Fire. There was fire everywhere.

I can hear them. The screams. So much screams.

I felt my back ache in protest as I opened my eyes. It was hot. It was burning. There were so much fire around me. I took a free hand as I stood up. I saw red steel all around me. I was in a room.

'Oh god. Is this how I'll die?' I fearfully asked myself as I tried to correct my position. I tried to move an arm to stand up, but when I did, I felt a massive amount of pain circulate my shoulders. My entire left burnt with agonizing pain. I'll lifted up my right arm in hopes that it was fine. Thankfully, I managed to use it enough to get my body off of the floor, which was getting hotter by the second.

I looked around me to see if there were anyone else in this death trap. In a dash of hope and fear, I saw my sister's body laying on the floor. I limped over to her as quickly as I could possibly go in this situation, and wrapped my good arm around her stomach. With all my remaining energy, I heaved her up and struggled to keep my balance. I felt something drip down my left ear, but I ignored it. My sister's health and safety is more important right now.

I carefully limped over to the control panel and sat her body down on the leather chair, which was only meant for the captain. Authority was not as important as survival was at this point, so I carefully arranged her arms and legs. I then quickly ripped her vest off and unbuttoned her sleeves, looking for a pulse. I prayed to God to keep my sister alive as I struggled to hear her heartbeat.

So when I did, I rejoiced, but only for a brief moment.

I hastily strapped her to the chair with the buckle that was on the sides, and rushed over to the control pads. It was old, and complex, but I managed to get a semblance of understanding as to what the panels do. I quickly grabbed on to the lever to the side of me and turned it over to flank, pushing down a panel that said 'Emergency Power Supply'.

Below the deck, the boiler room rose to life, and the dim abyss that made the underside of the vessel was filled with fire and light. The metal furnaces closed under the sudden burst of pressure, and as the fires raged in the bowels of the old tow ship, the cranks in the engine room began to turn, creaking and cracking as the rusted pistons pushed hard against the melded orange steel.

Once all the pistons finally gave in, succumbing to the massive pressure forced upon them by the heated steam in the pipes, bloated by the sheer volume they are keeping in, there was a great rumble, and the cranks began to spin faster and faster than ever before. The force of the engine shook the ship, and all at once, every emergency power came back in full.

With all the electricity being generated by the engines, the fire safety began to work it's course. The external filters began to open up underneath the keel of the vessel, taking in ocean water, filtering them before,

*Whish*

Every room and corridors inside of the ship began to spray massive amounts of mist water, covering up every fire in the vessel. Not long after, massive fountains opened up in the deck of the ship, spraying water all over the deck, effectively putting out the fire of the ship.

"Ack-" I did my best to breathe in the misty atmosphere around me. Taking a piece of my vest, I wrapped it around my sister's mouth, making sure that she doesn't get choked. I covered my mouth and nose with one hand and kept my balance as both the rocking of the vessel and the shelling all around me shook the floor I was standing on every passing second. I made my way back to the center of the panel and wiped the panel free of dew after I made sure I had enough oxygen to let go of my mouth.

I saw the fleet of glinting silver slowly moving towards the island, pumping out shell after shell of pure destruction. I was wondering why I couldn't hear the trailing death that passed my the deck, so I place a hand on my left ear. I felt a crusty material dripping down from my earlobes, and deduced that my ears must've have been busted from all the shellshock that I had experienced earlier. I looked at the speedometer and noted that I am indeed moving away from the deck.

19 knots

For an old tow ship, this thing travels fast, faster than most tow ships built now. As the dew on the windshield dried off, I could clearly see the massive ship in the distance encroaching upon the island. It was gargantuan. The width of the deck was far bigger than the other ships to it's side. It looked stupid. And yet, for all the logic it broke, the massive spray of water in front of it indicated that it was moving. And it was moving fast, given how the…

Wait. That can't be…

The ships beside it were destroyers, right? They had to be. Those cannot be anything other than small utility ships.

So why did they have a massive island, a large deck and triple barreled superfiring turrets?

I waved off the thought. They had to be destroyers. There's no logical way for a ship of that size to even EXIST. There is just no way. The displacement would be bonkers. There would be too much necessary fuel to power. There were just too many problems with building a ship of such size. It shouldn't even be moving.

My doubts continued to fill my mind as my eyes can't help but see the massive shells being fired from the rest of the destroyers. That big ship had to be a ordinary, bigger than usual battleship. I continued to steer the vessel in a zigzag pattern, as I tried my best to avoid the rain of death behind me.

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It was a few seconds after I narrowly avoided a shell that I saw it. The one thing that broke every notion of logic I had right there.

The turrets of the big ship began to rise. Just a tiny bit. And a second after,

Light.

The light was so bright that I had to cover my eyes to keep me from being blinded by the sheer luminosity. A few seconds later, I felt the shockwave. I was thrown off the front of the panel, all the way to the wall at the back. I felt the tow ship getting blasted back by the waves. Then I felt it. One second afterwards.

I was then thrown off the walls and back down on the floor. I felt something in my nose break, and as I stood up, I felt my body ringing with vibrations. My nose began to bleed, and my busted lips split open. The pain was excruciating, and I wanted to cry right there. However, the adrenaline was enough for me to control myself and wipe my nose with what was left of my clothes. The fibers brushed against my mouth, and it almost made me fall down due to how painful it was.

I limped towards the chair my sister was still sitting on. Her arm was fine from the blast, but it seemed like she was really knocked cold. From the shockwaves or the sound, I did not know. I adjusted her body again, and noted that the chair itself was creaking, despite the fact that it was welded to the floor itself. I pressed on and turned to the window, where I saw the barrels of the massive ship letting out an entire cloud's worth of smoke.

I was leaning back on the control panel, with a broken arm and a bruised face. My left eye began to fade and I did all I can to keep myself alive. I looked for anything, ANYTHING that can get us out of this mess, when I saw a drawer on the bottom of the panel slightly opened. I used my good arm to open it, and I focused on the nearly faded letters on top of an adjusting wheel and a switch

'Depth Adjuster'

'Diving Mechanism Switch'

I took a deep breath and flipped the switch. I felt a slight rumble shake the entire vessel, although I noted that I wasn't originating from any point outside of the ship, but rather, inside. I saw the water slowly rise, and I realized what was happening.

I looked at the adjusting wheel and saw that it was turned to minus five meter below sea level. I looked as the ship slowly began to sink below the water, stopping just short of the deck. The vessel continued to bob up and down, continuing to move at a pace of 15 knots. As the ship continued to travel away from the island and towards the invading fleet, I ever so slowly turned the adjuster lower and lower.

At minus twenty meters below sea level, the ship shook and swayed a bit as the waters rose up, covering the wooden deck and obscuring the form of the ship. The only thing I could really see at the moment was the sea, and the waters slowly rose even higher, stopping midway through the bridge. I turned the adjuster as long as I possibly could, all the way to minus fifty meters below sea level.

The waters rose quickly, and before I knew it, I was traversing the murky blue waters. I saw the fires light up the surface of the sea, and I saw the black clouds obscuring the sky. I took the time to sit down on the floor, hearing the whirr of the engines below deck sound through the entire ship.

After sitting for what felt like hours, I stood up and checked the time. Only about 20 minutes had passed and the ship was still dropping down to the bottom of the sea. I turned the power off and put a stop to the engine. I couldn't let anything see that a ship was somehow traversing the bottom of the sea floor. I turned towards a soft patch of sand and let the ship rest for a while. I then let my tiredness overcome me as I laid down next to my sister. The adrenaline inside me kept me from sleeping, so I laid there, waiting as the massive shadows pass by my ship.

1 hour passed, and I was about to finally let sleep overtake me, when I felt movement coming from the chair I was leaning on.

I felt my eyes burning when I realized that I was hearing a lot. The darkness I was seeing lasted for a long time. I wasn't able to anything. For a while, I thought I had died and that I was waiting in purgatory, before I go straight to hell. Fitting, given how my last vision of the world was filled with flames and smoke.

Wait.

I quickly trashed around, trying to get out of the darkness that binded me still. There was something wrapped around my mouth, so I wasn't able to scream or call for help. I smelled the air, and when I did, I calmed down. The faint smell of burning steel wasn't there, and all that entered my nose was humid steam. Or at least that was what I thought it was.

I did my best open my eyes, but I was so tired that I was barely able even see light from the slits of my eyebrows. I gave up trying open them, and instead tried to make some semblance of movement. I waved whatever I was binded to left and right, trying my best to fall down. I had to get these bindings off of me.

I had to make sure that my brother is safe.

As I wiggled back and forth, I felt the bottom of what felt like a chair creak. I would have smiled if this damn thing wasn't covering my mouth. I kept wiggling back and forth as the chair kept creaking, when I felt a hand stop me. I stopped doing every action I was thinking of. I felt a hand unwrap the bindings on me. My stomach felt looser and… I couldn't feel my vest.

This wretch! Who the hell does he think he-

"Charl." Heavy breathing. "Are you-" My heartbeat stopped for a second.

The moment I was able to move my legs, I pounced on the person in front of me. Wrapped my arms around the first thing I touched and held on tight. I could feel his balance being thrown off, but I kept him in place. I held him even tighter as I felt my eyes becoming wetter. I couldn't help but cry. Slowly, I felt an arm rise up beside me, and then, a hand grabbed the object keeping me from seeing and speaking. With a small tug, It gave, and I saw the best face I would never admit to seeing.

"Charlotte, please," I heard him squeak out. "stop crushing me. I alre-" His voice creaked again. "I already have a broken arm, please-" The moment I realized what I was doing, I immediately threw myself off of him, then I tried to reach out to him again, before I forcefully stopped myself with my other arm.

"Thank you…" I heard him drawl out, whining a bit as he massage his left arm. When I saw it, I immediately tried to jump at him again, although this time, he reacted quicker by placing a hand on my head, effectively stopping my advance. "My goodness, please calm down. I'm ok. A bit bruised, but I can live." That did not make me happy. I tried to speak up, but my voice felt coarse and dry. That and it was painful to do anything more than breath.

I immediately stopped trying to force myself on my brother, deciding that the best course of action is to just stand to the side. He then stared at me for a full second, before placing his good hand on his left shoulder blade. With a sudden push, the audible 'Pop' echoed inside the room. It made me feel like shit, not being able to help my brother. He then tried to move his arm, but while he could, I saw his face scrunch up in what I would expect to be pain.

I placed a hand on his other shoulder, pressing on it mildly, trying to reassure him. I suppose I kinda worked, with how he sent a smile towards me. It made me feel happier knowing that he is alright. I looked out around me, trying to find out where we were. It seemed to me like we were in the bridge of the Dauntless, and…

Why was the window showing sand and sea weed?