Chapter Text
It’d been a long trip, made all the longer by spotty communications and differing time zones to try and get into contact with Will. I was freaking out, the last time I had been able to get a message to him, all he could ask me was to repeat what I was saying, as he couldn’t make it out, and in the background, I could hear Katarina talking to Emily and Fleur. Even after thirty-nine days at sea, all I wanted to do right now was dive into bed and snuggle with Will. With a heavy sigh, I hang my head as I say, “I am down bad.”
And the worst part right now? I’m following the lights on Musashi’s conning tower, and what little I can see of them is this ultra-dense fog that is somehow jamming my radar! Walking over to my fire control station I check to see what my range finders can see, and all I’m getting back are blank screens. Running a hand through my blond hair just as I put it into a loose ponytail lest the wind blows it into my face, before I step out of my bridge and onto the decking outside of it, to my surprise the air wasn’t chilly nor was there any wind, just a thick fog and smelled kind of like cherries.
Squinting through my glasses, I try to focus on Musashi’s lights, they seem to be getting weaker and weaker, till they finally vanish, closing my eyes I mentally bring up my navigation systems and see that I haven’t lost any speed, nor did I detect Musashi picking up any either.
Suddenly I feel a burning sensation coming from my bow, it slowly started creeping along my hull and body, starting in my fingers. As my A turret vanished into the fog, I felt the fire shooting up my arms, making me cry out and fall to my knees, weeping, I felt like I was on fire! As my B turret vanished, I felt the fire had spread to my front and I cried out again, falling forward, just as the tip of my superstructure vanished into the fog, cried out in pain again before falling into the black.
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I have no idea how long I was out, but the next thing I know, I sit bolt upright, screaming while I rub a hand between my boobs, and my chest is heaving in and out. Looking around everything is a little blurry, till I spot a blurry outline of my glasses beside me. Reaching over and putting them on, I look around and see that I’m in an empty room, on some kind of mattress that was on the floor. The floor looked to be some kind of golden hardwood with green mats spread out over it in a grid pattern. Looking down I see that I’m naked and I pull the covers I had up to my chin, my heart pounding in my chest, as I continue to scan the room, I spot some folded fabric sitting at the end of the bed. Keeping the sheet wrapped around me, I pull the folded fabrics closer to get a better look at them, on top seemed to be something that kind of looked like white bikini bottoms that would tie up on the sides, next seemed to be something made out of dark blue silk, lifting it causes it to unfold and I see what looks like a housecoat, sort of. And last I see some kind of thick bolt of white and red fabric, picking that one up I try to unfold it only to see it isn’t big enough to do anything but go around my waist.
I get it; these must be clothes for here… I wonder what happened to mine?
I had just gotten the housecoat on, but I was trying to get the thick belt thing done up and I mumble, “How the hell do you tie this thing?”
As if hearing my question, I hear the sliding of one of the walls, causing me to look up to see a woman, well, kind of. She had long brown hair and brown fox ears on top of her head. She was kneeling on the floor, with a teacup in front of her. Placing her cup on a table she stood up and adjusted her purple housecoat before using one hand to close a red and black overcoat. She smiled sweetly at me, closing her violet-colored eyes as she came towards me and spoke in English with a thick Sakura Empire accent, “Oh my, let me help you with that.”
She comes up to me and takes hold of my house coat in the front, opening it and then closing it so that it opens on the right side as she says, “The last layer is always the left side, to wear it the other way is for the dead.”
Looking down I mumble, “Sorry.” While I try to do up the belt again.
My helper giggles softly as she lightly teases me, “let me tie it in the back, lest you wish to give the impression you are a lady of the night.”
Wait, what?
I blink a couple of times as I ask, “As in?”
“As in a prostitute.” She states in a matter-of-fact tone of voice.
My cheeks got hot as I say, “Well, I can’t have that.”
“As an aid to Musashi-sama, no you cannot.” She says while doing something with the belt thing in the back.
I take in a deep breath and notice that while the bulk of this housecoat stays in place, the top opens up, showing some cleavage, so I ask, “Out of curiosity and not that I don’t appreciate the housecoat,”
“Yukata, not a housecoat.” She says while pulling things tight again.
Sliding my hands up and down my belly to push my boobs up a little I correct myself, “Yakata,”
“Yu-ka-ta.” She says again in what was sounding like a mix of annoyance and amusement.
“Yu-ka-tak, but what happened to my clothes?” I finally finish asking.
“They were burned away as you passed through the barrier.” She confirms as she finishes doing what she was doing behind me, then she comes back around in front of me and bowed at her hips as she tells me, “I am the name ship of the Amagi-class battlecruisers, Amagi.”
Right! The book from Will!
I copy the bow as I say to her, “Third ship in training of the Montana class of battleships, Maine.”
When I look up, Amagi has her hands folded in front of her before she gestures to the other room she had been in and asked, “Care for some tea and a game?”
I look around and ask, “I should probably call Musashi and let her know I’m awake.”
“Musashi is currently in a meeting with her sisters, she asked me to watch over you till she returned, might as well pass the time with a game.” She tells me as she moves back to the table in the other room.
I look over to where my glasses were and I see my phone, I pick it up and turn it on, only to see no service. I hang my head and sigh as Amagi tells me, “Your mobile device will not work within the barrier, you will be given one to use while you are here, come sit.”
Kneeling behind the table on the other side I looked at the game board that had been set up and my brow knit together as I admit, “I don’t know how to play this.”
“I see.” She says then with a wave of her right hand, the pieces changed from these tiles with funny looking writing on them to chess pieces and she asked, “What about this?”
“Sorta, but I’m kind of awful at chess.” I say as I move a white pawn in the middle of the board forward two spaces.
Amagi picked up one that was in front of a bishop and placed it one step forward and said, “Your move.”
Going to pick up a piece, I stop and ask, “So, can I ask about the barrier? Like why did it burn away my clothes and knock me out.” With that out, I moved a knight forward.
“It is a safety mechanism, left over from the great war.” She tells me as she slides her bishop over to take my first pawn and adds, “This was our last port during the war, as a way to protect Yamatao-Sama, Musahsi-Sama, and Shinano-Sama, the barrier was erected while they prepared for a final push against the sirens. The barrier keeps out anyone that is not of the Sakura Empire, a fact that is sometimes forgotten by others.”
Looking off to the side and outside I see a massive garden with trees that had white flowers with pink leaves and I say, “It’s beautiful out there.”
“A blessing of the barrier, it protects this place, keeping it warm all year round.” Amagi pauses before asking, “Would you prefer to walk the garden?”
I get out from behind the table and move to the wooden deck as I ask, “Can I?”
“With an escort, yes.” She says to me as she moves to stand beside me.
Just as I go to step outside, Amaig stops me and points down at these wooden shoe-sandal-things that I had seen Musashi wear, but not as big. Sheepishly smiling, I slip my feet into them and do my best to keep my balance while walking I ask, “So, do you have any idea what I might be doing while I’m here?”
Amagi was about to say something when I heard a voice with a heavy german accent call out, “Amag, Samantha!”
Turning to where the voice came from I saw something that made me tilt my head to the side and ask out loud, “Sam? Why are you dressed in black?”
The woman that was approaching us, closed her blue eyes, took her black officer cap off of her head, then run a hand over the crown of her head as she sighed, “Asking me that, I take it you are not Samantha Bellamy.”
Amagi chuckled softly before asking, “What can I do for you, Brandenburg?”
Brandenburg? Wait, I know that name!
My mouth drops open and I say, completely unprofessionally, “Wait, you’re Astrid Jäger?!”
With a nod as she placed the cap back on her head, she confirmed, “I am, I am also the liaison officer between the Sakura Empire and the Iron Blood, who might you be?”
I blink a couple of times, holy crap she sure looks like Sam, but her hair is a shade or two lighter than my sister’s. After a second I shake my head and bow to her as I repeat what I had told Amagi, “Third ship in training of the Montana class of battleships, Maine. I’m also known as Julie Bellamy.”
Brandenburg smiled rather warmly at me as she said, “That would explain why I mistook you for Sam from behind then. It has been a long, long time, Juliette.”
My head tilted to the side as I ask, “Sorry, I don’t remember ever meeting you.”
She shakes her head as she tells me, “Of course not, you were but an infant at the time when you came to your sister’s graduation.” She paused and looked at Amagi as she added, “I can look after her.”
Amagi bowed and nodded before moving back inside while Brandenburg gestured to walk with her, rubbing my left arm I ask, “So when you first got here, did you?”
She nods as she says, “As did Hans, wakening up naked in a room much like the one you did, at least they kept us together at the time. Let me guess, you are here on your internship?”
I nod as I fiddle with the top of this yu-ka-ta so it’s easier to breathe before I admit, “Yeah, though I kind of wish I had my clothes.”
“Only those that you were wearing were destroyed, anything else on your hull will be fine.” She tells me as we move to stand on a bridge over a really calm-looking pond.
That sucks, I really liked that bra and those panties.
“That’s good to know.” I sigh and look down, again fiddling with the top of this thing a little more.
Brandenburg laughs and shakes her head as she tells me, “Don’t get me wrong, I do like the dresses they make here, but they do not make them with larger busts in mind, come, I’ll walk you to your hull so you can get a bra.”
Relaxing my shoulders and lifting my boobs with my hands I sigh, “Oh thank you!”
“Large breast problems, am I right?” she laughs and winks at me.
“Yes!” I all but shout.
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