Certainly has been awhile lol. If you want to know why I haven't updated in forever please read the author's note at the end of the chapter. But other than that…
Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Honkai Impact 3rd
Somewhere in the wilderness of Japan, in a dilapidated building that had seen better days, were two people who had called it home. There they did not have to fear any prying eyes or unwanted visitors as the building that they had taken up shelter in was located in a lush forest, far from the reaches of civilization.
The isolation allowed them to focus solely on their mission.
Within the middle of the run-down building, uncaring of its state, was a nun who was on her knees and had her hands clasped together in prayer.
Gabriel was deep in prayer, loudly voicing it. "Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for this new day you have granted us to-"
Slurp
The rude sound interrupted the Herrscher of Binding in her prayer but she paid no mind to it as after a moment of silence she diligently resumed her prayer.
"...today. Gracious for you to bless us with this beautiful day and-"
Slurp.
The obnoxious sound interrupted her again but she would not allow such interruptions to stop her. She opened her mouth to resume…
"And-"
Slurp.
But…
"-And-"
SLURP!
Having had enough of being interrupted, the eye covered nun slightly moved her head and gave a disapproving look to the source of her distraction.
"Are you done?" She calmly berated the cause of the noise.
The recipient of her disappointment was sprawled nonchalantly out on a cardboard box, purple eyes filled with boredom as she held onto the origin of the Herrscher of Binding's distraction.
A steaming cup of instant noodles.
"What?" The short haired woman replied in faux hurt, her tone as innocent as she could muster. "I'm eating over here."
And as if to either prove her point or infuriate her, her fellow Herrscher began to eat her meal with her chopsticks, slurping very loudly that Gabriel resisted the urge to shake her head at. After a few days of being in this era with her partner the ash white haired woman quickly learned that she had the equivalent attitude of an unruly child.
Any other person would've snapped after having to deal with such behavior but not Gabriel. She was a woman of the cloth, she would not so easily be annoyed.
And so with the patience of a saint the Herrscher of Binding did not choose to say anything, merely returning her attention back to finishing her prayer.
Thankfully the short haired woman had chosen to remain silent in her eating as the nun finished up her prayer. It had been a routing procedure for the long haired woman, kneeling with her hands clasped together each day as she prayed to her god.
"You sure you don't want some?" The purple haired woman offered as she eyed the cardboard box filled with the instant noodles that she had found earlier that day. "It's pretty tasty."
Gabriel gave the box a barely concealed look of disgust at the offer. "How can you enjoy eating such…filth? And how are you sure that they are safe to eat? This building has been long abandoned by civilization."
The other woman just shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly. "I mean there wasn't any mold when I opened this up so it's pretty much safe to eat. Besides, we Herrschers can't die from food poisoning…I think? Actually now that I think about it could we die from food poisoning?"
"We do not require food or water to survive, all that we need is provided from our Heavenly Lord." The nun stated with a tone of absolute certainty. The short haired woman felt the urge to say some sort of witty response but decided against it at the last minute. She had an inkling the conversation that would've followed would not be a pleasant one.
So for the sake of avoiding a confrontation and passing time she decided to talk about something else.
"...So you done…with whatever the hell that is?" She asked as she lazily motioned to what was happening in front of the kneeling nun.
Just a few feet in front of Gabriel was a giant golden projection of Earth. Hovering over the globe were the chains of Judah, the spear tips slowly moving all over the surface.
This had been the main reason why the two of them had taken residence in the dilapidated warehouse, to locate whatever it was that they were looking for. In truth the dark purple haired woman had absolutely no idea what her fellow Herrscher was hoping to find.
Making long term plans or elaborate schemes wasn't her forte, she much preferred finding whatever the problem was and punching it in the face. She'd leave all that tedious stuff for her partner
"I am attempting to use the Oath of Judah's tracking capabilities to locate a suitable honkai power source for you." The nun replied as the chains of Judah continued to search the replicated globe of the world. On the surface of the globe a purple mark would appear but disappear in a matter of seconds.
"Surely it can't be that hard to find one?" The short haired woman asked as she threw away her now empty cup of instant noodles behind her shoulder.
"Perhaps if I was at full power but that is not the case," Gabriel replied as she focused her attention on assisting the Divine Key. "The defenders of this era are much better equipped than the adversaries we once fought against, they have adequately cloaked their bases and any locations that might possess a suitable power source for you will no doubt be heavily under guard."
"I'm sensing a but here…"
"Not even the greatest cloaks can hide from our heavenly lord's eyes, we need only to be patient." The ash white haired woman stated in a manner of fact. "And should it be defended then they shall be reminded of their place."
The purple haired woman grinned at the nun's final statement. "On that we agree on," After saying that a yawn escaped her lips.
"You continue doing that then," The short haired woman said as she moved her body to lay her back on the cardboard box she was sitting on. "Imma take a nap now."
Gabriel said nothing in response as the short haired woman made herself comfortable on her spot, eyes closing as the sounds of the Oath of Judah working quickly lulled her into a dreamless sleep.
The snowy lands of Russia, Siberia was a place that had earned a fearsome reputation in Schicksal. The tundra was the battleground where the Herrscher of the Void, Sirin, had both awakened in and had fought against the full might of Schicksal.
It was here that Schicksal learned first hand how destructive the Honkai could be, how powerful their opponent was even with their rapid advancements in technology and methods in fighting them. Even when they boasted legendary Valkyries like Cecilia Schariac or Siegfried Kaslana they had narrowly avoided defeat.
For it would take the almost absolute devastation of Siberia in order to take down Sirin, leaving it a complete wasteland that could in no way sustain life.
But all was not lost for the tundra as Schicksal was in possession of a piece of technology discovered from the Previous Era that could work miracles.
The Key of Rejuvenation.
Created from the core of the Herrscher of Wind, the Divine Key was a satellite that orbited the Earth. Its main purpose was not to destroy or apprehend the Honkai but rather was a platform designed to heal lands that had been corroded by the effects of the Honkai.
Schicksal thus used the Key of Rejuvenation in order to heal the scarred lands of Siberia, turning it from the wasteland that it was and back to the snowy tundra that it once was.
But even restoring the land back to its former glory was not enough to hide the scars that it had been inflicted. Many people that had once called the snowy lands home lost their lives when Sirin awakened, only a few surviving and when the land had been turned to a wasteland the survivors quickly found themselves trapped in an apocalyptic place that they used to call home.
Anarchy quickly followed as any semblance of society within Siberia crumbled as factions were formed and made their bids to claim the destroyed lands as their own. Infighting led to more deaths and led to the creation of many injustices.
It had only been recently that the international community had begun to attempt to install a sense of order back into the divided lands, with organizations like Schicksal and Anti-Entropy, spearheading the effort.
And that was where the 5th Valkyrja Squad found themselves stationed at, a village that had been recently liberated by Schicksal. An insurgent faction had once called the village home but were driven out by Schicksal's Valkyries and as a result the innocent villagers finally had a semblance of peace back in their lives.
There was no guarantee however that the insurgents might come back so Schicksal had decided to deploy their latest asset to supervise the defense effort.
Hoverinbg above the village was the snow covered hull of the Hyperion. The floating battleship that was armed to the teeth sent a clear message to any who could see it flying in Siberia's airspace.
Any who attempted to harm the villagers would be met with the full might of the battleship.
Down below the vigilant watch of the floating battleship Valkyrja Squadrons were patrolling the village, making sure that its citizens knew that they were safe and protected. It would take some time for them to trust outsiders again, but their presence was a step in the right direction.
And currently the 5th Valkyrja Squad was doing their best to endear themselves to a certain demographic of the village population at the center of the village.
"They will rue the day that they challenged us!" A grinning Kiana dressed in protective Schicksal winter clothing shouted as she held up a sizable snowball in her hands. Behind her were kids in similar outfits as they held up their own snowballs.
"Yes they will!" They roared behind her as they stared down their opponents, which was another Valkyrie Squad that also wanted to help indulge the kids.
"Oh will we?" The lead valkyrie playfully taunted, getting the kids riled up as they were itching to throw their own snowballs as well.
The white haired Valkyrie grinned savagely before she turned around to her legion of soldiers. "Yes you will, SHOW THEM NO MERCY!" With that snowballs began to fly through the air as a snowball fight that the kids had never before been seen was waged at the village square.
While Kiana was leading what was essentially the Schicksal's first ever snowball war her two teammates were off to the side entertaining their own groups of kids.
"How are you enjoying the hot chocolate?" Mei asked as she handed a cup of hot chocolate to a kid. She had set up a table serving various personally baked cookies and hot chocolate that she knew the kids would love to enjoy on a snowy day.
And she was right when the kid that she handed the hot chocolate to took a sip from the cup, their features brightening up at the taste. "It's so good big sister!"
The dark purple haired Valkyrie smiled appreciatively at the kid's words, patting their head in an affectionate manner. "Thank you. Be sure you finish your hot chocolate and maybe you can get some seconds okay?"
The child quickly nodded before they went to join their friends, who also had cups of hot chocolates of their own. Mei smiled warmly at the kid before turning her attention to the line of kids who wanted their own fill of hot chocolate.
And not far from them was the final member of the 5th Valkyrja Squad who was currently being surrounded by her own group of eager children as they watched in awe as Project Bunny put the final pieces of what she was building together.
"Woah!" The children shouted in awe as her mech placed the final piece of the snowman that now towered above them. "It's so big!"
"The Bronya is adept at making snowmen of this size." The petite Valkyrie smiled at the kids as Project Bunny hovered back to her. "Would you like to help decorate him?"
"Yes!" The kids cheered.
Bronya nodded as she threw a look at the undecorated snowman in front of them. "Very well then we shall-"
But before she could finish her words a snowball suddenly landed on her face. The excited energy of the kids around her quickly died out as the temperature around the former Valkyrie in training plummeted as she slowly wiped the snow off her face. Whipping her head in the direction of the snowball's trajectory, her gray eyes narrowed as she looked for the perpetrator...
And immediately found who it was when every kid in her field of view pointed accusingly at her white haired teammate.
"It was big sister!" They cried out in unison, feeling no embarrassment whatsoever that they were snitching the Kaslana out.
"Hey I thought we were cool!" Kiana cried out in betrayal at her supposed 'comrades' surrounding her before her face paled when she locked eyes with Bronya, whose current expression was so cold that the temperature of the tundra that they were in paled in comparison.
"Idiotika," Was all Bronya emotionlessly said, a dead look in her eyes.
Kiana had been around her teammate to know that she had royally screwed up. Holding her hands up in peaceful surrender the Kaslana slowly began to back up, a multitude of reasons resting on the tip of her tongue on why she should be spared. "B-Bronya I can explain-"
But Bronya was clearly in no mood for mercy. No, she was in the mood for something else.
Retribution.
"New plan kids," The petite Valkyrie interrupted as Project Bunny floated behind her, somehow carrying a massive snowball that they retrieved from out of nowhere in its mechanical hands.
"First one to get Idiotika gets Mei nee-san's delicious chocolate and peanut butter chip cookies."
"Traitors I tell you!" Kiana screamed as she began to run away from not only the kids on Bronya's side but also the kids that were also supposed to be on her side as they tried to pelt her with snowballs in an attempt to claim the prize as theirs. "You're all traitors!"
Whilst the 5th Valkyrja Squad were spending quality time with the children of the village they were tasked with defending their leader was currently sitting in the warm and cozy confines of her captain's quarters within the Hyperion.
"Honestly you would think that they were on vacation with how they're currently treating the patrol that they're supposed to be on," Himeko mused as she watched a laughing Mei be used as a human shield by Kiana as the kids began to gain on the Valkyrie. It was comedic to see the Valkyrie who could face Honkai beasts with little fear to be afraid of a bunch of kids with snowballs.
"Though I'm glad that they're enjoying their time here, especially with all that's been happening recently." The redheaded major mused as she leaned back on her captain's chair. From having to fend off a rogue branch of Anti-Entropy and World Serpent, getting promoted to B-Rank Valkyries, to having Theresa hospitalized by a never before seen double Herrscher summoning, and now having to be deployed to the notorious snowy lands of Siberia.
That wasn't adding to the fact that this was the place that both Bronya and Kiana had lost their parents. When Himeko had first learned that this was where they were to be deployed she was worried for her students.
She was very glad that the trio was making the best of the current situation, she had seen too many Valkyries allow the stress of their lives to get to them and have them make rash decisions that would cost them their lives.
The major was unsure how Kiana and Bronya were really doing and was tempted to ask them. However she decided that she would refrain from doing so as it might unintentionally step on a very sensitive topic.
"If only time stopped for this moment how perfect everything would be right now," The redheaded major wistfully contemplated before she pressed a button on her chair's armrest. Seconds later a familiar, grinning bright green haired A.I was projected in front of her.
"Status report Ai-chan." The Captain of the Hyperion ordered as she leaned attentively forward from her seat.
"Of course captain!" Ai-chan saluted which caused a groan to leave Himeko's lips. It would take some time getting used to being called that. A silver lining was that she could hold on until a permanent captain could be found for this flying battleship.
"All systems are working in nominal conditions. The temperature regulation system experienced a slight malfunction due to Siberia's extreme weather but a quick fix solved that problem. We don't have to fear our supplies running out for at least three more months." The battleship AI reported.
"Good, good," Himeko was so glad for Ai-chan's existence. She could only imagine the splitting headache she would have if she had to micromanage every system on the Hyperion. "Have there been any new developments? I'm sure that there had to have been something interesting to be picked up on our sensors?"
The green haired AI nodded in confirmation. "There is," Waving her hands Ai chan created a projected map of the nearby geography. On the middle of the map was the village that they were currently stationed at and quite a distance away from it, nestled in a valley, was a giant red marker. "The Hyperion has detected strange energy fluctuations in this location not too long ago. At the moment we cannot identify what the energy is."
That piqued the Major's interest. "The World Serpent?" She asked, knowing that there could only be a handful of organizations that had technology that the Hyperion could not identify.
The AI shrugged her shoulders. "The location of the energy signal is too far from our sensors to get an accurate reading and even if we were to be in range the geographic structure of the valley shields it."
That could be quite a problem. Leaning back into her chair Himeko pondered on what her next course of action should be as Captain of the Hyperion. The most obvious course of action was to send a team into the valley and investigate the source of this unknown energy signal. She did not want to be caught off guard if it was something that could endanger the lives of not only her fellow Valkyries but also the village they were defending down below.
At the same time there was always the possibility that this could all be some giant ruse meant to draw the Hyperion away from the village. It was without a doubt that the peace the village was enjoying was mainly due to no one being stupid enough to challenge a flying battleship.
There was also the possibility that the two Herrschers that had Schicksal on high alert could be there as well. It was a low possibility, but a possibility that Himeko was not willing to gamble on.
After spending some time weighing the pros and cons of each possible choice of action she came to a decision. "Keep an eye on it for now, it's not an active threat to us at the moment." Himeko decided. "But the moment something does happen regarding it, notify me immediately."
"Understood Captain!" Ai-chan saluted before she disappeared into motes of artificial light, leaving Himeko alone in her Captain's quarters.
With that out of the way the redheaded woman decided now was a perfectly good time to take a well-needed break. "Now with that out of the way…" Standing up from her chair Himeko left her quarters and began to make her way down the hallways of the Hyperion, looking for an old friend.
"Where the hell was the bar in this place again?"
While the 5th Valkyrja Squad was knee deep in the snowy lands of Siberia the 6th Valkyrja Squad was also knee deep in snow of their own at the Schicksal base in Coral City. Though the snow that they were trudging through wasn't the white fluffy substance that fell from the skies.
But rather one that every person in the world dreaded.
Paperwork.
"You know when I heard that we would be deployed for another mission I expected something a bit more…" I spoke up from my desk, not taking my eyes off a report that I swore had already gone over an hour ago. All around me were various stacks of reports that I had either already gone through or still had not looked over.
"Dangerous? Layla said from her desk near me. The usually spunky sniper had an expression of utter exhaustion on her face. Being stuck on paperwork duty was the worst nightmare come to life for my teammate who preferred the unrestricted outside.
"I was going to say exciting but yeah let's go with that." I said as Layla lightly slammed her forehead on her desk before loudly groaning. "Honestly this is a nice change of pace for us. Most missions we go to end with us fighting something that Valkyries in training should have no business in fighting."
"Yeah it's nice and all for a change of pace but really?" My teammate motioned to the office room that we were currently and would spend most of our stay in while we were stationed in Coral City.
"This?"
It wasn't like we were stuck inside the office. We still went on patrols and partook training exercises with other Valkyries but the majority of our time was spent in this room, sorting through various Schicksal reports. Anything ranging from logistics, to debriefing reports from Valkyrie Squad leaders, to even daily reports from Valkyries assisting citizens.
It was definitely a duty that one wouldn't think Valkyries would have to perform. Just went to show you that being a Valkyrie wasn't all about swinging your weapon at the bad guys.
"Valkyries aren't always fighting Layla-san," Mashu admonished from her desk nearby, possessing her own stack of papers. Though unlike the sniper's messy workspace the shielder's was organized and neat. "Most of the time they're either training or doing administrative work like we are."
"Oh please Mashu we all know you're ecstatic to be here. Something to do with the fact that we're working with your big sis?" The black and green haired Valkyrie teased, really emphasizing the last two words, which got a noticeable blush out of Mashu.
"N-No it's nothing like that!" She denied as she tried to hide her embarrassed expression, not like it did much as we all knew the reason why a smile could always be found on her face ever since we began our stay in Coral City.
"There's nothing wrong with expressing joy in seeing your sister, we aren't admonishing you for it." Fu Hua teased from her desk, a small smile on her face as she joined in the bandwagon of getting our shielder as flustered as possible.
The Schariac's face got so red that the tips of her ears were a noticeable cherry red. It even looked like steam was beginning to emit from her ears as she rapidly shook her head in denial. "I-It i-isn't like that at all! I-Its just I haven't seen her for a long time and-."
"Which is why you screamed out "Ana onee-san" the moment we were greeted by the Snow Lotus Squad?" I interjected, setting down the report that I had been reading. "I admit it caught us all by surprise. The usually reserved shielder of the 6th Valkyrja Squad running ahead of us and throwing her arms around the surprised leader of the Snow Lotus Squad?"
The reminder of how she had greeted her sister got a laugh out of all of us, minus Mashu who was covering her face with her hands in a failed attempt to try and hide her face.
"Y-You were just seeing things!" She denied in hopes that we would move on from her rather memorable greeting and onto something else that didn't involve embarrassing her.
But her silent plea would go unheeded as during the reminiscing someone had silently let themselves into the room and made their presence known by placing a hand on the shielder's shoulder before adding her own contribution.
"Were we?" Ana Schariac grinned as all eyes landed on her, including Mashu's horrified ones at her sudden arrival. "If I remember it correctly you were crying, "Onee-san its so good to see you again!" while your tears were staining my uniform."
One could tell without much effort that Ana Schariac was Mashu's older sister. Possessing the same eye and almost hair color, Mashu's short hair had more of a magenta blend in it while Ana's long hair had a bit of white blended into hers'.
"Onee-san!" Mashu cried out in utter embarrassment, weakly hitting her hands on her older sister. By the laugh that escaped Ana's lips the effect that the younger sister was hoping for was having very little success.
Fortunately the older Schariac took mercy on her young sibling as she reassuringly embraced Mashu's head. "I jest, I jest," She said as she untangled herself from the embrace before addressing the rest of the room. "How's the paperwork treating you today 6th Valkyrja Squad?"
"Save me from my suffering." Layla answered for us as she sent her best puppy eyes impression to the captain of the Snow Lotus Squad. "I will forever be in your debt if you spare me from this torture."
"Is that so?" Ana's magenta eyes took on a mischievous glint as she heard those words. "Well if you plan on honoring your word I'm sure that I can have you guys sort through less paperwork during your stay here."
"I promise!" With the chance of no longer having to do paperwork Layla placed her hand on her heart and schooled her features to the most serious expression she could muster up. "I, Layla Gunnhildr, swear on my life that I shall honor my promise to you."
Ana giggled before she mirrored Layla's expression. "Then I Ana Schariac, captain of the Snow Lotus Squad, relinquish you and the 6th Valkyrja Squad's desk duty. Sieg Schicksal."
After saying that the captain's serious facade broke before she started to giggle at the absurdness of the turn the conversation had taken. Very soon the entire room started to chuckle at the situation.
"...You know Layla-san you didn't have to make that promise." Ana said after we stopped chuckling, much to the confusion of the sniper. "One of the reasons I originally came over was to inform you guys that your desk duties would be over after today."
Layla's face dropped at the sudden revelation but before she could say anything the ash blond captain swiftly turned to face me.
"Come Haruto-san, your training with me starts soon."
In addition to our other responsibilities that we had during our stay in Coral City Ana had taken it on herself to host individual training sessions with each member of the squad, minus Fu Hua for obvious reasons. The way she had chosen when to train who was by taking into account how many days our stay in the city was and how many of us were there.
And no one had objected when Mashu had asked if she could be the first to train under her older sister.
Now it seemed like it was my turn to be trained by the older Schariac sibling.
Nodding I tidied up my desk, deliberately ignoring Layla's groans of embarrassment from earlier, before joining Ana as the both of us left the room and began to make our way to the training grounds.
It was silent between us as we walked through the halls of the Schicksal Base, passing by the various staff of the base. It wasn't like we were trying to make the walk awkward, it was just hard to strike up a conversation between two people who had never met before.
Eventually it was Ana who would break the ice. "Tell me Haruto-san, do you know why your squad was placed under my supervision?" She asked me.
"Not really," I answered her honestly. "At first I had assumed initially that it was due to Mashu being on my team but I don't think that would be reason enough for us to be stationed here."
"She's my little sister, of course I would be overjoyed to have her work alongside me." You would have to be a deaf person to not hear the pride that was in the Snow Lotus Captain's voice. It only took a few hours after arriving in Coral City to know just how much Ana treasured Mashu.
And how much she liked to dote on her, especially in her public, but that's a story for another time.
"But I lack the authority to make such a placement. Remind me to thank Durandal-sama when I see her next time for this." Her last sentence had me widening my eyes as I looked at her in surprise.
"So it was Bian…Durandal who was responsible for this arrangement?" I asked, catching myself from saying her personal name in favor of her Valkyrie name.
"Yes and I am glad beyond words for what she's done for me." We walked out of a pair of double doors and into a field dedicated for training Valkyries. At the moment the training grounds were currently empty, meaning that we had the entire field to ourselves.
"However it wasn't just for me, as a matter of fact your squad's deployment here was mostly because of you actually. A favor that Durandal-sama asked of me." She revealed as we walked over to a rack of training weapons, grabbing a wooden spear and handing me a wooden sword.
"Me?" I asked in confusion as I accepted the training sword from her.
"Tell me Haruto, do you know what makes the Schariac bloodline so special?" Ana asked as she gave a little twirl of her spear, showing off her expert martial skill with the polearm.
"Something to do with honkai control?"
"You've got the basic idea of it down." She said before she began to explain her House's ability. "You see, the Schariac bloodline has the ability to control the powers of honkai in a manner that technology or other notable bloodlines like the Kaslana are unable to achieve. Our abilities are numerous in application but one in particular allows us to help others control their stigmas, natural or artificial. We can help them be more attuned with it like we are with our stigmas.
I pieced together where she was going with this and how it related to a certain problem of mine that was tattooed on my shoulder. "You plan on helping me with my stigma then."
"Yup," Ana confirmed as the two of us began to walk towards the middle of the training field. "Though from what I've gleaned from Fu Hua-san and Durandal-sama you've already made remarkable progress with unlocking your stigma already."
Over the months since I had 'inherited' my stigma I had gotten enough control so that I could readily use its abilities without much difficulty. However as impressive as it was it felt like I had hit some sort of wall when it came to improving my mastery with it. Growth had become slow and Fu Hua had assured me that it was normal for Valkyries to hit a 'ceiling' with their stigma abilities.
But I knew there was so much more I could do with golden stigma, I knew firsthand the power behind it.
It was just the matter of figuring how to get to that point.
"Progress isn't defined by how groundbreaking your next milestone is, its defined by the meaningful steps you take in the name of progress." Ana wisely spoke as the two of us stopped in the middle and I had a feeling that with her help I would cross that next threshold.
"Don't worry I'm the best when it comes to this," She said assuringly to me as the two of us now faced each other.
"So how do we go about this?" I asked.
"Easy!" She yelled before she swung her spear at me with little to no warning.
"We fight!"
Fighting against Ana Schariac was definitely an uphill battle, but one that wasn't completely hopeless. After having fought against the likes of Bianka and Fu Hua the Snow Lotus Captain was certainly less skilled than the two of them which
But she was certainly an opponent you could not underestimate. I remembered in the game that only a small handful of A-Rank Valkyries were considered for the S-Rank Promotion and Ana was one of the top contenders.
And it certainly showed as she certainly put me through the ringer. While her mastery with the spear wasn't anywhere near Bianka's caliber it was still impressive.
After an hour of intense sparring the two of us were sitting on some bleachers off to the side, sweating and panting as we took the moment to collect our breaths.
"C-Certainly no slouch with that spear," I complimented before I took a massive chug of water from my bottle.
"And your stigma is certainly something else," She complimented back. "I don't think I've seen one of your caliber yet."
Since she was helping me out with it, I had wanted to use the abilities of my stigma as much as I could. With most of my abilities relating to projecting different types of weapons I had to diversify my training so that I was able to wield a spear just as well as a sword.
Luckily my stigma allowed me to be more creative with my choice of weapons. I could remember Ana's shocked face when I had summoned a baseball bat and had used a hammer as my ball to fire at her.
"Were you able to learn anything from our spar?" I curiously asked.
"A bit but I don't think any of it will be useful for you." Ana said with a disappointed expression. "I can't really explain it but I can sense your stigma but at the same time I can't. It's…really hard to explain."
"A pity then," I lamented softly. A small part of me felt disappointed that I would not have the chance to learn more about my stigma and that I would be stuck where I originally was. If there was any small consolidation to be had her words further cemented the fact that the golden sword emblazoned on my shoulder was no ordinary stigma.
"Cheer up!" The ash blond haired Valkyrie assured as she patted my shoulder in assurance. "While I may not be able to provide you much help with your stigma I can teach you some exercises that I do to improve my honkai control. Who knows, maybe it'll help you in the long run!"
I smiled in gratitude for the Schariac's words. "Thank you Ana-san,"
The two of us sat in silence as we collected ourselves from our spar. I thought that after a few minutes of letting our bodies rest the two of us would either continue to spar or we would be wrapping it for the day.
But it seems that Ana had different plans in mind.
"Haruto-san…I-!" Ana suddenly said in a manner that had me looking at her in worry. Since my stay in Coral City I got a pretty good glimpse of who Ana Schariac was as a person. To sum it up I would say that she was the polar opposite of Mashu. While the shielder could be reserved and lacking confidence in certain actions, the Snow Lotus captain was very vocal and was always brimming with a confidence that inspired her teammates and those around her.
Yet her tone of voice was the farthest thing from the confidence I associated with her and more in line with Mashu whenever her insecurities crept up on her. "I…I wanted to give you my most heartfelt gratitude."
I paused from taking a swig from my water bottle, giving the captain my full undivided attention now. "For what?"
"For being there for Mashu when I couldn't, for you and your team giving her a family to call her own." She answered with a forlorn tone, her expression darkening at the end of her words.
"A family?" I asked, unable to figure out what she was talking about and the sudden shift of her once jovial mood. "But she has you and your parents doesn't she?"
I expected her to laugh off my very dumb question but all she did was give off a bitter laugh instead. "We're actually half sisters but that's never mattered to me at all, she's my younger sister who I would do anything for…my parents on the other hand don't share the same love I have for her."
"Haruto, do you know anything about the Schicksal's Einherjar Initiative?" She asked.
"The what initiative?" I inquired, having no idea what she was referring to.
"I figured, it's not exactly public knowledge." With a tired sigh Ana set down her water bottle, closed her eyes, took a deep breath, before she began to explain.
"As you know Schicksal is humanity's steadfast defender against Honkai, anything less than our best means the extinction of our race. In the pursuit of avoiding that future the organization has done things to do things that some would say are abhorrent to humanity."
I nodded to what she was saying, having an idea of what she was talking about. The experiments that had to be done in order for the Valkyrie Program to be created, the lives that had to be taken in order to perfect the artificial stigma. Schicksal had many dark secrets that would make anyone sick.
And with how Ana was going with this conversation I was dreading to learn of what this Einherjar Initiative was and how it was connected to my teammate.
"The Einherjar Initiative was created after the events of the Second Eruption. Many Valkyries were lost during that conflict, our most notable coming from my house, Cecilia Schariac. The high council feared that the third Herrscher would awaken soon and having lost many valkyries the possibility of Schicksal being unprepared for the next threat was too high.
"So they created the Einherjar Initiative as a result." I guessed.
She nodded, confirming my suspicion. "The initiative called upon any children that possessed a relation to the three great bloodlines. Even if you were distantly related by a few generations you were still called upon by Schicksal to see if you could unlock the latent powers of the honkai in your blood. The high council promised those that could get riches they could never dream of and as a result many families applied with the hope of claiming those riches. With so many applying to the initiative the council hoped that a large number of kids could awaken their stigmas which meant they could quickly replenish the Valkyries that they had lost."
I could admit that it sounded like the best plan that the council could move forward with on paper. Should the third Herrscher have been destructive as Sirin and Schicksal had not fully recovered from the losses in Siberia then it would've led to a catastrophe that humanity potentially might have never been able to recover from.
But I knew that it wasn't as simple as that. Natural Stigmas were a rarity in this day and age so it was with a slowly growing pit in my stomach that I continued listening to Ana.
"Yet the procedure that was done to awaken the stigmas had dire consequences for those who couldn't awaken them or simply did not have one in the first place. Many children returned to their homes scarred, many of them possessing deformities that would forever change how they lived. Some even died during the tests."
"And no one stopped this?" I asked in horror, though a small part already knew the answer to my question.
"It's hard to stop something if you don't know it exists. The Einherjar Initiative was a secretive program that only the high council knew about. I could only imagine the public outrage that would have ensued if knowledge of it was known." She explained.
I could imagine it too, after all despite how powerful Schicksal was it was still an organization created to defend humanity and you couldn't really do that when you were despised by the entire world.
But that brought up a confusing factor in all of this. "Then how did you know about it?" I asked, not knowing how Ana had come across this information. Even if she was a very capable A-Rank Valkyrie that wasn't enough to gain access to this sort of information.
In response the Schariac faced me and gave me a bittersweet smile.
"Because that's how I met Mashu, the lone child to awaken the Schariac gift and the only one to pass the Einherjar Initiative."
Back in the dilapidated warehouse Gabriel was currently resting, the inactive Oath of Judah next to her. It was hard to tell if she was merely resting and gathering her strength or actually asleep due to the metal mask that covered her eyes.
Nearby her accomplice was laying her back on a row of wooden boxes, absentmindedly throwing a ball up in the air before catching it in her hand. After a few minutes of performing the mindless repetitive task of catching the ball in her hand the purple haired woman decided that she was bored and sought to change that.
"So I have a question for you Gabriel," She said as she caught the ball one final time in her hand before mindlessly throwing it to the side, uncaring of where it ended up.
A few moments of silence passed and it seemed as if the other Herrscher was currently asleep but that was not the case as the nun answered back. "Yes? How may I be of assistance?"
"If you don't mind me asking how exactly did you die?" The short haired woman bluntly asked, uncaring if she was treading upon a touchy subject. "I find it hard to fathom that you, the Divine Judgement of the Previous Era, could die. Especially with your bullshit field that nullifies practically any energy attack that could harm you."
The purple haired woman was expecting a fast response from her calm and composed companion. What she got instead was a period of stifling silence that made the woman know that she had just unknowingly stepped onto a sensitive subject.
Opening her mouth the Herrscher of Binding gave an answer.
"...The spirit may be willing but the flesh may not. We both know this to be true, especially you."
"..." The other Herrscher was silent in response to the answer she had gotten, hitting a very sensitive spot for her. Knowing exactly what her partner meant by those final words she was unable to stop being hit by a string of nostalgic memories.
The sound of the ocean's waves softly crashing on the beach's shores.
The fruity smell of flowers.
The distinct sweet taste of ice cream
The sight of the morning sun rising up from the horizon.
The soft cozy touch of being embraced by-
.
.
.
The sounds of screaming.
The metallic smell of blood.
The taste of ash on her tongue.
The sight of someone's skull being crushed underneath her fists
The feeling of being burned alive.
.
.
She could vividly remember what was going through her mind before she had been entirely consumed by the voracious flames.
.
"CURSE YOU! CURSE YOU! CURSEYOUCURSEYOUCURSEYOU!"
Pulling herself out of the trip down memory lane the short haired woman irritatingly clicked her tongue before snapping her head back to face the ceiling. "Tch, you've got that right."
Little did she know that her holy companion had gone through her own trip to memory lane and if she were to pay attention to her she would notice how tightly the nun's hands were clasped at the very moment.
The mood of the room had gotten to a point that any attempt at conversation would be moot so the short haired woman decided to close her eyes to try and get some sleep. Closing her purple eyes the Herrscher quickly found herself asleep and without meaning to fall into a dream that was reminiscent of once pleasant times.
"Hello? My name's —. What's your's?"
"..."
"That won't do, you need a name like everyone else…."
"Hmm… how about-?"
It was weird for Bronya to be back in Siberia. Even if it had been years since she had last stepped onto the snowy lands she never forgot the landscape, her mind unable to forget the divided country with numerous divisions vying for supremacy.
It was here after all the Silver Wolf Of Urals was born.
And even if it had been so long since she had last stepped foot in these lands Bronya still remembered it all as if she had never left in the first place. From the frigid temperature to the light fall snow, it was as vivid as the first memory she could recall.
The mind may forget but the soul never did.
Being back in Siberia opened up a can of emotions that the former child soldier knew that she would have to confront sooner or later. What would result from that was something that she was not looking forward to but at the moment she pushed it away and focused on the task in front of her.
"A World Serpent Base? Are you sure Ai-chan is correct Himeko-sensei?" She asked as she, Mei, and Kiana were following behind their teacher with their weapons at the ready. They were currently traversing a dark cavern tunnel with their only sources of light being their flashlights and Project Bunny's headlights.
"They're the only organization that possesses the technology to hide from Schicksal's scanners and with how hidden they are it makes sense that they would choose a geographical favorable location for one of their bases." Himeko replied as she continued to trudge forward in the darkness, her massive claymore at the ready.
It was only a few hours ago that the 5th Valkyrja Squad had returned from their routine patrol that they had been briefed on their sudden new mission. The Hyperion had been closely monitoring the location for some time, unaware of what the energy signal its scanners had picked up was and out of an abundance of caution their leader had decided that it would be safer to wait and be ready to react.
And it was only when a massive burst of energy had rippled through the mountain did Himeko decide that the Hyperion needed to be mobilized. So after making sure a sizable force of Valkyries were left at the village to defend it the flying battleship made its way to where the base was supposedly located and was currently providing overwatch as squads of valkyries began to investigate the inside of the mountain.
Putting her hand up to her ear commpiece the red headed major began to speak. "This is Captain Himeko, all squad leaders, what are your current statuses?" Static was all she got in response and when she repeated her words a second time the result was the same.
"Himeko-sensei the Bronya believes the squad has gotten so deep into the mountain that the Hyperion is having trouble maintaining our connection. The World Serpent might also have jamming technology that might still be active and contributing to the lack of communication with the Hyperion." Theorized Bronya.
"You're probably right," Muttering a small curse under her breath their squad leader gave them a small smile. "It looks like we'll be without backup for awhile then, so you keep your guards up girls."
The three of them nodded in determination. This was nothing new for them. After all, it had only been less than a couple of weeks since the three of them had been alone in the deepest tunnels of St. Freya, sneaking behind enemy lines with little hope of backup if they were to be discovered.
All they could rely on were each other.
"Understood sensei." They said in unison.
Himeko nodded before turning her attention back forward.
"Good, then let's continue onward."
They continued to walk in the dark for an unknown period of time. It was quite hard to keep track of the time in your head when you were almost completely bathed in the darkness and were straining all of your senses to try and detect the faintest hint of an enemy that might be slithering in the shadows.
Bronya found it strange and very suspicious that the only noises that could be heard was the sounds of their footsteps and dripping water falling from the ceiling. No noises of other people, whether they were from friendly valkyrie squadrons or that of potential enemies could be heard. Not even the sounds of a rodent could be heard.
It was as if this entire mountain was just dead, containing nothing within its cavernous labyrinth.
That changed when Himeko abruptly raised an enclosed fist up into the air, signaling them to stop. With military precision the leader made a series of hand signals that was received perfectly by the three of them, leading them to tighten their grips on their weapons.
The signal that Himeko had given was that a room was up ahead, potentially filled with enemies.
With a nod signaling that they were ready for a fight Himeko was the first to surge into the entrance, quickly followed by the rest of them as they brandished their weapons in an intimidating show of force. The number of technical equipment and monitors that Bronya initially saw made the Valkyrie know that this was a command room, no doubt having a sizable number of guards at the ready.
Though that assumption was quickly debunked as what the 5th Valkyrja Squad saw had them lowering their weapons in confusion.
The command room they were in was full of people…that were all lying on the ground.
"They're all…sleeping?" Mei commented in confusion as she looked at the unconscious bodies of the people in the room. They were all found in different positions, some lying on the ground, others slumped back in their chairs, there was even one unfortunate soul who had somehow fallen unconscious in what appeared to be a trash can.
"Mei onee-san is correct," Bronya confirmed as she had Project Bunny conduct a scan on every sleeping body present. "Everyone appears to be in a deep sleep state. Cause unknown."
"Woah could that be the reason why?" Kiana pointed, having everyone shift their attention to the opposite side of the command room.
There on the opposite side of the command room, entombed within a frozen prison, was a massive Honkai Dragon. Its size was so big that it was equal to the length of the room and even then it seemed to be bigger. In front of the frozen dragon were various excavation equipment and computers that seemed to hook up to equipment attached onto the dragon's icy prison.
Had they been trying to free the dragon? Did they have some sort of plan that involved it?
"That's the Judgement Beast from the Second Honkai Eruption isn't it? Benares was what it was classified as." Himeko's hazel gold eyes were wide open in recognition and surprise. "But if that's the case what the hell is it doing here?!"
Bronya eyed the now identified Judgement Beast with a look of surprise and apprehension. . This Honkai Beast had been the second largest threat during the Second Eruption, just under Sirin in terms of power. She had heard of how it took the combined strength of Schicksal's top Valkyries to contest and eventually defeat the beast.
It being here was not a good sign.
"The Bronya thought Benares had perished during the Second Eruption." She voiced her suspicion out loud.
"Officially it was declared MIA after it took what was reported to be a fatal injury. Command deemed it had perished considering its wounds and the destruction that was inflicted to Siberia at the end of the Second Eruption but it's clear that it didn't die." Himeko frowned as she eyed the frozen Benares with apprehension, as if she was expecting it to suddenly come to life and break free of its icy prison.
And despite how far the 5th Valkyrja Squad had come in terms of strength, they were nowhere near ready to fight against a Judgment Beast.
"...Well there's nothing we can do now that it's here." The red haired major turned to the gray haired petite Valkyrie with a serious expression. "Bronya can you hack into the main terminal and see if you can dig anything up of what they were planning here. Also see if you can get a communications channel open with the Hyperion so we can inform them what we've discovered."
Then she turned to Kiana and Mei and issued their orders. "You two are with me as we investigate this room. I doubt that dragon is the only surprise we'll be discovering here. Be vigilant you three."
The three of them nodded before going to accomplish their various tasks. Moving to the biggest computer terminal available to her, the Russian Valkyrie began to work her magic on hacking through the terminal's database.
It wasn't easy, the numerous complex firewalls within the system's mainframe made it easily the hardest system that she had to hack through before but it wasn't impossible. Slowly but surely she was making her way through the system's defenses.
Whilst her fingers were busy flying through the terminal's keyboard the rest of her team was carefully investigating the room, inspecting every inch of the room in the hopes of figuring out the cause of the room's current state.
"None of them are waking up even when I hit them on the shoulder." Himeko muttered confusedly in her kneeling position near an unconscious World Serpent soldier. To emphasize her point she lightly smacked the man's shoulder to try and wake him up but to no avail.
Standing up, the major saw that Kiana and Mei weren't making much leeway either with their own investigations. "Bronya, what's your progress? Gotten through the mainframe yet?" She asked as she turned to the last Valkyrie.
"Not yet Himeko-sensei," Bronya answered without looking away from the screen in front of her. "But the Bronya has been able to determine that Benares is not the cause of everyone's current state, she hypothesizes it is a victim as well."
"But if that's the case what is it then?" Mei asked from her side of the room. "And why have we not been affected by it?"
The gray haired Valkyrie was about to give her fellow teammate a possible hypothesis of why they were all awake but before she could open her mouth her hacking attempt had decided to bear some fruit for her. On the screen in front of her a video file had been opened up.
It wasn't titled anything informative that could be used to discern what the video was about and there was the possibility that this could be a trap. But her curiosity was too great to disregard this possible clue so she allowed the video to play.
"This is the Captain of the operation site reporting in." In the video, standing where Bronya was currently at, was who she presumed to be the one in charge of the World Serpent Operation. "As per your request Commander Hare I will be recording the tests conducted on site and forward you the results of each one of them. Over and out!" The video ended, leaving Bronya in a confused state.
Commander Hare? This was a new name for Bronya to hear originate from the World Serpent. It could just be that this commander was just low in terms of standing within the organization which could be a reason why Schicksal didn't have any information on them.
Yet the Valkyrie had a feeling that wasn't the case for some reason she couldn't explain.
Before she could question it any further another video file opened up and without much hesitation the hacker played it.
"Commander Hare this is the video report of Test #3. We've gotten some leeway in accomplishing the objectives you had for this site. It's as you suspected commander, we've managed to detect an Imaginary Realm within the slumbering Judgement Beast and have successfully opened a gateway into it. The next tests we will run will be to determine if Project Stigma can be carried out in the manner you suggest Commander Hare. Over and out."
"Project Stigma?" Bronya thought to herself in growing confusion at what she was discovering. With each new video more questions were being given to her then answers. Just like the name Hare, Project Stigma was another name that she was hearing for the first time.
Even after they were all briefed on the Hyperion on all the information that Schicksal had managed to uncover about the World Serpent it was clear that there was a lot that they didn't know about the organization.
Another video popped up and this time Bronya believed that this would be the final one. She had been paying attention to the titles of the videos since the first one had shown up and she had made the realization that the date of when they were filmed were included in the titles.
One look at this new video's title revealed that it had been shot before the giant energy spike that notified them of this location.
"T-This is-ack!" This time the captain that was normally calm and professional in relaying his reports was now frantic and disheveled. Behind him was a scene of chaos as people behind him were in disarray, "C-Commander Hare we've run into a problem! While we were investigating the Imaginary Realm within Benares something happened that caused all of our safety measures to be destroyed!"
"We've managed to activate the final failsafe to prevent it from spreading but by the time it activates it'll be too late for the rest of us here. I know that you'll want to investigate this but for your safety please don't cross the yellow boundary line!"
From the corner of her eye Bronya could see the yellow boundary line that the captain was talking about. Even though the final failsafe had not been activated in time to spare everyone in the base she now realized that it was the sole reason why they had not been affected by the incident.
She was about to relay what she had discovered to her squad only for her gray eyes to widen in horror when she noticed Kiana about to step over the line.
"Kiana!" She yelled out frantically, hoping to stop her in time. "Don't cross the line!"
Confused, the Kaslana turned her head to her and opened her mouth to ask what the problem was, only for her foot to land on the opposite side of the yellow line. Instantly her eyes rolled up to the back of her head and she fell to the ground unconscious, unable to hear the panicked shouts of her squad as they called out for her.
One moment Kiana had heard Bronya yell out to her in warning and in the next she felt her body hit the floor.
Instantly she scrambled her body up, her fists at the ready for a fight.
However once she got to her feet and scanned the room, her arms swiftly dropped from their boxer stance while her blue eyes widened at what she saw.
For she was no longer in the icy cavern that held a trapped honkai dragon with the rest of her team. Somehow, someway, she had found herself transported to some sort of alien realm that seemed to be ripped right out of a sci-fi film.
She was standing on a floating rock amidst a field of what had the appearance of an asteroid field shaped in a massive ring. Amidst the center of the ring was a massive fractured tower. Its appearance seemed to convey a distorted image with how the fractured pieces were floating in the sky and how its spire seemingly reached to the heavens themselves.
And while the sight of a massive distorted tower in front of her would've had anyone feeling tense but for Kiana Kaslana that feeling was also mixed with this sense of…familiarity.
"Why does this look familiar?" The white haired valkyrie thought to herself as she wracked her mind on why this massive citadel looked so familiar to her.
"Oh I remember now it was on that test we had before we left!" She realized out loud before she closed her eyes and tried to recall the knowledge that she had thrown out the moment she had handed the test over to the instructor. "Think Kiana think! You don't want to disappoint Mei and Haru-senpai!"
After much mind-wracking a lightbulb appeared over Kiana's head when she finally found her answer. "I remember now it's the Babylon Labs!"
The Babylon Labs had once been located in Siberia and it had not only served as the birthplace for the Herrscher of the Void but it also had been where the Second Eruption had ended. Ever since Siberia had been leveled there had been no attempts in rebuilding the laboratory, probably out of some fear of some sort of curse that the Herrscher of the Void might've placed on it.
But if that was the case why was she seeing a distorted version of it? Was there some sort of secret meaning behind it all?
Kiana could've spent a long time pondering on it but she decided that at the moment that wasn't her priority. Her priority at the moment was to find some way to get back to the 5th Valkyrja Squad and sitting around wasn't going to get her any closer to that goal.
And there was only one place in this strange realm that potentially had a solution for her.
So unable to do anything else Kiana began to make her way to the Babylon Labs, unknowing of the revelations that were waiting within for her.
It definitely took her a while to find her way to the insides of the tower but luckily there were enough closely spaced asteroids that she used them as a makeshift bridge to enter the tower. Once inside the labs the interior mirrored the exterior, with many fractured sections suspended in midair in various elevations.
There were various cracks that allowed Kiana to peer into a seemingly endless pink like void. She didn't know what would happen should she happen to lose her footing and fall into it and the valkyrie wasn't exactly in the mood to test it out.
So carefully the Kaslana navigated her way through the distorted Babylon Labs, patient and cautious just in case there were things lurking within.
Though after a while things took a turn for the worse for Kiana as after some time had passed navigating the labs she hadn't gotten any closer in discovering a means to get back to the others.
None of the computer terminals that she came across couldn't even turn on, her phone had no cellular to use, and any forms of writing were ineligible to her.
By the time that she had wandered into what looked like a prison that she finally lost her cool and in a fit of anger kicked a metal box near her with all her might, creating a loud bang.
"AAH!" A frightened scream of a girl resounded through the room, stopping Kiana right in tracks at the realization that she wasn't alone anymore.
Carefully she made her way to where she had heard the sound, fists raised in anticipation of a fight. Though the closer she got she lowered her arms when she realized that she had nothing to fear from the one who had screamed, if anything it was the girl that screamed was more afraid of her.
There in a prison cell, hiding under a bed, was a girl whose eyes were barely peering out of the shadows. When fearful blue eyes noticed that she had found them the girl made a small scream before retreating into her hiding spot.
"Hey don't be scared," Getting down on one knee so she wasn't as intimidating as before the white haired Valkyrie made an attempt to defuse the situation. "Everything is going to be alright now."
"Y-You're a stranger," The girl shakily replied, not coming out of her hiding spot. "She said not to trust strangers."
"Who's she?" Kiana asked.
"M-My b-best friend." The girl replied back.
The Kaslana would have applauded her friend's sound advice but that was not time for it. "That is true but maybe we don't have to be strangers for much longer. Would you like to be my friend?" She asked with a soft and inviting tone.
When silence was all she got Kiana decided that she didn't get a no and went further with it by extending her hand out in invitation.
"My name's Kiana Kaslana, what's yours?"
More silence passed before some shuffling was heard under the bed. Moments later the small girl slowly left the safety of the underside of her bed, revealing her steel gray hair and blue eyes. The sight of the child's appearance struck a chord in Kiana but why?
Why did she feel this powerful sadness when she saw this girl?
"B…." The small girl introduced herself so softly that Kiana wasn't able to hear it. Luckily she repeated it one more time as her hands tightly clutched her clothing that looked like what a test subject would wear.
"My name is Bella."
So it certainly has been a while huh? Its been around 2 months since I've last updated and a small percentage of it was intentional. Though the biggest reason why I haven't updated in forever was due to so many irl stuff happening.
Around a week or two after the last update my Spring Semester was starting back up so I wasn't really writing that much in preparation for it. But then I got sick for two weeks and I couldn't concentrate on writing so that was two weeks gone.
Then a week after that I learned that me and my family was moving and that was the main reason why I didn't update. We were just so busy packing everything up and looking for a new home that I had no concentration to write at all. Then after we moved most of the furniture we had was super old so we had to buy new ones and assemble it all which took alot of time.
But another huge reason why I haven't updated in so long was due to the plot of the main story of Honkai Impact 3rd. If you have played the newest chapters you know that a huge chunk of it is akin to sitting in a college class and nodding your head dumbly to the new info being presented to you which seemed like every five minutes.
I knew that the entire plot of the new chapters wouldn't go exactly well with this story and so I had to brainstorm/come up with what this fic's Finality Arc would be like. After much thinking and deliberation with my Beta Idea Tester vladbucur1997(The person that I practically storyboard off of) we think we have a pretty good idea what that finality arc will look like.
But unto the update itself. The main focus of this chapter was to focus on characters that haven't had it before, both old and new. What did you guys think of the end of this chapter? Were you expecting it? XD
Don't expect a new chapter soon(Maybe that could change) but who knows with what life will throw my way.
I noticed that people were asking for where I was and I was tempted to make an update to tell you guys where I was but apparently that violates the rules of FFNET so if you want updates follow my twitter ChaldeaLord.
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, they're the biggest motivation to keep writing, 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! PMing me is the best way for me to respond to your questions.
Peace!