The cool evening wind whipped through hair and cloth with biting strength. Mei brought up a hand and threaded her hair behind an ear lest it block her vision. The woman was seated upon the top of a simple metal fence, comprised of a metal bar at hip height and another at ankle height. Tucking her legs under the bar beneath her ankles, Mei leant back and looked up toward the heavens. With power no longer functioning the stars could be seen clearly even as the sun was just setting.
"That's dangerous, Mei-senpai," a disapproving voice called out.
An unimpressed sniff was Mei's response. Light footfalls approached. Mei could feel the presence of the critical person just beyond her reach.
"I'm not in the mood to fight you today, Insect," Mei finally answered.
"You could fall off the guard rail," the unwanted arrival said, completely ignoring Mei's comment.
"And what would you do if I did? I'm a Herrscher, correct? Isn't it your job to kill creatures like me?"
"Not if they're cute."
"That has to be the inanest—"
Mei sat up properly. Up until now she had been happily perched on the guardrail that surrounded the edge of rooftop they were currently hiding atop. Twenty stories up, they had a good view of the devastated city surrounding them. The air was clean and generally free of vermin like the various rampaging Honkai Beasts that occasionally stirred up. Kiana stood with hands on her hips and a serious expression. Her middle-school uniform had seen better days. Mei knew she looked just as ruffled and unkempt. The price to be paid when you brought about the destruction of civilisation.
"Just hop down, will you," Kiana asked.
"Afraid I might hurt myself?"
"I made a promise and we Kaslana keep out promises."
'There she goes again with that promise. I couldn't care less. But that name she keeps using. I cannot explain why. But whenever I hear the name Kaslana I feel this nameless echo of fear.'
"I could throw myself off this building and land unscathed. Flight is the least of my troubles."
"If it works."
Mei's attention finally zeroed in on Kiana. She didn't like the confident expression the girl had. She didn't like those intense blue eyes. She didn't like that stupid silver hair in their twintails. She didn't like how dumb the girl was. She didn't like the fact that this flawed girl not only cleaved to her side but supported her. She didn't like that she hadn't been able to best this girl in a fight.
The air smelled of ozone.
"You did want to fight me, Mei-Senpai?"
Mei sniffed dismissively and leaned back against. She had her legs take most of her weight, leaning far out and gazing into the darkening sky.
"Whatever fancies you have, girl."
"You haven't been as strong lately. Sometimes it looks like you can't even use your lightning powers."
'This girl is truly beginning to annoy me.'
The guardrail bounced around. Eyes darting to one side, Mei saw Kiana now sitting beside her, mirroring her motions and leaning back and stare into the sky.
"The moon is beautiful tonight."
"You would be the one to notice."
"Huh?"
"Hmm. Nevermind. Where is the short one?"
"Oh, Bratnya. She thinks there might be a local power source. She noticed some wireless networks that are still running. If the electrical grid is down, then they have to be connected to something else."
The two sat in silence. The natural light of the area transitioned from shades of amber and honey through to dark wine and eventually dark navy. It was unreal to gaze upon a city without a single shining light. The tall tombs of buildings pressing up out of the earth and into the sky. And within those tombs the corpses, restless or otherwise, of the former inhabitants of Nagazora. The three unlikely survivors had been carefully making their way across the urban sprawl. They had no destination in mind. Just a need to keep moving. A need to be one step ahead of their foe.
It had all been Mei's fault.
No.
That wasn't true.
The fault lay on the people that had perpetually tormented Mei. Teacher and student alike. All had been guilty of the continual bullying and psychological abuse. Physical abuse too. Being struck. Accidentally run into. Belongings knocked from hand or out of reach. The incessant words. The unending words. The torrential words.
The air smelt of ozone. Small crackles of electricity snaked up and down the pipe. Mei could see it now. The moment she had snapped. When his blood had splashed about the classroom. How the other students froze. The attempts by the teacher, as culpable as her students, to try placate Mei. The chairs and desks tossed aside by an electromagnetic pulse.
More blood. More screams. The scent of burnt hair, clothing, wood and flesh now mingling. Mei hadn't touched any of them. She couldn't. The moment she touched someone, the storm boiling inside her would lash out and scorch flesh, rend steel and burn bone.
"Are you sure you are feeling okay, Mei-senpai?"
The delightful reverie was broken by that irritatingly cheery voice. It dripped with the sort of confidence that Mei felt an almost religious desire to crush. Her sideways glance was that of a predatory cat. Kiana was still perched on the guardrail. Errant sparks of electricity ran up the metal and lashed out at the girl. Yet Mei's night-time companion gave no reaction.
'Either she is too stupid to notice or too strong to be bothered.'
"I've always wondered something," Mei said.
"Oh?"
"How many thousand people died? Tens of thousands, perhaps. How many hundreds of thousands? How many of them rose as zombies?"
"Why does it matter?"
"Wouldn't you be interested in how many people you have killed?"
"You haven't killed anyone, Mei-senpai. The Honkai did that."
"Look me in the eye when you've experienced what I have and then muster the gall to utter those self-same words."
[I can see this exchange being very useful down the track]
Kiana's expression was complicated. For once her dull face was lit up with serious thought.
"I don't have the answers. I just know that the Honkai have to be stopped. That's what we Kaslana do. We protect people from the Honkai. You didn't kill everyone in Nagazora."
The smell of the ozone was scattered by the cool evening breeze.
"The Honkai killed everyone. What you choose to do next. That's your responsibility. You can either give up. Or you can fight. One choice means the Honkai win. The other is the Honkai loose. It's up to you, Mei-senpai."
Unhooking her legs, Mei dropped from the guardrail onto the rooftop proper. She walked past Kiana, sparing her not even a glance.
"I'm not in the mood to fight you tonight, girl. Besides, I'm hungry. Let's see if the short one has found something interesting."