Ron, Duke and Warspite 14
Ron groaned as he pulled out yet another seemingly useful piece of magical reagent, only for it to clearly have been infected by the item sitting next to it. Summer looked down from where she was reaching the top shelves for him and gave him a curious stare.
"Just another thing we're going to have to throw out." He held up what looked to have been a piece of a meteorite that had somehow fused with a piece of wood he couldn't identify.
Summer nodded somewhat sadly and then showed him what appeared to an impressionist sculpture made out of melted taffy. He had no idea
what it had been originally and shook his head.
"Here, I'll go put it in the pile."
Summer nodded and handed it to him before going back to clearing the top shelves.
Ron sighed as he carried the objects out to The Pile as he thought of it. Originally a storehouse full of magical reagents and old equipment had seemed like a great boon to him. Surely there would be unique items and hard to find ingredients that he could use!
There weren't.
Instead it seemed like it was more a storehouse for old junk. Whoever had created the shelves had probably meant for them to be used as proper storage but between some of the dust and the age of the items it appeared that the had lain there for more than simply ten years. Some of them were WWI vintage! Even the magical items had mostly bled their essences together, ran out of power or simply rotted away.
It had taken him and Summer working off and on as much as they could for two weeks to get to the point they were at, which was the storage almost completely cleared out and the few items they could salvage stored up front where they could both reach it. They'd maybe saved one piece out of twenty and most of that was simple things like ore or a few magically preserved metals.
Tossing the two pieces into The Pile, which was actually a dumpster provided for the purpose by the Royal Engineers, Ron gave another sigh. Despite having the place nearly cleared out, he'd not managed any time on Dukes problems like he had hoped and likely wouldn't before he left for school. Yet there was good news.
Looking up Ron grinned as he saw all the activity going on around his house. There were a number of experts in old fashioned buildings doing minor repair to the main house. There were apparently laws about such things in the muggle world and after they'd brought down the muggle repelling charms and began fixing things, Dreadnought had called a few people she knew and got the best.
The repairs were going well, with the main house and the gatehouse getting the most attention at the moment. The lab building would be next, after he cleaned everything out and the Orangearium would be last, given the need for properly fitted glass and the fact it needed many of the old trees inside cut down and removed piece by piece.
Victoria was happy as a clam and was assisting where she was able, mostly by providing tea and biscuits. The story that they told everyone not in the know about magic was that she'd been hired on early and was simply eager to get started. It worked well enough, especially when the builders got refreshments during their breaks.
What really made Ron smile was the other activity. In preparation for their specific type of guests, the Royal Navy had authorized the building of a repair bath. It was of mostly standard design, large enough to hold numerous girls at the same time and having both a large main pool and smaller tubs for those who wanted to relax in private. There were plans to add a walkway from the back of the house to the front of the spa but with all the other construction it would go in close to last.
At that moment there were a number of Royal Engineers finishing up the main pool, which was open until the interior set properly and they could be sure it didn't leak. That was supposed to be today and Ron saw them bringing in a rather large hose to begin filling it. Nearby a small communications post was going up, which would allow the Royal Navy to contact anyone staying at the mansion without delay. All in all there was quite the hustle and bustle
Ron looked up as Summer came over with more items to dump in the pile, what looked to be an old Narwhal horn merged with a gearbox and something that was so old and rusted he couldn't tell what it was supposed to be that was sporting the upper half of a propeller blade.
"No good huh?"
Summer shook her head no.
"No. N-not even good f-for scrap."
Ron shrugged. At this point he was used to it and if Summer said it wasn't even good for scrap, he believed her. She'd pointed out a number of things that he would have simply tossed that she felt she could use and had pulled a couple items out that he'd thought were magically useless but were actually just covered up by others.
It seemed that both of them had decided to take a break at the moment, as they watched the Royal Engineers continue their work, a few antenna's going up as the repair pool began to fill towards the top.
"D-do you… do you really have… to go?" Summer spoke from out of the blue, causing Ron to look up at her. She looked quite sad and though she had asked him before, there were only a few days until he went off to school.
Smiling gently at her Ron reached up and took her hand.
"Yeah, I do." He kept his voice as light as he could, even though he would miss her, as well as everyone else. "School is up north and I can't take you with me."
Summer nodded sadly at that.
"I'll write you though, with the owl box. You can write me too. Duke and Warspite said they'd bring you up with them when I have the Hogsmeade weekends."
"O-ok..." Summer was still unhappy about it but at least she wasn't crying.
"And you'll have a nice room here, with Victoria to talk to. You're friends right?"
Summer nodded again, this time with a bit more enthusiasm. Victoria had taken to Summer like she had to everyone else, as over a decade of isolation had left her with more than a bit to catch up on. Which meant that she had no existing prejudices to get over in regards to Abyssals. Summer had eagerly welcomed a new friend and Ron had bee quite pleased that Summer would always have someone around if she needed them.
"I'll miss you." Summer spoke quietly, though only a little sadly.
"I'll miss you too Summer. I'll try to come back as much as I can ok?" Ron looked back up to her as the construction sounds around them began to swell.
Summer nodded, then very obviously froze as she looked up.
Following her gaze, Ron froze as well and his eyes went wide.
Something was happening with the repair bath pool as the Royal Engineers nearby finished filling it. The surface had taken on a light glow, which was visibly brightening by the second. The sounds of construction continued to rise, the saws seeming louder, the hammering more firm and the crackle of a nearby welder seeming to go on for much longer than it should.
A glance to the side saw Summer's eyes flaring a little brighter, along with a similar glow coming from The Pile.
A scream of metal as a beam was cut echoed through the air. The Pile began to disappear, flowing towards the repair pool.
The pool grew lighter and Ron saw the Royal Engineers staring as well but none of them seemed to stop working. It was like the motions were part of a trance.
Ron could recognize a summoning when he saw it and closed his eyes for a moment as he felt something fumbling at him in the back of his mind. Whatever it was caught and Ron felt Summer's hand stiffen in his and then his eyes popped open.
The summoning pool began to bubble and froth mightily, even as he could still hear the sounds of construction. It wasn't until there was one final "scccrrriiiinnnggggg!!!" of a saw cutting off that the summoned ship girl burst from the water.
The girl, whoever she was, was massive. She was easily taller than Duke or Warspite but she didn't seem to be as tall as Summer. At least not quite. She was similarly curved as well, though most of it was covered up in an oil stained workers coverall that was unzipped down to her stomach. Her hair was a dirty blonde that looked to have been bleached white by the sun, her richly tanned features matching the sun drenched look. A wrench hung in one hand, with a large sledge-hammer in the other.
There was a moment of silence and then the woman spoke, looking directly at Ron.
"Wo bin ich?" Her voice was deep for a woman, a true contralto and Ron somehow got the image of a hearty smile and beer from it despite never having actually had a beer.
"I'm sorry?" He spoke instinctively, thinking he'd misunderstood her.
"Ah, English." The woman spoke English with a distinctly German accent, which clued Ron in that he'd not misunderstood her and she'd been speaking a different language. "I asked where we are."
"Southern England." Ron proceeded to try and catch up with what was happening. Clearly they'd done a summoning but a
German? "May I ask who you are?"
"Ach, excuse me.
Admiralty Floating Dock Number 8, reporting for service." The woman raised her wrench to her forehead in a mild salute.
"Ron Weasley. I work for the Royal Navy sometimes." He paused and pointed to Summer. "This is Summer. She's a friend."
"It is good to meet the both of you. Could I ask for a tow?" The woman gestured down to the water. "No engine."
It was only the work of a minute to get an appropriate tow rope from the Royal Engineers watching everything, one of whom was on their radio back to base. Summer hauled AFD 8 back to shore with ease, the woman coming up to her chin when she was finally on land.
"Thank all of you." The woman had put away her tools somewhere and gave both Summer, Ron and several of the engineers a rather large hug, regardless of how tall they were.
Grinning slightly at the face some of the men made, Ron nodded to her. "You're welcome. Are you hungry? I think we've got something..."
"We have sandwiches Young Master and I can try to make something more substantial for her if she wishes."
Ron jumped as Victoria's voice came from right behind him and he turned to look at her.
"I told you not to do that." He'd already discovered that Victoria seemed to find it humorous to surprise people with her presence. Mostly him.
"Apologies Young Master. I did not mean to do so." A bow and the same tone she almost always used, as if she really had done it on accident.
"Well, anyway. I think..." He turned to look at their new summon. "I'm sure you're hungry but Admiralty Floating Dock Number 8 is a bit of a mouthful."
"Hmm. You may call me Angelica. Angie if you want." The woman nodded, her face seemingly constantly plastered with a smile.
"Then Victoria, I'm sure Angie is hungry so if you could get those sandwiches."
Victoria bowed and gestured back towards the house. "If you'll follow me then Ms. Angelica."
"Ja! Thank you Victoria. And call me Angie!"
Ron watched as the massive woman followed the new maid into the house and the engineers began to get back to work. Then he shook his head. As if he didn't already have enough to deal with before he went to school!
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Toulon, France. A week later.
Jean-Bart sat on her bed, drying her long brown hair fresh from the repair baths. A week long cruise across various ports in the Mediterranean had been a nice distraction from her normal daily drudgery. Even if sailing alongside merchants was rather boring, it was better than sitting on the shore. She'd even fired her guns for once!
Granted the abyssals had immediately run away at the presence of a battleship midst what they'd thought would be easy prey but it was better than what she usually got. Unfortunately she wasn't allowed to pursue and the local Italian forces had been vectored in to deal with them.
Twas a strange world when you could call on those you'd been designed to defeat for assistance.
Finished with her grooming and freshly dressed, Jean-Bart once again logged on to SGO. With a weeks news to catch up on certainly there would be something…
"Again!" She couldn't help but exclaim to herself as she caught sight of the redheaded English boy in a highlighted article. This time a floating dry dock! There was even a picture of him between the Germanic looking woman and the Abyssal, where he looked absolutely tiny in comparison. She read the article several times to make sure she had everything straight and in the end there was only one thing that mattered.
He was clearly the best chance she had at fighting in this decade.
She dug through her desk and pulled out her cellphone, dialing her most frequent number. She only had to wait a few rings before it picked up.
"Hello Sister?" She hoped to make this short but she doubted it would be. "Yes it's me. Yes I'm fine, I only fired my guns once. No I did not meet a nice Italian boy. What? No, I didn't meet a nice Italian girl either!" It was clear Richelieu intended to keep asking about her, nonexistent, love life so she interrupted. "No no, I need your help. What? NO! No I mean..." She coughed, clearing her voice as Richelieu quieted, seeming to understand her seriousness. "I need you to ask Admiral Chirac to introduce me to the British Admiral of Warspite and Duke of York." There was a pause where Jean-Bart expected a comment about the man but it did not come. "I… their Ronald has proven himself a naval engineer of high caliber and… Yes. I think he might be able to help."
"MON PETIT! TRES BIEN!"
Richelieu's voice was loud enough that Jean-Bart had to pull the phone away from her ear.
"I…
non sister. It is not so great yet but hopefully it will be yes. Mhmm. Yes, thank Admiral Chirac for me as well.
Oui, I love you too."
Jean-Bart sighed and collapsed back on her bed, thoughts swirling in her head as her sister was likely running to her Admiral and lover with her request. There was much to do yet and she did not know what the English boy would need to do if she was to be repaired but it was the first hope she'd had in a long time.
It was perhaps not the beginning of the end, to steal a quote from an Englishman even she admired, but it was the end of the beginning.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
AN: I apologize to anyone who uses the languages I hopefully didn't butcher but probably did with Google Translate.
Questions, comments etc. welcome as always.
