Long streamers of cloud left filmy yellow-grey streaks in the early morning sky. Mei took point. The deadweight behind her was there as a guide. In a fight she would be a burden. More so than she was already. The air smelt of storms, moisture and something familiar but ultimately unidentifiable. At least to those that hadn't encountered the scent before. A foreign tang, certainly not organic, maybe closer to that of burnt metal. Mei knew it as the scent of Honkai. Whether she alone could recognise this scent or not did not matter. Mei smelt that various beasts lurked out in the shadows and sunken rubble of Nagazora.

The two women had properly examined their old clothing once they had dried. None were worth keeping and with the camping stores supplies open for the taking it made best to refresh their wardrobe. Jeans, long sleeved woollen shirts, weatherproof jackets, gloves and sturdy boots. A fresh start for a new step. Amarant had jammed a woollen beanie over her head, the blue tips of her hair peeking out. Mei simply did her hair up in a milkmaid braid to keep it out of the way. Hanging from the Herrscher's belt was the 12th Divine Key. The only weapon between the two of them. Or at least the only one if you didn't count the casual rambling Amarant inflicted upon her companion.

"So you're the Raiden Mei? Heir to ME Corp and all that baggage."

Mei rolled her eyes. She'd tried to get the girl to shut up all morning. Nothing had worked. Not charm. Yes, Mei was still capable of being charming and polite. Not ignoring her. Not even threats of bodily harm. Mei endured because she understood the root cause.

'She's scared. Talking her helps her cope. Being as weak as she is, I cannot blame her. The girl is a guide. Not a Valkyrja used to fighting the Honkai.'

"The company was stripped from my family control by the international courts. The charges levelled against my father were damning enough that the board of directors wanted nothing more to do with the Raiden name."

"They screwed you over for a quick buck."

Mei's bark of laughter said it all.

"Apt."

The pair were moving between the rooves of buildings. At once stage the buildings would have been high-rises, several stories tall and polished modern in design. Three years later and touched by sea and sky, they were falling apart. Concrete was covered in patches of verdant growth, soil blow in forming a thin layer for ferns and other stubborn plants to grow. Lichen coated the outer structures, Verdigris splotches on exposed metal railing and sheet. The seawater sloshed below, possibly ten metres tall, kelp and fish swimming in its clear depths. What interested Mei were the more recent modification. People had created floating wooden jetties and small bridges of loose sheet metal and wood. Mei recalled survivors had waited within Nagazora in some cases for several months before rescue. It was human nature to adapt your environment to suit your needs. Some of the adjustments looked far too recent. That kept Mei on guard.

Their pace was frustratingly slow. Amarant needed to stop regularly. Her chest wound left her low on stamina. As they stood atop what had likely once been an apartment complex, the guide continued her chatter.

"I say it like I see it. That's what people are like. Serve themselves. Look out for themselves. Own best interests and whatnot."

"Not Kiana."

Amarant made a face. It wasn't one of disagreement. Perhaps uncertainty. Mei couldn't gauge it.

"The more you talk about her, the more I get that feeling too. She's not well."

"That's why we need to find this lab."

"Assuming it exists."

"It does."

"Are you a fan of South Park?"

"No."

"Pity. I was hoping I could hit you over the head several times. Induce a vision so you could give me some clues."

Mei's flinty look said it all.

"My apologies, dear customer. If you cannot provide accurate information I must ask for what little you can recall. I guarantee that you will arrive at your destination. Numerous contusions may be necessary. The satisfaction clause in the contract does not cover TBI."

"Why don't I cut out your tongue? You could still provide directions via sign."

"There are a number of previous women-clients that would mourn."

A throaty laugh filled the area. Mei couldn't deny the response was entertaining.

"Do you provide entertainment for every client? Or is this just an added bonus because I saved your life?"

Amarant sniffed. She moved to the edge of apartment complex roof and peered around. The CBD had once been dominated by glass skyscrapers. The storms from the Third Impact as well as time had sent many tumbling to the ground. Now they formed jagged points of greenery rising from the water. The slow reclamation of the city by nature felt strangely appropriate. They hadn't spied much in the way of wildlife beyond a few seabirds and fish beneath the waves. A cool wind blew in from the coast, setting the fern fronds and hardy grass rippling in gentle waves.

"We're pretty close to the city centre. That tall wall over there divides the east side of the city from the west. Those lighting towers to the south are all that's left of the sporting dome. The rest is beneath the waves. And that," Amarant pointed toward a tall projection of sleek glass and steel, "is the ME Corp regional building. I don't think they bothered rebuilding anywhere in the prefecture after the Third Impact."

Mei shielded her eyes and stared at the symbol of her family's legacy. Or hubris. She couldn't tell which. It represented everything that had been. What she had been. A symbol of the past slowly eroding beneath the steady pressure of reality and time. Mei wasn't that symbol anymore. Mei was herself.

"Oto-sama wouldn't have been foolish enough to house what he was working on within the building. But I know he would have wanted it within sight. Somewhere he could access quickly."

"There's a dichotomy going on there."

"That is how I would describe Oto-sama."

Amarant drew a phone from her jacket pocket and unlocked the device. She began running fingers over the touch screen, smiling or cursing equally as she looked for something.

"You have reception?"

"This doesn't have a satellite uplink. No, I'm going through old records. Like I said, I used to work here. Some of my clients needed me to find locations rather than be guided to them. I kept all sorts of useful files on secondary memory card. I'm just waking up some features I keep for these moments."

Amarant let out bark of approval. She put the phone on the ground and stepped back. A holographic projection of the city filled the air above the phone. The image was simplistic, buildings, topography and other key points of interest rendered in shades of red.

"This map was up-to-date right before the Impact. It will be dated regarding collapsed structures, elevated railways and other critical pieces of infrastructure. But it should help in general navigation."

A blinking dot indicated where the pair currently were. Amarant pinched the area around the dot and pulled her fingers apart. The hologram zoomed quickly inward. The buildings on the miniature map now matched those surrounding the two.

"You think that your father would have kept this facility close by?"

"That's what he personally would have done. I also have vague memories of passing through this area."

"Anything else to go by?"

Mei pinched her eyes shut and tried to go through the flickering echoes of her past. It was at this moment she missed when her mind had been divided. The Herrscher aspect had effortlessly sifted through her mind in a desperate attempt to survive. Now Mei fumbled in the dark when looking for such critical information. There were hints. Small thoughts teased at the edges. Trees passing by the window of the car as she looked out. The smell of spring in her nose. The bright light of the tall glass buildings pressing down on her until Hanakawa pressed hat upon her head.

"Long rows of trees on either side. The buildings were tall and mostly glass. Nothing else."

"You are going to have to give me more than generic cityscape."

Deeper and deeper into her past. Mei pushed into that darkness. It was an absence of anything. Of everything. She couldn't recall it. Years of her life sealed away. Teeth clenching tighter, Mei took a different approach. She drew very carefully on the Honkai power within her. Enough to leave her fingers tingling from the static. That power she pushed inward. If her Herrscher power controlled electromagnetism, then she could do more than simply move or react faster. What were memories if not information held within an electrochemical medium. Errant flickers of electricity travelled up her body, sparking in the air before dissipating.

'I smell something… sweet. Cherry blossoms. I see cherry blossoms.'