A Royal Sovereign

Chapter 9 - Sirens and the White Dragon

3rd Person POV

The Barents Sea, Siren controlled waters

"God my fucking head..." Sovereign complained, rubbing his temples as he sat in the captain's seat of his bridge.

"Told you not to drink that much..." Cleveland said.

"You're not doing much better..."

"Fair point..."

The two ships, who were sailing through the frigid seas of the North — Siren controlled to make matters worse — are now feeling the repercussions of yesterday. While Sovereign did effectively achieve what he wanted to; befriending Iron Blood, succeeding spectacularly as he is now welcome at Wilhelmshaven at any time and will not be fired upon, the fact was severely outweighed by the immediate problem of probably the worst hangover anyone will and has ever experienced, which could only be made worse by choosing red wine instead of the light pilsner that he was drinking.

Cleveland wasn't faring much better, the only saving grace being that she drank far less alcohol than Sovereign or Ägir did. She was holding her head, leaning on a metal desk inside of Sovereign's bridge, drinking plenty of water.

"And we're going to meet Zero in that stronghold today..."

"Oh, okay — Wait, what?!" Cleveland exclaimed, turning towards the tired battleship sitting next to her with an exasperated expression, her horrible headache gone from the sheer shock of the sudden announcement.

"Well, I had another vision in my sleep," Sovereign said, his voice still very much tired. "Apparently, there was a change of plans and Purifier isn't going to try to capture me in a month or so." 

"... Okay?" Cleveland said before sighing. "I'll make you a coffee."

Sovereign shot her a thankful look before wincing in pain, resting his head on the uncomfortable metal desk. Cleveland walked to the very right of his bridge. She took some of the roasted coffee grounds and put them into the coffee machine with scalding hot water. She retrieved a cup from the cupboard and placed it under the output where coffee started to flow down, pooling in the porcelain cup. After a short moment of waiting, she returned and placed the cup of steaming hot coffee before Sovereign, who readily accepted it, taking a sip of it as soon as he could.

"Thanks," Sovereign thanked the cruiser, still sounding exceedingly tired. "This is why I love you."

Cleveland flushed at the statement, her cheeks warming up. She turned away slightly, mumbling something under her breath that Sovereign didn't quite catch, but decided to ignore.

"Thank god that Bismarck was nice enough to carry us into the infirmary," Sovereign said. "We would've had to stay there or even longer if she didn't..."

"Yeah..." Cleveland said. "She's really nice, isn't she?"

"She is," Sovereign agreed with his partner, who was leaning on his chair; a glass of water in her hand. "I think she just doesn't know how to express herself."

Cleveland hummed, agreeing with him. She took a sip of the cold water before gazing outside at the frozen ocean that surrounded them. "This looks familiar."

Sovereign followed her gaze and looked outside. It was midday and the sunlight rained down on them, dimmed by the tinted glass of his bridge. Large sheets of ice flowed past them like driftwood in a raging river, the sunlight making the clear ice look like gemstones as it shimmered. The wind was slow, its gentle whistling being more pleasant and calming than fierce. It was a change welcomed by the duo as they had to dry their clothes due to the heavy rain they experienced yesterday.