Hymn From the High Seas (Azur Lane x Commander Male Reader)

The Ghost

The water surrounding the island is a flooded graveyard in the dawn light following the Battle of the Pacific. I stand on the Red Beach where only a dozen Marines lay in the sand, the rest of them scattered across the shore in an indistinguishable pulp. The sand is dyed red with the blood I've spilt, and the bodies of sailors continue to wash up on the shore. In less than twelve hours, I destroyed the Atlantic fleet of the Eagle Union.

I watch as girls from Iris Libre and the Vichya Dominion go from corpse to corpse, praying for them before they're carried away by another kansen. The dead are to be buried at the base of the mountain in a clearing leveled out by the initial naval barrage. Meanwhile, Manjuu sweep the island to dispose of any unexploded ordnance. Only volunteers help to clear the beach; I won't force the unwilling to clean up after my atrocity.

Most of the trees are broken apart and fallen. Some are nothing more than a stump, having been blown into toothpicks by a shell before they could even hit the ground. Craters litter the beach and the land further in, scars that will only heal after decades of nature's rejuvenation or weeks of unnecessary manpower.

I move along the beach, my gaze drawn to a crashed plane with its fuselage embedded in the shallow water. Its pilot is sprawled across his instruments, dead. Bloody landing boats sit in ghostly silence at either side of it, a pair of legs on one of their ramps.

Further down the beach, I find a destroyer that had run aground. I stare in awe at it before noticing a hole below the ship's waterline. I study it closer and realize its cannons face inland. The commander aboard must have beached it to provide fire support for the Marines instead of abandoning ship. A line of Marines beside it lay dead, having been taking what cover they could in its shadow.

Another sight brings me to a stop, and my heart implodes as I follow a blood trail from a severed leg. My breathing becomes ragged as I get closer and find a Marine missing a leg, his head laid on his dead friend's chest. I want to look away. I want to look away so badly. Walking around them, I see his eyes closed, his ear against his friend's still heart.

Footsteps in the sand behind me, "My child..."

"Friedrich," I murmur, still looking down at these two boys, "Bury them beside each other... please."

She puts her hand on my shoulder, "Very well... but I wanted to talk to you."

I swallow the lump in my throat, "About?"

"Bismarck," she leans closer to me, whispering, "I heard the story from Tirpitz. I believe foul play was involved in her betrayal."

"She told me she had to see the Empress," I recall.

Friedrich gently grabs my lower jaw, making me look away from the Marines and into her motherly gaze, "Bismarck was not like me. She was no deceiver."

"I know she wasn't trying to deceive me," I say helplessly, "She always had her reasons, but what do you mean foul play was involved? Who else but the Sirens would want Bismarck dead? I remember, back in Atlantis, we ran into Purifier, and Bismarck had the elite's tail between her legs."

Friedrich grins lightly, "Indeed, the Empress brought me to her council because she felt Bismarck had been too independent since we all relocated to the island. I played along like a good dog and barked when the Empress asked... so I could lead you to Atlantis and raze it to the ocean floor."

"Tell me something I don't know," I huff.

Friedrich checks over her shoulder before whispering again, "Who knew about the Black Cube?"

"No one outside of the Northern Parliament. Even then, it was only me, Soyuz, Kronshtadt, and Chkalov who knew about it, specifically. The other Northerners were only told to guard the laboratory," I answer.