Chapter 4: Storms of Nagazora

I growled lightly as kicked a zombie down, clearing the way before me while I dragged Mei along. I could hear screaming nearby, gritting my teeth as I forced myself to ignore them, instead, rushing into a classroom after slamming its door open. Breathing raggedly as my eyes caught sight of Kiana and Sirin standing in the center of the room, a little ruffled, but fine nevertheless. Their frantic eyes met my own before they settled.

"Sieghart! Mei-senpai!"

I grunted, keeping myself upright as Kiana slammed into me, yanking Mei towards the two of us and engulfing the two of us in a hug. I felt that tiredness that had been driving itself into my body earlier begin to fade as my mind allowed me to realize that despite the arguing I had overheard, the person who held me so tightly was still my little sister, someone who cared about me. I sighed ever so lightly and tiredly placed my head on Kiana's shoulder, staring off towards Sirin who watched with the barest of smiles.

'Thank you for watching her back.'

I mouthed to Sirin who shook her head in exasperation before sitting down on top of a desk. I watched her for a few moments before I felt Kiana pulling away, she stepped back a few steps before the air grew heavier. I felt the hairs on my arms stand as static washed over the area, I turned to Mei who was still standing where she had been, glaring at the ground with almost lifeless eyes that had begun to glow with a luminescent glow.

"SIEGHART!"

Auto-pilot kicked in as a hand covered in pure energy swiped towards my face, I slammed a foot into Mei's leg, watching as she sank to a knee to keep herself up as a Void Portal tore open behind me, Sirin reaching through and tossing me out onto the classroom floor behind her as she moved into a defensive position.

"What an annoyance, if you had just stayed in place, this would've been faster, Usurper."

Usurper, that was a term I hadn't had directed at me before. I filed the name away as I watched Mei grip at her own head with an audible groan as the arm covered with energy began to glow, lightning sparking off of her form, blades of pure energy flickering into existence before the room flooded with killing intent. A secondary power worked to counter the intent, Void Portals flickered to life everywhere within the room, spears hovering within them ready to be fired at a moment's notice, Sirin staring at Mei, ready to see if she took up the challenge.

"Intriguing."

I felt something well up within me as Mei turned her sights onto Sirin, the Herrscher of the Void standing at the ready to fight back against the newly formed Herrscher that at that moment, seemed to desire my head. Nevertheless, I raised myself up and stood beside Sirin, I wouldn't let her fight alone, even if she was experienced with her powers, there was no way of knowing if the person Mei had become, was weaker than Sirin.

"Get yourself together, Mei-senpai!"

Only for any sense of seriousness to fade as Kiana, who I had forgotten was in the room due to the killing intent, seemingly appeared out of nowhere and swung a chair into the new Herrschers back, sending Mei sprawling across the ground with a yelp as the feeling of the Herrschers power faded from Mei who slid past Sirin and I, just laying where she landed with a groan.

"I'm sorry..."

I rubbed my eyes tiredly as Mei stared at the ground in front of us. We had moved to the roof, the one place that had been somewhat safe within the Zombie-infested school. After the sudden wake-up call that Kiana had given Mei, the girl had become miserable, unable to look me in the eye as she made herself as small as she could.

"I... This is my fault, all of this, I'm sorry."

I looked to the clouds above which had thundered with no rain, purple and pink bolts of lightning flickering above us as I stared. Even with my minuscule ability to sense Honkai energy at a long distance, I could feel it all, the Honkai energy flooding the clouds. My attention slipped to Kiana who was watching Mei, struggling to choose the words she wished to speak as she muttered to herself.

"Get over it."

I side-eyed Sirin who had been silent the entire time, her blue eyes burning a violent gold as she stared at Mei in annoyance. Small echoes of the past burst to life in my mind, memories of Sirin's first awakening and how much she had learned to control herself over the years. She was possibly the only one among us that could understand and possibly reason with Mei.

"This wasn't you, this was the fault of someone else. Hell, it's more of this idiot's fault than your own."

I flinched as Sirin pointed towards me and Mei looked at me in confusion. I felt my shoulders slump as I looked down and sighed.

"Sirin is right. For the last week, I've been going through factories and shutting down Honkai Reactors. I... Missed some due to not asking for help, if I had done that, if I were faster, this wouldn't have happened."

I felt my healed wounds ache as I scratched the back of my head. Truthfully, I would've asked Kiana, Sirin, and even Tesla for help, but something was stopping me, not just the lack of memories regarding the escapades I had injured, but the fact that I had been lying about it meant something needed to be hidden, but I just couldn't figure out what.

"Mei, this wasn't you. You can't blame yourself for this."

Kiana finally spoke as she moved towards Mei, her normally energy-filled voice lacking its spark as she reached out, visibly saddening as Mei backed away from her, fear flickering in the new Herrschers eyes as a single spark reached out towards Kiana. I watched the two with a gentle gaze as Kiana continued to advance before catching Mei in a hug.

"I... I can't... Please..."

A crack of thunder struck the roof, Kiana and Mei jumping in fright as the sound tore through the area, Kiana letting her grip loosen around Mei and Mei jumping backward, her legs clipping the side of the building before she tumbled over the railing with a cry.

Time seemed to slow around us all as Kiana shot forward and grasped Mei's hand while she fell, I watched, unable to process as her legs lost their grip and she went over as well, Sirin following after to catch Kiana before she fell as well, momentum pulling her over the edge.

I could hear my heart beating in my chest, adrenaline flooding my body as I moved. Cement shattering beneath me as I caught the back of Sirin's uniform in a tight grip, my body bent over the edge awkwardly as I held all three of them up. It was odd, I couldn't even feel their weight as I stared down at them.

"CLIMB!"

All four of us were scattered across the roof, breathing harshly as we just lay in our spots. I couldn't focus, worriedly glancing at everyone despite how sore my body felt after holding up three people, my healed wounds feeling agitated as I lay in place. I knew that Sirin could portal them away from the fall, but the thought of them hitting the ground below was nauseating. I heard a gentle intake of air, turning to see Mei about to talk.

"If you say sorry, I will not hesitate to smack the hell out of you Mei."

The hiss that slipped through Sirin's teeth as she glared from where she lay caused Mei to shut her mouth in an instant. I couldn't stop the light chuckle that slipped out as I stared at the sky and smiled.

"Accidents happen, Mei, it's not always your fault when something unfortunate occurs. You aren't some bad luck charm. Not for your father, not for us."

I spoke softly, glancing towards Mei who nodded weakly and turned her head away, I could see the soft shakes that racked her body. I wanted to say more, but it wasn't needed, not when I could see Kiana scoot closer to Mei and hug her from behind, whispering into her friend's ear as she held her.

"Mei-senpai is Mei-senpai. It doesn't matter what happens, we will make sure you always snap back to reality, no matter how hard we have to hit you."

The almost sing-song tone of voice did little to mask the obvious threat hidden behind Kiana's words as she pulled out a handkerchief and placed it into Mei's hand as she pulled away. The girl in question took a few moments to wipe her tears as she sat up, looking towards us with the smile that we had remembered. The one she showed us whenever we hung out.

"We need weapons."

A silence took over the roof as my words slipped out. Three heads turned to me and I stared back, my words weren't incorrect, facing the Zombies would be suicide without something to beat them back with, especially since we had no idea how many people within Nagazora were infected. Something led my gaze to Mei who had suddenly become far more attentive, her hand clutching her chin in thought before she stood up abruptly.

"Father had a small research lab in the school. It was mostly used to keep Research and Development stuff that he didn't want out in the world. We might be able to find something there."

I watched as Kiana stood up, her eyes shining excitedly as she moved to pull Sirin and me up from where we lay one by one. In an instant, she was at Mei's side with a familiar determination.

"Let's go, we have some weapons to snatch!"

"No! No! No! This can't be happening."

I winced as Mei inserted another password into the panel she had led us to, it was odd hearing her growl as she failed to input the right code again.

Password Incorrect, One Last Attempt Until Lockdown.

Thunder rumbled above as the girl heaved, her body shaking in anger as light sparks flew off of her body, Sirin stiffened at my side before I reached out and laid a hand on Mei's shoulder, startling her out of it as I spoke to her.

"Mei. You've tried everything but the one thing that is most obvious."

She turned her head and stared at me confused, I remembered every moment Mei told us about her father, how despite being absent due to work, he showed her every bit of love a parent could give. How he'd smile from her doing the simplest things, solely because he was allowed the chance to see it. My grip on her shoulder was gentle as I smiled.

"Mei. The day you were born was the happiest day of your father's life. What other password would he need?"

The girl's eyes widened before she spun and began typing. Four, One, Three, One, Nine, Nine, and Seven were all inputted at a rapid pace, a sound of affirmation ringing out as the sealed doors hissed, sliding open before us. Mei watched it with a soft gaze before she shook her head and led us inside. The place looked like shit, everything was scattered due to the pulse that engulfed the city.

I flicked a light switch as the door closed behind us, allowing the artificial lights to flicker on and make everything completely visible. No words were exchanged as everyone split off to find working equipment.

"Found one!"

Kiana's shout of triumph was answered with looks of interest as she came running from a corridor to the left holding a lance, the black handle reflecting light as the white and green of the lance itself glowed with energy. She shook a note in her hands, obviously containing information on the odd lance.

"It's called a Plasma Lance! I think it's made by the people Tessy works with."

Anti-Entropy? Why would Anti-Entropy equipment be within Raiden Ryoma's lab? I stared at the lance as Sirin walked back twirling two pistols in her hands. It looked somewhat like the pistols that Siegfried had us training with, except there were blue lights glowing on its sides. A belt attached at her sides held the magazines she'd need to operate the pistols, I watched as she holstered the pistols and smirked.

"USP EX, didn't expect special forces equipment to be here, but it's better than getting some useless pistols that won't do anything to those freaks."

I nodded resolutely as Mei entered, stunning silver and blue glowing Katana held gently in her hands, a sad look had taken over her face as she silently walked to a seat and sat down, just staring at the Katana in question. A crumpled note fell from her pocket. I made to speak only for Mei to shake her head and find her voice.

"Dad... Created this to help me, apparently, I awoke when I was a child and this, was created to channel my power should I ever awake again. Pulse Katana Type-17, my father's gift to me..."

I said nothing, merely turning away as the girl let out a choked sob. It wasn't even midday and yet, it had already been a long day for everyone. I could tell that with a single glance as I moved past everyone and picked up a set of gauntlets. Red casing with neon blue lights shone outwards as I slipped them on, they were heavy yet light at the same time. I grabbed the information note and read it carefully, it was another item made either for Mei or to take down Mei, being capable of dealing with multiple forms of shocks, be it physical or elemental.

I tore the note apart and made my way back over to everyone, spotting Kiana move away from Mei while Sirin stood behind her with a hand on her shoulder.

"I know. I have to survive. Dad... would want me to."

I saw a spark in Mei's eyes that caused my worry to settle down, she wanted to live, she needed to. That was ultimately enough for me as I came to a stop not too far away from the three.

"Stellar Swirl, it was another piece for your set Mei, but I've seen you fight, you're a swordswoman, not a bruiser, and since there are no weapons that match me. This will do."

Mei nodded at my words and stared at the gauntlets that glowed brighter as I clenched my fists. We had found equipment, the longer we waited in the school, the higher the chance that we would be found. We needed to move, a thought I relayed to the others as we all moved to quickly secure whatever food we could from the canteen before bolting as far as we could from the school.

I could feel my insides churn as we made our way further from the school. A sense of wrongness in the air, not just from how quiet it had become, but because a heavy fog had settled in. It wasn't natural either, it was dense, filled with Honkai Energy just as the clouds above had been. The distant sounds of movement didn't help either, some of which were too heavy to be any kind of human.

The main street leading further into Nagazora opened up, the sounds of fighting echoing out as I turned to the others before rushing forward, a horde of dead Zombies surrounded the winded form of a masked girl, a Valkyrie if her equipment was any sign. A way out of Nagazora, I began to speed up as she turned to us.

I barely saw it, the shadow within the fog. But the chilling feeling that spread throughout my body caused me to slam into a stop and spread out my arms, stopping the girls behind me in their tracks as I stared.

"RUN!"

The scream from the masked girl was all we heard as a Honkai Lance tore through her stomach and she was pulled into the fog, any noise was cut off as an audible crunch from bones being crushed filled the air, the thick fog doing little to hide the body of the unknown Valkyrie as it was thrown towards us, I caught it, crouching as I held the dying girl gently, frantically looking for a way to help as she wheezed weekly in my arms and died.

Something tried to push itself to the surface, an ugly feeling I had never felt before, my eyes going to the shadow in the fog that glowed with a familiar pink glow. I gnashed my teeth and dropped the corpse, swiping the dog tags around her neck before heeding her warning and grabbing Kiana and Sirin, running into an alleyway along with Mei, the last noises I could hear from the streets behind us were the unholy roars of the Honkai Beast that had been stalking through the fog.

I sat against the wall that night, keeping watch over everyone while staring down at the Dog Tags I had taken from the dead Valkyrie. I had wiped off the blood, carefully cleaned them as I came to know the name of the person who had inadvertently saved my life through her warning.

"Frida Tempest, an A-Rank Valkyrie. Why were you in Nagazora of all places?"

I sighed and raised the tags up, slipping them over my head and allowing them to hang around my neck, I stared past the overarching rooftops at the completely black sky, no stars would shine through, the storms above and the dense fog wouldn't allow anyone to ever have hope that the sky was still bright. My gauntleted finger brushed over the dog tags, my mind is made and my eyes hardened as I glared out into the empty sky.

"I won't let anyone die. Thank you, Frida."

The Peace that followed for the night seemed to be the sole blessing that had would gain.

That was of course if you ignored the distant cries.

The screams for help from the few who survived.

Sleep would not come for me that night.

I merely kept watching over the others.

AN: Day one of the Nagazora Eruption has begun.

Part of me is wondering if I should add a question answering section to this whenever I write, but I've always felt that those are solely used to pad the word count and I don't want to do that. What do you guys/gals think?