Chapter Text
Alone in my living room. The ticking of a never-ending cycle on an antique clock. A rotary dial telephone waiting to be used. Windows letting the warm light of the sun reach my tired eyes. A cup of coffee in my hands, a drink to hold my broken self together.
We were mere meters apart. Yet, we seemed separated by light years. Commander to admiral. Was it a curse cast on the Österreich and its people? When everything is gone, was is left to defend? When the king is gone, what is left to fight for? Time passed.
New names and faces entered the castle and I greeted them every times. They wanted me to join their little group with a certain commander by the name Velimir Skorpik, but I was too busy with myself to accept. What was I busy for? I wonder. Sitting for hours on my lap in front of my desk, waiting. A call from Horthy one day. Then she arrived, illuminating my world.
A seemingly pure soul tainted by something unknown. I could feel it emanating from her cube, but she seemed unaware of her own state. Why was she so important to me while also being a total stranger? Why did it feel like someone I hadn't seen in a long time? Yes. It was just like her. Joyful, teasing and serious, it was Prinz Eugen.
What kind of witchcraft allowed my sista to survive her scrapping? Yes. I read the newspapers and saw it with my own eyes! Because of the treaty, the Iris Orthodoxy scrapped her. She was supposed to be gone.
Talkative and ignorant she was, I told her all about the wars and its consequences. It seemed to have awakened her to something even I was unaware of. I would have loved to ask her about it, but we ran out of time and I was just too timid to even speak about the possibility of a reincarnation, a conversion, a special project. Like recycling, my sista came back in another form. An Ironblood form.
"These coffees are excellent," Duilio said. "It must have taken time for Mărăști and Mărășești to master it, but aren't you tired of drinking the same thing daily?"
"Do you ask the cleric if he's tired of preaching the same thing daily?"
"I guess if you like it this much. I wanted to ask again, as a friend this time, are you all right with our administration taking care of you and your subordinates?"
"Like I said the Prinz Eugen, we would prefer a wake-up call to rotting forever on these cursed lands."
My friend was happy, but she seemed also worried about something.
"Is something the matter?" I asked.
"I'd like to warn you about our promises. We might have a big name because of Vittorio Veneto, Littorio and our noisy high command, but they seemed… fixated on naval power through sheer firepower which I doubt will work in the incoming war. These aircraft carriers worry me. Our enemy, who were supposed to be Iris, is now the Royal and Hellenic Navy, which our high command did not account for in their planning. We are pretty much going in this war blind.
She exhaled, emptied. It seemed to have been a heavy weight on her shoulder.
"I'm happy I got to talk about it with you," Duilio continued. "Doria likes to be vocal about war and only wants to battle, regardless of victory or defeat."
"You are already talking about defeat when the war as just begun."
"The war begun at the worst moment for us and you. Roma, Impero, Aquila and Sparviero are awaiting completion. The Capitani-Romani's are not finished. The Medaglie d'Oro have yet to be transfer from plans to reality. Other plans are in the making. Have we stayed on the same level of the Great War or have we already fallen? We will see."
Phrased like that, I couldn't reply. Either way, these talks seemed so distant from me, for I was stuck in the past. I wanted to accept what is in front of me. I took a sip and looked through the windows. Despite the light, I could see darkness forming like the clouds that engulfed the world during the Siren invasions. As much as I would like to go back to the prime of Azur Lane, I was stuck in my present self. I looked at the clock. Time fleeting. A future that I had yet to witness was awaiting me.
Duilio had to go back to her headquarters at Venezia. I tried to give her gift like Prinz Eugen. She said I would need it more than her. I guess it is true.
On the stairs that led to the castle, I stood, frozen with my cane in hand. I looked at the crowded plaza. Back in the times, nobility used this place only on special occasion like festival and coffee times. Now, my new comrades were using it daily. It had lost its splendor, but it had become more attractive for everyone. I looked at their joyful faces, ignorant of what was unfolding behind the scene. I almost envied their ignorance. To them, I looked like a granny; I spoke and acted like an old-timer. Long are gone the times when I was young and energetic.
A man with short hair and a round face came down from the opened kitchen. He wore the unofficial uniform of a commander. It was Velimir Skorpik. He noticed me. They saluted like I was superior to them or something. I let out a giggle.
In them, I saw my old comrades. Yet, they were new shipgirls that had inhabited this island for quite some time now. The gaze of my comrade shifted to another figure who had crawled behind me. A shadow of what was once Miklos Horthy put a hand on my shoulder. The old man was smiling.
"You want to go with them?" he said with an hoarse voice.
I looked at the group, their gaze fixated on me.
"I don't want to let go."
"Sometime, when the present branch becomes too feeble to hold on, you have to hold onto another, don't you think?"
It made sense if I wanted to move on, but I did not want to abandon my past self! Are we cursed for staying young forever? Like he knew what I thought, he continued.
"You can move on and still remember your old colleagues. Think of it as your new self. See, they are waiting for you."
They were waving. Beograd, Ljubljana, Zagreb, Dubrovnik, Zmaj, Split, Mărăști, Mărășești, Regele Ferdinand, Regina Maria, Amiral Murgescu, Cetatea Albă, Dalmacija. The subs Hrabri, Nebojša, Osvetnik, Smeli, Delfinul, Marsuinul and Rechinul were playing in the pool nearby. I fell their innocent joy. It warmed my heart from the multiple winters of loneliness it had to endured. My cube awakened. I found myself not needing this cane anymore, for I had found my new self. Sorry Viribus, Istvan, you will have to wait a little bit more.
Resolute, I walked down the stairs to this new world.
They welcomed me like I had always been there in this "spot". We talked and laughed.
Then, I thought about Horthy. I wanted to invite him, but he was already gone.