Chapter Text
𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝐈
Now she was no stranger to the idea of things being beyond the known universe, but Arbiter III knew this was just ridiculous.
Between the unbearable sun, humidity, concrete walls, and cold shoulders she knew it could have been worse. Because she found herself thinking.
Rather be here than in the place I left.
Back to the situation at hand Empress couldn't recall how she got here. Her intended destination wasn't Earth-like. So earth-like it was familiar to her. But she wasn't expecting to be thrown in a cell. She squatted down, pressing her petite hands against the rough concrete. As they began grinding against it, she pulled away. Her palms faced her to show the chips of concrete clinging to them.
A frown on her lips. How are shipgirls here?
⋆.˚ 𓆉 𓆝 𓆡⋆.˚
Someone was coming. Empress sensed it as she floated back down to the floor of the cell they so "graciously" gave her.
The door opened gently. Bundles of blonde locks peered through, and burning red irises met Empress' magenta ones.
An unusually pleasant aura you carry, Prince of Wales. Empress thought, recognizing the woman instantly. I can tell most have questions about me. The rest probably want me at the bottom of the ocean.
"I... Assume you understand that everyone that resides on this island wants you dead?" Prince of Wales sat down on a seat just across the table, hands resting on it. "I can't speak for them, but maybe your answers to my questions may help me convince them not to."
Maybe only the destroyers and submarines. Prince of Wales frowned. I can't thoroughly convince more of the heavy-hitting girls—
"You don't need to convince anyone. Or even those heavy hitters as you call them," Empress cut in. Despite the situation her presence and voice exuded power. "I'll deal with them. Just tell them enough that I'm not their enemy."
Prince of Wales looked at her stumped. "How... You can hear thoughts?"
"Astute," Empress said. "I can. But what are you going to ask me?"
"First. Why are you here? And why haven't you attacked us? You're a siren. Someone of your power wouldn't hesitate shooting at us on sight."
"To answer those. I came here through one of my many portals, but something happened. I wasn't supposed to end up here, and I don't know how. As to why I haven't attacked any of you it's because I won't. Or rather I can’t... Unless you're not telling me something I don't know."
"Or maybe there's something both of us don't know," Prince of Wales said. She rubbed her gloved hands together and leaned closer. "We are at war with the Sirens. I felt like I shouldn't need to tell someone of your power this, but my mind told me that there is more to you than just being a Siren. That it made sense you didn't know."
Empress stared at the woman. Then she looked down at her hands, and the cogs in her brain clicked. Ah... Why did it take me this long to even figure that out? Makes sense why all the shipgirls look like they want me reduced to ashes in the wind.
"Who are you?" Prince of Wales asked slowly. "Where did you even come from?"
Empress crossed her arms. "I'm Arbiter III. The Empress. I'm at the top of the Siren hierarchy. I control the Sirens. Where I'm from is a place not too different from here, but even if I could teleport back home I would rather stay here. Despite all of you wanting me dead."
Keep it simple like that. Arbiter thought. Don’t want to reveal too much. Or even mention the other Arbiters.
"I find that hard to believe, even more so when you say you can’t attack us," Prince of Wales narrowed her eyes. "Then again... What would a Siren of your supposed power gain from willingly handing herself over just to break free if she could've attacked us without that kind of hassle?"
"A sense of thrill, but I'm not like other Sirens below me," Empress said, covering her mouth to yawn. "If you shipgirls are to show me even an ounce of hospitality towards me then I will... Help you in this war against the Sirens."
"Sirens, and Crimson Axis," Prince of Wales corrected. "Made up of Sakura Empire and Iron Blood after they dissolved from Azur Lane."
"I'm only offering against the Sirens. Whatever dispute you have with this Crimson Axis is not my concern. All of you shipgirls know about each other on each side. But you all lack any in-depth knowledge on the Sirens. Especially about the high-ranking ones. That is where I can help."
Prince of Wales blinked. "But the Crimson Axis —"
"Siren. Affairs. Only," Empress stood up, hands planted firmly on the table. "Listen. Azur Lane's affairs with Crimson Axis aren't of my concern. Something like that stems deep. I am playing no part in it, so it is best you all sort out your differences before it's too late."
The battleship stood up too, huffing at the Arbiter's response before grabbing onto her necklace to pull her closer. "You're stuck in this place with no way to go home. You don't even want to go back to wherever you came from. So listen to me, Arbiter, and listen well. I was trying to tell you that the Sirens are helping Crimson Axis. So if you would also help us with them I'll make sure the other girls don't try to threaten you. You'll be treated well, fed properly, and given a place to stay."
What kind of Sirens are these low scums? Empress thought but never voiced it. And brave of her to even get to my level and lay a hand on me. But I suppose it's half-bravery and half-desperation.
Empress raised a hand, gripping the one holding her necklace firmly and pushing it aside to free herself. She looked up at the battleship and then sat back down with crossed arms. Prince of Wales did the same, but not before staring at her blankly and rubbing her wrist soothingly.
The woman had a point. It’s true Empress had no room to negotiate her situation. And being bossed by a shipgirl was the last thing she expected coming here. If she refuses, then they'll treat her like any other Siren in this world. But helping either Azur Lane or Crimson Axis would go against the very rules she set upon herself and the Sirens.
Never interfere with internal shipgirl affairs.
And clearly, these Sirens lack any sort of rules. Empress thought. She stared intensely at Prince of Wales before turning to the wall. She isn't the one to lie to just gain an advantage. So it is true that these Sirens are meddling with shipgirl affairs. How... Troublesome this place is sounding.
"I will accept," Empress began. She saw those eyes light up and shot it down. "But don't expect me to be on the front line of all of your skirmishes. Think of me as an advisor of sorts."
"If that's what it'll take to at least have you help against Crimson Axis too then I'll take it," Prince of Wales said. She stood up and walked away towards the door. "I’ll send one of Her Majesty’s maid tomorrow morning to take you to our cafeteria… Honestly can’t believe I'm saying this to a Siren but rest well, Arbiter."
The Siren merely nodded. Her eyes remained locked on the wall until the door shut closed and locked. Only then did she break focus to float off her chair and into the air. Just behind her on the back wall of the cell was a gap at least wide enough for her to fit through, blocked with steel bars that her hands gripped.
Shipgirls fighting shipgirls. Empress' mood soured, and she fought a frown forming on her lips. That's not what they should be doing. Those Sirens aren’t really there to help. Don’t they realize they are being played with?
But they didn't. That kind of thought was probably far out of their mind. That made Empress all the more disappointed in these shipgirls. Right now she needed to know what the Sirens are doing with Crimson Axis, how, both parties managed to tangle themselves with each other, and who was pulling the strings.
It has to be someone with considerable pull within the Sirens.
She had a list of potential pieces. A small list to be exact. She can't think of some low-ranking class doing these. Nor one of her sisters, they were always on the nose and liked showing themselves off despite the anonymity they were supposed to uphold. But back on track Empress began listing off the names in her head.
It was rather short, but she could make it even shorter. She knew all her Sirens very well. And her memory served her well enough to pinpoint at least who is pulling all these strings on the Siren side.
I don’t know why you’re doing all of this, but I’ll make sure you are dealt with accordingly. Empress snarled. Her hands held the bars firmly, feeling them strain against her grip before letting go to float back down to the cell.
For now, she will rest. She knew these next few days — No. These next few weeks will be long.
⋆.˚ 𓆉 𓆝 𓆡⋆.˚
𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝐈𝐈
Her tray was gently put onto the table. She felt their eyes on her immediately again, despite how rowdy the dining facility was.
She got used to it very quickly and didn't mind it. And the woman sitting across from her didn't mind as much either.
"I hope the Queen's maid treated you well this morning?" Prince of Wales asked, elegantly indulging in her breakfast.
Empress narrowed her eyes, thinking about the question before looking at the battleship. "I’m not sure what your standard of being treated well is, but at least I wasn’t threatened. Good to see you're keeping your end of our agreement."
"The least I can do if you will hold your end too, Arbiter," Prince of Wales said.
"I will,” Empress said. “I already know the Sirens that are helping Crimson Axis. I'm still thinking about what they’re doing to them."
"That... Is great news actually," the battleship stammered, not expecting that so quickly. "I’ll tell Her Majesty about this. She’s been egging me since our last conversation about —”
“Don’t tell yet,” Empress shook her head. “I’ll deal with that Siren accordingly. Because knowing your Queen she’ll try to find that Siren. And believe me she is way out of your league.”
Prince of Wales bit her lip. “As much as I’d want to rebuke your words about Her Majesty… They are true. It’s something innately a part of her.”
“Oh I know her very well,” Empress said. With a shrug of her shoulders she looked down at her plate, finally picking up her fork to eat her breakfast.
What a rather unnerving sentence for the battleship to hear. As if she knew Her Majesty on a personal level. But that wasn’t possible. It was not. But that didn’t unnerve Prince of Wales as much as how Empress carried herself.
There was no hint of cockiness. Her voice held more authority than Her Majesty. Everything she said and did was done out of pure confidence. There isn’t a hint of fear or doubt in those eyes of hers either, in fact she even had a hard time trying to figure out the Siren’s emotions yesterday. Even right now she couldn’t tell. They knew nothing about her, yet she knew everything about them.
“What do you really know about us?” Prince of Wales asked slowly.
Empress put her fork down, eyeing the woman carefully. She knew why she asked. “As in? What I know about your creation? What I know about your purpose? What I know about every single one of you shipgirls?”
“A-All of that,” Prince of Wales said. “What you said about knowing Her Majesty very well… How and why do you know?”
“I know because I need to know,” Empress grasped her mug, tilting it and savoring the bitter black. “I could tell you how, but that will overload your mind.”
Not could. Not maybe. Not theoretically. Will. It was a statement. She knows it will. There was a gap between what a shipgirl and a regular Siren mind could comprehend. And the gap between an Arbiter and a shipgirl might as well have been infinite.
And there really wasn’t luxury in knowing everything.
Sometimes it felt like a blessing. She could solve problems that would’ve taken days or weeks. Sometimes it felt like a curse. She knew every little secret of every shipgirl in this very cafeteria. By whatever gods they worship were they really questionable.
Empress didn’t shudder, but she did feel like side-eyeing some of these shipgirls. Their secrets didn’t seem so different from their other-world selves. Didn’t mean she liked knowing them again.
Gracefully most of them were normal. Normal to her at least.