(Remaster) The Ship of the Tempest

Home is Where the Cube is

Out in the open sea, Z73 slowly came to a halt, her Siren gear fading away and turning back to her rigging before she collapsed to her knees. She barely was able to hold herself up, tearing the mask off her face to finally take in as much air as her tired body needed.

"Hah...hah...holy shit..."

She flipped to her back, resting on the water's surface as she stared up into the bright blue sky, clear of planes and bombs that could drop on her. A smile came to her face, soon devolving into laughter as her mind finally registered what she had done.

"I...I did it...I fucking did it! Hahahaha!"

She laid there laughing for several minutes, thankful that she made it out alive from that engagement, but also thankful that she manages to get so far without using her Trump Card. Her skills have been constantly tested and improved in these last few weeks, and it's easy to see that she's better than she was before.

"It's like a dream..." She looked to her mask, which was dirtied, and scratched up over the several engagements she had gone through to escape. "I'm still breathing...God, you're a real treat, thank you man."

She felt a buzzing go off in her head, and she automatically connected to her radio as she felt it. "Hello the-"

"HOW IDIOTIC CAN YOU GET?!"

She flinched at the loud voice, but she smirked as she recognized who was talking. "Bismarck! Been a few days hasn't it?"

"Yes it has, and all of a sudden I get a call from Mikasa that you ASSASSINATED NAGATO!! WHAT ON EARTH WERE YOU THINKING?!"

"Before you scream and ruin your voice any further, calm down and let me explain. First, I didn't kill Nagato, I was framed."

"Framed you say...of course you would say that! Z73, no one in their right mind would kill such an important person!"

"Which is exactly what happened. Call Kaga sometime and listen to what she has to say, it wasn't me, it was Akagi."

...

"Akagi you say? At first, I wasn't going to hear that, but now that you mentioned Kaga...I'll call back, and you better pray she gives me what I want."

The line cut, and Z73 was left laying in the water for several minutes. She was still exhausted, and just wanted to lay there for a while.

Although, she did get that call back soon. "Yeah? You heard her side now?"

"..."

"Helloooo...did the truth hit you too hard? Did she tell you what you wanted?"

"She did...Z73, I'm sorry about jumping ahead like that. Your history and the legends around you don't exa-"

"Yeah yeah I know, it makes me appear like a bloodthirsty psychopath."

"R-Right...again, I apologize."

"No skin off my back, especially since you had every right to be worried. I'll be heading home soon then, so get a nice big bottle of Beer ready for me will you?"

"You and your alcoholism..." Even saying that, Bismarck chuckled and got up from a chair. "I'll do that then. See you soon enough Z73."

"See you." The Radio call ended, and Z73...was still laying on the water's surface.

Her fatigue has really gotten to her, and she just wanted to take a nap to rest up...and doing that here would basically be suicide. Who knows if the Japanese sent groups out to hunt her or, God forbid, the Sirens decide to pick her up now.