Grey here. I remember when I overslept and this guy woke me up with a bucket of ice-cold bleach water. Pretty sure the petty officer was the one who ordered the ice, but the guy was in it for the bleach. I don’t think what I’m about to do is on the same level—or anyway, at least I ain’t some asshole who adds bleach.

***

With Marge’s technical help, I’ve relinked my systems and taken back control of most of my unexplored parts. There’s still a few dead spots, but the other exploration teams’ll get ’em soon enough.

That said, I’m watching the elf’s capsule right now. Why, you might ask?

Release stasis? [y/N]

Uhhh, should I do this? I mean, this gal looks plenty intact, so she won’t turn to dust the moment she reaches room temperature—I guess? It’s just—how long has she been in there? Probably everyone she’s ever known’s dead by now—or not? I mean, elves, man. She might just go “Oh, it’s just been 2000 years, huh? Wake me up in another 500 years, thanks” and brush it off like that.

… Yeah, nah, no way I’m making this decision on my own.

{Sam?}

“Sir Grey? What is it?”

Sam’s in the Op Room like usual. Embro’s there too, but they’re both just quietly chilling. Well, they won’t be chilling in a bit. Sorry, guys.

{Should I wake her up?}

“You don’t mean…”

{Yeah. I can do it.}

Embro’s sword hands perked up. “To awaken an ancient being… How exciting!”

“Your Majesty, shan’t we think of the lady’s future first, as we will be responsible for her if we awaken her?” Ah, yes, Sam being the reasonable one.

“Dear Princess, if the willow may choose, it will choose not to be withering when it dies.” Embro bringing out the translated haikus, huh.

“I see. Then, Sir Grey, enjoy taking care of your new crew.”

Huh? {H-hey! Isn’t this a pretty big decision?! And if I had a bit of confidence, I wouldn’t be asking!}

Sam shakes her head. Look, I’m sorry I’m not good at a few things, okay?

“If all you need is support rather than justification, I suppose I will witness her awakening.”

“Oho. Mind if I join you, dear Princess?”

***

Welp. Here we are.

Sam and Embro are in the capsule room together with Marge, Captain Sue, and Aureos.

I dragged Captain Sue here so she can memorize the elf’s face and make sure none of the marines cause any trouble for her in the future. Aureos came along coz he’s the only one around that still remembers his university history classes, so he might be able to relate with the elf if she’s that old.

And Marge… She really just tagged along for no good reason whatsoever.

I didn’t let anyone else come along coz it might be a tad overwhelming for the elf if there were too many people in the room. I mean, it’s sort of a large room, but 5 strangers staring at you when you wake up is still 5 strangers staring at you, so let’s not add to that.

{Alright, everyone. I’m doing it.}

Everyone’s excited—except for Captain Sue, I wonder why.

…

Ah, right, I haven’t told her we’re waking up an elf. {Ah, Sue, we’re waking up an elf.}

It took her a second to register it, but she got blown away in the end.

Release stasis? [y/N] … Yes, please.

As soon as I will it, there’s a bunch of decompression noises and vapor flowing out of the capsule. It’s being lifted up from its lying-down position by some sort of hydraulics, and once it’s standing, the top and bottom halves open like a Delorean. The bottom half helpfully unfolds into steps. Nice design choice.

I dunno. I completely expected her to be ice-encrusted like a meat pack in a freezer, but there’s none of that at all.

Actually, you know, Marge was right. Those are nice legs.

… Don’t look at me like that. I stopped having specific lonely feelings the moment I became a fuckin’ aircraft carrier.

However, and I cannot stress this enough—my sense of aesthetic is still going strong!

Her hair’s silvery, reaching past her shoulders, and her skin could be arctic camo. She looks about in her 20’s, but there’s probably some elf bullshittery going on about not aging anymore past their 20’s—or not? How do elves work?

More importantly, every man in the room is bleeding for different reasons. As expected, no one would dare try to get in the Emperor’s way, but looks like he’s knocked himself out out of shock—or happiness? Stop making that face, old man. Meanwhile, Aureos’s head is in an indentation on the floor that coincidentally has the same shape has his face. It’s a snug fit, in fact.

Sue takes off her jacket and drapes it over the elf’s body. Also, Marge has strategically placed her parasol between the elf and the nearest camera I have.

…

{Oi. The heck do you think I am?}

“But you said you’re a man! Have some decency and look away!”

{This is a fixed camera, though!}

“Then turn it off!”

{I’m the one opening the thing! I need to monitor it!}

That was when we heard mumbling coming from somewhere.

All eyes turn to the elf. Looks like Sam more comprehensively dressed her up with a blanket while we were being noisy.

Her green eyes open. That was unexpected. I thought they’d be silver.

“Kou… zdra shtuya?”

“Aureos… do you understand her?” Sam asks. Aureos’ voice is muffled by the floor, so she yanks his face out.

“Princess, it sounds similar to Modern Elvish. However, it is only the sounds that are similar. I cannot ascertain any words, and the accent is far from the few samples that I have heard.”

“Alright.” Sam pushes his face back into the floor. Why are you so hard on him? He’s bleeding in three different places, you know?

{So… anyone here speak Old Elvish or whatever it is?}

No one replies. Figures.

Embro starts speaking some Japanese, though.

“… Dzhapon?”

{Woohhh, she recognized it!}

“Ahaha, interesting!” … then Embro’s face darkens. “But, foreign diplomats often spend an entire year in order to learn our language at the level of a moderately-gifted child. I am afraid we cannot rely on teaching this one to speak our proud homeland’s tongue.”

… Damn.

I remember taking a Japanese class in the Navy, once. I think most of us tapped out after just a few months.

Wait… Hm?

{Do any of you hear a buzzing noise?}

Everyone says no. Weird. Could this actually be… Is this the SpiritNet acting up? It’s like when November tries to talk to me from too far away. Mentally shouting does the trick, though. Not sure how it works.

Maybe November’s actually trying to contact me right now, hol’ up.

 

… WAIT. I’M BUSY!

 

“Ah!”

H-huh? The elf reacted! … You, can you actually hear me?

… Not loud enough, huh? A’ight—oi, can you hear me!

—T-there’s a spirit in this place? How?

AHA!—O-oh no, I got too excited. She’s crying.

No no no, don’t worry, I’m a nice-uhhh-spirit!

—That’s what they all say!

C’mon, girl, trust me here!

Okay, look, the cool old guy there is the Emperor of Japan and the lady knight is a Princess of Merika. They’ll take care of you, okay? Trust them at least, okay?

… I’m not getting a reply, huh?

{So uh, looks like she can talk over the SpiritNet. We understand each other, too.}

“Really?” There’s a flash of hope in Sam’s eyes. “Then—”

{She’s a bit hard to handle, though. She doesn’t trust me and she’s really scared. I’ll have to rely on everyone else here… sorry.}

Sam looks to the elf with apparent understanding, but… “I might not be qualified for this case.”

Figures. She’s a tough lady, but the elf doesn’t need tough right now.

“Look ’ere.”

Huh? {Sue?} She’s taken off her feather hat and come near the elf, who’s frightened for a bit, but for some reason, her fright doesn’t escalate any further.

“Cap’n. Leave ‘ere this wun t’ me.”

She’s offered her hand to the elf, and the elf takes it. The heck, Sue’s got that much charisma this whole time? Ah, well, she ain’t an ex-pirate captain for nothing.

{You sure? It’s not gonna be a problem?}

Sue nodded, helping the elf down from the stasis pod. The latter’s wobbly on her feet, but she easily depended on Sue for support.

I’m jealous. Trust me, too!

Everyone introduces themselves, just saying one word of their given names so the elf doesn’t get linguistically confused.

“Sue.”

“Samantha.”

“Aureos.”

“Marge!” Damn it, girl, don’t frighten her!

“Hiiro.”

Hm? Is it just me, or did the elf pause for a moment when Embro introduced himself?

I mean, Hiiro is basically just Hero, and I have a feeling this elf’s seen things from way back when, and—y’know what, that’s a little bit complicated, so never mind.

“… Pashin.”

We all stare quietly at her, more in surprise than judgement—of course, the only thing the person herself sees is a bunch of people (and an evil spirit woOOoo) quietly staring at her, so she’s hiding behind Sue, now. I mean, at least she trusts someone, right?

***

Pashin. I remember my name.

Is everyone saying their names? I think they are. Should I say my own?

“Pa… Pashin.”

I’m not sure if they heard me.

“Pashin.”

Their eyes grow so round. Scary. Did I say something wrong? I’ll just hide behind this funny-looking person. Her hat’s fluffy.

{Can you take care of her in the meantime, Cap? I don’t think she’ll trust anyone else for a while.} “Aye.”

They’re saying things… I don’t understand them.

“Kou… shtuya?” (Here… is?)

I can say words, but they don’t understand, either. This is difficult.

The funny hat lady leads me out of the room. I look back to my cradle. There are things that… I must remember no matter what.

The others follow behind us. The spirit of this strange, cold place says that one of them is an emperor, and the other is a princess, from different nations. Should I trust the spirit? Spirits of strange, cold places are always suspect—says my instinct, but I don’t know where my instinct came from.

Is my instinct from who I was, before I went to sleep? Was it planted in me during my sleep? I don’t know, myself. I don’t know… myself.

I feel the warmth of the funny hat person’s hand around mine. I’m just letting myself be tugged along for now, but this… I find it hard to reject this hand.

The emperor and princess part ways, followed by a man who seems to be the princess’s guard. The loud one is still following us, though.

“M-ma’am Marge, ye—uh—dun’ ‘ave anywhere t’ be?” “Nope!”

The funny hat person’s eyes are swimming. I can feel your bothered spirit. It will be alright. Eventually.

She leads me to a small place furnished with a bed and a small desk. I have to bow my head to avoid bumping into the frame of the metal doorway. Actually, I’ve already bumped my head four times on the way here. This place is such a disorderly structure with little regard for the average elf’s height. I think I’m starting to hate it.

I scan the room for only a few seconds, realizing that there are no windows—and then a clanging sound shakes me. I snap about face, and the funny hat lady has apparently closed the door. She turns a lever and pushes against the door, but the door won’t open.

A-are we trapped?

She turns the lever the other way and pushes the door again. The door opens.

O-oh, she’s just showing me how to use the door…

Truly, it’s such a strange door that makes such loud sounds just to use. Why don’t you just use curtains? Why the need for such a bulky door? Are wooden doors with ordinary doorknobs already out of fashion?

Wait, rather… haven’t I only seen humans? That would explain the strangeness of this structure. They were always impractical.

Huh? “Always”? Did I remember something? No, no good. I should write this down somewhere.

I ask the fluffy hat person for something to write on, and she hands me a memo pad. Right, I recognized the “memo pad” and the “pencil,” too. At least, the world isn’t too unfamiliar.

“Oi. Andy. Scram.”

As I’m writing, there comes an annoyed voice from her, so I look up and spot the shy boy peeking from beyond the door. Wait, where did the troublesome lady go?

“Oi, Andy, what’d I tell ya? Don’ be a bother.”

I think she’s being too mean to him. Clearly, the sparkle in his eyes says he’s only being curious.

Human curiosity… yes, I remember that, too. We liked that about them, didn’t we?

… Who’s “we”? My kind? Well, I can’t deny that I like it about them, at least.

“Im ur etaya?” (What’s your name?)

I try asking his name, but he looks confused.

“Etaya?” (Is?) he repeats.

The funny hat lady is switching her stare between the two of us.

“Andy, y’get what she’s sayin’?” “No?”

Well, at least she stopped trying to shoo him away. He looks really smart, too. I don’t think letting him close will be a bad thing to consider.

“Pashin, im kar eta.” (My name’s Pashin.)

The boy’s just more confused—but I don’t want to give up.

“’Er name’s Pashin, t’least we know,” the funny hat lady seems to explain.

“Pashin?” The boy points to himself. “Andy.”

“Andi”? The God of… no, no, his human parents couldn’t have known. I’ll not say anything about it. Not that they would understand me, anyway.

***

I’m not sure how, but Andi started to tour me around the strange structure. The funny hat lady is also following closely behind, but it looks like she’s just enjoying Andi’s interactions with me.

So far, I haven’t seen any windows. Humans might not be nature spirits, but I am twice-over sure that they still need to see the sun. Perhaps there is a way out of here?

“Vey a ni iruya?” (How can we go outside?)

Wait. No. They won’t understand like this.

“Vey? Iru?” (Outside? Go?)

I’m making a walking gesture with my fingers on the palm of my other hand, then pointing upwards to somewhere beyond the unbearably-low ceiling.

Hopefully, they’ll lead me to a roof, and I can see where I really am.

“Is it okay?” Andi-boy asks.

“S’long as Cap’s ’right with it.”

{Yeah shoor, go ahead. Just make sure to come back down within the hour for take-off.}

“T-take-off, ya say…”

We start heading in a different direction, and we stop on a special-looking floor at a dead-end.

T-the platform’s raising?! O-oh, so this is what they call an elevey … who’s “they”? D-damn it, not again with this post-stasis amnesia…

***

… What on earth is this?

Right, this place—humans and strange structures, that would be “earth,” wouldn’t it?

Strange structures, like this massive pit which just barely fits this massive ship. It has a flat deck on which a few villages could fit. There is an earthen wall beyond the end of the ship, holding back an endless sea.

Is that a dragon … a dragon! There’s two of them!

… They’re coming here?!

“Dra! Dra! Eto! Eto!” I hide behind and shake the fluffy hat lady’s shoulder. Why are you so calm?!

“Dun worry. S’one of ours.”

Her low voice is somehow louder than the flapping of the coming wings. I’m not any less nervous, but I think I can believe that the dragons aren’t coming to kill us.

… Humans on the dragons’ backs? How?

… Dragons turning into humans? How?

I see the supposed princess coming out to greet the four newly-landed individuals. Are they part of her entourage? They’re following her as she goes back inside the tower along one side of the ship.

I don’t know. I’m not sure. This day has been confusing ever since I’d opened my eyes.

{Sue! Bring them over to the bridge! Y’all might as well watch the flight with everyone else!}

“A-aye, but—but I’m no fit with th’ knightsirs in the roost y’see, an’—”

{Naaahhh, it’s fiiineee. Sam’s there, anyway. Besides, you two’re the super-VIP’s guide and guard—riiight?}

“A-aye, Cap’n.”

***

Suddenly, we’re on top of the tower. The dragons and knights all greet me with a small bow. It seems I’m being treated as an important guest, but I’m not sure if that’s going to last for long.

{Okay, everyone! Lift-off in 3… 2…}

W-what’s this scary screaming sound coming from everywhere? Why is the ship shaking?!

“Sir Grey, is this part of the flight?”

{P-probably—I mean, yes. Yes it is.}

Even the knights are anxious!

Before I could lose strength, I feel a warmth wrap around my hand. I look down, and Andi has held it.

The shaking stops.

The view of the landscape sinks. The nearby city looks like a map.