To Thaw a Lost Heart: Chapter Zero

Where the Heart Froze

There was a battle.....

Cannon fire, explosions, and all sorts of noises drown out Tirpitz's senses. All she could see is the darkened surroundings and the burning wreckage illuminating the battlefield. Her right hand up to her forearm has been so badly burned that she can barely use it anymore.

"I'm at my limit. It looks like this is as far as I can go......"

Tirpitz lifts her left hand and touches the right side of her abdomen where it's been pierced by an energy based projectile earlier. She is critically wounded, but she refuses to lie down and quietly accept her fate.

"......."

Pass the thick black smoke smoke and across the battlefield, she spots a familiar figure holding a staff and an aircraft carrier's runway by the figure's side.

"Victorious.....?"

Tirpitz blinks a few times, initially believing it as hallucination, but the figure quietly stands at a distance.

"I despise having to Tirpitz, but....."

Victorious knows Tirpitz can't hear her, but she speaks anyway. A few centimeters above her palm is a faintly glowing wisdom cube fragment. The dim environment makes it appear to emit a bright icy blue light.

".......!"

Tirpitz takes a step back when Victorious stretches out the hand where the wisdom cube quietly floats.

"I'm sorry. I truly am....."

Victorious sheds a tear, a second before a solid and sharp projectile swiftly pierces the air and passes through the black smoke.

".........?!"

A warm sensation spreads on Tirpitz's chest a mere seconds after Victorious apologizes to her. It doesn't just target her body, but the swift attack damages the wisdom cube to the point Tirpitz hears a crack.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Victorious wipes away her flooding tears
"......"

Tirpitz touches her chest at the realization she's been mortally wounded. Her wounds earlier makes the fatal attack painless.

"Why are you.....crying?"

As Tirpitz is moments from losing her consciousness, she doesn't bear any anger or shock from her supposed friend mortally wounding her. If anything, she shows more concern for her tears and how she clutches her chest.

"......."

Despite the attack, Tirpitz's body doesn't immediately succumb to her injuries, but her body collapses to the ground while weakly stepping forward and reaching out to Victorious. She hangs close to death, but the small crack on her wisdom cube spreads further.

.......
.......

Tirpitz's next memory is being strapped to an operating table with kansens and manjuus around her panicking. Her dull and nearly lifeless eyes stare at the bright light hanging at the center while she tries to ignore the shouting and bickering.

"......."

Tirpitz slowly blinks once as she can barely keep her eyes open and her consciousness focused at her surroundings. Her vision is wavy and the voices around her are both faint and echoing.

(Bismarck......and Neumark?)

At the corner, she notices her sister being yelled at by Neumark. She can't call them out as she's too weak to even see them clearly, but she overhears them.

"This is risky! Why are you trusting her?" Neumark swipes her hand
"What choice do I have? My sister is dying! Do you think I'd resort to this if she isn't on the verge of death?" Bismarck raises her voice
"There isn't even a hundred percent guarantee it will work! You're trusting Victorious even if she's not the same one!"
"I won't lose my sister like this! There's no way I will allow her life to end like this"
"This will backfire, Bismarck! Your selfishness will be met with punishment"
"This is the only way and you know it. You can't understand now because she's my sister" Bismarck clenches her fists
"You can't play god to toy with Tirpitz's life! You don't get to decide whether she lives or dies - not when you're doing it to make her stronger for Iron Blood's sake!"
"........"