A.N. Wow these chapters have gotten longer. I remember most of them use to be below 4 000 words, but now it seems I'm hitting over 5k regularly. Nice.
I know it's late but I've also made a discord for this story. So if anyone's interested in it here's the invite code. XQk3ZJbgYH
If you enjoy the story please leave some nice reviews, follows and favs, but for now...enjoy.
"How are you feeling?"
Kurikara looked down at its Mistress who awaited her response. The dragoness stretched her wings out, spreading them, as she stood up on her hind legs. She wanted to roar in triumph at regaining her body but knew well her Mistress would rather she didn't, less she accidentally incite a panic.
"I feel as good as new, Mistress." The dragoness answered through her thoughts. The power of lightning surged within her body once more. No longer was she confined to the diminutive form of a fish.
"It seems I underestimated the difficulty of transforming, nevertheless, it looks like I was able to reverse the process at least." Mei mused. She would need to ask Sirin and Bella how they were able to perfect such a technique.
"Do not be discouraged Mistress, I'm sure you will be able to transform me in time. If the Void Herrschers can do it, then so can you." Kurikara assured.
"Oh, but Kurikara, Void Herrschers are a different breed altogether. We are superior to all the others." Void laughed as she appeared. "It is difficult for any others, let alone a Herrscher of Thunder to replicate our power."
"Watch your tongue, Void user, I shall not tolerate such insolence against my Mistress." Kurikara snapped.
"I speak only the truth Kurikara," Void defended.
"I never said you lied. I just said you were insolent."
"So, you admit Voids are superior to Thunders."
"Uhh…" Kurikara froze. She cast a sideways glance at her Mistress, half expecting her to look angry, instead, she was thankful to find one of calmness.
"In this particular case, she is not wrong in being superior," Thunder admitted. "I know my abilities and transmutation is not one of them."
"Well, at least you admit it." Void answered before summoning her flame core in her palm. The core then went flying into Kurikara's chest before engulfing her body in flames.
"What are you doing?" Thunder pointed her sword at the Void Herrscher. To her surprise, the rival Herrscher didn't even summon or draw a weapon. Instead, Void held her hands up in surrender, something Thunder rarely saw, if ever.
"Helping." Void smirked. She gestured to the dragoness behind them who wasn't reacting like one would expect when someone who was set on fire would react. There was no scream or cry of anguish. Even more so, Thunder didn't even smell the scent of burning flesh.
The two watched as the flame that circled the dragon began to shrink and with it so too did Kurikara. Thunder could make out only the faintest silhouette of her dragon within the fire. However soon Kurikara's figure began to change in the flames. Her wings began to retract, the membrane on them disappearing, leaving behind only the bones that shrank and warped.
It took Thunder a few moments to realize what Void had done. She turned back to the Herrscher in disbelief, but Void paid her no mind instead focusing on the transforming dragoness. When the fire finally subsided, what remained no longer bore resemblance to the once-mighty Kurikara, instead of the large dragon, there now stood a teenage-looking girl.
She was the twin of Bella, only instead of blue eyes with white hair, the girl before them had red eyes and black hair. The girl looked at her body in confusion and wonder as she stared at her now human-like hands before glancing at the rest of her body. "Kurikara," Thunder called out softly. The girl looked up at her.
"Yes, Mistress." She answered with her new voice. It was soft and meek.
"You look…human." Thunder commented as she made a mirror of ice and held out for the humanoid Honkai beast before her. Kurikara took the mirror carefully into her new hands and began to examine her new reflection.
"Is this me?" She questioned.
"Yes, yes it is." Void answered. "Why don't you go and find Bella and have her help you get acquainted with your new form?" Void instructed.
"I don't take orders from you." Kurikara snarled.
"Do as she says, Kurikara," Thunder added. The dragoness gave her a pout with her new face. Mei would admit it felt weird seeing her dragon emote like this. She looked cute, but now was not the time to gush. "Void and I will join you later."
"Fine," Kurikara answered. She tried to jump and flap her arms only to find herself almost falling. Luckily Mei was able to catch her with one of her armored gauntlets.
"You might want to try using those legs and walking." Mei chuckled a little. Kurikara blushed in embarrassment, her cheeks looking as red as her armor. Nevertheless, she thanked her Mistress before carefully walking away.
Void waited before she was out of earshot before making a rather snide comment. "Even having used Bella's body as a base, it seems she has been dumbed down, Thunder." Void teased.
"Kurikara is a new consciousness placed within a reshaped body. Would it not be natural that she is not accustomed to her new form? Besides, if I recall you gave Bella her form on the moon, so in a sense, she had training wheels, right?" Thunder countered.
"Okay, you got me there." Void admitted. Bella spent most of her time flying and hovering in space. The fact she was a quadruped dragon instead of a bipedal also helped. For Bella her wings had always been extra limbs, so the concept of arms came easy, but for Kurikara her wings were also her forearms.
"Something tells me you aren't here to talk more about dragon biology though." Thunder mused. "I'm still waiting to hear what your reason is for helping grant Kurikara a human form, especially one that seemed to take the flame core from you." Thunder eyed her carefully.
"Eh, I'm not giving away the core permanently. The moment Welt's up and about I'll borrow his core of Reason and make a replica for Kurikara to use. This is just to get her accustomed to a human form and save her whatever humiliation she might face with your 'experimenting'." Void defended. It physically hurt the Void Herrscher to see her once proud stead get reduced to being an overgrown fish. It wasn't even a menacing fish like a Megalodon shark, it was a freaking Tuna.
"As much as you care for Kurikara, I'm positive you'd have let me embarrass myself more before even considering helping. So just be honest and tell me why you actually helped. I'd beat the answer out of you but I'm still exhausted from our last bout."
"Huh, alright then." Void huffed. "Don't let it go to your head but consider it a thank you present." She admitted. "I really needed that fight earlier. Even though things worked out with Sirin I was still kind of tense, so thanks for helping me relieve that." Void admitted. Sure, she teased Thunder about being a siscon and Void would most likely not stop teasing her, but she knew Thunder was still more dignified and respectable than that.
"I am questioning if I should accept your gratitude considering you tried to cave my face in a few moments earlier, and I rather not have you think I'm a masochist like yourself." Thunder mused.
"I am not a masochist."
"Keep telling yourself that Queenie." Thunder laughed. "But in all seriousness, I had a feeling you were still tensed up, admittedly so was I. Though I trust everything went well after I left."
"Well." Void trailed off before explaining what happened after.
"Oh, so you lied to them and Siggy almost Beast Out." Thunder deadpanned. "Of course, you'd sabotage yourself like that. Wait, why am I even surprised you would do that?"
"Okay, I get it."
"I hope you do," Thunder told her. The Herrscher of Thunder then paused as she thought about something. "So, this was just a thank you gift for the fight?"
"Eh, it's a little more than just from the fight. Look I'm not going to pry, but I doubt you were trying to make a human form for Kurikara for giggles. You're planning something and while I rather not involve myself, you did help me out with all this. So, it's only fair I help you out with whatever it is you're doing."
"I see." Thunder mused. "So, you wanted to help me to ensure you weren't indebted. Good to know, but why use your core? Surely you could have just told me how and let me use one of my own?" Thunder questioned.
"This is why I hate helping you. You're always analyzing every single thing I do." Void groaned. "I lent you the core because I don't need it to kick your arse. I am very well capable of thrashing you without it. Now if you gave up one of yours, then I might accidentally kill you next time we spared." Void reasoned.
There was also the fact that Thunder's four cores were problematic to separate. Her main one, the Gem of Conquest is literally the root of her being so it couldn't be removed. The Core of Sentience had Senti; that alone made it a risk as the chances of her taking over Kurikara was high. Lastly, while Void wasn't a sappy girl, it felt wrong to separate the Cores of Ice and Earth, Ana and Owl deserved to stay together after what they had been through.
With Void's cores, it had been easier to choose. The Core of the Void was obviously out as was the Core of Domination. The Gem of Desire had Wendy so it too proposed a similar problem to Senti. The Gem of Serenity was too valuable to give up right now. That left the flame core, the Gem of Haste to be used. It was an easy decision and if she knew Thunder well enough then Kurikara having some minor traits from Himeko might work in her favor.
As long as Kurikara didn't turn into an alcoholic, or somehow wind up in their bed drunk somehow. On second thought maybe this was a bad idea. Oh well, it was Mei-Senpai's problem now.
"I didn't say that last part out loud right?" Void quickly caught herself.
"Anyhow. Bella was granted her human form with the Gem of Conquest. Since you're busy using that now I figured it would be fair for me to grant Kurikara her human form with my own Gem of Haste. It kind of balances things out." Void quickly said.
"Well, I guess that makes sense. Somehow." Thunder answered.
"Good, now that we cleared that up. What are you making for dinner?" Void questioned.
"Sticky Honey Roast and a few other dishes."
"Nice." Void answered. "Want some help?"
Thunder gave a deadpanned look. "Seriously."
"Yes."
"Alright then…just don't destroy the kitchen."
Void didn't answer.
After Void had left, there had been an awkward silence in the room as the occupants tried to make sense of what had been said. Siegfied had excused himself, deciding to go outside for some air and to clear his head. Cecilia followed her husband shortly after to make sure everything was okay, leaving Kiana with her newly expanded family for the time being. Einstein and Tesla had also left to evaluate their next possible moves.
With that, all that was left was Teri and her nieces; one adorable little baby girl, an adopted Herrscher that once tried to commit genocide, and an emperor-class Honkai beast. "So…did you all understand Void's explanation? As a fellow uh clone, I have some ideas of my own if anyone wants to share."
"Void is confusing." Kiana deadpanned. "Am I her momma, or not? I want to make her eat vegetables."
"Now that's just plain evil," Teri gaped at her niece. She'd blame Siegfied if possible, but Teri knew it would have been Cecilia who would commit such a treacherous act against humanity. "Besides…let's just forget about those details. Void is family and that's what's important. Right?" She turned to the other two.
"Yes….Aunt…Teri is correct." Sirin stuttered. She felt a little uncomfortable addressing someone who looked as young as herself as Aunt but compared to the weirdness of her sister/daughter/other self, it was still less questionable and less migraine-inducing.
Eventually, the group finally convinced Kiana to drop her sinister plan. The tension in the air between Teri and the other two had been diffused somewhat but things were still far from perfect among them.
"My Lady," Bella whispered to Sirin cautiously. The Herrscher glanced at her steed whose eyes were focused on the ground. "May request that we speak outside for a moment." Bella requested softly.
Sirin tensed up. She had her suspicions about what they might be talking about, but she wasn't quite sure she was ready for it. Yet the Herrscher knew that deep down she wanted, no she needed to address this matter. The two informed Theresea that they would be right outside the room if they were needed, and left.
Once outside, Sirin didn't even get a chance before Bella moved. The dragoness immediately threw herself on the ground before her master. "I'm sorry for my weakness, had I been stronger I could have been more useful to you." Bella pleaded.
"I am not worthy to be your stead." Bella cried.
Even if Void had chosen to forgive her, she still didn't feel like she deserved it. Surely Sirin would think otherwise and punish her incompetence. She was by all means more Sirin's stead rather Void's after all. Why else would Sirin have tried to kill her before?
"Please while you have the chance, please punish me as you see fit." She begged Sirin.
"Bella," Sirin muttered to herself as she watched her servant…no, her friend trembling before her. Bella had her face practically planted on the floor. Before Sirin might have been amused at the sight, but now, she felt appalled by it, even more so that it was Bella. "I have no intentions of punishing you," Sirin whispered to her dragon slowly.
Bella lifted her head to glance at Sirin. The young Herrscher frowned as she saw the tears streaking down the dragoness's face. Sirin kneeled next to Bella as they faced each other. "Master?" Bella muttered in confusion.
"You don't need to apologize to me for anything Bella. You did your best at the time. You fought till your core was destroyed. Why should I be mad at you for that?" Sirin tried to comfort.
"But Master, I was weak, I couldn't help you at the time." The Honkai Beast sniffled. She had the faintest sense of déjà vu here.
"If that's the case, Bella…" Sirin trailed off as she moved back, and then kneeled before Bella. "Then I too should be begging for your forgiveness." Sirin spoke.
"Master please." Bella pleaded. "Don't demean yourself like that." Bella was the servant and Sirin was the master. That was the way it went. Bella served Sirin, not the other way around. Bella messed up, Bella made mistakes, not Sirin.
"Why shouldn't I Bella? I was too weak to do many things. I couldn't save my friends. I couldn't save you. I couldn't even save myself when the time came." Sirin responded. Her…successor had to time travel to stop her death. Her death had been assured before those two made it null and void.
"Master I'm your serv-"
"Don't you dare!" Sirin stopped her. "Don't you dare say you're just my servant Bella! You're much more than that to me. You're my friend." Sirin told her. "And I'm sorry I never treated you as such before." Sirin apologized.
"But Master…"
"No buts, I almost lost you once," Sirin admitted. "The only reason I even attacked earlier was due to me thinking it was all a dream. I thought you being alive was something only possible in a dream because it was too good for me." Sirin admitted.
"So please…don't say anything about punishing you," Sirin begged. "You already almost died serving me. That's enough punishment." Sirin told her.
"Okay, Master," Bella answered simply. She had thought it was just the older Void Herrscher, but Bella was wrong. Both of them cared for her. She didn't know why, but…it wasn't something she disliked, strange as it might have seemed. "No, punishment.
Sirin smiled before hugging the dragoness, startling her once more. Bella was unsure what to do but decided it would be better to return it. From what she could recall, humans gave hugs to show they cared for something or someone and Bella did care for Sirin.
Their tender moment didn't last long though as a sudden spike in energy alerted them to another presence. Sirin quickly broke the hug before moving Bella behind her protectively. Despite her protests, Bella returned to her Queen's side ready to fight.
As the figure approached them, Sirin sensed her sister's flame core in front of them. Yet much to their surprise, it wasn't Void, rather it was a girl similar to Bella. The girl was walking strangely, always keeping close to the wall to balance herself. It was as if she had never used her legs before.
"Who's there?" Sirin questioned. The girl looked up at them with her red eyes. She took the time to stand proper, clearly wanting to make herself seem more presentable, an idea that would have worked had they not seen her before.
"I am the servant of the Herrscher of Thunder, Kurikara." The girl announced proudly. "The Herrscher of the Void and my master sent me to seek you," Kurikara explained.
"Huh," Bella and Sirin blinked.
Siegfied felt off. His emotions felt wilder than before. His thoughts flew all over the place as he tried to comprehend and process everything he was told. What he needed right now was a place to blow off some steam. Fortunately, he found one of the training grounds on the base. He mangled his way through the controls before setting them on max and then proceeded to run the course.
He abstained from using his own weapons, utilizing some of AE's firearms instead as he tried to work things out. As much as he loved Shamash, there was a high chance he might accidentally blow something up if he wasn't careful. The course generated various simulated Honkai beasts before him and Siegfied wasted no time as he started to bash them down.
He didn't know how many he fought but eventually, the Kaslana patriarch had cleared the course and with a record time if the clock was any indication. He may have felt satisfied any other time but not now. He was still raring to go again. It was far easier to deal with something he could physically beat than to handle everything else.
"You should take a break." A familiar soft voice addressed.
Siegfied didn't acknowledge his wife or rather, he didn't want to face her right now. He didn't feel he could. It was practically spelled out in front of them that he had failed her. First, he lost Kiana, and then he couldn't save her.
He was about to restart the machine when a lance impaled the console beside him, shorting the device. The owner removed the lance before holding it beside her. "I said it's time for a break." Cecilia doubled down.
"I'm not in the mood." He whispered as he walked beside her. He suspected the base would have another one, so he would need to search for it. As he headed out the door he could sense a shift behind him. The moment he turned to dodge his face was met with the small but hard fist of his equally slim but dangerous wife.
Siegfied found himself flying out the console room and back into the area as his wife walked in. She was poised with her lance in hand once more as she turned to face him. Siegfied looked up only to see her throw the Judgement of Shamash in front of him.
"If you're going to vent your frustrations, it might be better to hit something that can hit back," Cecilia told him with a sigh as she gestured to the guns. "Those simulations won't do much, believe me, I know."
"I'm not going to fight you, Cecilia," Siegfied told her. The last thing he wanted was to engage in a fight with his wife. The same wife who he would have lost if he wasn't so weak.
"Well, I'm not going to give you a choice." Cecilia told him. Siegfied huffed as he put the guns together and formed Shamash's Greatsword form. His wife was stubborn and at this point so was he. It would be pointless for the two of them to argue with words now.
The two eyed each other with the weapons ready like they had done so many times before. Without needing any outside cue, both of them engaged. The Abyss Flower and Shamash collided, sending sparks flying as the two engaged. Even if it was a spar, the power of the two combatants was still above most humans.
Siegfied's attacks were strong and heavy. His raw power and strength always kept Cecilia on her toes. Even when Cecilia managed to find openings, Shamash's bulk allowed Siegfied to defend himself.
Cecilia meanwhile struck with lighter but faster attacks. Her agility and finesse allowed her to dodge and evade every hit. She was able to keep ahead, dodging and dancing around her beloved. She could tell from a glance he wasn't giving it his all.
"It's not your fault," Cecilia muttered as she lunged. "It was beyond your control."
"I should have done more," Siegfied answered as he turned the blunt side of Shamash and brace the strike. The force still sent him back, but he remained standing. "Maybe then I wouldn't have lost her." He retorted he tried to strike once more.
Cecilia stopped the strike with her own lance, holding them both in place. "But you didn't lose her, not in this life," Cecilia added. "You don't need to hold his guilt." She pushed him back before following up with a roundhouse kick.
"I do," Seigfied growled and dashed forward before flinging Shamash forward. Cecilia on instinct moved out of harm's way and right into Siegfied's path. She was stunned when he tackled her…and then started tickling her sides.
"Stop," Cecilia laughed as she dropped the lance. Siegfied did as she asked but in return, he managed to take her lance and threw it beside Shamash. Cecilia was quick to recover and the two once again faced off. "That was a dirty trick." She pouted.
"Hey…I can't use it against simulations, only against those that can return the favor." Siegfied tried to force a laugh, but it came off stifled and fake. Cecilia frowned; she knew her husband. He loved to joke and avoid the topics and for the most part, it worked on others.
"Siggy, this isn't something you need to burden yourself with." She scowled as she threw several jabs at him, opting to avoid using any weapons now.
"Regardless of the timelines," Siegfied noted as he blocked his wife's hit. He timed it just right and caught one of her jabs before gripping her arm and putting her in a lock. "I still failed as a father and a husband." He whispered.
The moment she heard the words, something snapped. "AND YOU THINK I DIDN'T!" Cecilia growled as she maneuvered herself free. She quickly turned the tables on Siegfied and sent him down to the ground on his knees.
"I lost her Cecilia," Siegfied answered as she pushed himself back up. He had lost their daughter because of his own incompetence.
"You were still there." Cecilia cried as she pushed him back down but due to how they were holding onto each other, it resulted in them both losing their balance and toppling over.
Siegfied soon found himself face to face with his wife, with tears threatening to escape her eyes. "You were still there…for both of them." She whispered.
"Cecilia I didn't mean it like that." Siegfied tried to console, the sparring match was all but forgotten. He didn't want to imply this to his wife.
"No, but it's the truth." Cecilia pointed out. "Your other self may have failed, but he was still there for them. But I wasn't, I was dead." She reasoned.
"You had no control of that," Siegfied argued.
"And you had control of yours?" Cecilia retorted.
Siegfied sighed in defeat. His wife had a point. In all honesty, he should have counted himself lucky that he married such an understanding woman. Cecilia likewise felt a small bit of comfort seeing her husband's dedication, even if he did make some boneheaded conclusions from it.
"Have I ever told you how cute you look when you're dripping with sweat?" Siegfied questioned. Cecilia's face immediately turned red like a tomato. She briefly considered slapping her husband before she composed herself with a plan of retaliation.
"Not as cute as you when you're under me." She whispered in a sultry tone in his ear. She saw his expression flash from his confident grin to his own blushing mess. Admittedly she was also feeling nervous after that delivery, but she was focusing on his reaction to even pay attention to her own.
"Okay…is it getting hot here?" Siegfied squirmed as he tried to move.
"You can dish out, but you can't take it. You disappoint me, father." A voice chuckled. Siegfied and Cecilia looked up to see Void and Thunder standing at the entrance. They hastily scrambled to fix themselves after the brawl.
"How long have you two been standing there?" Cecilia asked in embarrassment. Please to whatever God was listening, don't tell her they saw and heard them.
"Long enough." Thunder mused. They had been walking by on the way to meet up with the others when they heard a ruckus. The two had stopped by to see if it was an intruder or something but thankfully it was only those two. "I'm starting to see where all your habits come from." Thunder chided.
"Which ones?"
"Well, the obvious one is your desire to fight instead of facing your issues," Thunder noted. "But my version of Kiana was just like that, a flirt who couldn't take what they dished out." She smiled sombrely.
"I'm glad I grew out of it." Void rolled her eyes.
"You didn't grow out of being a bottom." Thunder mused.
"WHAT!" Void shrieked. "You take that back Thunder."
"Never. You remember what happened in the Elysian Realm." Thunder chided. "Or should we contact Miss Pink Elf for a refresher?" She smirked.
"What happened in the Elysian realm? And more importantly, what is the Elysian Realm?" Siegfied questioned, hoping they could divert this embarrassment from themselves to their time-traveling daughter. Eh, maybe they should drop the idea of addressing her like that. Even if she was technically their daughter, she was almost their age. It would probably be better to address her as a niece or something to avoid any further questions.
"Nothing anyone should know about." Void corrected. Whatever happened in the Realm, stays in the Realm. "Or would you rather I explain why you should never have alcohol."
"You make a good point." Thunder suddenly agreed. "Nothing happened there, and we saw nothing happen here. Do we all agree?"
Cecilia and Siegfied stared at each other in confusion. They wondered if they should question what happened but decided after all their experiences with the two, they decided against it. They just nodded in agreement with the two.
The mysterious past of the Herrschers was soon forgotten though as something else caught their attention. Behind the Herrschers was another cart with some delicious smelling food. "Is that dinner?" Siegfied questioned as his stomach rumbled; their sparring match had worked up quite an appetite for the two.
"Yup." Thunder said proudly. "Sticky Honest Roast is the main dish but I made a few other things." She told them. "You can enjoy it when we meet up with everyone else."
"I helped Thunder cook some of them." Void said proudly. She couldn't let Thunder take all the credit for giving them a good meal.
"You blew up the kitchen."
"Only once…that's a new record." Void announced. The two humans began to sweat again. It was silently agreed to never Void in the kitchen without a fire extinguisher, not unless she made Pizza toast and was supervised.
"So let me get this straight. You're Mei's dragon." Teri recounted as she stared at Kurikara. It was a little uncomfortable how the two dragons looked identical in human form. Perhaps it wasn't because of the appearance, but due to how the Honkai Beasts could transform so convincingly. Even if the human forms were imperfect, they still showed the potential of the Honkai, both in infiltration and intelligence with these forms.
Even with her line of work being to destroy monsters on a regular basis. It felt unnerving to Teri that she could live in a world where said Monsters could look very much like the people she saw every day. She knew Bella and Kurikara were the servants of Sirin, Void, and Thunder but the idea that any other Herrscher afterward could do this. That was frightening to think about.
"I prefer the steed of the Herrscher of Thunder, but yes." Kurikara answered. Bella and Sirin had returned with the new dragoness in tow. They figured it would have been good to learn more about her, while they waited for the other two.
"So…am I getting another sister?" Kiana asked innocently.
Teri rubbed her temples. She really hoped her niece hadn't become so used to this weirdness that she now saw every Herrscher and Honkai Beast as potential siblings. The situation was strange but this was a major outlier. Any other time Herrschers and Honkai Beasts would be out to kill them instead of becoming family.
"No Kiana. I am not going to be your sister." Kurikara answered. Kiana pouted and gave Kurikara a puppy dog look but the dragoness was unaffected. Eventually the toddler gave up in frustration.
"Fine. Bella is better anyway." Kiana grumbled when she realized the red dragoness wasn't bending to her will.
"You're welcome to have your own opinion," Kurikara answered. It didn't matter what Kiana or the others thought. Kurikara was only concerned with Mei's opinions of her.
"I'm still confused about why you look like Bella." Sirin interrupted. Kurikara had told them that Void granted her a human form. That was fine, but the Herrscher couldn't help but feel a little jealous that Void gave away Bella's form to some random Honkai Beast. Even if it was Thunder's dragon surely she could have been more original with the human form.
"Um…Master," Bella called out. She had a good idea why the form looked similar and while she came to terms with the reason, Sirin might not. "Let's not…"
"My body looks like Bella's because it is Bella's." Kurikara deadpanned.
"Wait…wha?" Sirin stammered.
Kurikara then went on to give them a shortened version of her birth. To say the group was surprised would be an understatement. The concept alone was kind of creepy when one put more thought into it.
"So…you're a zombie, like the undead kind," Teri said as she warily pulled Kiana behind her. Honkai zombies were humans who were corrupted by Honkai but Kurikara was practically a reanimated corpse. She was a Bella who died and came back with another mind controlling the body.
"I am not a zombie," Kurikara answered. "I'm…more…Bella recycled." She tried to explain.
"That doesn't make it better," Sirin responded. She was currently holding on to her own Bella now, perhaps a little too tightly but the dragoness would dare not complain. "I can't believe Thunder did this."
"My creation was an accident, but I don't regret being alive." Kurikara cut off. "Even then, it wasn't the Herrscher of Thunder that killed me, it was the Herrscher of Domination, so if you want to be angry at someone, go with her."
"I'll keep that in mind," Sirin growled. She recalled how Void had the core of Domination so there was a high chance Void already avenged Bella. That didn't stop Sirin from wanting her own payback. If the Herrscher of Domination awoke in this timeline then Sirin hoped she would be the one to end them.
"That being said, I did punish Thunder as well." Void added. Everyone turned to see Void, Thunder, Siegfied, Cecilia, and the scientists returning along with what they assumed was dinner. "Oh, believe me, I punished Thunder big time."
"My ears are still ringing from that," Thunder noted. Kurikara's birth and Bella's demise really weren't fond memories but they weren't things that could be ignored. "I did get what I deserve, but if you want to vent then I have no qualms with that." Mei told her. Sirin cared for Bella much in the same way Mei cared for Kiana, so perhaps they could ease each other's grief.
"I…" Sirin started. She was going to take up Thunder on her offer, but the fight from before was still fresh in her mind. Thunder was stronger than her no doubt, but she was also remorseful to an extent. Not to mention Sirin had just told off Bella about not needing to punish her because so much already happened. In the end, Sirin knew what she needed to do. "Never mind, there's no need." She told Mei.
"Well if you ever change your mind." Thunder mused. After properly introducing Kurikara to the others, everyone decided to sit around a table Void made with her cubes and lances.
"This has to be the weirdest dinner I've ever had." Tesla noted. "Remind me, how did we get into this?"
"The Herrschers needed doctors they could probably trust," Einstein noted. She honestly felt like she and Tesla didn't have any place in this group. This had strictly been an issue surrounding the Kaslana's but I guess they have become involved in it now, somehow. Granted it was probably a good thing for the two heads of AE.
"And now for the main course," Mei announced. "Sticky Honey Roast," Mei said as she reached to remove the cover on the dish.
"What kind of name is that?" Teri questioned.
"It's a Mondstadt specialty." Void said as she licked her lips. She couldn't wait to eat it. She watched as Mei lifted the cover and then.
She dropped everything. "What in the world?" She gasped. The Sticky Honey Roast was gone. However, while that was Void's main concern, everyone else was preoccupied with the other issue.
In place of the Roast, was a small fairy-like being. She had thick white hair cropped just above her shoulders, dark purple eyes, and light skin. The fairy wore a long-sleeved white jumper and a night-blue cape flecked with stars, and white stockings with white boots. Rose-gold embroidery and shapes are attached to her jumper, boots, and sleeves. However the most noteworthy thing about her right now…was that her cheeks were stuffed and covered with grease and her clothes had been stained with sauce.
The fairy flashed them a weak smile. "Ehe, how did Paimon get here?" She chuckled.
Alright, we're almost done and we have how final wrench in the plans. I wonder if she realizes that since she hate out the food, they now need to use the emergency supply. Ehe