouted, as the other kansen rushed forward to take advantage of Purifier’s weakened state.

Quickly returning to her feet, Purifier cackled as a glow once again began to form on her chest, energy building inside of her, using her armor as a catalyst to help focus the gathering storm.

“Ok, no more screwing around! I’ll end this right now!” Purifier thought, as she darted forward to meet the kansen.

Anchorage swung in with a right hook, only to be grappled and thrown over Purifier’s shoulder, promptly kicked away by the mad siren as Jean Bart formed a pike made of her shadowed light.

Purifier parried it aside with her palm, grabbed it, and yanked it forward, finishing her combo with a headbut straight to Jean’s nose.

“O-Ow! Crap!”

Batting Jean aside like she was swatting a bug, Purifier turned to face Dido and Richelieu as the duo struck at her with weapons of dark and light.

With all the energy flooding into her however, she was able to easily duck beneath them and kicked them away, leaning back as she laughed with all her heart.

The blows she dealt were harder, more solid. Dido found the wind knocked out of her as she struggled to stand back up, shadows whipping around as she attempted to return to her feet.

Richelieu similarly forced her way back up, propping herself up with her flag as she used her powerful light to begin healing herself.

“Wow, you guys really keep surprising me! But man, is there anything else you guys can do? Is that really it?” She asked, sweeping her arms up in a show of pride.

Richelieu grit her teeth, finally managing to stand back up.

“Dammit… We need to stop her from gathering all that energy…!”

“If only… we had some way of catching her off-guard.”

“...Signora York, can you stand?”

“Barely… But the whims of fate have not deemed my death to be so just yet…”

“Excellent! Then, mind propping me up?”

The shuffling of clothes softly filled the air, as a red-clothed vampire helped the emerald of Sardegna to stand.

“For what doth thou require mine shoulder?”

“Nothing much, Signora York! I just need some help aiming…”

Slowly but surely, Littorio’s turrets began to turn.

As her guns switched to armor piercing ammunition.

BANG!

A powerful shot rang out through the city, as a salvo of ammunition SLAMMED into Purifier’s right armor, nearly tearing it off as the shells flew off into the distance, exploding in the water.

“Hah! Damn, you almost got me with that! But what was the point of-”

Fizzle!

Only then did Purifier realize what had happened.

Looking up at her mangled arm, a haunting revelation began to creep up upon her.

“They got my right arm module!”

The energy gathered by Purifier suddenly fizzled out, dispersing harmlessly, unable to maintain its focused form supported only by the leg modules.

Taking a deep breath in, Littorio shouted from the depths of her heart, as Purifier’s eyes widened in surprise, shock, frustration…

…And maybe a little fear.

”ATTACK, MI SIGNORAS!”

Darkness enveloped the ocean, as Dido lunged forward, her massive sword held high as she led the charge.

Purifier threw her hands forward, forming a barrier around herself to catch the weapon right before it hit.

Richelieu noticed that the barrier was significantly weaker than before however, and capitalized on this by firing a salvo straight into it.

The barrier collapsed, only just blocking the shells before giving way.

Click!

Richelieu’s guns had run dry.

“I’m out of ammunition, but we must keep pressing forward!”

Realizing that she was losing ground, Purifier let out a roar and generated energy blades through her hands, striking at Dido with brutal ferocity.

Dido parried away the strikes, using her shadows’ brute force to bulldoze her way through Purifier’s defenses, as Jean Bart and Anchorage came up from either side of the maid and slammed their fists into Purifier’s sides.

Falling to her knees, the siren shouted in frustration and kicked herself backwards, hopping onto her rigging as she flew back to gain distance.

The hammerhead’s central cannon began to charge with an unbelievable amount of energy, as Purifier quickly funneled as much of the stored energy as she could inside of it, focusing the rest of her power on the secondary cannons she had floating around herself.

The searing hot beams hit their mark, cutting holes through the rigging of the four kansen.

Their synchronization gear held strong, the cubes within glowing a bright blue.

Richelieu screamed at the others, darting towards the siren.

“WE HAVE TO STOP HER FROM FIRING!”

The other three lunged forward as fast as they could.

With all the fighting that they’d done that day, they were running criminally low on ammunition.

Both battleships were unable to fire anymore, and the shells of a cruiser wouldn’t do the damage they needed to win.

The four kansen charged headfirst into the storm of lasers, searing hot beams of energy shooting past them as they pushed their riggings to the limit.

BLAM!

Anchorage took a laser straight to the face, falling backwards as she hit the water.

“K-Keep going!” She shouted.

Pushing onwards, the remaining three rushed through the incoming firestorm, as Jean Bart was next to fall, one of Purifier’s shots landing directly in the middle of her chest, knocking the wind out of her.

“Don’t stop dammit!” Screamed the privateer.

Richelieu and Dido continued their daunting charge, narrowly avoiding the many lasers that flew towards them at harrowing speeds.

Barely able to react in time, Richelieu was knocked off her feet by two withering beams.

“M-Miss Richelieu!” Dido shouted, before the cardinal sent her response with all the heart she had left.

“You can do this,Dido!”

Turning around, Dido lunged towards the siren, finally closing the distance as she raised her sword.

“Too slow, loser!” Purifier screeched, one of her lasers firing off.

The resulting beam knocked the sword out of Dido’s hands, which remained held high in the sky as Purifier cackled.

“YOU LOSE!” She screamed, as the sickening yellow light gathering at the mouth of her rigging aimed straight for the kansen.

“Should you ever find yourself in a pickle, if it ever looks grimm, and if things seem hopeless… Envision the thing you want most. Focus on the thing you want most, the thing you revere the most, and things will surely turn out okay.”

“So… I guess the best way I can explain it is a phrase Mikasa-daisenpai taught me a while back! Ahem, ‘courage is not the absence of fear, it’s feeling fear and doing the right thing anyway!’”

Shadows gathered within Dido’s hand, forming an image.

“Focus on that image… The image in my mind… That represents victory!”

They twisted and merged, sharpening into a weapon.

A curved, single-edged blade, dyed pitch black.

With fluffy tassels at the end.

“No… WE’RE GONNA WIN!”

With one final scream, Dido brought down her sword…

And cut the light in half.

Chapter Text

Dido’s pitch black blade sliced the light in two, her thin black sword cutting Purifier’s rigging in half as it found its mark, cutting deep into the siren’s chest.

A resounding boom resonated out.

A blinding flash of light filled the city.

The maid closed her eyes, as she was flung back by the force of the detonation, her tiny body ricocheting off of the water’s clear surface before she eventually slid to a halt, water staining her clothing as she turned her eyes back forward.

A loud splash drew her attention, as the other three kansen slowly began picking themselves back up.

Richelieu slowly sailed up next to Dido, who’s chest rose and fell rapidly with the level of exhaustion she’d accrued.

“Is… Is she beaten…?” Anchorage asked.

“W-Woah… Did we really…?”

A single clap.

The kansen turned their heads, looking towards the source of the noise.

A small girl, held within her mother’s arms, had clapped her hands together.

Just once. No more than a single time.

And it was enough.

Slowly but surely, more clapping followed, as the many assembled bystanders began to follow suit, avalanching into roaring applause as the people of the Iris began to cheer.

Dido’s eyes widened as the cheering rushed over her, crashing upon her like a wave. This was a strange feeling, a really good feeling.

She smiled.

And thrust her fist in the air.
“YEEAAAAAAHHHH! WE DID IIIIIIIT!” She screamed, roaring to the sky as her fellow kansen began to join her.

“W-We did, we really did it!” Anchorage shouted, leaping towards Dido as she trapped the maid in a tight hug.

“That was amazing!” Richelieu shouted, similarly jumping over as she captured Dido in her own bearhug, before quickly stepping back as a flush of pink came to rise across her face.

The cheers echoed through the air, as Jean turned away from the crowd, not being a big fan of them anyway.

Laying half-way submerged in the water was the aforementioned siren, sporting a large slash across her chest as she heaved with heavy breathing, trying to struggle back to her feet as Jean Bart began to loom over her.

“Hey fucker… Looks like you lost, huh?” She said, looking down at the now-defeated siren with an intense feeling of relief.

They’d done it. They’d actually won.

For real.

“A-Ahahahaha! That was p-pretty good, but I’ll definitely get you guys next time!!” Purifier shouted, stumbling to get back up.

“And when I do, I’ll definitely-”

BONK!

A loud thwack sounded out as Jean quickly struck her across the face, knocking the cackling little siren out in an instant.

“Sheesh… Is that what I used to sound like…?” She whispered to herself.

Dido gasped in surprise as she felt a hand touch her shoulder, a flash of green hair signifying it’s owner as Littorio arrived on the scene.

“That was a wonderful performance, Signora Dido! I knew you could do it!” She said, ruffling Dido’s hair as Duke of York sailed up beside her.

“Indeed, thou was truly a shining star in this most deadly night! Well done, Dido!”

The white-haired maid chuckled nervously, Anchorage still clinging to her like a koala as she tried to formulate a response.

“W-Well, it was just me… T-The rest of you helped a lot too!” She exclaimed.

Anchorage cooed as Richelieu chuckled.

“That is indeed true… But you undoubtedly stole the show here, Dido. You were amazing.” She said, taking one of Dido’s hands into her own.

Blushing at the sudden contact, Dido’s expression quickly turned into one of grateful affection.

She smiled.

“Thank you… T-Thank you all, so much!” She shouted, tears running down her face.

As the others crowded around for a group hug, the crowd cheering deafeningly behind them, Jean sailed up, dragging the unconscious Purifier behind her.

“Hey uh, I don’t mean to intrude or anything but… The hell do we do with her?” She asked, raising up the siren by her scruff.

Turning back to Jean, the kansen began to whisper amongst themselves as the sound of a speedboat in the distance drew all of their attention.

“My my, you lot really outdid yourselves! In fact, We’d argue you deserve quite the compensation for this all!” A familiar voice called out from the boat.

“O-Oh, Master!” Dido called out, peeking out from the crowd of kansen as she slowly pushed her way through, still clung too by a very happy Anchorage.

Upon closer inspection, Dido noticed the presence of a very unconscious, but still very much alive Officer Varennes.

“W-Where are the others?” She asked, referring to the rest of the kansen that showed up with them.

“Receiving medical treatment. Purifier took out everyone except you lot, so they’ll be in the medical ward for awhile… In fact, you guys should probably go see a medic too!” They proclaimed, before Littorio raised a hand.

“Worry not Mi Signoras, the great Littorio has learned how to heal!” She said, quickly placing her hands on the nearest possible kansen before she imbued them with her own wisdom energy, sealing their smaller wounds in an instant as the larger ones began the process of recovery.

The Commander nodded their head as they analyzed the situation, seemingly processing the new information before they snapped their fingers.

“Aha, that’s it!”

“Hmm? What’s what, my Adonis?” Duke of York asked, before The Commander pointed towards the quad of Anchorage, Richelieu, Dido, and Littorio.

“It just now occurred to us, we’ve found the secret to beating the sirens for good!” They proclaimed.

All the kansen stopped and looked at them now.

“Through the connections you’ve all shared, when faced with an insurmountable challenge, the four of you evolved far past what even We thought possible. In fact, we’ll have to start re-evaluating quite a few things with the new developments here.” They began.

“But the reason you all evolved was due to one another. Your feelings, your desires, your ambitions. By spurring on one another, just one person’s evolution cascaded into an unstoppable wave that not even Purifier was able to stop! And We believe it is this phenomenon that will lead us to victory!”

Dido nodded along with the others. It made sense, she was only able to overcome her anxieties because she had help from the others.

By aiding one another, they’d reached the highest place they thought possible, and through that evolution, had continued to propel one another higher and higher.

“So… what now?” She asked.

They smiled.

“Well, normally We’d say something along the lines of ‘now we prepare’ or some other immensely cryptic line, but… You’ve earned some rest. So now, it’s time to celebrate!” They proclaimed, before motioning to the crowd.

“WOULD YOU NOT AGREE!?”

Cheers resonated out from the crowd, the multitude of voices mixing together to create a booming sound that blotted out the sun.

“Well… Seems they like that. Now then…” They said, turning back to the others.

“What would you lot like your victory cake to look like?”

“Y-You know, when Master said ‘victory cake’, I thought they were joking…”

“...Well, they are rather eccentric.”

Richelieu and Dido looked up at the massive cake towering over them, adorned with white frosting and the flags of the nations that participated.

The rush of voices around the two echoed through the massive party hall, which’d finally been repaired after the Ashes had destroyed it a few weeks ago.

“Wow… To think all of this happened in less than a year…” Dido whispered.

Adorned in a beautiful purple dress, the maid stared up at the tiny figure made of what she assumed to be candy atop the entire cake.

A depiction of herself, being carried by the other kansen upon their shoulders.

She felt a hand on her shoulder, before she turned over as Richelieu drew her gaze.

The cardinal had adorned herself in a stunning dark red dress, her usual hat nowhere to be seen as she held a thin glass of wine within her right hand.

“We’ve come quite far, haven’t we?” She said, before she too began to stare up at the massive cake.

“I understand the need for such a reward, then… But can we really finish this whole thing…?”

Sure, there were a lot of kansen here, but…

It was a lot of cake.

“Haha! My friends!” Another voice called out, as Littorio walked on over, a magnificent black dress accented with gold clinging to her body as she approached.

“It is indeed quite an impressive pastry, but I feel as if we have earned the right to indulge in such a reward! After all, we have achieved a feat only very few can say they have!”

She had a point, the actual amount of times the sirens had been well and truly defeated were few and far between. Not only that, they’d actually managed to capture one of them, alive!

That was a genuine first.

“U-Um, where’s Anchorage?” Dido asked.

Littorio motioned over to Friendrich, who was busying herself with the aforementioned PR cruiser, her towering figure hunched over as the long, slender black dress clung to her form, ruffled slightly by Anchorage as Friedrich tried to redo some makeup that the childish cruiser had knocked off one way or another.

Dido chuckled a bit at the sight, rubbing the back of her head as she sighed.

Looking around, she noticed a few more familiar faces amongst the crowd. Duke of York, Prince of Wales, she even saw Brest, though the angel had a few bandages adorning her body; presumably from the injuries she’d sustained during the operation.

“It’s really amazing, all that’s happened so far…” She mumbled, as rapid footsteps approached the group, before Anchorage quickly broke into the circle.

“Anchorage is here! Mama Friedrich wanted Anchorage to wear more make-up… but Anchorage no like it!” She pouted, as Richelieu gently rubbed the top of her head.

“She only means the best, you know.” The cardinal said, to which the cruiser pouted even further.

“Mmmm… still!”

“Tch… The hell are you lot doing over here?” Jean asked, followed by Duke of York, who slipped in behind her.

“My, is this an early reunion party? It only makes sense to still be high off of the ichor of our victory~” Duke proclaimed, as Dido giggled a bit.

Looking around at the kansen that’d gathered, Dido felt a feeling of lightness permeate through her chest.

Glancing around, she caught the eye of her sisters, as they bustled about the crowd.

Sirius turned over to her, and smiled. Nodding knowingly.

A single, silencing clap echoed out through the room, as all eyes turned to the front of the massive hall, where The Commander stood at the top of a large staircase, overlooking the crowd from behind ornate railings.

“Now, the last time we did something like this, we nearly lost the port! This time however, We think things’ll go a bit differently!” They began, waving their arms out before them.

“As many of you know, just a few days ago, we were dispatched on a most important mission. The mission to wrest back possession of the Iris Orthodoxy’s precious Holy Grail back from the hands of the sirens! It was a perilous mission, one that tested the mettle we’ve trained since the dawn of this war against an enemy We’re sure all of you are all too familiar with!” They proclaimed.

“And we’ll admit; things did not go according to plan. In fact, for the first time in Our lives, we found ourselves facing true defeat! The situation was out of anyone’s predictions, even ours!”

That got a rise out of the crowd. Whispers were passed back and forth, hushed voices dancing through the halls.

“Yes that’s right, even We weren’t sure what to do! However…” They stopped, before their hands moved in a flourish, pointing towards the six kansen standing at the base of the massive cake.

“They too, moved beyond our predictions!”

All eyes turned towards them, causing poor Dido to shrink back behind the other three.

“It is thanks to the efforts of these six kansen that we still stand here today! They pushed back the tide of evil, and struck down Purifier! So for their valiant efforts and their indisputable merit… Let’s give our heroes a round of applause!”

A thunderous wave of clapping filled the pristine white halls of the ballroom, as the assembled kansen began to clap.

Turning to one another, Anchorage, Richelieu, Jean Bart, Littorio, and Duke of York all looked at each other with a smile.

“E-Eh!?”

Then, in unison, they reached down and picked up Dido, hoisting her up onto their shoulders.

“Y-You guys!?”

The roaring cheers intensified, as Dido flushed a deep red.

“W-We did it, Miss T.A!”

“Yeah, that wasn’t half bad.”

“Indeed, t’was a splendid performance~!”

“That’s right Signora Dido, you did amazing!”

“I’m proud of you, Dido.”

As tears welled up in her eyes, the five kansen threw her into the air, sending the cruiser a few feet into the sky as she let out the happiest shout of her life.

Because, she realized as she flew through the air, she’d done it.

At last, she’d changed.

“W-WE DID IT!”

Chapter Text

“So… How’ve things been?” The Commander asked, tilting their head to the side as Dido perked up.

“H-Huh? What do you mean…?” She asked in response, scratching her head in confusion.

The Commander spun around in their chair, motioning outwards with their arms. “I mean, how’s your life been! It’s been about a week or so since your little hero moment, how’ve things changed?”

Dido gulped, glancing at a small houseplant that The Commander had recently added to their office.

“W-Well… Um… It’s been fun…! My sisters threw a big party for me, a-and that was really nice.” She began.

“Oooooh, that sounds just wonderful~!” The Commander cooed, clapping their hands together.

“I-It was really nice! Lots of people came… a-and Queen Elizabeth even personally praised me…!” Dido explained, smiling happily as she did so.

“Oh that’s just splendid. So, how’d it feel being super confident?” They asked.

“Um… Very empowering! I-I still don’t understand what happened, and I’m especially confused as to what happened with Miss Richelieu and Anchorage… But, things seem to have gone well!”

Always good to hear. The Commander nodded, as they stood up and paced around the room.

“So, have your powers been acting up lately?” They asked.

Dido shook her head. “N-No, they’ve been completely under control since last I checked. A-Additionally, I’ve been able to do a lot more things with them, too!” She said.

“Ooooh… That’s quite good to hear. Actually, on that note, would you like to finally know what your ability is?” They offered.
“Huh? T-That’d be wonderful, Master!” She said.

Taking that as a yes, The Commander slid a folder forward onto the desk.

“After we ran some more tests on you, we figured out what your powers are. Your ability… is the power to manifest your own negativity and misery. Specifically, it’s tendency to swallow up and consume those that fall prey to it.” They explained.

“This explains why you were able to absorb all those spare Purifiers without suffering any adverse effects.”

Dido nodded along. “That… makes a lot of sense.”

It’d definitely explain why the power constantly spread out and ate at things, constantly feeling like a gnawing hunger, among other things.

“But enough about your depressing powers! We wanna know what your social life has been like! So, how’s it been with all your new friends?” They asked, planting their hands on their desk as they leaned over said desk at Dido.

“U-Um!” Dido blushed, leaning back a bit as she poked her fingers together.

“Well… Miss Duke of York gave me a formal apology for the things that’d happened. She… did it with a giant float… A-And it was a little embarrassing, e-especially for a lowly maid like me… But I really appreciate it!” She responded.

The Commander’s grin widened, as they placed a hand upon Dido’s head.

“That’s wonderful, Dido. We’re very proud of you.”

She smiled.

“Thank you… Master. I-It’s in part thanks to you that I’m doing so much better, after all.”

They chuckled, rubbing the side of their head.

“Well, We suppose We’re rather amazing, aren’t We!” They laughed, before Dido perked up.

“O-Oh, I do have o-one more question.”

The Commander spun around.

“Go on, we’ve got all day!”

She sighed, placing her hands on her lap.

“Why… Am I so strong?”

It was a peculiar question, to be frank. The Commander found it difficult to process, taking a seat in their chair as they listened.

“C-Cuz, most of the strong people on-base were born with it, right? Miss Enterprise is the Sirens’ Chosen One, the PR ships were built specially to kill and destroy the sirens, t-things like that! But… I don’t really have that kind of background.” She explained.

“S-So… What gives?”

The Commander tapped their finger on their chin.

“Well… I guess it was just an accident.”

“Huh?”

“You were born with an ability that just so happened to spiral out of control because of your overwhelming amount of sadness. I don’t think there’s much else to it!” They replied.

Dido just sort of… sat there for a bit.

“Really…? I was… kind of expecting something more worrying.” She admitted.

“Well, We were too, honestly! Good news is of course, that this means you aren’t in any danger. Not like a certain friend of yours …”

“W-What was that last bit?”

“Oh nothing! You should get going now, Dido. You’ve got friends and stuff to hang out with!”

The maid looked a bit nervous, but stood up anyway.

“U-Um, goodbye, Master! Thank you for answering my questions! A-And for checking in on me.” She said, bowing towards The Commander as they tipped their hat in return.

“No problem, always a joy to speak with you! Now run along then, wouldn’t wanna keep your friends waiting~” They teased, as Dido blushed and quickly ran out the room.

Falling back into their chair, The Commander sighed as they placed their hands behind their head, before their gaze drifted over to a large folder laying on their desk.

On it, a single large world was plastered on the front, emboldened in black.

Zuikaku

“...We really hope she’ll be alright…”

The sun shone down on the hot stone road, Dido’s shoes tapping lightly against the floor as she looked around at the large shopping district.

Next to the base, right up next to the large beach that the base sat upon, was a rather spacious section of land dedicated specifically to on-base shopping and recreation, thus giving rise to things like Dunkerque’s bakery and various restaurants. It was here that Dido found herself, her eyes glancing around before eventually focusing on a small black table right outside a small cafe.

At the table sat three individuals. Littorio noticed her first, waving over to her.  She wore a large straw hat, slightly translucent white shirt, and a two-piece black swimsuit, clearly dressed for the beach day they’d planned about two days ago.

Dido noticed Richelieu and Anchorage were in accompanying swim wear as well, adorned in a frilly one-piece pink piece and white two-piece/swim coat combination respectively. They eventually turned around as well upon noticing Littorio motioning over to her, and waved as well.

Dido waved back, herself wearing a thin white one-piece resembling her usual outfit, her hair tied up into twintails.

“Signora Dido! How have you been, o’ fairest lady?” Littorio asked, flipping her hair as she motioned towards the maid.

“Oh, I’ve been doing well! M-Master just spoke with them, and things are going quite nicely.” She said, taking a seat at the table.

“That’s wonderful, Dido~!” Richelieu said, smiling towards the maid as Anchorage quickly began waving her arms.

“Oh, oh! Miss T.A! We’re going to the beach today, right?” She asked, as Dido nodded in return.

“Mhm. That’s right.” The maid responded, as Littorio swiftly took to her feet, bag slung over her shoulder as she motioned to the rest of the group.

“Well then, we don’t have all day! Come on Signoras, let us enjoy our day upon the golden sands!” She declared, before walking off towards the beach, swiftly followed by an enthusiastic Anchorage.

Richelieu stood up to follow them, only stopping when she noticed Dido still sitting at the table.

“Hmm? Is something wrong?” She asked, as Dido stared off towards the group.

Just three or so weeks ago, she’d had basically no friends, still riddled with intense fears whilst ruled by her anxiety.

Now though? Sure, she still felt unsure about a lot of things, and she couldn’t just get better in an instant, but…

“I have friends now… That’s enough.”

“Dido?”

She quickly snapped out of her trance, looking up at Richelieu.

“Oh sorry, I-I’m coming!” She called out, hopping out of her seat as she walked towards the cardinal.

Richelieu grinned as the two walked together, the cardinal turning towards Dido.

“So, do you feel better?” She asked.

“No need for thanks, Dido. Oh, and… I have some last piece of advice for you.” Richelieu said, prompting Dido to stand in curiosity.

“If you do not wish to be abandoned, then a good place to start would be strengthening your conviction. Because in order to overcome one’s greatest, darkest fears… One must brave through them first.” She stated.

Dido’s eyes began to lit up, as she quickly bowed repetitively in gratitude. “T-Thank you Miss Richelieu! I will remember it!”

Richelieu smiled as Dido reluctantly left the cathedral, looking up at the ceiling and towards the sky.

“Lord… I see great potential within that one.”

“S-So um… Why do you need me to take care of Miss Anchorage, Master?” Dido asked, taking in another deep breath.

“Well… I’ma put it to you as nicely as I can Dido: you’re a bit fucked up in the head.”

A sharp pain shot through Dido’s heart, as she fell to her knees.

“O-Oh no! This lowly maid has caused so many problems… S-Surely I’ll be thrown away, now that even Master has seen the error of my ways-”

Just as quickly however, she was dragged back to her feet and quickly slapped back into her senses by a brisk backhand.

“No no no no no, you’re missing the point! Let me explain.” The Commander scolded, before mysteriously whipping out a whiteboard before Dido could continue with another bout of self-loathing.

“You’re already pretty terrifyingly strong, from some accounts you actually got Ember to flinch quite a few times. Sure, she was fighting like seven other kansen at the time and was probably winded as fuck, but that still says a lot. The thing is…”

Quickly drawing chibi versions of Zuikaku and Dido, he began to continue.

“Your situation is the exact opposite of Zui’s. Where she was physically weak, and mentally strong; you’re physically strong, and mentally weak. This means that to capitalize on all of that boundless power, you need to start working on your mental state.” He elaborated.

“I suggest also trying to get a better handle on your powers; raw strength won’t get you everywhere, after all.” He concluded.

“When… When it came time for us to pick a side, I chose to fight alongside the Royal Navy, and my comrades of the Iris Libre. In the process… I left Jean Bart behind, and I believe that ultimately led to her resenting me, believing I’d chosen to fight alongside our enemies, and betray our nation. We used to be quite close, but…” Regret filled the Cardinal’s words, as Dido watched with bated breath.

“...Nevermind, those things have already happened. I can’t take them back now. All I can do is… move forward.”

Dido didn’t know what to say, trying to think of something to say to quell the boiling regret Richelieu was clearly showing.

The Cardinal let out a regretful sigh, looking down at the table.

“Anyways, I’m sorry for weighing down our-”

“I-I don’t think you’re a bad person!”

“We’re done here. Go sit at home with your friends in the Royal Navy… I don’t want to hear anything else you have to say.” She spat, venom coating her tongue like the glazing of a fine pastry; now stained with the poison of resentment.

CHK!

The sound of a sword planting into the ground caused both Jean and Richelieu to swing their heads backward toward the source of the noise, as Jean felt the hairs on her body stand on end as the sensation of a dark, foreboding presence suddenly filled the air around her.

A foot stepped onto the foot of the hill.

Shadows began creeping up the massive stone ascension, as lilac eyes bore straight at Jean Bart.

“...I can’t let you say that, Miss Jean Bart.”

“Fuck! You better win this thing, sis!”

“Show her the might of our conviction, Signora Richelieu!”

“Thou hast the light of your faith at your back, do not retreat!”

Screaming through the pain as the tentacles surrounding Dido’s form shot out and impaled her once again, Richelieu willed herself to cling to the eldritch maid’s form as with her free hand, an orb formed.

One made from purifying light.

“I don’t know who or what you are… But… Dido is someone who's precious to us…”

She crushed it in her hand, forming a powerful fist.

“SO YOU’D BETTER GIVE HER BACK!”

“All of you… from Anchorage, t-to Miss Littorio, to Miss Jean Bart… Everyone has shown me such incredible kindness. Everyone accepted me… In spite of my powers. In spite of the danger I could pose… And I’m so grateful to everyone for that. But there’s one more thing I need to accept…” Dido said, reaching into the opening in her top as she drew her enormous buster sword.

It glowed with pitch black energy, wispy shadows rising off of it. The very shadows that’d plagued her for so long.

Before, she saw her powers as a curse, a hellish nightmare attached to her no matter how badly she’d wished it gone.

But now, it didn’t look as scary.

“You’ve all shown me that it’s okay to accept something, n-no matter how ugly it is… So, it’s my turn.”

“You’re me, and I’m you, after all.”

The maid smiled, slipping her hand into the cardinal’s as they walked towards the sun-kissed waters of the golden beach before them.

“Yes, I-I am!”

Richelieu too smiled back, her eyes softening.

“Then… let’s go enjoy ourselves, shall we?”

Elsewhere…

Beep…! Beep…! Beep…!

In the Sakura Empire, deep within an emergency medical facility, a soft series of beeping gently echoed through a room, the lights of the room glowing defiantly against the darkness of the night outside.

A pitch black sky hanging overhead, the door to the room slowly opened, as a flash of white hair swayed with movement as its owner stepped in.

“Hey Zuikaku… how’re you doing…?”