Chapter 7: Captured by scary people (Zuihou POV)

Ugh... Where am I? It's so dark I can't even see what's in front of me. My body hurts all over. Its cold. Is this the depths?

I see. I must have sunk. So that's how my life ends. Aww... I wanted to live... There are so many things I wanted to do. Shouhou, Ryuujou, Hiryuu, Souryuu... Admiral... There are so many things I wanted to do with you.

"<Woah! Why is it so dark here? I can't see a thing!>" (???)

Eh? What? Someone is here? I don't understand them though.

"<The generator must have died again. Hold on. Let me turn this on.>" (???)

Suddenly, a bright ball of light appeared. It's so bright I had to shield my eyes with my hands.

Eh? Hold on. My hands are tied up?! With some light shining into the room, I can sort of see and get my bearings. My feet are tied up as well. I'm in some kind of cave, I think? The walls are rough and I can see some weird shadows and rocks Thank goodness~ So this wasn't the depths of the ocean. I'm still alive.

"<Let's see. Where is the generator? Found it.>" (???)

A shadow person walked to the corner of the cave. There was a weird rumbling sound that came in intervals, before it started to rumble continuously.

"<Yes! Now just push this button.>" (???)

The place suddenly lit up, finally revealing my surroundings and the people that are in here with me. I really am in a cave. My legs are tied and tethered to a metal pole stuck into the ground. The lighting fixture isn't that great. It's just a few small bulbs scattered throughout the place but they are still bright enough to illuminate the whole room. There are two girls here in the cave with me. The one with purple hair wore a white blouse and a short checkered skirt. The other one had white hair tied into twintails with bunny ear clips and carried a searchlight. I recognize them. They are from the group who attacked us.

"<Yes! Hm? Oh, you're awake.> (Purple hair)

The purple hair girl approached the cell.

"<How nice. She got to sleep while we were doing work.> (White hair)

Eh? What are they saying?

"<We knocked her out. How else were we supposed to catch her? Ah. Sorry. I will give you something to cover yourself with. I will call the rest. Keep an eye on her.>" (Purple hair)

"<I want to take a nap.>" (White hair)

"<Fine. You can take one later. Just keep an eye on her."> (Purple hair)

The purple hair girl disappeared up the stairs, leaving me with the white one. I don't get it but it looks like she is my guard? She looks sleepy.

"Erm..."

"<Hm? What is it?>" (White hair)

What's the English word for name again?

"<Yu...> name?"

That's Japanese, not English.

She just stared at me, confused. Why can't they just speak Japanese?

"<So sleepy.>" (White hair)

"<How is she doing?>" (???)

More voices... They seem to be coming down the stairs.

"<Confused, I think.>" (???)

"<Does she bite?>" (???)

"<I doubt it. She doesn't have the animal ears or horns like those crazy Sakura people have>" (???)

"<I hope she is nice...>" (???)

Did I just hear the word Sakura?

"<Sorry to burst your bubble, but she is an enemy soldier. There is no way she would be nice to us. More importantly, why me? Shouldn't Belfast be the one to do this? She is proficient in multiple languages, right?Besides, they hate me.>" (???)

The source of all the voices finally revealed themselves. Aside from the purple hair one, there are three other people. I recognize two of them. The Abyssal-looking one and the other...

An overwhelming wave of terror suddenly washed over me.

Why? That girl... Why does she scare me so much? I want to go home! Admiral, save me!

I can feel something wet flow down my cheek. Before I knew it, more came flowing down.

"<Ah.> (White hair)

"<Laffey! Do you do something to her?>" (Blue hair)

"<I didn't do anything. She started crying when you guys showed up.>" (White hair)

"<She was fine earlier. Hey, what's wrong?> (Purple Hair)

I want to go home! I need to find a way to get out! What should I do? Shouhou! Admiral! Save me!

"< Why her though? There were so many others to choose from.>" (Abyssals)

"You said pick any one of them for interrogation. Laffey and I just picked the smallest one. A Destroyer like her is easy enough to handle.>" (Purple hair)

"<Wasn't she carrying a bow? And her riggings don't look like Destroyer equipment to me.>" (Abyssal)

"I don't know! Maybe she a new type of Sakura Empire ship.>" (Purple hair)

"<Hey. You alright?>" (Scary Person)

She is coming closer!

"NOOO! Don't come any closer!"

"<Woah. Calm down. We just want to talk.>" (Scary Person)

I don't understand you! Just leave me alone! Please!

"Waaahhh!!!"

"<See? I told you they hate me.>" (Scary Person)

"<I can hear loud crying from outside. What's going on?>" (???)

Another one appeared!! This time it's the one in the maid outfit.

"<Belfast, please help us. This girl started crying all of a sudden. She is not stopping.>" (Purple hair)

"Uuuugggguuuuhhhhhh..."

"<What did you girls do? Poor thing is scared out of her wits...>" (Maid)

"<Nothing. She just started screaming and crying her eyes out.>" (Scary Person)

"<Even the smaller Destroyers we fought weren't like this.>" (Abyssal)

"<Can we untie her? Unicorn feels bad for her.>" (Girl with horse plushie)

"<I guess we should. Can I trouble the rest of you to help Illustrious in checking our resources and equipment? Unicorn and I will handle this one.>" (Maid)

"<Got it. We will leave this to you.>" (Scary Person)

"<I brought a blanket for her to cover herself with.>" (Purple Hair)

"Thank you very much. Leave it on the table.>" (Maid)

"If possible, try to get some Intel out of her. We really need to figure out where we are.>" (Scary Person)

"<I know. Leave it to me.>" (Maid)

"<I want to sleep~>" (White Hair)

"<Hey! Javelin, don't just fall asleep on the stairs! Geez!>" (Purple hair)

The Scary Person and the others left but the maid and the girl with a horse plushie are still here. At least the Scary Person is gone...

"<Ah. She is starting to calm down.>" (Girl with Horse plushie)

"<Untie her hands for me please. I'll go make some tea.>" (Maid)

The girl reached out her hands towards me. What does she plan to do now?!

"<Don't worry. Unicorn is not going to hurt you.... I'm just going to untie you.>" (Girl with horse plushie)

"She is going to untie your hands. Sit still." (Maid)

Eh? Did that maid just speak Japanese? The little girl untied the rope around my hands, just like the maid said. After setting a horse plushie down next to me, the girl went to the table and took a pink blanket, the same one that Purple Hair was carrying earlier. She passed the blanket to me, her face red from ear to ear.

"<Erm... Unicorn thinks it will be better... if you cover yourself.>" (Girl with horse plushie)

I don't understand what she was talking about until I looked at myself. My clothes are in shreds and I'm practically naked! This is embarrassing! I took her offer and wrapped myself with the blanket.

"Thank... you..."

She smiled,

"<That means... thank you, right? Your welcome.>" (Girl with horse plushie)

A pleasant aroma filled the room. The maid came over and wiped my face,

"It's okay. We just want to talk." (Maid)

The maid set a stool next to me. She went back to where she was earlier and picked up a tea tray. She poured three cups of tea, took one and placed it on the stool. There is poison in it, right? I guess not. Since both the maid and the other girl started drinking it.

"See? It's perfectly safe. We are not going to hurt you. Careful, it's hot." (Maid)

Is she a mind reader? I can't let my guard down just yet.

I took the tea cup and sipped it a little. Hot, but delicious! What is this?

The maid untied my feet, but tethered one foot to the pole.

"Sorry. This is just a security measure. I hope you understand. At the very least, this should be more comfortable for you." (Maid)

Why is she being so polite?

"My name is Belfast, the second ship of the Edinburgh class. I have duties as the head maid while being the Royal Navy's greatest cruiser. And this is..." (Belfast)

"<Royal Navy's support carrier... I am Unicorn... Ah... Sorry... You can't understand me...>" (Girl with plushie)

"Her name is Unicorn, a Light Carrier from the same faction as me. And you are?" (Belfast)

"I'm Zuihou, second ship of the Shouhou class."

"I see. Shouhou class... So you are a Carrier?" (Belfast)

I nodded my head,

"I should have known better. No wonder you were holding on to a bow and quiver. <She is the same as you, a Light Carrier. Apparently, she is a Shouhou class.>" (Belfast)

Unicorn immediately smiled as soon as Belfast said something to her.

"I want to clarify something, are you from the Sakura Empire?" (Belfast)

What is that? Sounds like the name of some cult.

"No. I never heard of such a group."

"Figures. I have never heard of the name Zuihou in their ranks either. Do you know what the Sirens are?" (Belfast)

Is she talking about an alarm?

"And no, I'm not referring to those loud noise-making devices." (Belfast)

Then no. I shook my head,

"Hmm... <Looks like they were right. We have been thrown into another world. One without Sirens.>" (Belfast)

They are speaking in English again.

"<Eh?! Then what about Big Brother? He was with us when they attacked.>" (Unicorn)

"<Master most likely got teleported with us. Where is he now, I can't answer that yet. We need more information. One thing for sure is that we are the last ones. If we can regroup with the other, we can put together a Search party to find Master. Master is tough for a human. He is definitely alive." (Belfast)

"<Yeah. We will definitely find Big Brother!>" (Unicorn)

The atmosphere is serious. Although Unicorn is smiling, it feels forced. Even Belfast looks lonely.

But more importantly, what's going to happen to me?

Admiral...