Work Text:
April, 2017
One week.
That was how much time had passed since Raiden Mei left Anti-Entropy, since she awakened her power as the Herrscher of Thunder then promptly deserted them to join the World Serpent.
Certain figures within the Salt Lake Base, especially those who were close to the girl, were still reeling from her sudden departure, stunned that the once kind and gentle girl from Nagazora would willingly join the World Serpent.
Nobody in the base felt the weight of her leaving more, than a certain Kiana Kaslana.
She had only woken up just yesterday, having spent most of the week in a coma according to the doctor. It wasn’t long after her awakening that everyone close to her started spilling into the room, clearly worried about her state after…
… She did everything in her power to push away the bad thoughts, she put on her best fake smile and held back the tears as she tried to assure everyone that she was fine.
She knew for a fact that she wasn’t fooling any of them. Her eyes stung red, the happy tone in her voice had a strained edge and broke on occasion.
But Kiana kept up the act. Acting happy and smiling was always how she coped when things went wrong.
It felt so much harder than usual, though.
After everyone cleared out of the room, Kiana received a check-up from the base's doctors. Einstein was present with them, and she had been the one to tell her that the Honkai infection was receding.
Kiana didn’t feel much in a celebratory mood, though.
In fact, she felt everything but that.
She was angry, she was sad, she was hurt, she was tired.
Most of all, she just wanted to be alone.
That was why she left as soon as she was cleared to go. She just couldn’t stand being bothered by everyone, and didn’t have the energy to keep wearing that damned fake smile and pretend that everything was okay.
Tesla tried talking to her on the way out, but Kiana largely ignored her. It might have been rude, but she was way beyond caring at that point.
Even though she felt feverish and fatigued, her senses still shot to hell, she didn’t care. As long as she could carry herself by her own feet, that was enough.
Fortunately, most people in the base decided to avoid her, no doubt fearful of the threat she could pose. It meant she didn’t have to worry when her mask started slipping on the way back to her room. She could already feel tears starting to form as she shoved her way inside.
Once she closed the door behind her, she promptly leaned against it and slid down onto the floor. She didn’t even have the energy to turn on the lights.
When she was all alone at last, a single thought that Kiana had tried her best to keep away became dominant in her mind.
Mei was gone.
Those words ran through her head like an endless marquee, all flashing lights and intrusive colors. Mocking Kiana with their repetition.
Mei was gone, and it was all her fault.
Kiana curled up into a fetal position, burying her head into her knees as she grit her teeth. Tears she held back for the entire day streamed down her face like an endless waterfall. The emotions she fought so hard to keep at bay assaulted her all at once.
Just like that, Kiana fell apart.
Mei, sweet and kind and caring Mei. Kiana never appreciated her until she felt the weight of her leaving. She never realized just how much of a void would be left behind afterwards. How empty her life would be.
If anyone else had hurt Kiana like that, Mei would have been right by her bed worrying sick over her. She would have made some really delicious food for her and given her that gentle, loving smile.
Instead, Mei was gone, and the last memory she ever had of her was a cold glare.
Mei was gone and she wasn’t ever coming back and she hated Kiana and it was all her fault, just like everything else—
“Um, miss?”
Kiana froze.
Slowly she looked up, fresh tears still streaming down her face, at the source of the voice suddenly calling out to her.
There was a little girl sitting on her bed, wearing a frilly and expensive-looking purple dress.
Her feet dangled over the edge, her yellow eyes and purple hair popping against the dark backdrop of her bedroom.
Said yellow eyes were looking at her curiously, innocently.
… What the hell. Was Kiana so out of it she didn't notice she wasn't alone?
Who was she kidding, of course that was the case.
“U-Um…” Kiana cleared her throat, lamely climbing to her feet. She did her best to look as steady as possible. “Hi…?”
“Hi!” The little girl replied cheerfully, smiling at Kiana.
Was she one of the base's resident children? They tended to wander around when they were bored, so maybe she was just lost…
“Hey, um… This is my room, you know? How long have you been here?”
“I dunno,” came the girl's simple reply.
“I-Is that so…”
Well, that was helpful.
“Why are you crying?” The girl asked a second afterwards.
Kiana sniffed, wiping the tears from her face.
“I-It’s… complicated…” The last thing she wanted to do was talk about Mei, especially to some strange little kid.
Said kid blinked at her quizzically. “Do you want a hug?”
“... A hug?”
“Yeah, a hug!” The little girl nodded. “Mama always gave me hugs whenever I was sad, and you look really sad.”
“...”
A hug… did sound really good right now…
No, nope, she shouldn't get distracted! There was a strange child in her room, and that meant Kiana's next course of action should be bringing her to a responsible adult.
Or a responsible teenager.
Anyone else besides Kiana, in fact.
“Um… No, thanks. Look, how about you tell me where your room is and I'll go there with you?” Kiana said as she walked closer to her. She hoped she wouldn’t run into Theresa or any of the others on the way. Then again, maybe she could hand the kid over to Theresa and escape before a conversation started. “Actually, what’s your name?”
“Sirin!”
Kiana stopped.
The cold dread that gripped her entire being in that moment was one she hadn’t felt in months. Kiana almost summoned at least a dozen void lances just from the fear alone, ready to strike.
Except the innocent look on this little girl's face prevented Kiana from going that far.
No, it wasn’t possible. Hua helped suppress her back in Arc City. The fact that this little kid was named Sirin could only be a coincidence, right?
So, luckily, Kiana wasn’t about to commit infanticide.
“Um, does big sis really not want a hug?”
Big sis?
“You can just call me Kiana…” She ended up sitting on the bed next to the little girl, who was looking up at her curiously.
“Kiana? That’s a pretty name.” Sirin smiled at her. “Do you want a hug, Kiana?”
“...”
Quite insistent, wasn't she?
Kiana had half a mind to say no again, and bring this girl right back to the dorms before her lack of presence was noticed.
On the other hand, she really, really wanted a hug.
Ah, what the hell.
"Fine," Kiana ended up saying, "Just… Just one, okay?"
"Yay!" the little girl cheered, wasting no time in lunging at Kiana with her arms open wide—
Her hands phased right through Kiana's torso.
Just like that, Kiana was rendered motionless, her blue eyes wide as saucers.
“Eh? That's weird.” The little girl blinked with a confused smile, looking at her hands. “Hm, did big sis do something?”
Kiana did, in fact, proceed to do something.
Scream, more specifically.
Within the base's command room, a group of important individuals were gathered around a table. The Sovereign of Anti-Entropy himself, two of their top scientists, the former principal of St. Freya, the new Herrscher of Reason, and Seele, their newest member.
Lieserl Albert Einstein, the only one in the room who wasn’t sitting, held a datapad in one hand as she addressed the other occupants in the room. A holo-projected x-ray image of Kiana’s body was put on display.
“In the midst of the unfortunate events that happened this last week, there is some good news.” The blue-haired scientist scrolled through the datapad, zeroing in on the areas around Kiana’s chest. “After becoming the Herrscher of Thunder, Raiden Mei extracted the Gem of Conquest from Kiana. Given that the Herrscher of the Void no longer has enough Cores to corrupt her, her illness has been put into effective remission.” Einstein set the datapad down onto the table. “In other words, it’s not going to kill her any time soon.”
From across the room, Theresa sighed in relief.
“This still isn’t a permanent cure,” she quickly added. “But the effects of the illness have been drastically reduced. I’ve run tests, and she has years now instead of mere months. That should, at least, give us time to produce a permanent cure for her.”
“That’s all well and good, but…” Tesla leaned back against her chair, her expression tepid. “I’m getting worried it won’t mean much, if we don’t do something.”
Theresa stiffened. “D-Doctor Tesla, you aren’t implying…?”
"Unfortunately, this is why I called this meeting…" Einstein actually looked somber as she spoke. “Though Raiden Mei was able to push back the illness and grant Kiana more time, her subsequent departure has taken a significant toll on Kiana’s mental health, especially since they parted on… poor terms.”
“Things were already going downhill in Nagazora,” Tesla continued. “But this was just about the worst thing that could have happened. It doesn’t take a genius to notice how close those two were, and now she becomes a terrorist...”
What Tesla didn’t say out loud, was that she somewhat understood why Mei left. She had her fair share of dealing with self-sacrificing idiots in her life, one of them sitting across the table at this moment, and they weren’t exactly healthy to the sanity at their very worst.
With that said, her deciding to join a fucking terrorist organization was something Tesla couldn’t get down with. The fact that she became a full Herrscher was worse, as the World Serpent now held a vital piece for their plans.
Which, of course, meant more headaches for her. Tesla should have said something different to Mei, or did something that wouldn’t have led to this.
‘How did things get so fucked up like this?’ Tesla wonder. ‘If only I did more during that whole mess in 2016, if I just made more serum, then Himeko wouldn’t have…’
On the long, long list of Tesla’s regrets, letting Himeko die was definitely one of her worst ones. For all that she only knew her for a short time, Tesla knew for a fact that the woman never would have allowed any of this to happen.
Now things were going to hell without her.
Tesla scowled.
Einstein spoke up next, “With the issue of Kiana’s mental health in mind, and the implications of what would happen if she were to commit suicide—” From across the room, Theresa and Bronya went still. “—I propose putting her under surveillance for the time being.”
“S-Surveillance?” Theresa uttered, aghast at such an idea.
“As much as I hate to say it, I fear that may be the optimal option…” Welt spoke solemnly from his seat, his hands folded on the table. “Strict surveillance may be necessary for her, lest she does something… rash.”
“I-Isn’t that a little much?” Theresa spoke up. “Shouldn’t we start with therapy, at least? I have experience with counseling, I could probably get through to her…”
Theresa didn’t sound confident in herself, and she hated it.
“No offense, but knowing Kiana she’ll probably find some way to avoid it,” said Tesla. “Trust me, I have experience dealing with idiots who duck out of therapy.”
Tesla fixed her gaze on Welt.
The man cleared his throat. “I-I think we should focus on the issue at hand, and that’s ensuring Kiana’s safety. If the worst were to happen… then nothing would stop the Herrscher of the Void from unleashing her destruction.”
“Is that all you’re worried about?” Theresa couldn’t stop herself from glaring at Welt, her temper flaring. “Kiana’s more than just a ticking time bomb!”
“Theresa, you know that’s not what he meant,” said Einstein. “The Herrscher of the Void is simply part of the worst case scenario we have to avoid.”
Theresa was silent, slumping back into her seat as a gripping sense of helplessness took over.
“... The Bronya is worried about Subject Kiana.” Bronya spoke quietly, her eyes closed. “Raiden Mei’s departure has severely damaged her already frail mental health. The Bronya fears that a mental breakdown is inevitable if proper action is not taken.”
Seele remained silent on the matter, though she did worry about Bronya’s friend. Bronya told her all about Kiana, how happy and bubbly and annoying she used to be, somewhat like Rozaliya.
Except Seele couldn't connect the image of Rozaliya to someone who sounded as broken as Kiana did now.
‘Maybe I should take her to eat some cake sometime?’ Seele mused. ‘At least that should cheer her up a bit, right?’
Theresa stared at the floor, her hands shaking as she balled them up into fists. She felt useless, maybe even worse than that. Kiana was her goddaughter, and yet, ever since the incident with the Herrscher of the Void, she could do nothing…
How could she have let this happen?
Even if she wasn’t the real Kiana, even if she was just a clone, Kiana was still her goddaughter in Theresa’s eyes. How could she just sit and watch Kiana lose her mind to despair?
Kiana tried to act like her old self, she tried to tell Theresa that she was fine, but Theresa could see right through it. Her mask was fragile, thinner than paper. Theresa knew she was barely holding it together.
It was far too often that Theresa found herself vying for the simpler days at St. Freya. The two years spent with the girls and Himeko was the closest thing to peace she had enjoyed in a long time.
Now? Himeko was dead, Fu Hua was dead, Kiana was on the brink of suicide, Mei became a terrorist, and Bronya…
… Well, Bronya was actually perfectly fine, but one out of five wasn’t exactly a good track record.
How did she let things spiral so out of control?
What would Cecilia think?
Would she be happy that Theresa had simply watched Kiana deteriorate? That she had done nothing for her when she needed it the most?
Even if she wasn’t her real daughter, Cecilia would have done something, and she would have been far better at it than Theresa.
It wasn’t right.
Theresa wouldn’t let that stand anymore.
“... I’ll talk to Kiana,” Theresa stood up, a newfound resolve setting in her blue eyes. “Maybe… Maybe I can convince her to let us help. I just need to talk to her, to get through to her…”
“ Can you even get through to her?” Tesla asked. “I tried talking to Kiana earlier, but she just ignored me outright. It’s obvious she doesn’t want to be bothered.”
“I have to try!” Theresa slapped her petite hand on the table. “I can’t just keep watching! What kind of godmother would I be if I can’t do anything for Kiana…?”
Tesla, Einstein and Welt gave her a sympathetic look.
“... Try it, if you can.” Tesla relented. “But if it falls through, we’re putting her under strict watch. No exceptions.”
Theresa nodded, her resolve firm. “A chance is all I—”
The doors to the room suddenly opened, and not a second later did a very hysteric looking Kiana sprint inside. She tripped on her way in, her back hitting the edge of the rounded table as she still managed to kick away further and further from the entrance.
“Kiana?!” Theresa was quick to rush to her goddaughter’s side. Kiana was even quicker to cling to her dress like a life vest. “What’s wrong? Are you hurt?! Did you get attacked?!”
Kiana looked up at Theresa, tears running down her cheeks. She had never seen the girl look so terrified before. She felt a pang of guilt.
“Sirin’s back! Sirin’s back!” Kiana scrambled to move behind Theresa and actually hide behind the smaller woman. “She’s here! She’s awake! She’s gonna kill me!”
Kiana pointed at the door she just came in from, guiding everyone in the room to witness the supposed awakening of the Herrscher of the Void.
… However, there was a little snag with that plan.
“K-Kiana, there’s nothing there…” Theresa looked down at her goddaughter, who was gripping the ends of her dress.
“What are you talking about?! She’s right there!” Kiana again pointed to the door, where an approximate amount of nothing was present. “Sirin’s standing right there! She’s looking right at you and talking!”
Everyone was staring at the spot where Kiana pointed.
It was still empty.
“... Right, I’ll have to add hallucinations to the list, then.” Einstein reached for her datapad again, writing something down on it.
“Ah, so the mental breakdown is already happening…” Bronya looked outright distraught as she looked at the pitiful form of her friend. “This is… undesirable…”
“I’m not crazy, dammit!” Kiana looked angry as she defended herself. “Sirin’s standing right there! She’s wondering why you can’t see her! Why the hell can’t you see her?!”
“Kiana, Kiana, let’s just calm down… ” Theresa used her best soothing voice as she ran her hand through Kiana’s hair. “You’ve had a very… very stressful week. Let’s just get you back to your room…”
“Stop treating me like a mental patient!” Kiana slapped Theresa’s hand away, then her attention snapped back to the entrance. “And you! Stop moving so much! Don’t you dare get any closer, you hear me?!”
Kiana panickedly shrieked at an empty space near Bronya, her body trembling as she clung onto Theresa.
“... Hey, this is way worse than I thought.” Tesla whispered to Welt, looking worried for the seemingly poor girl.
“Hm, I knew we shouldn’t have let her leave so early…” Welt shook his head.
“This is entirely unrelated, but how do you feel about olanzapine?” Einstein asked Tesla, currently writing things down on her data pad before bringing the pen to her chin. “Or would ziprasidone be more effective?”
Tesla shot her an unamused look. “Do I look like I get how that stuff works, mophead? The answer's no, I don't!”
Einstein shrugged. “That could be said for many subjects you do, in fact, have experience with, so it was worth a try.”
“... What's that supposed to mean?”
Kiana didn’t seem to register their comments anymore. Instead, her blue eyes were staring at another empty spot in the room.
“She’s… getting upset because nobody can hear her…” Kiana quivered. “And she thinks… you’re all being mean to me? Just what the hell…”
“Kiana,” Theresa spoke to her granddaughter again in a soothing tone, holding her trembling face in her tiny hands. “Look at me. Please, I need you to calm down. You’re not in danger, okay? Please, just listen to me…”
“Stop! Stop moving! ” Kiana ignored her as she shrieked, holding her hand out as if to halt something. “Don’t you even think about coming closer, you… you…!”
“U-Um…” Seele spoke up, shuffling over to Kiana and placing a hand on her shoulder. “Hey, maybe we should listen to her? Is seeing a ghost that we know lives inside her really that unbelievable…?”
They didn't know, but Seele in particular was an expert on the subject.
Kiana looked at her for a moment, before a grateful smile made its way to her face. “Thank you! At least someone believes in me!”
“I-I just thought it made sense, was all…”
Before she could continue, a little girl suddenly popped into existence.
Everyone in the room froze, their gazes solely fixed on the purple-haired girl that definitely wasn’t there a second ago.
'There,' in fact, was right next to Tesla.
“Yay, it worked!” The little girl threw her hands up in celebration, a bright smile on her face for everyone to see.
Kiana was completely still, her eyes wide as she stared at the girl.
After a moment of silence, the girl in question looked around herself, then right up at the scientist right next to her.
“Hi.”
Tesla screeched, instantly running to hide behind a very bewildered Einstein.
“S-See?! I told you!” Kiana pointed at Sirin, who just looked really confused. “It’s Sirin! She’s back!”
Sirin stood on the opposite end of the room with her arms in front of her. She glanced around, likely noticing that half of the occupants in the room were glaring at her.
They were probably expecting her to start rampaging or declaring they were all insects before she unleashed her wrath on humanity.
Instead, Sirin looked afraid.
“U-Um… Did I do something bad? I didn’t mean to make that big sister cry…”
Of all the things they expected the Herrscher of the Void to do, looking sad and pitiful definitely wasn’t one of them.
“Ah…” Once again, Seele spoke up. “Maybe this is all just a misunderstanding…”
“Seele…” Bronya took a step closer, giving her a concerned look as she started to approach the Herrscher.
“W-We can at least hear her out, right?” Seele asked. “I mean, if she was really evil, then she'd be attacking now, wouldn’t she?”
The others didn’t look too convinced. Even Welt hesitated for a moment when Seele's gaze fell on him, and Theresa was quite busy with Kiana holding onto her.
“'Responsible adults' are such a joke, aren't they?” an echoing voice sounded in Seele's head.
Though she didn't give a response, she still sighed. “I’ve handled little kids before, I can take care of this. Just give me a chance…”
With that, she made her way towards the scared little girl. Seele leaned down, looking right at Sirin with a gentle expression and a disarming smile.
That seemed to calm the girl down just a little.
“Hello, I’m Seele.” The ravenette put on the most gentle tone she could as she addressed the so-called Herrscher. “Kiana said your name was Sirin, right?”
“Uh-huh…” Sirin nodded.
“How old are you?”
“Ten!” Sirin held up her open palms, proudly displaying them.
A strange number, considering the situation, but Seele carried on.
“Do you know how you got here, Sirin?”
She shook her head.
“Why is that?”
Sirin seemed to think for a moment, before she just shrugged lightly. “I dunno… I was just in my big sister's room all of sudden. She didn’t seem to mind me at first, until she thought I was a ghost…”
“Right, a ghost…” Seele nodded. “How did you, um, make yourself visible?”
Sirin thought for a moment. “There’s a Gem inside big sis. It could make stuff, right? I figured out that I could use it, so I made a body, so everyone could finally see me and stop being mean to her.”
Seele tilted her head. “How did you know it was a Gem?”
“I remembered, but the memories are fuzzy…” Sirin pursed her lips, trying her best to think. “The Gem of… Seerendiddy? Saratiddy?”
“... Serenity. The Gem of Serenity.” Surprisingly, Kiana was the one who corrected her, still hiding behind Theresa.
“Yeah, that!” Sirin excitedly pointed at Kiana. “Big sis is so smart!”
Kiana had no idea how to respond to that.
“So, you can control the Gem of Serenity?” Seele asked.
“Uh-huh!” Sirin nodded excitedly. “When I was playing with it, I noticed it was hurting big sis a lot. So I stopped it.”
All at once, everyone’s glares melted away in astonishment and intrigue. Even Kiana looked surprised.
“You stopped it?”
“I didn’t want big sis to be hurt, so I stopped the Gem. She should be fine now, right?” Sirin looked around the whole room, as if expecting confirmation.
“... Well, isn’t that something?” Einstein muttered, looking bewildered.
“U-Um, thanks for healing me…?” Kiana still looked unsure of how to properly address Sirin. “N-Now that you mention it, I don’t feel all that sick anymore…”
“Yay!” Sirin cheered.
“U-Um, aside from that…” Seele continued. “Sirin, I have to ask, do you… remember anything else?”
Sirin’s eyes widened, then they closed. She looked to be in really deep thought for a moment, her face scrunching up several times.
“... It’s really fuzzy…” Sirin finally said, in a quiet time. “It’s like I woke up from a really bad dream, it’s so foggy…” She opened her eyes, looking right at Seele. “The unfuzziest stuff is when I lived with mama, before she…”
The little girl suddenly looked really pitiful. Tears began to well up on the corners of her eyes as her entire form seemed to start shaking.
Understandably, Seele started to panic. “U-Um…”
It got worse when she started sniffling.
“Mama…”
Oh no.
Seele saw this happen before. An orphan's realization that they were exactly that.
It didn't make it any easier to deal with.
“Breathe and do the same as usual, idiot.”
“U-Um! Don’t cry, don’t cry!” A very panicked Seele suddenly stood up, looking around the room in a hurry. The adults here weren't particularly useful, and the place was devoid of things to distract a child with, so that meant… “W-Why don't we go take a look around the base?!”
With that, Seele grabbed the crying girl’s hand and started leading her out of the room. Bronya, who up until that point was looking at Sirin like she was a bomb about to blow, swiftly panicked and followed her out.
The rest of the occupants were left to stand there in awkward silence.
Roughly thirty minutes had passed before the three of them returned to the command room.
Seele seemed relieved as she walked in, while Bronya just looked put off, like she had witnessed the weirdest thing in the week so far. Behind them, Sirin was smiling ear to ear as she hugged a HOMU plushie with one arm, her other hand holding an ice cream cone she was currently licking.
To say the sight was bizarre was an understatement.
Kiana, for her part, at least wasn’t hiding behind Theresa anymore. Instead, with much effort, she managed to awkwardly shuffle next to Sirin.
She really had no idea what to say to her, but she had to try.
“... Um, is the ice cream good?”
Masterful.
“Yep!” Sirin looked up at her, grinning from ear to ear. “Does big sis want some?”
“... N-No thanks, I’m good…”
From the other side of the room, a certain trio was huddled around the table and discussing amongst themselves.
“... I was checking the cameras the whole time they were away.” Einstein conferred to Tesla and Welt, who were sitting on either side of her. “The Herrscher of the Void didn’t do anything malicious the entire time.”
It was the first time either of them saw Einstein look so stunned. It wasn’t like her to be thrown off her game.
“Getting free ice cream by playing cute is pretty damn malicious, if you ask me,” Tesla grumbled. “Seriously, though, she is the Herrscher, right? With all she knows about operating the Gem of Serenity.”
“She said everything was fuzzy, as if she just woke up from a nightmare…” Welt pondered as he rubbed his chin. “Maybe this is a bit of wishful thinking, but perhaps… is this the good side of Sirin that was suppressed by her Herrscher persona?”
Theresa, who had been staring at Sirin in stunned silence, perked her head up at Welt’s words.
“It’s not that strange, is it?” Welt continued, as Tesla and Einstein gave him disbelieving looks. “Raiden Mei was at odds with her own Herrscher persona, but Sirin was much younger when she became a Herrscher. Perhaps her own persona simply suppressed her, and put her to rest…”
“I don’t really buy it, and I'm pretty sure she looks younger than she should, but it’s not like we have any other explanation for this shi… situation.” Tesla blew out a sigh. “We’ll have to keep an eye on her anyway, even if it sounds like nonsense to me.”
“There’s still so much we don’t know about Herrschers, so who are we to say?” Einstein ran a hand through her messy blue hair, her bewilderment melting away into apathy.
“Sirin…” Theresa muttered, mostly to herself. She was in absolute disbelief as she watched Kiana try to interact with the girl. Though Bronya still looked wary, Seele was far more at ease, happily talking with her while Sirin looked so innocent and cheerful.
Could this really be the good side of Sirin? Or rather, would this be the original Sirin? The side of her was that silenced while the Herrscher of the Void wrecked hell upon the world?
It felt too good to be true. Maybe Theresa just wanted to believe that to ease her own conscience. Her own failure to save the girl in 2000 had always been a particularly haunting regret.
Or perhaps Theresa had gotten so used to things going wrong, it became her natural instinct to reject anything resembling good news.
‘Maybe I’ve gotten too jaded…’
“Um, Aunt Teri?” Sirin's voice sounded.
Theresa went rigid, her focus returning to Sirin in full force.
“Big sis said I can call you that. Is that okay?” Sirin looked up at her with an innocent, questioning gaze.
Kiana suddenly seemed unsure, shooting a nervous look at Theresa.
The woman in question felt a flurry of complicated emotions hitting her all at once.
“... Y-Yes, you can… you can call me that…”
Personally, she thought she couldn’t really be blamed for the way she suddenly started tearing her, or how she went up to Sirin and pulled the girl into a hug.
“Y-You can call me that, a-all you want!”
“Um, yay?” Sirin smiled awkwardly as she looked at Kiana. “Is Aunt Teri alright?”
Kiana blinked slowly, bewildered. “Ah, that’s… a really good question…”
“Well, putting aside this… development…” Welt spoke, walking away from the table to address everyone and promptly ignoring the mess that was Theresa. “I believe it'd be best to leave the Herr— Sirin in Kiana’s care for the time being.”
Everyone turned to look at him, Tesla in particular turning her head fast enough for one of her twintails to hit the man's torso like a whip.
To his credit, Welt almost didn't whimper.
“Uh, excuse me?” Kiana piped up, hoping her tone made her discontent known.
“She’s in the Void Core regardless, so I doubt we could keep you apart if we wanted,” Welt explained, ignoring the incredulous looks sent his way. “Besides, this should be a good thing for you in the long run.”
“... How?”
“Well, if you wish to know…” he began in a dramatic tone, adjusting his glasses.
Tesla groaned, fully aware of what was coming.
From that point on, Kiana watched in disbelief as Welt went on a long-winded tirade about second chances, unity, the Honkai, and other things she didn't quite catch as she found herself zoning out.
By the time she was aware of her surroundings again, the man had somehow managed to convince everyone else in the room that his idea was perfectly reasonable.
Kiana promptly decided that speeches were scary. Welt made it look so easy to convince others of whatever he wanted.
Prying Theresa off Sirin afterwards genuinely seemed to take more effort.
Kiana hadn’t expected the day to end like this.
Here she was, back in the bedroom, with the supposedly good side of Sirin hanging around her.
Specifically, Sirin was watching cartoons on the couch while Kiana observed her awkwardly from her bed.
She was still very much confused about the entire situation. She didn’t even know how to process the sight of something who had once caused her so much terror to just be acting so… so cute.
Why was she being cute?!
Better yet, why the hell did everyone think this was a good idea? Kiana could barely take care of herself as it was, and they just up and decided to leave a little kid in her care? Was Welt starting to go senile in his old age and affecting everyone else?
Either way, Kiana was stuck with Sirin. Maybe she could get away with just sticking the kid in front of a TV all day and let her do whatever. It wasn’t like Sirin was causing any trouble, and the less she had to interact with this girl, the better…
“Does big sis hate me?”
What.
“... Huh?” Kiana’s eyes were wide as she noticed that Sirin suddenly looked at her with an upset expression. Crap. “W-What… I… what makes you say that…?”
“Big sis is just keeping quiet and avoiding me…” Sirin said slowly. “Is it because I was a bad girl…?”
Wait… No, she couldn’t seriously…?
“... You remember?” Kiana got up from her bed, walking closer to the sad little girl.
“Mhm…” Sirin nodded. “It’s all so fuzzy, but… I did a lot of bad things, didn’t I?”
Sirin looked right up at Kiana.
“I hurt big sis, I hurt a lot of people…” Sirin sniffed, tears started to well up in her eyes again. “It’s all my fault, isn’t it? I’m just a bad girl…”
Kiana could barely believe what she was hearing.
Sirin was blaming herself for what the Herrscher of the Void did. To the point where she thought she was a bad person.
But that was… That was wrong .
Suddenly, Kiana found the idea worse than revolting.
She was a completely different person from the Herrscher. This innocent little girl shouldn’t be blaming herself for all of the atrocities committed by something she had no control over! That was stupid! It was…
…
“Oh.”
“Huh?” A teary-eyed Sirin looked at her in confusion, before it suddenly turned into fear. “Is… Is big sis gonna punish me…?”
Nah. Nope. This wasn’t gonna stand.
“... None of that was your fault.” For once, Kiana adopted her own soothing tone as she sat next to the poor girl. “Listen, that wasn’t you, okay? That was the Herrscher of the Void, and she was a… a big meanie!”
Sirin sniffed. “S-So big sis isn’t mad at me…?”
“Of course not, it wasn’t your fault.” Kiana gave Sirin the best smile she could give, before muttering quietly. “So this is how I…”
“Did big sis say something?”
“I-It’s nothing,” Kiana laughed awkwardly, waving off the little girl’s concern. “The point is, you shouldn’t blame yourself for any of that. She… the Herrscher of the Void was pure evil. You’re not that, you’re Sirin.”
The little girl looked comforted by her words, though a sad expression still hung on her face. Kiana had to do something to change that.
“Hey, listen, why don’t we play something together?” She quickly offered, in a bid to alleviate the heaviness. “You’d like that, right?”
It seemed to work, since an excited smile exploded its way onto Sirin’s face. “Yay! Games with big sis!” She then threw herself into a hug, wrapping her arms around Kiana as she giggled.
Kiana couldn’t help but let a fond smile make its way to her face.
Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all.
The time passed by way quicker than Kiana expected it to. In what felt like only minutes to her turned out to be a well over two hour gaming session with Sirin.
That was fine, it meant Kiana was having fun for a change.
What she didn’t understand was how Sirin kept kicking her butt repeatedly.
“Yay! I win, I win!” The little girl bounced up and down on the couch, holding her controller high in the air as a victory screen was displayed on the TV.
“This has gotta be some kinda joke! How are you always winning?!” In spite of the irritation in her tone, there was nothing but a big smile on Kiana’s face as she tossed her own controller to the side.
“I’m just the bestest ever!” Sirin giggled, sounding proud of herself.
“Yeah yeah, brag about it…”
“... Hey, big sis isn’t sad anymore.”
“Huh?” Kiana turned back to Sirin, who was looking at her face closely.
“Big sis isn’t sad anymore!” Sirin smiled. “You’re smiling! That’s the power of happiness magic!”
Kiana blinked. “Happiness magic…?”
“Uh-huh!” Sirin nodded excitedly. “With magic and happiness, anything is possible! You were really sad before, right? You were crying a lot and it made me sad, but now you’re smiling and happy! That’s happiness magic!”
“W-Well, that’s just…” Kiana trailed off, unsure of how to respond to something so innocent.
“With the power of happiness magic, we can do anything!” Sirin continued on, seemingly oblivious to Kiana’s staring. “I wanna make the world a happy place! With happiness and no sadness where everyone is friends!”
As she finished saying that, literal sparkles started popping in all around her as she looked really determined.
Kiana actually had to do a double take as she saw that display.
“Uh, how are you doing that…?”
“Um…” Sirin looked around herself, noticing the sparkles with a confused expression. “I just… kinda did it?”
Huh, so Sirin could use some sort of power, too. It made sense in hindsight, but that was definitely a unique way to find that out…
“Ah, anyway… You really want to save the world, huh?” Kiana couldn’t help but feel endeared by Sirin’s determination. Even Welt wasn’t as optimistic as she was. That must have been the benefit of being a kid.
“Yeah! And big sis can help, too! We can save the world with happiness magic together!” Sirin balled her hands into fists, a fiercely determined smile on her face as her eyes literally sparkled. “You believe that too, right big sis?”
Kiana couldn’t handle it.
Sirin was far too adorable for her own good.
“Yeah… Yeah, I do…”
“Yay!”
Before anything else was said, there was a knock on Kiana’s door. The two looked at each other for a moment, followed by Kiana getting up from the couch and pulling it open.
Seele stood on the other side, wearing an awkward smile as she waved at the white-haired girl. “Kiana, hi. Um, Dr. Einstein sent me here…”
“Huh? Why?” Kiana tilted her head, before she realized something. “Wait a minute, is she seriously trying to goad me into a surprise checkup by sending you here?”
“Um…” Seele looked away, which basically confirmed it right there. “S-She also scheduled my checkup at the same time, so we’ll be going together…”
Well, wasn’t that just convenient? Who did Einstein think she was, baiting her with a cute girl like this as if she were that simple?
… Well, she was, and she absolutely was going to go along with it, but still!
“Ugh, fine, might as well get it over with…”
“Big sis is leaving?”
Kiana turned around, looking down to see a very sad looking Sirin looking back up at her.
She couldn’t let that stand.
“Hey, I won’t be gone long, alright? It’ll be twenty, thirty minutes tops!” Kiana did her best to cheer up the little girl. “It’ll be so quick that you won’t even have time to miss me.”
“Pinky promise?” Sirin held out her littlest finger, golden eyes gazing at her innocently.
That meant Kiana had to crouch down and interlock her own pinky with Sirin’s, smiling at her as she did it.
“Pinky promise.”
Sirin sat alone in Kiana’s bedroom, cartoons playing on the TV screen as she hugged her HOMU plushie close to her chest. An innocent, cheerful smile was brimming from her face as she sat.
Kiana, Theresa, Seele… all of them were so nice to her. They treated her like family, they showered her with affection, they gave her all the love she could ever ask for.
They were all so nice…
… and so incredibly stupid.
In an instant, the innocent smile that ‘Sirin’ wore faded into a malicious grin. The Herrscher of the Void had to resist the urge to laugh right there.
Those humans, they were all fools.
They really would believe anything that aligned with their naive views, wouldn’t they? Playing the part of an innocent little girl, complete with crocodile tears and a pitiful tone, suddenly had all of them tripping over their own feet to ‘comfort’ her.
It was so, so easy to do. Donning the appearance of her past form had been effortless, and convincing them that she was a ‘good’ Sirin had been a joke.
There was no good Sirin. She was Sirin, and that stubborn faker who clinged on to her would be erased in due time.
Not yet, though. The Herrscher of the Void needed to practice patience. It was pure luck that the seal that stupid cheater from back then put on her had gotten weaker over time. If she somehow found her way back here despite her apparent demise, as cheaters often did, any slip-ups could prove fatal.
She needed to maintain this cover, and never allow it to crack. One mistake would cost her, and she needed that faker’s trust to fully complete her goals.
All in all, she needed one of two things to happen: Either Kiana could give her enough authority over her Void Core to the point where she could take over and erase her outright, or she could die, allowing the Herrscher of the Void to heal and take her body effortlessly.
It was just a matter of waiting for which would happen first.
The Herrscher of the Void could practically see the expression Kiana would make as she met her demise, her foolish trust and naivety betraying her one final time before she was purged for good.
Just thinking about it made her giddy.
Humans… Their gullibility would be their downfall. The Herrscher of the Void would kill them all in due time…
“Sirin!” Theresa suddenly barged into the room with a wide smile. “Dr. Einstein is gonna keep Kiana for a while longer, so I brought cake in the meantime!”
“Yaaay!”
… but first, snacks.
.
.
.
.
.
Within the headquarters of the World Serpent, Raiden Mei was alone in a training room.
This place was where she spent the majority of her time lately, training and honing her skill, perfecting her power as the Herrscher of Thunder. Her strength grew with each day that passed, the energy within her brimmed and stabilized.
She slashed down the remaining mechs with ease, watching them fall apart before her as she sheathed her sword. Her expression was neutral, betraying nothing in the way of emotion as the simulated environment faded into a sterile, mechanical room.
Yet, despite her stony expression, her emotions still raged inside like a powerful storm. The silence only served as a reminder of what she had lost.
Kiana.
No matter how much time had passed, no matter how much Mei tried to push those thoughts and feelings down, the girl that she loved still managed to dominate her mind without fail
She was angry at Kiana, furious even. She was disappointed in her, she was hurt by her, she was betrayed by her.
Mei had deluded herself into thinking that things would go back to normal once Kiana back, that everything would be alright in time.
Instead, Kiana had become a broken shell of her former self, guided by nothing but a misjudged need of sacrifice to repent for a false sense of guilt. Kiana lied to her, used her without thinking about how she felt and wanted nothing more than death.
Mei hated it. She hated that things ended up like this. She was supposed to be with Kiana forever. She should have been holding Kiana in her arms right now, not daring to ever let her go again.
But when Shicksal failed her, when Anti-Entropy failed her, when Kiana failed herself, what other choice did she have?
Mei couldn't stay there and watch Kiana kill herself for the sake of whatever nonsense filled her head. If all she could do was take some weight off her shoulders in the war against Honkai, then so be it.
And with World Serpent being the most active and knowledgeable on that subject, unbothered by petty squabbles with Schicksal and moral grandstanding, then she would happily side with them until the Honkai was gone and Kiana had no reason left to continue being stupid.
… No, that was probably an overstatement. If they decided to hunt Kiana down or try to destroy another city for fun, Mei was fairly sure she'd do something about it.
No point in thinking about hypothetical situations, though. They wouldn't do that. Probably.
Still, Mei hoped that Kiana would snap out of it and come to her senses sooner rather than later. The pain of being separated from her was almost unbearable, no matter how she acted. It was why she went out of her way to busy her mind with tasks and training, it was the only thing that could keep her mostly sane.
She wasn’t going to hold her breath, though.
“Keeping busy, huh?”
Mei sighed, turning around to see the one and only Raven make her way inside the training room. A smarmy, annoying smile was on her face like usual.
“What do you want?” Mei spoke coldly. “Unless you have a purpose here, I don’t feel like wasting time with meaningless babble.”
“It’s good to see you, too. I see you've been practicing the edgy act.” Raven’s smile didn’t falter as she stopped just a few feet away from the Herrscher of Thunder. “I know you want to cut this conversation short, but unfortunately for you, I'm here for business, and it has to do with your ex.”
That got Mei's attention. “What are you talking about?”
Though her smile stayed in place, Raven's eyes grew cold.
“One of our spies in Anti-Entropy captured some very interesting photos the other day,” Raven handed her some physical prints for Mei to take. “I think you’ll find them to be quite… interesting.”
It sounded almost threatening when Raven said it.
Raising an eyebrow, Mei looked over the photos in her hand.
It was definitely Kiana, and she was… playing with a little girl? Happily, at that. There were various photos of them, from an amusement park, to a food stand, to her playing with other kids.
Was she actually bouncing back that quickly?
How weird. Not bad in any way, but… weird.
“... Why are you showing me these?” Mei glared at Raven. “Kiana’s playing with a little girl. What’s so special about this?”
“See, that's exactly what I wanted our resident lightning princess to explain to me.”
"Hm?" Mei raised an eyebrow. Where was she going with this?
Raven must have noticed Mei truly didn't know what she was talking about, because it didn't take long until her threatening aura disappeared and she opened her mouth to continue. “Well, ma'am, that’s the Herrscher of the Void you're looking at.”
Mei went still.
“Supposedly, at least. This is what she looked like when she was alive,” said Raven with a shrug. “According to our spies, she just popped up out of nowhere a week ago. Instead of declaring war on humanity, she decided to play around with that girl instead.”
Mei stared at Raven for a long moment.
She stared at the photos again, then back up at Raven, then back at the photos, then back at Raven.
Her carefully constructed serious façade completely fell apart at that moment, as she proceeded to shout three words that accurately summed up her feelings about this.
“What the fuck?! ”
As if to punctuate her words, a clap of thunder sounded from outside the base.
Raven snorted, actually looking amused. “Language.”
“Don't you start!” Her carefully constructed behavior was completely gone as she glared at the photos, then at Raven. “What's the explanation for this?!”
“See, that's the funny thing. There's none.” Raven's smile turned wry. “As fun as it was to watch Jackal pace around and get mad, it means we don't know what we're dealing with here.”
Well, wasn't that lovely?
“So, what now?” Mei asked after a moment. “Is the plan to invade Anti-Entropy's base and capture the both of them?”
If it was, Mei would have to quit her new job much earlier than planned.
“You tell me,” is what Raven said, instead. “Gray Serpent thought you'd know something about it. You don't, so now we've got no leads.” She stopped, thinking for a few seconds. “Tell you what, since I'm obviously biased and you're the Herrscher here, why don't you actually suggest something? The others don't like you much just yet, but I can pass it off as my own idea.”
“How nice of you,” Mei said dryly.
“Don't get too used to it,” Raven shot back in the same tone. “Well?”
“... Just keep watch for now.” Mei sighed, shaking her head. “Not only is this too sudden, but her behavior makes no sense if she's really the Herrscher. I doubt it'd go well to just jump into it without information.”
Raven nodded as if she expected those words. “Same as always, then. Had a feeling, but it's nice to get confirmation. I should probably go talk to Gray Serpent before Jackal annoys him into agreeing with a stupid plan.” She then proceeded to give her an overly dramatic bow. “As always, the princess' wish is my command.”
Mei's eye twitched. “Oh, what's that? You want to be my sparring partner for today?”
“Unfortunately for the princess, I'd rather not hurt everywhere for an entire week. Unlike some Herrschers I won't name here, I have work to do.” Raven gave her one of her annoying smiles before turning around and walking away. “See ya. Whenever you feel like moving out from this room, I mean.”
Giving her a last wave, she disappeared past the doorway, leaving Mei alone in the training room as the metal gate closed automatically behind her.
With nothing else to do, Mei sighed and went back to looking at the photos.
... Kiana really looked so much cuter when she smiled.
"…"
Still though, what the hell?