Coppery blood mixed with rainwater. A pool of pale red expanded from the girl that lay barely moving. She took one slow, steady, breath after another. That was all she could do right now. Just focus on her breathing. The roar of the storm above was nearly deafening. Sheet lightning raced back and forth, illuminating Mei and her foe. Durandal shook her head. The girl had been injured to the point where she was barely cognisant of her surroundings. The Valkyrja knelt and made to pick up the girl. She hesitated when Mei uttered the barest whisper.
"I'm sorry."
The apology came in three parts. To the Mei of the past, she would have abhorred the choice that was made. To the innocent, they would be put in danger for what was chosen. To Durandal, who would shoulder the burden of so many lives. For what Mei believed in, for what mattered most to Mei, she made a choice and committed to it. Mei had complete faith in the woman who had crushed her so mercilessly
Durand grabbed Mei by the collar of her jacket and stood. The broken girl was halfway up off the concrete floor when the leather jacket turned black and disintegrated. She dropped to her hands and knees. Durandal sighed at the pointless act of defiance.
Throughout the entire fight Durandal had been in control. From start to end she had never been in any real danger. Her goal had been to subdue Mei with as little permanent injury to the woman as possible. Giving her the opportunity to exhaust herself so she would be easier to overcome made tactical sense. It had also given her the chance to gauge Mei's fighting style and potential. Useful information for any future encounters. Through the extended engagement Durandal made only one single mistake.
She sighed.
That sigh was all the time Mei needed. That little distraction where their guard was lowered. In that brief opening she drew as much Herrscher and Honkai energy from her Core as could barely be managed. Her body and mind were so weak it took nearly all of her consciousness just to keep stop flesh being seared from bone. With the storm raging above it didn't take much to borrow from it. Herrscher and Honkai energy dispersed through the charged air. A lightning strike that was meant to hit the park was suborned. The arc of lightning suddenly changed direction. It fused with the ambient Herrscher and Honkai energy, turning into a thin cord of lambent violet energy. A quarter of the way up the building the arc struck, splitting in an oblique and shearing through the building with incredible force. A coil of hot wire through butter. The lightning struck carved a wedge into the structure.
Mei felt her stomach lurch to one side. Her inner ear screamed as the structural integrity failed. At that moment Mei knew that she had won. The building had sheared at such an angle that it would topple over the park and onto the residential apartments on the other side. Durandal came to the same conclusion in just as much time. There was a moment's hesitation. Then the S-rank Valkyrja was in the air and off to stop the senseless destruction.
Mei wasted no time. She ignored the protests of her battered and broken body. Already she was beginning to slide along the slick floor toward the edge of the roof. Even with heavily lidded eyes she could still point unerringly toward Kiana. She had little time to waste. Mei stumbled to her feet and tottered toward the edge of the collapsing building. Mei could not help but hesitate when she came to the lip. Several floors below Durandal hovered, both hands held up as though in supplication toward the heavens. An unfamiliar portal quickly expanded above the woman. Mei didn't want to see just what Durandal had in store. She focused her electromagnetic power against the steel beneath her and launched herself high into the air. With Durandal no longer dogging her steps the Herrscher didn't need to worry about stealth or being caught mid-air. Mei kicked of the roof, electromagnetic energy throwing her high, the Herrscher piercing the clouds. All around lightning crackled and thunder boomed. Rain spattered so hard against her face she had to shut her eyes. But here amidst the storm Mei felt more at home than anywhere else. Mei did not need to see what lay before her. All she knew was her goal.
Gravity took hold, pulling Mei out of the cloud line. Heavy winds buffeted her, Mei having to use her grip upon the magnetic field to nudge her body back on course. Far below the nightscape of Arc City rushed by. Mei lifted her eyes toward her destination. The AM-ANI building stood tall amidst the other skyscrapers. Mei pressed more firmly against the Earth's magnetic field, slowing her descent and further refining her approach. She clinically assessed her speed and pitch. Pushing as hard against the magnetic field as she could, Mei slowed her descent, electromagnetically reinforced her body and braced for the landing. She hit the roof of the building and rolled several metres before smacking against the outer concrete wall of the rooftop.
"No more fighting," Mei muttered. "I just want a summer holiday on a beach. Bikini's, barbeque and watermelon. Maybe some tasteful side-boob"
A cry of pain roused Mei from her mental distraction. She forced her eyes open. Kiana lay on the ground and in obvious agony. Honkai burn marks covered her face, neck and bare hands. Her eyes were squeezed shut and jaw clenched tight. Amarant, somehow herself still conscious, had turned her bloodied jacket into a pillow for Kiana. She ran a hand through the suffering girl's silver hair and made small reassuring noises.
'I've no time to waste. Durandal will need maybe minutes to solve my little dilemma.'
Mei swore as she got to her feet and hobbled over to where Kiana lay.
"What happened?"
Amarant looked up in shock. She hadn't even noticed Mei's sky fall arrival. Words froze on her lips.
"Now!" Mei barked.
"Maybe a minute or two after you left Kiana went pale. Then she started sweating and shaking. I asked if everything was alright. She said it was nothing. Then she collapsed and those Honkai burn marks appeared. I just… I just did what I could."
Mei knelt and pressed her hand against Kiana's face. The girl was so hot it almost burnt.
"This night just keeps getting better," Mei cursed.
'Damnit Kiana-chan! What did you do this time?'
Up close Mei could sense the Honkai energy leaking from Kiana. Tesla was right. The city itself was in danger if this wasn't put under immediate control. Mei hated the feeling of powerlessness that permeated her. She knew she was in over her head right now. She didn't know why Kiana was reacting so badly. She didn't know how to undo, mitigate or supress it. She didn't know when Durandal would return.
'Probably at the worst possible time.'
"What shall we do?" Amarant asked.
"Thinking."
A heavy roar interrupted Mei's frustrated train of thought. This wasn't the roar of the storm. It had an organic quality to it. Something of a reverberation through the lungs and up the throat. Shielding her eyes against the rain, Mei glanced about for the source. A broad silhouette blotted out the sun before the beast came swooping down. At the last moment the creature flared its wings, the wind buffet sending Mei sliding back on slick heels. The creature landed with an almighty crunch. The Beast was a quadruped, its long dark limbs tipped with grey vorpal claws, mighty wings springing from a thickly muscled body. Its neck was sinuous and ended with an angular head, four eyes sitting behind a maw filled with rows of deadly teeth.
"Benares," Mei said in awe.
The Dragon had laid siege to Schicksal HQ during the Honkai Eruption. After the Herrscher of the Void's defeat the beast had disappeared.
"Why would…" Amarant's words trailed off.
Mei agreed with the woman. Neither could fathom the beast's true motives or why it appeared here and now. The creature approached, its vast form leaving claw-prints in the concrete rooftop. Mei took a defensive position just in front of Kiana. She didn't even have the strength to call her weapons from Imaginary Space. But she was in no mood to yield. Lightning crackled over her skin, matching the angry look in her eyes and the set of her jaw. The beast slowed.
"Can you fight it?" Amarant asked wide-eyed.
"Maybe. But any time wasted here is time for Durandal to catch up. She could crush the beast with little effort. Then we're back to where we started."
Curiously, the Honkai beast stopped outside of striking distance and crouched down. It slowly stretched its head out. Mei had the impression that Benares was asking permission to get close to Kiana. Afterwards Mei was never able to properly articulate why she chose to step back. Some indescribably feeling. Perhaps human empathy. Perhaps Honkai kinship. Or sheer desperation at that point. Regardless, Mei let Benares reached its head past her and gently nuzzle Kiana. That touch was enough to rouse the silver-haired woman. Kiana's eyes slowly opened. Mei sucked air in through clenched teeth. Kiana's right eye was golden. Herrscher energy leaked from the orb. Kiana didn't say anything. She just gently stroked Benares head.
"Kiana. What's going on?"
"I don't know."
"Do you know Benares?"
Kiana made to shake her head. Then she paused.
"I feel warm when I look at her. It's like something in me knows her. Trusts her. She's here to help."
"Define help."
Mei offered a hand pulled Kiana to unsteady knees. The pair lent against each other. Both looked far worse for wear. Amarant grabbed her blood splattered jacket and very gingerly rose to her feet. She pressed a hand against her gut wound and tottered over to Mei.
"What are you doing, deadweight?" Mei growled.
"If I stay here then Schicksal gets me, remember? I'm coming with you. I need you alive to protect me from them or anyone else."
"How altruistic."
"I also want to be paid."
Mei's reaction wasn't what the blue-haired woman expected. A properly belly-laugh. No condescension or derision.
"You're a proper survivor."
'I'm also curious as to how you're unharmed by all the Honkai energy in the area. One of those targeted by World Serpent and their Stigma project?'
Benares shifted its vast bulk and lowered a wing, providing a ramp up to its back.
"We're going to ride a dragon out of the city?" was Mei's curious question.
"Benares help and protect us," Kiana replied.
Mei looked up at the enormous Honkai beast. Try as she might, the woman couldn't explain her own firm belief that Benares would do everything in her power to protect Kiana. Without any further delay the trio carefully climbed onto Benares back and gripped the spinal ridge for security.
"I can think of only one place that's safe right now," Kiana offered.
'We're both emitting a large amount of Honkai energy. Probably a reduced amount of Herrscher energy too. We need to blend into an already irradiated environment. It needs to be sparsely populated and familiar. And then there was that—'
"Nagazora."
Mei's voice was thick with emotion. Where it had all begun. Where they had first crossed paths. Where they would finally return to the beginning.
'My sins finally catch up.'