Escalation

…

"Life doesn't always go the way we plan. How many times have we witnessed emotions lead people astray…? How many times could a tragedy have been avoided with a little patience… a little reflection… a little common sense…? Sometimes taking a moment to reflect before emotions escalate… changes everything." – The Observer, Tome 3

…

FROM THE DEPTHS OF DARK WATERS

Chapter 3: Escalation

Cleveland's day had so far been an ever-constantly direction-changing rollercoaster of emotions and conglomerated thoughts. From the start of her normal day, banging on the strange, metal, human-shaped, and human-piloted weapon with hammers, drills, and everything else imaginable, to the moment that the Sirens attacked the base, she had been feeling an emotion she could fully explain in only two words.

Hitting zero.

Cleveland had been unfortunate enough to be struck by the self-inflicted terror that Aphelion could have been a potential enemy. At first, that thought alone hit her like a sledgehammer to the gut, and with it came the unshakable fear of death that she wasn't used to experiencing. Yes, in the face of an adversary she knew she couldn't do anything against, she could only fear for her untimely demise.

She didn't want to die, though. And thankfully she didn't have to worry about that fear for long. As it turned out, the man inside the mech was not only friendly to them but even wanted to work with them.

So, why did it feel like she had hit zero?

Well… the man named Aphelion—who she was officially in charge of—was now an unconscious mess on the ground at her feet. And the reason for that was—in part—thanks to her handing him the wisdom cube that she had stolen from Akashi—their friendly Sakura Empire vendor—who had been situated in with the Azur Lane to aid in the study of Aphelion. While she had learned invaluable information about Aphelion that she was sure everyone would want to know about, she couldn't escape the reality that was in front of her currently.

She had no clue how to help him out of his current pains.

She dropped down to her knees and reached him with haste she didn't know she had, cradling his head onto her lap like she had done with her sisters when they came back from sorties and were exhausted. And just as she did this, his sudden spasms stopped. His breathing returned to normal just as fast as it had become irregular and his muscled relaxed shortly after. She wasn't sure why such a sudden shift had occurred, but she was glad it had and let out a deep breath of air she wasn't aware she was holding.

However, Cleveland wasn't sure what to do next.

There weren't any human doctors on base, there were only repair ships, and the Manjuu ran most of the smaller stores, like the Base Exchange. Vestal was very knowledgeable, and so was Akashi when she wasn't finding ways to loiter gems from people, but she wasn't sure if that knowledge reached beyond ship maintenance and Kansen care or not. Just as she began to take her conscious thoughts of action any further, she could hear steps rapidly approaching. Believing it to be the long and speedy strides of Enterprise, she turned her head quickly to the source, only to be shocked by what she saw.

It wasn't Enterprise.

It was a Sakura Empire carrier. With long brown hair and brown foxtails that flowed behind her. With brown fox ears on top of her head to match. Immediately, her train of thought derailed itself, and questions began to form in a different direction. Something in her head screamed danger, but she couldn't focus on it. Cleveland was anything but careless, she was sometimes overconfident, sure, but that didn't stop her from carefully analyzing every part of a fight before it happened. Why was a Sakura Empire ship here?

Unannounced.

The timing seemed peculiar. No, more than that, it seemed very strange to her. A Sakura Empire ship appears at Azur Lane moments after a Siren attack, however, they weren't present in the actual battle at all. And how quickly the girl had gotten onto the deck of Enterprise meant that she had been somewhat close to the base already. Yes, Cleveland's head was working diligently to put the puzzle pieces together and ultimately concluded that something certainly wasn't right about the carrier's sudden appearance. But once again, she was pulled from her thoughts as the fox girl all but yanked Aphelion away from her before she could do anything to prevent it, and held him into a close embrace, almost motheringly.

The carrier had muttered something to her that Cleveland couldn't catch in her derailed train of thoughts, but she could hear the girl—whom Cleveland recognized to be Akagi—began to whisper sweetly into Aphelion's ears as a mother would to their son or daughter who had just been hurt.

For a moment, Cleveland felt some foreign and strange emotion pang through her that she couldn't understand. And she refused to acknowledge the feeling as being jealousy alone, but instead a mix of that and worry.

Unlike Cleveland's sisters—who had her to talk to for their feelings and emotions that they sometimes didn't understand—Cleveland didn't have anyone she could really confide in. She would sometimes—sometimes—go to Helena to talk, but it was hardly about anything that bothered her. Helena simply provided her with ideas or helpful thoughts.

"It's okay now, my Commander~ Akagi is finally with you. Akagi won't let these bad Eagle Union girls experiment on you any longer." Akagi cooed to Aphelion, giving a short and sharp glance to Cleveland as she spoke about her. Cleveland understood the word Akagi had spoken as she spoke it, however, it didn't come out of Akagi's mouth as such.

Akagi had used the word Shikikan, which Cleveland knew all too well to mean Commander. And she didn't entirely feel like disagreeing with the word either.

"H-hey! We aren't 'experimenting' on him! I didn't know… he would react like that. I just wanted to show him what a Wisdom Cube was!" Cleveland quickly tried to defend herself, taking a defensive stance, displaying her confidence to the carrier without remorse or care.

"You dare lie to Akagi of the First Carrier Division?! Everyone knows what a Wisdom Cube is!"

Cleveland backpedaled at Akagi's sudden outburst and was more than a little shocked at how quickly the girl was able to shift moods. "W-what? He doesn't know what they are, he told me himself!"

Cleveland paused shortly after she misspoke, realizing only after the words had been formed that what she had said was a lie. Aphelion hadn't ever told her that he didn't know what a Wisdom Cube was, he had just seemed so confused when Enterprise mentioned them to him that Cleveland just assumed that he hadn't known what they were. Thankfully, Akagi didn't seem to read too much into her sudden displaying levels of uncertainty and instead seemed to develop her own shock at the situation as well.

"But… that isn't possible!" Akagi suddenly yelled out, earning a groan from the man in her arms. Almost immediately Akagi calmed herself and began to run her hands through Aphelion's hair. "Ahh! Akagi is sorry, my dear Commander… just close your eyes, and leave everything to me. Akagi promises to take good care of you~"

Cleveland continued to watch from a safe distance as Akagi gently moved her tails around the two of them, brushing them under Aphelion as well as wrapping some around him. Cleveland had never seen something even remotely similar to the scene she saw before her, most of the Eagle Union girls only wore accessories, such as animal ear headbands or tails, but Akagi's were real, and they moved under him in such a way that created a soft—or what appeared to be soft—cushion for him to rest on.

The Sakura Empire aircraft carrier was certainly short-tempered in Cleveland's eyes, but she also seemed to be very caring. Akagi seemed to be very nurturing and even doting of Aphelion—the person whom she had given the title of Commander upon first sight. Cleveland wouldn't disagree with that choice for a simple reason: seeing how Aphelion had reacted to the Wisdom Cube.

Compatibility with wisdom cubes was one of the main traits for determining a commander. There were a lot of other factors that played into that as well, but that was the main one. And Azur Lane had been without a commander since its creation because no one was able to get past that first bit. Hundreds of humans passed the tests after that. Some even with perfect marks.

Cleveland didn't entirely understand it… but somewhere, inside of all Kansen, they agreed. It was like some thought that never truly left any of them, they needed a Commander with a high affinity for Wisdom cubes. And Cleveland felt that Aphelion had exactly that.

There wasn't anyone compatible enough with Wisdom cubes on earth, and every single one that had tried was rejected by the Kansen themselves. That left the Kansen to command themselves for the major factions around the globe. For Azur Lane, that would be Enterprise of the Eagle Union and Queen Elizabeth of and for the Royal Navy.

But… Cleveland had the sneaking suspicion that all of that would now change in the very near future. And that suspicion alone was enough for her to form the thought that she mustn't let the Sakura Empire girl take Aphelion away from her. Under any circumstance. But, before she could act on her thoughts, the machine of foreign origin whirled to life in a blink behind.

"This unit has detected Siren signatures within close proximity to the pilot. Pilot Aphelion has been unresponsive for more than one hundred and twenty seconds. This unit will now commence the eradication of all Siren presence near the pilot."

Cleveland almost choked when a small cannon-looking thing suddenly appeared in a flurry of blue on the left shoulder of the mech. And a single blue laser was aimed directly at Akagi's chest. The red eyes the girl had lit up in complete and total terror.

And then Cleveland realized something very daunting. The cannon didn't appear in a flurry of blue at all. The blue aura that she had seen came as a result of the weapon charging an attack. The first thought that Cleveland could comprehend was that she was about to witness the 'eradication' of a fellow Kansen, and the thought of that alone was enough for her to feel extremely uneasy.

If the machine recognized Akagi as being a Siren… then it would surely recognize herself as one too, right? In the spur of her panic, she wondered if there was anything she could do that would stop the assault, and she looked at Aphelion carefully before she shook her head violently.

There was a thought of her betraying Aphelion, and she wasn't sure where the thought had come from or why it had occurred. For her to betray an ally… that stood against everything that she had ever believed in, and she refused to let the distress get the better of her at the moment.

She couldn't believe the thought had ever even entered her head, and the pain that came with it felt like a sledgehammer had come down on her. Like she had just unwillingly committed a grave sin that she had been punished for. And with the pain, came an unbelievable, crushing sadness.

Akagi dropped Aphelion and started to back away slowly, the horror and fear struck across her face, and the sound of electricity zapping between coils began to form as the barrel of the thing hissed with an anger Cleveland couldn't possibly understand. And then Akagi stopped backing away.

Cleveland thought she had stopped her moving because the girl had become aware of her inevitability to escape, but instead, the girl reached into the clothes she wore, between her cleavage. Cleveland hadn't noticed at first, but the laser wasn't focused on Akagi's center of mass. It was focused on something else, something that moved separately from when Akagi did.

"One allied casualty detected. Standing by."

Akagi pulled a strange Wisdom Cube of her own from… somewhere in her clothing. It was a strange, purple cube with a sickening flow inside of it. Looking at the object gave Cleveland a chill. She hadn't ever seen a purple Wisdom Cube before, but something about it screamed not good. Akagi threw the thing in the air without nearly any hesitation, and the blue laser that followed shortly after, stayed focused solely on the cube with unbelievable precision, never leaving the centermost part of the cube as it soared and flipped through the air.

And then, a bright flash of light erupted a second later, blue, and just as angry as the first attack he had ever displayed against the Sirens. The quick sound of zapping electricity filled the air with screeching sopranos as a beam of wild energy, quick and powerful, zipped towards the distant mountains and hills that surrounded half of Azur Lane. And when the light dispersed, there was a lack of something Cleveland thought she should have seen.

The purple cube had been completely eradicated, and there was nothing left of it anywhere within sight. But the far more impressive thing was the small explosion that had happened in the distance. Unlike the destructive attack she had first seen from him, the resulting explosion was much smaller but still very noticeable from a distance as if a small bomb of electricity had exploded in the distance.

Cleveland took the moment of panic and disarray as an opportunity to reclaim Aphelion for herself, quickly picking him up in a bridal carry and pulling him in close. In the next moments, Cleveland carefully watched everything that was laid out before her, who spoke to whom, when, where and what was being said—every single detail was invaluable information that she dedicated to memory as exact as she could. For someone who wasn't experienced in that typical fashion and usually kept her normal attitude and outlook on life, always being cheerful and emotional, the contents of her actions seemed like boring information kept for reports, but the calculating, cold purpose hidden within and behind her actions was very different from the normal antics of Cleveland's normal personality.

For reasons Cleveland couldn't fully understand, there came another girl to the aid of Akagi, this one with white hair, nine white tails that swayed behind her, and matching fox ears. Piercing blue eyes burned with a worrisome emotion as the girl in question ran up to the still shell-shocked Akagi and quickly grabbed her.

"Akagi! We must leave, now!" The white-haired girl yelled, pulling Akagi roughly towards her and away from Cleveland and Aphelion. For a moment, things went deathly silent, no words were spoken from Akagi or her sister—whom Cleveland had finally recognized as being Kaga—and the cold, damp air from sea spray and breeze seemed to thicken as Cleveland began to put puzzle pieces together.

Carefully, Cleveland began to move away with Aphelion in tow, trying to put distance from the two carriers in front of her. The expression on her face turned serious and setting on her like a plaster mask. On the surface, she still appeared kind and affectionate, but on the inside, she was ready for a battle at any moment. With movements that never strayed from methodical calmness, Cleveland began to backstep, immediately catching the attention of Akagi once more, who snapped from her daze as she noticed Cleveland.

"You-! You stubborn little cruiser, give me back my commander!" Akagi suddenly yelled out, catching Cleveland by surprise at how quickly the girl had managed to recover from the life-threatening situation she had been in only a second earlier.

"He's mine!" Cleveland further surprised herself as she suddenly spoke without much thought, unconsciously deciding to monopolize Aphelion, and even further than that, she continued her speech, "You can't have him!"

"Grr, why you-!" Akagi began again, this time starting a steady march forward, only to be stopped in her steps by Kaga, who grabbed Akagi's arm. "Kaga? Unhand me, dear sister!"

"Akagi!" Kaga said sternly, causing Akagi to falter and stop but reluctantly turning away from Cleveland and leaving with a curt grimace.

Cleveland sighed as the two of them leaped from the side of Enterprise and raced away. The amount of information that she had absorbed in the short period was slowly getting the better of her, and she needed some kind of downtime to think before reporting the incident to Enterprise. With the thoughts still fresh in her mind, she carefully moved Aphelion and began to haphazardly carry him on her shoulders.

Her room would have to suffice for now. At least there, he could rest on her bed while she watched over him. He would be away from the December weather, and then she could tell Enterprise. She was sure her sisters that were currently home wouldn't mind meeting Aphelion. Yeah… she was sure that was the appropriate thing to do. She knew Enterprise wouldn't mind either.

…

Aphelion was now outside, wind whistling between the treetops around him as he stood near a small building, and on the top of the door that was directly in front of him, he read the words Transmission Main Control Room. He could see inside through a small window that was situated just perfectly at his eye level. Inside, the spacious room was filled with all kinds of instruments and equipment. Signal lights and oscilloscopes displayed flickering images that appeared somewhat hazy and undiscerning.

A dozen or so operators worked inside—all of them were female and similar to the girls he had seen previously—dressed in dark black and red clothing, tinged with greys and silvers, appearing almost entombed by the rows of instruments and devices. The unceasing stream of—what he assumed to be—operational orders and responses gave the whole scene a tense, confusing feeling that sent a chill down Aphelion's back.

He knew he was dreaming. He knew he still hadn't awoken from the encounter with the Wisdom Cube and the siren named Observer Zero, so he guessed at the images he was being shown. Were they illusions? If not, then what were they and why was he seeing it?

"This is a large-scale broadcast. If it succeeds, the result will be even more important than the atomic bomb or that hydrogen bomb the Eagle Union has been working on." Came a feminine voice with a rich accent Aphelion couldn't recognize. Turning to the sound and looking away from the control room, Aphelion saw a woman with long silver hair and fiery orange eyes walk through him as if he were only a ghost. As she passed through, the girl shivered for a moment and stopped her walking.

"Is something wrong Prinz Eugen?" Came another voice, this one belonging to a woman with hair and eyes like his own. Long blond hair and blue eyes.

"Of course, Bismarck. Just a cold chill." The girl—whom Aphelion had now learned was named Prinz Eugen—replied.

"I didn't feel anything. Perhaps you should get checked out." Bismarck interjected, only to be shot down a moment later.

"There will be no need. Just come inside and watch the fireworks." Prinz Eugen said with a start, swinging the door to the control room open and walking in with Bismarck in tow.

Everything became quiet around Aphelion at the moment, only the sound of waves from a distant shore and gentle breeze—which had calmed from its original roaring heights—filled his ears. Until he heard the faint voice of Observer Zero fill his head.

"This is how it all begins. A moment of pride and prejudice that could have been avoided by a single moment of reflection. A single event, insignificant in the history you lived through, that will release the worst and most uncontrollable disaster from the depths of dark waters on this world. Disasters that even Sirens fear.

"The actions of the Kansen, are also the actions of humankind. Though most only believe them to be machines, that is false. Their actions—while seemingly acts of righteousness and in defense of humanity—are sometimes wrong—and more than that—human in nature.

"One could say, it is entirely possible that the relationship between humankind and Kansen is similar to the relationship between the ocean and an iceberg floating on its surface. Both the ocean and the iceberg are made from the same material that gives them life. That the iceberg seems separate is only because it is in a different form when in reality, it is all just a part of the vast ocean…

"It is impossible to find the scope of moral range as being different between Kansen and humankind, just as it is impossible to expect humans to lift off the earth from pulling their own hairs. All the emotions that create humans, create Kansen, and through them are the choices that lead to escalation."

Aphelion began to feel a strange eerie feeling along his back as if something was gently scratching at him from behind. Behind him, was a massive antenna that blocked half the sky, and whirring, flashing red lights lit up the darkness between the trees.

"You will learn in this new life of yours, that life doesn't always go the way it is planned. Where emotions lead people astray… where tragedy could have been avoided with a little patience… a little reflection… and a little common sense. You will learn how pride and anger destroy and change the world in ways no one expected or imagined. And all of it could have been avoided with a moment of thought…"

"Iron Blood project, Midnight, transmission number six hundred and thirty-seven. Authorization confirmed. Beginning thirty-second countdown."

"Target classification: Alpha. Alarm Code: Red. Coordinates 11.35° N, 142.2° E locked and confirmed. Coordinate serial number MT11142NE. Twenty-five seconds."

Aphelion recognized the coordinates immediately. They were the coordinates pilots like himself were taught in history lessons before they became proper pilots. It was the first gateway that had appeared on Earth. The first rift. The coordinates of the darkest, deepest place on Earth. The Great Trench.

The Mariana Trench.

"Energy Unit: systems green."

"Coding Unit: systems green."

"Interference Monitor: systems green."

"So, this is the point of no return?" came the voice of Bismarck from behind the door.

"It would appear so." Came Eugen's reply shortly after.

"Do you believe these efforts to be fruitful to our endeavors?" Bismarck further questioned.

"Only one way to find out, don't cha think?"

Everything became silent again. Though this time, even the rustling wind and crashing waves seemed to grow silent as a klaxon started to blare, and a red light on top of the antenna began to rapidly flash.

"Begin transmission!" Came the almost inaudible sound of speech from inside the building. But it was enough for him to fully understand what chain of events had finally begun.

Aphelion felt an itch on his body that began to grow rapidly as if the hairs on his body suddenly stood upright. He knew that an enormous electric field had now appeared around him at that moment, and he lifted his face to gaze in the direction the antenna was pointing. The sky was dark and cloudy, and the clouds above glowed with dim blue light, so dim he thought it was an illusion.

He heard a fluttering noise. And looking around, he realized a great mist had erupted around him as the smoke did from a fire. Through the mist, he could see shadows lift from the surrounding woods and spiral into the sky above. And then he saw a terrifying scene: All the birds that had taken flight into the sky with rapidly flapping wings, suddenly stopped midflight, and against the background of the faintly glowing clouds above, the birds dropped from the sky like rocks to the ground below.

And then the clouds that glowed drifted away, and with it, the glow vanished. Moments later, another cloud took its place, and it too began to glow dimly.

And then the red light went out. The feeling of charged air vanished, and with it, the clouds above had lost their glow.

"Transmission complete."

"How will we know if this one worked?" Bismarck asked once more.

"Best or worst scenario?" Eugen countered.

"Both."

"Well, best case, we get a signal back. Worst case, the Sirens retaliate. But the Eagle Union will surely handle that issue, given their proximity."

The scene began to fade around him as a gentle pressure formed on his waist, like some external weight he couldn't see had been sat on him. And with the weight, came a tingling sensation that worked its way up from the base of his stomach, up to his chest, and finally to his shoulders.

"You know the rest. Your world was one of the first to unravel these great mysteries and discover how little you knew about the world. Some things never change, across the vastness of time and space, history has proven to repeat itself.

"But this isn't your history, and it isn't your past either. But it is what you have come to know. It is what humanity—in your world—evolved to combat.

"But I'm sure you still have questions, don't you? So many things you want to know. So many things you don't understand. Not enough time to understand them. Life is a paradox, for Sirens, for Kansen, and even for you. Change one thing, change everything. In one world, the Kansen fail, in another, they survive. In one world the Kansen exists as ship girls that soar the ocean blue.

"In another, they exist as suits of armor—tools for mankind to personally wield—soaring through space in an eternal fight for peace. But in no world, have any succeeded.

"You are the key to it all. The key that can save this world… or lead it to its demise. You want to know why I chose you. I can feel it. I know it. It was always meant to be you. The highest affinity. You were the product of a thousand years of perseverance, hope, and evolution. And once you were created—once you were taken—there was no more reason for your world to continue.

"The girls who are with you now, have always been with you. Always been with humanity. In different forms, performing different duties. But they have always been with you. Every machine, every weapon. The Kansen are reliant upon memory and heart. They don't know why, but they already feel a familiarity with you. They know you are what they chose."

More questions filled Aphelion than he could even keep count of, and Observer Zero's constant beat-around-the-bush method of explaining things to him left him with even more confusion than he could manage at once. Her words were stuck on a loop in his head.

"Now, it is time for you to wake up. I will be watching you. Watching how you lead the future of humanity. And guiding you when needed."

…

After what felt like an hour, but was in actuality only around fifteen minutes, Cleveland had finally arrived with Aphelion at the base housing where she and her sisters had stayed and she had finally made it to the door that led into the six-bedroom apartment, separated by a stylish living space and kitchen. Swinging the door open, Cleveland immediately noticed her sister Columbia lying on the sofa in the living room, with the TV providing background noise as she stared at the ceiling and blew bubbles from the gum she chewed.

The apartment was nice, fully furnished with everything she and her sisters needed to live comfortably. New carpet, new kitchen chairs and tables, and even new appliances. Only a moment after the door swung open, did her sister look at her and acknowledge her with a single waving gesture before she turned back around and faced the ceiling.

And then the girl caught herself mid-action and immediately turned back to Cleveland with a start, her eyes widening in recognition as she finally noticed the man that Cleveland had in tow.

"Is that the space boy?!" her sister asked with enthusiasm, the lazy and relaxed expression from earlier vanishing in a moment. Columbia stood from her spot and quickly rushed up to them, carefully walking around and looking at Aphelion from every angle she could find and manage.

"How do you know that? Aren't you on leave?" Cleveland asked her sister with some shock. Columbia had recently been forced into taking leave, as she had been gone on sortie after sortie without taking any, resulting in her accumulating in enough vacation days that she either had to take them or lose them.

"I doubt there is a single person on base that hasn't heard the news already! So, this is him then, wow~!" Columbia said with excitement as she looked at his face carefully. "He's kinda hot!"

Cleveland—deciding to ignore her sister's forward opinion that she didn't entirely disagree with—moved towards her room, throwing the door open and walking inside with Columbia following closely after, still looking at Aphelion as she walked. Cleveland laid Aphelion down on her bed and took a moment to examine Aphelion's features. She hadn't paid attention before, but he was indeed a very attractive man.

He had surprisingly gentle facial features, without any blemishes or marks, and near-perfect skin to match. Near perfect, there were a few details that she noticed that didn't seem to belong, such as a few marks on his hands, as if he'd been burned, and the skin there was abnormally smooth. He was also built very well. He was toned, with corded, powerful-looking muscles that showed from under the suit of flowing black he wore. By no means was he the most muscular Cleveland had seen—assuming seen was what she saw on her phone and television—but he was by no means the frailest either. He had a strong and impressive jawline with shapely cheekbones to match, and the same color hair she had, though a little bit lighter in color. For a moment, she couldn't help but admire him. Humans always had imperfections in some way, even Kansen did.

But—aside from the unnatural marks—he looked like something that was created from the image of perfection. It might have been a stretch to say something so ridiculous, but she had never seen anyone that looked even remotely similar to him.

"I wonder how old he is. He looks so young too. But why would someone so young look so..." Columbia discontinued as she leaned over onto Cleveland's bed and looked over Aphelion. Cleveland understood her sister's question before it was asked because it was also a question that she asked herself.

Why did someone who looked so young, look so withered by combat? Why did he look ready to battle anything?

The question had first been planted in her mind the moment she laid her eyes on him. The moment he stepped out from his vessel and walked towards them with emotionless eyes void of anything she could understand. No fear. No hesitation. No human response that even Kansen had. Like he was nothing more than a machine of war, far more so than they were themselves.

She sighed, deciding she would have plenty of time to ask more about his life later, and this time not offer him another Wisdom Cube. Tomorrow was the start of a new day, and hopefully a calmer day as well. She moved to the Bonsai trees that she kept in her room and tended to daily as a hobby. She had one for each of the important people in her life—one for each of her younger sisters.

And now, she felt the urge to add yet another one to her collection to tend to. She just needed to think of one that fit him. Consciously or subconsciously, she always chose trees that held some aspect of the wild coastal trees she had always seen in sorties to the islands in the Pacific. When she was still an actual ship and not a Kansen.

She looked outside her dorm room window, admiring the scene from the top floor that gave her a birds-eye view of the base outside. She examined the sight of the freshly turned soil of the park right outside her dorm, the deep blue waters that surrounded the base itself, the verdurous vegetation that thrived throughout the base to the point they struggled out of a few of the cracks in the cement.

Today was strange, though. Unlike the normal gazing that she could do for hours while tending to her bonsai trees, pruning them, and wiring them properly so they could grow into the perfect money trees she desired, today she couldn't seem to focus and get into the mood necessary for such observations. In her mind, the world around her, as it began to sunder to a blistering standstill, seemed to be built upon quicksand.

The stability of the world she had known was now nothing more than an illusory concept.

The only thing that filled her thoughts now, as well as all day, was the thought of Aphelion. From the moment she met him, to the bewilderingly cloudy world he told her about. By no means did the world around her make much sense, especially with the existence of Sirens and the other 'realities' she had mentioned. She even told him earlier about the group of girls that came from 'another world.' But from the very moment that the first words about his world left his mouth and were processed in by her brain, a terrible and crushing feeling of terror washed over her. And the worst part? She hadn't even heard the worst about his world.

It was the kind of feeling that all Kansen had, a form of awareness of the physical and spiritual world around them—like a sixth sense—that allowed them to feel that something horrible was about to happen. Hearing his story, was like linking herself to him on a mental level that she hadn't ever experienced before, and for a long moment, she paused between her questions and her thoughts soured the longer he spoke about his world. Like she was there.

There was another horrible feeling that fell around her and sent shivers down her spine.

What does she know about the world? What can she know? The man that now slept on her bed peacefully, was an aggregation of everything she had ever known, and that alone—

"Hey look! He's turning transparent!" Columbia exclaimed with excitement, interrupting Cleveland's train of thought and pulling her back down to reality.

Sure enough, when Cleveland turned to look at her sister and Aphelion, Aphelion was slowly but surely 'turning invisible.' Specifically, the armor he wore began to shift on his body like little hexagonal coins revealing their other side. But as they did that, the color they had begun to reflect that of what was under him. It wasn't perfect by any means, and Cleveland wouldn't say transparent was the right word for it, as there were still edges that shifted and distorted light around him. If he were in space, surrounded by the infinite darkness it contained, he surely would have been completely unnoticeable.

Thankfully, his head was still visible which served great as a means of locating him. She was sure that—from a distance—she wouldn't be able to distinguish the difference between him and her surroundings. However, that didn't stop Columbia.

"Let's see if he is still there!" Cleveland's sister let out with a start, throwing herself onto Cleveland's bed and straddling Aphelion between her legs as she sat on his waist and placed the palms of her hands where his stomach should have been. "Wow! He's rock-hard too!"

"Wha—!" Cleveland struggled to get the words she was looking for out as her brain worked as fast as it could to try and put the puzzle pieces together once more. Despite being called a tomboy and acting not-so-much like a girl, she was still definitely a girl, the last time she checked. And she still had very real, very girl-like thoughts. However, her thoughts were now already too far down the gutter—or rabbit hole—to go back and fix. "Get off of him!"

Cleveland rushed up to her sister and began to pull at her, forcing her off Aphelion.

"Hey! It's all just fun and games, I'm not hurting him any! Look!" Columbia demonstrated and proved her point by rubbing her hands upwards, the motion moving along his body and touching as she went before she stopped and made a cupping motion around a foot or so below his neck. "Wow~ nice chest too! Broad shoulders. I bet he's a total badass in combat!"

Cleveland didn't know what to do, and she began to feel that strange emotion bubble inside of her again that she struggled to understand. Jealousy.

"I think I've figured out my type! You think he would be into me?" Columbia continued, unintentionally sowing the seeds of jealousy even further into her sister until it exploded outwards. Cleveland rushed forward once again, this time grabbing her sister and successfully pulling her off Aphelion. "Hey!"

"G-get off of him!" Cleveland exclaimed once more, catching Columbia off guard as she worked to fix herself from the sudden pull her sister had given her.

And then a grin floated along Columbia's face. She blew a bubble from her chewing gum, popped it, and then blew another. The grin never left her face as her eyes sparkled with the realization about her sister that she wouldn't dare let go. And a few seconds later, Columbia began to brainstorm her next trick while Cleveland tried to figure out what exactly had come over her.

"I get it now…" Columbia began, catching Cleveland in a bind and forcing her to look up to face Columbia with panic effervescing to the surface. "You can't hide anything from me, sis!"

A blush shot up to Cleveland's face, and she didn't know how to reply to her sister at all. And then she thought back to the events that had happened less than an hour ago. How she had taken Aphelion from Akagi saying 'he's mine!'

What was she doing? What was becoming of her? And why was she saying and acting the way she was? It was entirely in contradiction to her normal self, and even she acknowledged that.

Why did she feel so attached to someone she had only just met? She was so caught up in her thoughts that she forgot her sister's statement and didn't reply, consequently digging her own grave.

"You didn't deny it! Monty's gonna love this when she gets back from her sortie! I've got to tell Denver and Birmingham!" Columbia said, turning and rushing out before Cleveland could properly react.

"W-wait! Columbia!" Cleveland exclaimed, rushing out after her sister only to meet an empty living room with a closing door that led outside. She couldn't run off and leave Aphelion unattended, so she backpedaled and decided to not follow after her sister. She turned back to Aphelion and looked at his peacefully sleeping face, Columbia's words echoing through her head as she looked at where his stomach was, the 'cloak' he wore still active, but she could still make out the shape.

'He's rock-hard too!' Columbia's voice echoed in her head.

She couldn't shake the thought from her head, and she squirmed slightly as she fought the urge to confirm her sister's words. However, Cleveland was always a very impulsive person, and resisting the urge she felt was a thing that was destined to end in failure.

And it did.

She reached an unsteady hand out towards him, unsure of herself and her movement, and placed it gently onto his stomach. Immediately, she noticed that her sister wasn't wrong. She hadn't noticed before, but she could feel his muscles through his suit easily, and he felt very, very sturdy.

"Huh… he is rock-hard," Cleveland mumbled out, not worrying about being heard by anyone, as she knew she was alone.

Or thought she was alone. She shot up faster than she thought imaginable when she heard a snicker from the entrance of her room, and when she turned to face the sound, she saw Columbia, looking at her with a toothy grin as her hand still rested on Aphelion's stomach.

"I knew you would cop a feel when I left!" Columbia teased, causing Cleveland—once more—to boil over the limit. "Heh, look at the time, I've got to go!"

"Columbia!!" Cleveland shrieked out, about to rush after her sister once more, and this time follow through with the chase. She let out a deep sigh.

Indeed. The day had been an ever-changing rollercoaster of emotions for her.

End of Chapter 3: Escalation

Those of you in the loop know I am working on an 8k concept art for a possible Yamato design. Mostly just for fun and to see if I can do it…

So, no art for Azur Lane this week and probably for next as well. Sorry ~