Please read the author's note at the end, other than that…
I hope you really enjoy this chapter!
The Annual Nagazora Kitsune Festival Celebration.
It was Nagazora's, if not one of Japan's, biggest celebrated festivals. A festival that even had people from around the globe to visit for the sole purpose of taking part in the many activities the festival had to offer.
The festival had once been a day that celebrated the blessings of the Inari deity that presided over the village that used to call Nagazora home all that long ago. A day that would involve lots of celebration to show thanks for the god's blessings from evil.
However, any records of that village had all but faded with the passage of time…
But the shrine that honored the guardian deity still stood even to this day. Situated at the center of Nagazora's Grand Park, the massive kitsune statue that sat in the center of the shrine still stood guard over these lands.
Any historical information of that time was scarce so all people had to go by were vague anecdotals that could be interpreted in a thousand different ways. However, it was unanimously agreed by everyone that this day held significant value for the villagers.
It would be disrespectful to their ancestors if they didn't continue this tradition of celebrating life and all of it's blessings.
Which Kiana Kaslana was more than happy to oblige with as it meant one thing for her…
FESTIVAL FOOD!
"So delicious!" A happy Kiana cried out as she walked through the already crowded festival with a tri-colored dango in her hands. Night had barely settled in and already the festival was packed!
Families walked past her as children pulled impatiently on their parents' sleeves as they wanted to play all the games the festival had to offer. Booth runners were encouraging any who passed by to try what they had to offer while the scrumptious smell of festival food filled the air.
There were no shortages of people wearing detailed and brightly colored yukatas. So much so that wearing normal everyday clothes made you stick out like a sore thumb in this sea of assorted colors. Lucky for those, there was no shortage of booths displaying their own yukata designs for sale.
Oh the Kaslana was going to have so much tonight! She knew that saving up her allowance for this night was going to allow her to try everything that was here. She had been to a few festivals before but nothing as big and grand as this one!
And even better she was going to spend it with her friends!
The white haired girl looked down to the light blue yukata that she had bought for this specific night, smiling knowing that she wasn't going to be the only one wearing a yukata in the group. She had almost forgotten the price that this specific yukata had cost her, her wallet was still crying from such a purchase.
She shook her head of such a bleak thought, nothing was going to dampen her spirits now. This was going to be an unforgettable night!
But there was only one problem however…
…
How could she have an unforgettable night if there was no one here yet?!
Pulling out her phone she looked at the messages of everyone that she was hanging out with tonight. Of course she had managed to get Haruto and Mei to join her, how was she going to enjoy this festival without her best friends!?
Sora was joining them, whose excitement for the festival even rivaled hers. Keji, who she found a friendship in with their shared love for video games, was joining them for the night. Even Midori was joining them and while she may still have some reservations about her being a Valkyrie, she was still a friend Kiana cherished.
After all she risked her life to save hers.
[From Haruto Nakamura]
[I just picked up Sora, it'll take us around fifteen minutes for us to get there. There's a lot of traffic getting there.]
[From: Mei Raiden]
[There's a lot more people that have attended the festival this year. I heard from my father that the organizers had to enlist Anti-Entropy for extra security. I should be there in fifteen minutes as well, traffic is stalled where I'm at.]
[From: Keji Furutu]
[Even the trains are packed! Usually they're not this filled, there must be a lot of people attending this year…oh yeah look who I happened to meet!]
[From: Midori Aki]
[I can speak for myself you know. Anyway it was simply by chance that the two of us met at the train station. It'll probably take us fifteen minutes as well to get to the festival.]
Kiana lowered her phone with a small frown. This wasn't a big problem, just a small inconvenience in the grand scheme of things. They were still going to have the greatest festival experience ever!
But what was she going to do for fifteen minutes? She could get some more food and wait for the others to arrive but that was so boring! She was here to have fun here and that was what she was going to do!
Lowering her now empty dango stick, her blue eyes immediately looked around where she was waiting to find a booth she could play. It did not take her long before she walked over to the booth that had caught her attention. The other game booths had their appeal but there was a particular reason why this booth had caught her attention.
The grand prize was a Limited Edition King Homu Doll!
She was sure only like twenty of them existed, she needed to get it! Even if she had to spend all of her money on this booth!
"Ahaha I see that you've got your eye on the grand prize!" The booth attendant heartily laughed as he saw where Kiana's attention was directed at. "You're not the first to have their eyes set on that prize but as you can see none have accomplished it…" He motioned to the rather empty booth.
For a moment Kiana wondered if this booth was just trying to scam her money with how empty it was. It wasn't exactly a hidden secret with how booths would find fakes of sought out prizes to draw in the most dedicated. However she gave the displayed homu doll another look and simply knew that it was genuine, that it was no fake.
He gave her a challenging smirk when he saw a fire being lit in her eyes. "Unless you'll be the one to do what they can't?"
Not even a second after the challenge was issued had Kiana slapped a few bills of yen on the man's open palm. "Like you even need to ask!" She immediately got into the 'gamer' mood as she only had one thing between her and that Homu doll.
Well technically it wasn't just one thing that stood between her and her prize, but rather ten different things.
For the game that she was playing was goldfish scooping.
The basis of the game was very simple, she would get a small handheld net and her objective was to try and catch as many of these goldfish in the tank as she could.
Simple right? Well the catch was that the net was made of a super flimsy material that would disintegrate if it was exposed to too much water or if a fish decided to just swim straight into it.
And in order to get the grand prize she needed to catch ten goldfish before her net broke.
But Kiana Kaslana was a master of these games! This would be child's play as by the time the group arrived she would show off the spoils of her victory to them!
She could vaguely hear the booth vendor talking to someone else but they weren't Kiana's concern. The only thing that mattered right now was the goldfish swimming right in front of her.
Preparing herself she focused on the task at hand. Delicately, she scooped up her first fish and gently placed it into her bowl without any trouble. Then without skipping a beat she set her sights on the second fish and scooped it into her bowl just as easily as she had done the first fish.
She was in her prime here! Like a cat on the hunt for its prey.
Back at the apartment Kuro suddenly sneezed. The black cat narrowed her eyes as she tried to look for any disturbances in the empty apartment but when it was apparent she was the only one there she lowered her head back down to continue her nap.
"Hehe almost there," Placing her ninth goldfish in her bowl, Kiana smirked as victory was all but assured for her. One more fish and she would be walking out of here with her prize!
She was so close that she could taste it!
A goldfish peacefully swam in front of her vision, unaware of the hands that were already looming over it. "Come here little fella," The white haired girl whispered as she moved her net into position. The goldfish just needed to swim a bit more to the right and she would have it!
And as if the goldfish was listening to her thoughts it moved exactly how she wanted it to. Just a little more and-!
Without warning another net entered her vision and scooped up her fish from right under her. The white haired girl couldn't even voice her surprise as her stolen goldfish was deposited swiftly into the thief's bowl.
Kiana was so surprised by this sudden action that she had forgotten to take her net back out from the tank of water and an unsuspecting goldfish swam right through her net, tearing the already flimsy material apart with ease.
"Hey watch where you're-!" The white haired girl tried to reprimand this very rude person for stealing the last fish that she needed to win only for the booth vendor to boisterously cut her off.
"And we have a winner! Congratulations on conquering The Impossible Goldfish Challenge!" The vendor walked over and took the limited edition homu doll from its pedestal and gave it to the player who had stolen Kiana's fish.
Who now had also stolen her prize.
"The Bronya thanks you," The twin gray ponytailed haired girl accepted the doll from the vendor, hugging it close to her petite body. Dressed in a dark blue yukata, a complete contrast to Kiana's bright blue, the girl began to move away from the booth to somewhere else.
"Stop right there!" Only to stop when Kiana's voice reached her ears. "You're holding my prize right there!"
The girl turned around and faced Kiana who jabbed her finger accusingly. "Bronya is confused by the subject's question." She blankly retorted.
"Subject?" Kiana boldly walked up to Bronya. "I'll have you know that I am Kiana Kaslana-."
"The Bronya has no qualms with Subject Kiana." The petite girl interrupted.
"And you have my prize in your hands!" The Kaslana finished as she placed her hands on her hips. Just something about this girl just pushed buttons she didn't know she had. Bronya continued to give her a blank look, seemingly unfazed by the proclamation.
"The Bronya won this fair and square, ten goldfish was the goal and the Bronya completed the task." She replied with brute honesty in her voice.
"If it wasn't for the fact that you nabbed my last fish!" If this little girl hadn't intervened then she would have been walking away from that booth with her rightful prize!
"The Bronya finds it impossible for Subject Kiana to have caught the last fish. The net's structural integrity would've broken when trying to catch the goldfish."
"And how would've known that?"
"By looking."
"Why you little-!"
The two were talking right in the middle of the festival lane, so focused on winning their side of the argument that they did not notice all passerbyers giving them a wide berth. Just one look at the arguing pair had everybody choosing the wisest option of giving the two space.
Lest they got sucked into that argument.
"The Bronya finds this argument pointless," The petite gray haired woman sharply turned on her heel and moved with the intent of putting as much distance as possible with this…idiotka.
When she didn't hear the white hair girl say anything in response, she was sure that she could finally enjoy the rest of the festival in peace. There were still booth games that she needed to play and she would use every piece of yen her Matsuhka gave her.
Yet her dreams were dashed when Kiana suddenly called out to her.
"Oh well," The white haired drawled out in a rather nonchalant tone. "It's a shame that you're running away but I suppose winning that game was only a fluke. I'm sure that if we were to play in another booth I would crush you-"
Bronya immediately stopped in her tracks as she turned around and pointed at Kiana. Her usual emotionless gaze was still there but in her gray eyes a fire had been lit. The Russian girl did not care about many things, less so if they were meant to be jabs, but there was one thing you did not insult.
Her abilities as a gamer.
"The Bronya accepts your challenge," She declared with every intention of destroying the girl in front of her.
Hearing how the twin ponytail girl fell for her trap, Kiana grinned wildly as she cracked her knuckles in preparation.
"Then let's play then!"
"I feel as if something terrible has happened," I said offhandedly as I could feel my body shivering in terror. I don't know how I knew it but I just knew that someone, probably Kiana, was up to no good.
"What do you mean Haruto-niichan?" Sora asked me in confusion.
"If my intuition is right then you'll see it for yourself." I explained as the crosswalk indicator signaled us to walk. Holding Sora's hand we crossed the last street that we needed to take in order to get to the festival.
"But enough of that," I looked down at Sora who had on a light purple yukata that was the same shade as her hair. "How are you doing Sora? We've been walking for awhile now, I'm sure your legs need a break."
Sora just gave me an adorable smile. "I'm okay Haruto-niichan!"
I smiled in return as I patted her head. "I'm glad." Fully crossing the street we were greeted by one of the festival volunteers dressed with a red yukata and a kitsune mask.
"Welcome to the Nagazoran Kitsune Festival Celebration!" He greeted us as he handed me a slip of paper. "We hope you enjoy all that we have to offer and we hope you stay long enough to watch our firework show!"
"Oh yeah you guys have a firework show," I briefly remembered Keji mentioning something about a firework show when we were planning on how we were going to spend the festival together. "I've heard it's quite a spectacle to see."
"Yup! It's definitely the best firework show you'll ever see in Japan!" The volunteer assured. "And with all that's happened recently the organizers have gone all out to make sure this festival is one to remember!"
"I see…" I trailed off when I realized that I technically was part of the reason why they were putting so much effort into the firework show. "Well I hope you have a great night then."
"You too!" They waved us a goodbye before greeting the next person, leaving Sora and I to enter the festival grounds. Within minutes we found ourselves in the crowded lanes of the Kitsune Festival. With so many people all moving in their own directions, I made sure to keep a firm grip on Sora's hand as we pushed through the crowd.
The last thing that I wanted was to lose the girl in this sea of people.
Slowly but surely we were able to push our way out of the sea of people into an open space that I knew to be the agreed upon location where all of us were going to meet up at. It was fairly isolated from the main areas of human traffic so all I needed to do now was wait for everyone else to-.
"Haruto?"
I turned around and saw Mei in a dark purple yukata smiling as she approached me. You could tell that this was the finest yukata money could buy. Just how it seemed to be spun by the finest threads of silk, to the intricate flower designs that I knew only a personal tailor could make.
"Mei you look…beautiful." That was the only way to describe how she looked right now.
"Thank you Haruto," She smiled as she looked at my yukata, a deep crimson color with gold highlights. "You look very good in your yukata as well."
"You should be saying your thanks to Sora and Kiana," I rubbed the back of my neck in embarrassment at the reminder of how the two of them all but forced me to spend an entire day shopping. "They all but forced me to pick this yukata, though I wouldn't have minded any colored yukata."
"Because Haruto-niichan has no sense for fashion!" Sora berated as I could feel my cheeks turn red at being called out. "He would've worn a normal shirt and jeans to the festival if we didn't say otherwise!"
"W-Well in my defense-". I tried defending myself only for Sora to shake her head sadly at me. That look in her eyes all but told me I was only delaying the inevitable. "...Thank you Sora for choosing this yukata for me," I sighed in defeat as Sora beamed victoriously.
Mei laughed at our exchange as she held a hand to her mouth. "You must have an eye for fashion Sora."
The young girl beamed. "I want to grow up and be a fashion designer Mei-niichan."
The heiress smiled at the girls' enthusiasm. "And I'm sure that you'll have a very successful future." She looked at me and smiled. "After all you were able to dress up your brother." They laughed at the joke and all I could do was sigh.
"Hah hah, very funny."
"We also match Mei-niichan!" Sora walked over and stood side by side with the Massive Electric heiress. Both wearing shades of purple, I had to admit they almost looked like sisters. All Mei had to do was dye her hair a light pink to match Sora.
"Hey guys!" A familiar voice yelled. Parting through the crowd was Keji, in a bright yellow yukata, and Midori, who was in a light green yukata. "I hope we didn't take too long!"
"We just got here a minute ago," I replied as the pair walked over to us. "Did anything interesting happen on your side of things?"
"Unless you count the trains being filled to capacity then no," Keji answered as he checked his yukata to make sure that it hadn't gotten damaged in any way. "They must be going all out for this year, this is the first time that they're promoting the firework show this hard."
"It may be because of the coverage that Nagazora has been getting recently." Midori offered. "From the break-in of Massive Electric to the terrorist attack, there's been so much media coverage of this city that it was only inevitable that the festival organizers used that to their advantage."
I nodded my head as I could see where the undercover Valkyrie was going with this. "And if you account for Anti-Entropy being in charge of security, the organizers could have as many people as they want over here without fear of safety."
I didn't know whether to be scared or impressed on how the festival organizers capitalized on Anti-Entropy's presence. It certainly had to be ranked one of the best marketing moves that I had ever seen.
Mei looked around as she noted the absence of sound from a particular member. "Where is Kiana? I thought she came here before us?"
At the mention of the absence of the bombastic girl, we all looked around trying to spot the white haired girl but to no avail. "It seems kind of weird that she'd be the first here but be the last person we have to wait for." Keji commented.
"Maybe she's playing one of the booth games?" Sora said. "Kiana-niichan isn't one to be sitting around."
I nodded my head in agreement. "And she shouldn't have gone that far from this spot, so why don't we go and look for her? We can also stop by some of the food booths because I'm quite hungry." My stomach chose that opportune moment to growl loud enough for everybody to hear, much to my embarrassment.
"Yes maybe we should," Mei laughed at my predicament before the five of us began to tour the festival grounds.
The festival organizers truly spared no expense in making this a grand experience. Every festival food that I could think of was being served here. From takoyaki to yakisoba, you could have a five course meal here minus the expenses of having one.
And while we were looking for Kiana, I'm not afraid to say that we spent quite a bit of time visiting the endless sea of food booths here. From me ordering some takoyaki to Mei getting a stick of cotton candy, we all walked down the festival with food in our hands. I'm sure that Kiana wouldn't have minded if we got some food in our bellies.
Though in my defense it didn't take long for us to find where Kiana was as there was a sizable crowd surrounding a game booth. It was unmistakable with how they were cheering on two different people with some people going as far as placing bets on who they thought was going to win.
Also the unmistakable competitive shouting that was Kiana's was coming from within the crowd.
Seeing how we found where Kiana had went to, we pushed our way to the front to reveal the light blue wearing yukata girl holding a rifle in her hands. The Kaslana took a deep breath as she lined up her rifle's crosshairs with that of the target, which was a giant red bullseye. The closer your pellet was to the center of the target the more points you would get.
She closed her blue eyes as her breathing steadied before she suddenly opened them and pulled on the trigger. A pellet shot out of the barrel and hit it dead center, a perfect shot!
"We have a tie!" The vendor announced to which the crowd erupted into cheers as what was probably a tense game of gun-shooting. Many people came up and patted Kiana on the shoulder, congratulating her for her effort. It didn't even matter that she didn't win as in their eyes she and whoever her competitor had both won.
Speaking of her opponent I couldn't see who she was actually competing against due to where I was standing as Kiana's body was blocking the view of her competitor.
"Kiana!" I exclaimed as I raised my hand to tell her where we were.
The girl's head swerved to where we were and raised up her hand and waved at us. "Haru-senpai!" She shouted out as she moved towards us.
However as she moved closer to us, so too did she stop blocking the view of her competitor. And when I caught the glimpse of a gray haired ponytail, my heart dropped.
"Huh, took her long enough to finally show up." Commented Hyperion, oblivious to the fact that my mind was currently doing cartwheels in trying to figure out why Bronya Zaychik of all people was doing here in Nagazora?!
"Okay Haruto take a big deep breath before you start panicking." Quickly, I mentally assured myself before I spiraled out of control. Losing my calm without properly assessing the situation wasn't going to grant me any favors here
Bronya being here didn't necessarily mean that events weren't picking up yet, I could still have time to prepare myself for whatever was coming next. Besides, she could just be here to enjoy the festival, which wouldn't be that far of a stretch considering she had a giant homu doll strapped onto her back.
It was kind of cute to be honest.
"Haruto-niichan?" Sora's voice broke me out of my thoughts as I looked down to see the girl's fuchsia colored eyes looking at me in worry. It seems that I unconsciously tightened my grip on the younger girl's hand.
"Ah, sorry for that Sora," I apologized as I loosened my grip on her hand. "Just had a bad thought, don't worry it's fine now." I assured her as I pushed down the possible explanations why Bronya was here.
Tonight was meant to be a time spent with my friends, to enjoy this peaceful time in my life. I always had tomorrow to worry about the future.
"Did you see me Mei-senpai?!" It appears that only Sora had noticed my temporary distress as Kiana was currently bragging of her win streak against Bronya to the rest of the group. "That little girl stood no chance against me!"
Midori raised her eyebrow as she pointed out a flaw in the Kaslana's words. "Didn't your last game end in a draw though?"
Kiana just dismissed her words with a wave of her hand. "We played a bunch of games before that one and just as you would expect I won every single one of them without fail."
"The Bronya disputes that claim." Seems the undercover Valkyrie wasn't the only one contesting her words as the gray haired Russian girl walked up to us. "The Bronya has a higher victory count than Kiana."
"Eh!?" Kiana gave Bronya the stink eye as she faced her. "You're obviously wrong cause I remember beating you in every game we played."
"Kiana Idiotka does not have the capability of remembering anything."
"Idiotka!? Well right back at you then Bratnya!"
Before this clash of words turned physical, Mei stepped in as the mediator. "You're both winners. When I was watching the two of you play that game it felt as if the both of you were evenly matched. It was amazing to watch."
It seems that Mei's words pacified the both of them as Kiana stopped escalating the situation any further as she soaked in the heiress's praise whilst Bronya had a small smile on her face.
Watching the scene play out, I couldn't help but be reminded of how the trio acted in the real game. Bronya and Kiana getting on each other's nerves with Mei always there to prevent it from going any further.
"Some things just don't change," Apollo spoke and I couldn't help but agree with his words. However if I wasn't so busy watching the scene in front of me I would've picked up the deity's solemn tone.
"It's almost like Kiana found her rival or something in Bronya," Observed Keji.
"Are you sure?" Midori looked at Kenji in confusion for his statement. "I thought Kiana found the one person that she'll never get along with. Like water and oil." She added her two cents in.
"Disregarding what you guys feel about their relationship at the moment is, I feel we owe Bronya-san an apology," My statement caught everyone off guard. "After all we are technically at fault for Kiana taking up Bronya-san's time. If we were here when Kiana texted us then she wouldn't have gone to that booth and Bronya-san would've been able to enjoy the festival in peace."
"If she's attending the festival alone then why doesn't Bronya-niichan join us?" Sora asked innocently, catching everyone off guard including the girl in question. "The more people we have the better, right?"
"It's not a bad idea," I added my two cents to which Kiana looked at me incredulously. It wouldn't hurt to develop a friendship with Bronya now that she was here.
"But why do you want Bratnya-,"
"It wouldn't hurt to have more people join our group," Mei was also in agreement. Keji and Midori both nodded as they couldn't find any faults with having the petite girl join us.
"Though we won't hold it against you if you want to enjoy this festival by yourself." I quickly assured the Russian girl that we weren't forcing her to join us.
The petite twin tailed girl looked at us with scrutiny, probably trying to get an understanding of everyone present, before she ended with Sora. The light pink haired girl gave her a bright smile and just for a split second I could see Bronya's emotionless facade break for a split second.
Oh she just got hit by Sora's puppy eyes didn't she?
Yeah there's no way you're saying no to that.
"...The Bronya shall join you," She said finally. Sora cheered while everyone seemed to be happy with the decision, minus Kiana who had a small pout on her face at the prospect of having her arch-nemesis joining the group.
"I think I speak for the rest of us when I say this, Bronya-san we're happy to have you aboard." I spoke with a smile.
"Likewise Subj-...Haruto-san," She responded with a small smile of her own.
"Hah?! Why do you greet Haru-senpai differently but not me!?" Kiana demanded as I resisted the urge to facepalm.
"Because Subject Kiana is an idiotka."
"Grr…I'll show you who's a-,"
"Bronya-chan I'm curious to where you came from," Out of everyone I expected to intervene Keji was not one of them. "I've lived in Nagazora for all my life but I don't think I've ever seen you before, are you visiting for the festival?"
Bronya nodded as she focused on Keji's question. "The Bronya comes from Russia."
"Russia?" Mei came in as she too was interested in knowing more about Bronya. "I've heard that it's very cold throughout the year."
"Da," She said in Russian. "The Bronya has gotten used to the cold though." Before long we began to move from our spot. Everyone was asking our newcomer questions about herself and Brojnya did her best to answer everyone's questions.
She was already getting comfortable with us it seems.
"Where are we going first?" I asked Keji right before we entered the ordeal that was trying to navigate this packed festival, which had grown significantly in attendees during the time we were being introduced to Bronya.
My friend simply grinned at me as he pointed to the hill that was at the center of the festival.
"Well if you want the full experience then it's only right that we start at the shrine of the deity this festival is celebrating in the first place."
The actual kitsune shrine was not as packed as the festival below, which was surprising considering that the shrine was the whole purpose of the celebration. The people currently present were either elders or curious attendees.
The iconic massive kitsune statue stood imposingly in the middle of the shrine. Even from a distance you could see the wear and tear that time had inflicted on the statue and it was only a testament of the builder's skill that the statue still stood to this day.
Flanking the main path were smaller kitsune statues, some in similar or worse states than the main statue. Taking a single step in this shrine felt as if you were taking a step through history.
"It's almost like it's watching me," Kiana muttered as she moved around the statue's main line of sight. I had to agree with her, it almost felt as if the statue was alive and its eyes were watching our every move.
It was unnerving to say the least.
"They say the villagers offered their prayers to the guardian deity on this day, asking for protections and blessings for the rest of the year." Explained Mei as we walked past the statue and approached the main structure of the shrine.
"And while history has scattered what little we know of that time, we've always strived to follow in the footsteps of our ancestors." Keji picked up where the heiress left off as we walked inside the structure, a shrine maiden wearing a kitsune mask bowed in greeting.
"We write our wishes down on a piece of paper and slip them inside the prayer box for the kami to fulfill!" Sora ended as we walked up to the table filled with paper and pens for attendees to write their wishes down.
"I'll be honest I've never understood why people do this," Midori admitted as she picked up a pen and paper. "It's not like they actually come true."
"I mean it's not like I actually believe that the kami exist or anything like that," Keji shrugged his shoulders before he began to write his wish down on the slip of paper. "But it's not like there's any harm in doing this."
"Careful Keji-niichan," Sora frowned as she looked at the yellow yukata wearing brown haired boy. "Oji-san said bad people will come after you if you say anything bad about the kami."
"I wouldn't exactly trust everything that Akhirio-san says," I sweatdropped, knowing that most of the time the old man was drunk and probably just rambling to the young girl.
"Don't worry Sora, the Bronya will protect you from the bad people." Bronya patted Sora's head with the child beaming back at her in response. Barely an hour since Sora had asked the Russian girl to accompany us and already they had grown very close.
"Haruto, what do you plan on writing down for your wish?" Mei asked as she held her already written slip of paper.
That was a good question, what was I going to write down? "I think I'll just write-."
"Haru-senpai you can't reveal your wish like that!" Kiana interrupted. "If you say it outloud then it won't come true."
"Doesn't that just apply to birthday wishes?" I asked as I didn't really see the problem with telling the wish I planned on writing down. I thought the reason why parents didn't let their children say what they wished for was because they were saying what they wanted for everyone else to hear.
"It doesn't matter!" Sora jumped to Kiana's aid. "If you say it the kami won't grant your wish, they'll think it's not important if you tell it to everyone around you."
"If you say so," I relented, not wanting to hear a lengthy explanation of why saying your wish out loud was a bad idea. "Though with how you're treating this I feel I need to write down something super meaningful."
"Just write good luck or something like that," Hyperion offered helpfully. "I mean it's the best general statement you could put down."
"Then it won't be meaningful if you don't give any thought to it," Apollo interjected. "Just take a moment to collect your thoughts, Haruto. I'm sure the answer will come to you."
Taking his words into consideration, I turned around and watched the interactions of the room. From how Kiana was trying to think of the best possible wish to write down on her slip paper, to Mei trying to give helpful advice on what she should write, to Bronya leading Sora to the prayer box to drop off her wish, to Keji probably giving Midori some kind of history lesson on the shrine.
…I got it.
I quickly wrote down my wish on the slip of paper. Satisfied with what I had, I approached the prayer box and slipped in the piece of paper through the opening.
"I got it!" Seems I wasn't the only one to find what they wanted to write as Kiana triumphantly held up her completed slip of paper. Marching over to the prayer box the white haired girl deposited her wish, but not without giving the kitsune statue that was looming over the box a pat of good luck.
"Alright let's go!" With our purpose completed here, we left the shrine and descended our way back down to the festival grounds below.
Yet as we made our trek we were unaware of the fact that the eyes of the kitsune statue that Kiana patted had begun to glow a faint pink.
Beloved…is that you?
"I must be dreaming," I muttered in disbelief as I tried to convince myself what I was seeing was not actually happening.
"If you are then we must be sharing the same dream then," Keji was in agreement as his green eyes were wide in disbelief.
"Impossible," Even Bronya was in a similar state of utter shock, her normally emotionless eyes wide open as she tried comprehending what was happening before us. "It's statistically impossible for this to happen."
Midori, Mei, and Sora didn't voice their surprise but one look at their faces showed that they too were in the same state of mind as we were.
And what exactly were we seeing that had us in these states of shock?
"Woohoo another victory!" Kiana's arms shot up in victory as the vendor begrudgingly handed her the grand prize of the booth. While winning the grand prize was special, it wasn't to the point that it would have us all wondering if we were still in reality.
The numerous stuffed animals that I held in my arms said otherwise.
For you see right after we had left the shrine, it was only natural that we played some festival games. We were at the festival after all, it kind of defeated the entire point of coming here if we didn't play any games.
So we decided to play some games. Nothing spectacular happened, we won some games and lost others.
But when Kiana decided to play, it was as if the trip to the shrine had magically blessed her with some insane luck. Any action that she had taken somehow resulted in her being able to breeze through these games with relative ease.
Gun shooting? It would always hit the bulls-eye no matter what she did. Goldfishing? She could gather like four of them at a time and the net wouldn't even look close to breaking apart. String Lottery? Grand prize without even needing time to think of what string to pick.
And if we were to count this booth, Kiana had now won the grand prize five times in a row without fail.
Mei looked at me, wanting an answer, and the only one I could provide her was a shrug of my shoulders. How was I supposed to give her an answer that somehow explained Kiana having the luck of a god.
Pushing Kiana's sudden streak of good luck aside, there were other memorable moments of our time at the festival.
How Bronya absolutely destroyed a basketball shooting game after the booth runner made a joke about the Russian girl's height. The poor man was left in tears after the gray haired girl spent all of her allowance to take all of the good prizes.
Essentially she made the booth unplayable as there were other basketball shooting game booths at the festival that others would put their money into as they had the better prizes.
Fortunately Mei stepped in and assured the girl that money wouldn't be a problem so she didn't have to worry about not being able to play or eat.
"Don't worry Bronya-chan, I'll be more than happy to pay for you."
"But Mei-san-,"
"We're friends aren't we? And friends help each other out."
"...Thank you…Mei-neesama,"
Or how Midori almost drowned Keji for getting the lower half of yukata wet as a result of a game. The game in question was 'Yo-yo fishing', a game which involved the player having a hook connected to a piece of paper and you had to fish for water balloons without breaking that hook.
Keji knew how to play the game quite well, his first attempt he had somehow managed to snag two water balloons with his hook. The feat was quite impressive but the mistake he made was when he decided to show off his achievements to us. Shaking it accidentally had both water balloons fall off their hook and explode on the ground.
Midori unfortunately was right next to my fellow club member, her green yukata paying the price for his blunder.
It was funny though to see Midori's mask slip as she used her Valkyrie strength to try and attempt to drown the poor brown haired boy in the tank of water that held the water balloons.
Obviously she didn't go through but this event could now be something to hold over my friend.
"Midori!" Keji cried out before his face was pushed back into the tank, "I said I was sorry!" He managed to garble out in the water.
"Do you know how much I paid for this!" Demanded the undercover Valkyrie. "And I have to go through the entire night half wet!"
"I said I was-!" His head was pushed deeper into the tank, silencing him as he focused on trying to get out of his predicament.
Seeing how she was having such good luck, Kiana decided to have a rematch with Bronya in the same game that prompted their rivalry. It was a sound idea at first, using the momentum of so many victories against the Russian girl but the white haired girl forgot one thing.
That luck could go just as fast as it arrived.
A fact made evident as the moment Kiana tried to catch her first fish, the net broke on her.
She was quite in uproar because of that, even more so when Bronya managed to get ten fish on her first try. Even if she managed to hide it well behind her usual emotionless mask, I knew Bronya was feeling smug about her second victory.
Yet as we continued to enjoy the festival and all it had to offer, one thing did not change.
That the smile on my face never went away.
"So Kiana what do you want to do?" I asked as the two of us moved away from the group. It was getting quite late and with the firework display so close and so much of the festival that we hadn't been able to see, it was decided that splitting up into pairs would be much more effective to cover more ground.
Keji and Midori would be one pair, the latter still not happy with the earlier incident as her yukata's lower half was still damp.
Surprisingly Sora wanted to go with Bronya and Mei. It was surprising to see how far the two had bonded tonight, to the point that they almost acted like sisters.
Which just left me and Kiana as the last duo.
I wasn't expecting much to do with Kiana, probably hit up some food booths or play a few games before we met back with everyone else.
"Actually Haru-senpai…" Kiana looked at the still crowded festival. Even if it was late at night it didn't look as if the people attending had gone down, if anything it looked as if it had gone up.
"Could we go somewhere a bit more private?"
I turned around and gave her a confused look when I saw the rather serious look in her normally carefree blue eyes. "Uh, sure?"
Taking the lead Kiana led us to a bridge on the outskirts of the park, where there was barely anyone present. The red wooden bridge stood over a river that looped around the park which coincidentally also marked the edges of the festival.
"Actually I need to go grab something, can you wait here for a bit?" She didn't give me enough time to answer that as she spun on her heel and bolted out of sight.
Leaving me alone on the bridge to contemplate what was going on here.
"Perhaps it's some kind of prank she plans on pulling on you?" I sighed as I heard Hyperion's suggestion.
"Must you believe that Kiana is always thinking like a child?" Berated Apollo as I could sense his disapproving stare being directed towards his neighbor. "She is not as naive as you think she is."
"Then pray tell would she would bring Haruto to some secluded spot during a festival?" They pointed out. "She's the type of person to speak her mind so what could be so important that she couldn't say it when the others were present?"
"Well-," Whatever Apollo was going to say was cut short when Kiana could be seen coming back from wherever she had gone to, which must've been very close by if she was back already. The white haired girl's hands were placed behind her as she took great effort to hide whatever she had brought back.
"...Hyperion, it's time we left Haruto for the time being."
…huh?!
Wait what's going on?! Why are you leaving me?!
"Wait, why?" Hyperion was asking a similar question. "Is there something I missed or something?"
Apollo sighed as if it was the most painfully obvious thing in the world. "Perhaps one day you'll understand, now come on."
"Wait, I want to know!" Hyperion complained as it began to sound as if they were being physically pulled by Apollo to wherever they were going. "What's so important that we have to-!"
Before I could ask what had Apollo so urgent to leave their voices completely vanished as well as their presences in my mind, leaving me alone to deal with whatever was happening right now. When Kiana had left I wasn't that this was something to worry about but by how Apollo had acted I was now having second thoughts.
Second thoughts that I had to contend with as Kiana stepped right in front of me, a smile so small but full of life as she held whatever she had brought behind her back.
"Haru-senpai, can you hold your hands out and close your eyes?" She asked me with an unusual amount of gentleness, so far from the Kiana that I was used to.
Thrown out of the loop by this sudden change in behavior, all I could do was comply with her request by holding out my hands and closing my eyes. At this point I was expecting anything to happen, that's how off guard I was by Kiana's request.
My mind was racing with possible outcomes of this situation. She could be dropping anything into my hands and that big unknown was what was scaring me the most right now. More so when I had to fight Stalker Carbon or stare down Iudex.
And the moment of truth was upon me as I could feel some sort of soft object be placed into my open hands. "You can now open your eyes now."
When I opened my eyes I expected many things to be in the palm of my hand. My mind hadn't decided what to exactly expect but I had a list of what I could possibly be holding.
A Homu Doll dressed in the attire of a knight wasn't something that I was expecting. We were in a festival so I should've seen a stuffed animal being what I got but the sudden seriousness that Kiana had created in this situation made me think otherwise.
It was a great quality Homu Doll, from how it felt to how it looked. Alongside the knight helmet that had its iconic ears sticking out of it, the homu also had a sword and shield to complete the look.
"I wanted to thank you Haru-senpai for…everything," I shifted my attention away from the homu doll and back to Kiana. I was distinctly aware that my mouth had slightly opened up as I listened to this unexpected admission by Kiana.
"I didn't have a lot of friends growing up, I moved too much to make any lasting impressions on people." Kiana clasped her hands together. "And I didn't exactly make the best impressions with certain people so I thought it was best to simply avoid trying to bond with others."
"But then I came here looking for my father and met you," She smiled fondly as she looked me in the eyes. "I didn't think I would grow so close to you that fast."
"Kiana if anything I should be saying that to you," I spoke for the first time. "Your character, your charisma was what drew me in."
The Kaslana shook her head. "You showed me more kindness than anyone other than my father, helping me settle into Nagazora, introducing me to people like Mei-senpai and Keji-san, and helping me study for Ishigami-sensei's test." We both laughed at that one, the time where Kiana was only motivated to pass through the mention of food.
"...Also for risking your life to save me from the World Serpent." The ambient atmosphere that had been built up slightly fell at the mention of that dark time. It didn't go down to the point it became stifling but it did remind the both of us what we had survived.
What we had gone through to be at this very moment.
"I did what anyone in my position would've done," I assured her. " We Nakamuras don't abandon those we cherish."
"But you risked your life for someone you've barely met for a year, you could've walked away from it and lived your life normally." Kiana's eyes grew somber. "If it wasn't for me you wouldn't have…died."
Oh, was this still eating her up? I thought she had gotten past that with how she acted around me but apparently I was wrong.
"Kiana I-," I tried to interrupt her only for a small sob to escape her. My eyes widened when I realized that tears were beginning to build in her eyes.
"I've only known you for what, less than a month? I should have been wary of you but in truth it's the complete opposite." The Kaslana had a few tears rolling down her cheeks as she poured her heart out. "When I saw your battered body after Iudex had lifted its sword up it felt as if my entire world had shattered."
At such a confession, I didn't know how to respond back as the Kaslana continued on. "I've never felt more useless in my life when you threw my body away from danger." A few tears fell from her eyes and stained the bridge we were standing on.
"Why am I so weak?!" She cried out as the floodgates opened up. "If I was stronger then you and Midori-san wouldn't have needed to risk your lives trying to save me. If I was stronger than my father wouldn't have had to leave me. If I was stronger-!"
I didn't know what it was but seeing Kiana Kaslana breaking down right in front of my eyes just made my body move on its own. My mind barely registered the fact my legs had moved before I felt my arms wrap themselves around the crying girl, pulling her close to my body.
All was silent as I held her in my arms, rubbing soothing circles onto her back. I could distinctly feel Kiana's arms reach up and reciprocate the hug with a fierce one of her own. The sounds of people could be scarcely heard with the only sounds that you could hear was the sound of crickets and the river beneath us.
After being stuck in that position for what felt like an eternity, I finally broke the silence. "Never believe that you are weak Kiana," I assured her as I held her in my arms, trying to push every single positive emotion to the girl in my arms. "You're much stronger than you give yourself credit for."
Images flashed of the journey that Kiana Kaslana partook in.
When she allowed herself to use the Herrscher of the Void's powers back in Arc City, where she pushed past the pain and sorrow that came with being the vessel of the Herrscher and saved the city from destruction.
When she confronted the truth that she was a part of Sirin, the original Herrscher of the Void. That she was the wish of a girl seeking the love of a family.
When she stood victoriously over Sirin as the Herrscher personality relinquished the authority of its powers to her.
When she defied the deluded machinations of the Herrscher of Domination, burning through the darkness as the Herrscher of the Flamescion. Flaming greatsword pointed fearlessly at the last remaining theater puppet.
"You're the strongest person I know." I truthfully told her.
After what felt like another eternity had passed, Kiana's finally arms let go of me. The white haired girl wiped her eyes as I held the homu doll that she gifted me a bit tighter.
"Now we should probably go and find the-"
"Haruto there you are!" Keji's voice filled the air. Turning around from my spot on the bridge I could see the rest of the group approaching us. Even stranger was the fact that they seemed to be in the middle of a massive crowd moving in our direction.
"Looks like they found us," I commented, unaware that Kiana was moving closer to me.
"...Haru-senpai?"
"Yes Kiana-," I turned back around to the girl in question expecting to answer something she might ask only for my brain to do a double take when the white haired girl leaned up to my cheek.
And for something soft to come into contact with my cheek.
"That's my thank you for saving my life," She cheekily responded as she pulled away with a bright smile, seemingly back to her old self.
I could feel my cheeks turn bright red as I raised a hand to the cheek that Kiana had just…kissed.
Did what I think just happened actually happen?!
Just as I was about to ask what had happened between the two of us, the rest of the group walked up to us on the bridge.
"Haruto, Kiana-chan? Why weren't you answering your phones?" Mei asked, oblivious to what had just happened on this bridge a minute ago.
"Oh you guys were calling us?" Kiana rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment as she closed her eyes, giving the perfect excuse on why we couldn't hear our phones. "Sorry we were having too much fun with the games to hear it."
I decided just to roll with it, not at all eager to share what the two of us had just gone through to everyone. "Sorry, everyone. It was hard to hear with Kiana shouting and everyone else enjoying the festival."
That seemed to do the trick as everyone seemingly bought that, well all except for Sora. "...Haruto-niichan, why are your cheeks red?" She asked me innocently.
"H-Huh?" I stuttered out in surprise, not expecting the youngest out of everyone to notice my flustered state.
"The Bronya agrees with Sora," The gray haired Russian girl looked at me with those calculating eyes of hers. "Haruto-san's cheeks are experiencing an increase in blood flow."
"Now that you say that," Midori leaned in closer as she inspected my face. "His cheeks are pretty flush right now."
"Oh?" Keji had a shit-eating smile on his face. "Did some maiden choose to profess her love to Haruto when Kiana wasn't looking?"
"N-Nothing of that sort ever happened!" I exclaimed in denial, my cheeks growing more flush as a result. Never in my wildest of dreams did I think I was going to be having this conversation. "It's just really cold, ok! This yukata isn't exactly the warmest piece of cloth okay!"
As if to prove my point a breeze of cold air swept through the bridge, having most of us hold our arms to preserve our warmth.
"Okay, okay you're right!" Keji shivered as he struggled to stay warm, looking around for something in particular. "We should really get going soon, before the firework show-".
The sound of a whistle pierced through the air before the night sky in front of us exploded into color. The explosion of colors had us all turning to look out from the railings of the bridge to the night sky alighting with vibrancy.
"...You know isn't quite a bad spot to watch this from." Keji spoke about what we were all feeling as we simply watched this beautiful display of colors dancing across the starry night sky. All around us were similar states of awe as every festival attendee had their attention taken away by these fireworks.
All anyone in the city could focus on was this dance of vibrant colors taking place in the sky.
Kuro moved her way to the window of the apartment, settling into a comfortable position as she watched the fireworks from where she was.
Ishigami-sensei was in the midst of grading a stack of papers when the first sounds of fireworks went off. Lifting his head up from grading the paper right in front of him, the teacher looked as his windows gave him a front row seat to the firework show.
With a smile he lowered the paper that he was grading before standing up from his chair and making his way to the window. Before he left the desk however he delicately placed his glasses on the wooden surface, the lens reflection catching the firework display as the clone enjoyed the spectacle.
Akhiro and Akane both cheered loudly as the first of the fireworks went off. The two loudly toasted their respective cans of beer before chugging it down as the fireworks lit up the sky.
As the firework show continued its dazzling performance, all I could think about during that moment was what I wrote down on that slip of paper back at the kitsune shrine. It was a really simple wish…
Moving my head I looked to see similar states of awe and amazement on everyone else's faces.
Yes this was my wish…
I turned my head back around to watch the firework show, enjoying the rest of what this night had to offer. I was not sure what else would happen after this night but I knew that I would cherish the memories that I would make with everyone.
To have moments like these with everyone, and have them last forever.
As Haruto and the group were enraptured by the firework show, they were oblivious to the fact that a boat with a single occupant sitting at the end of it was making its way down the river. The identity of the sole passenger was indiscernible due to a bright pink umbrella.
Yet such a bright color would have drawn the attention of at least someone, curiosity compelling them to try and identify the lone boat passenger.
That was if they could even see the boat in the first place, for all they would see was an empty river with no signs of a boat. Even the splitting of the river's waves by the boat could not be seen as it continued making its way down the river.
As if an illusion was cloaking the boat from prying eyes.
"Hmm I must admit this is quite peaceful," The unknown person commented as they moved their umbrella slightly, revealing a yukata the same shade as their umbrella adorned with sakura flowers.
"Such a mundane activity, I would've thought humans foolish to enjoy this but I can see the appeal in this." They tilted their head upward to catch a glimpse of the backside of the redheaded human that had given her a plethora of emotions to experience.
Fear.
Anger.
Loathing.
Joy.
Curiosity.
"What an interesting human you are," She spoke to the redhead, even if he couldn't hear her. "I should hate you for depriving me of my original body but yet I cannot," The still unknown speaker, who was undoubtedly female, looked down at her body.
"I found myself preferring this body that I…'liberated' from its previous owner, after your little friend awakened that brat too early." They remembered waking up in the darkness, preparing to subjugate the host they were in to be an instrument of the Honkai's will.
Only to flee at the terror that thing instilled into her as it's draconian body loomed over its host, mocking them.
They still felt the shame of having to choose to flee instead of fighting.
"Though such a plain and typical appearance is not befitting the stature of a Herrscher, " Lifting their free hand up, the Herrscher of Sentience marveled at the pale complexion of their modified skin.
Even if she was no longer connected with her original host, she still possessed some of her memories. One quick look through them gave her more than enough inspiration to fashion her new body. "Though there are certain…aspects that I found myself missing from that MANTIS' body, this will more than do."
Finishing those words, streaks of Honkai lines raced through the arm like a tattoo. Fingers twitched erratically while the arm trembled before the speaker forced the Honkai energy in their body to obey their commands.
"To deprive a Herrscher of their abilities, gifted to them by God. Have you ever heard of a greater tragedy," She shook her head in sorrow as she lowered her arm back down. Even now her entire existence was on a thin line of existence and destruction.
"My first order of business would be to reclaim my proper body, to reclaim the core that sleeps unnoticed in that Valkyrie." After all, without their core they had no means of grounding their existence in reality, forcing them to find…unsavory ways to sustain their Honkai energy levels.
A sly grin formed on her lips as she caught one last glimpse of the redheaded human before her boat would go under the bridge that he was standing on.
"But you…you are an interesting individual. Your mind is so interesting, holding two very interesting entities within, but yet…"
"Your little knowledge of the future is something most intriguing. How is it that you were able to obtain such a power I wonder?" The boat that the Herrscher was in floated under the bridge, temporarily throwing them into darkness.
"Ah I'm getting ahead of myself here, such a power is something that I must eliminate as quickly as possible." Lifting a hand up, a bright pink, almost crystalline, flower came to life, illuminating the underside of the bridge.
"But how can I get to you if you're surrounded by so many capable people that can kill me off with ease? After all, I'm as strong as a normal human."
The boat's bow exited the underside of the bridge as the still concealed vessel carried down the river, the people on the bridge still unaware of its presence. Lowering her hand the Herrscher of Sentience dispelled the flower in favor of watching the firework show in the sky.
A smirk was on her face as she tilted her head up to enjoy the show playing out in the sky. All she needed to do now was to wait.
"The die has been cast, let us see where they may fall…"
"And what chaos shall spew from it."
I didn't remember what time we came back from the festival, I just knew that it was very late and I was dead tired. I barely remembered saying goodbye to the group, dropping Sora back home, saying goodnight to both Kiana and Kuro, before flopping into my bed and letting the void consume me.
Falling into a dreamless sleep, I was fully expecting either my alarm or the rays of morning light to wake me up.
What I was not expecting was to be rudely awakened by Kiana at what felt like four in the morning.
"K-Kiana?" I asked groggily, trying to gather my bearings. "W-What's going-,"
"T-The news!" She cried out with a face that only screamed of absolute horror. "You need to see the news!"
I couldn't comprehend a possible reason why Kiana had woken me up so early in the morning just to watch some news. "W-What's on the news? Can't I just watch it-!"
"It's about Mei-senpai!"
And just like that, any pretenses of sleep deprivation flew out the window as I shot out of the bed and looked at Kiana with a grave expression.
"Show me." Was all I said.
We soon rushed into my living room, accidentally waking up Kuro in the process as I hastily turned on the television. The black cat moved to hiss but stopped once she felt the tense atmosphere that was choking the room.
The first channel to be shown when the TV turned on was the local Nagazora News Network. I waited with baited breath as I saw the news anchor turn his attention to the camera, they probably just came back from a commercial break.
This may be late at night for our Nagazorian watchers but we interrupt this nightly newscast with breaking news. As of this moment authorities have received an alarming amount of evidence incriminating one of the city's most influential people.
The screen changed and was replaced with an image of who the incriminating evidence was against. My mouth opened in horror as recognition immediately set in and told me who I was looking at. My entire body was shaking in terror as I barely recognized the fact that I had dropped the remote.
Beside me Kiana was in a similar state of horror.
"Oh no, that's not good," Hyperion's tone was dead serious at what he saw.
"...Agreed," Apollo added as his voice was a deadly calm.
No…no…why…WHY WAS THIS HAPPENING!
OF NOW OF ALL TIMES!
For the face that I was seeing was no other than Raiden Ryoma's.
"Raiden Ryoma, Head of Massive Electric Corporation, has been charged on counts of economic fraud, extortion, blackmail of international representatives, and human experimentation. These allegations come due to-,"
I tuned out the rest of what the news anchor was going to say as my mind was a whirlwind of panic and terror.
This was it.
This was why Bronya was present at the festival. I wanted to kick myself for not realizing it sooner but I knew it would change nothing. It would not change what this meant…
The story of Honkai Impact 3rd was finally beginning.
23 chapters in the making, never did I think I would get this far in terms of chapter count or in the number of people interested in this story.
I didn't think this would ever reach this sort of attention, good and bad.
It's been such a journey, and at last…
Nagazora's Final Arc has begun.
I'm so excited to write this and I hope to do this final arc for Nagazora justice. I know you've all been dying for this arc and I hope to do it justice.
How did you like Bronya's introduction? With her introduction the main trio have finally met Haruto. Writing her was a very strange process that I needed to get accustomed to, so I hope I made it as close to Bronya as I could.
How did you like the Kiana scene? I realized that I posted the last chapter like a day or two before her birthday and I hope that I did her justice. This is technically the first emotional scene any of the girls have with Haruto so Kiana gets first blood!
This is a good time to mention Chapter 22 where I had Durandal already have an 'established' bond with Haruto and I wanted to elaborate on why I did that. I wanted Durandal to have the notion that, 'She's vital for something'. It'll be explained later on what that is but I just wanted you guys to get that idea.
Some might say I'm forcing Durandal to be important but to be honest, if I added her importance after Nagazora I know you guys wouldn't be receptive to it.
Cause if you think Kiana had some scenes with Haruto…
Mei is about to blow her out of the water.
How did you like our Herrscher of Sentience scene? I know there was some confusion on this so I'll see how you guys respond to this and I'll see the general feedback on them, it'll help me out with a future arc.
Kudos to whoever can guess the form that the Herrscher has taken.
Welp that's all for this chapter. If you enjoyed it, drop a fav/follow/kudos as they really help me out with creating great chapters. Reviews are deeply appreciated and if you have a question or a really interesting theory I am more than happy to reply. Please be patient if I don't respond to you super fast. Even if I don't respond to your comment for whatever reason, know that I read each and every one of them!
Peace!