Kafka is almost here! Has everyone farmed the mats for her?

"Void." Flamescion heard her parents mutter as they saw her. She nodded her head as she stared at them with blue eyes. Cecilia and Siegfied both looked at her in confusion as she shook her head in denial.

"That's not my name." She whispered. "You have me confused with…the other Herrscher," she said sadly. This wasn't her family; this wasn't her timeline. Yet she felt the familiarity with these people that stretched beyond both space and time.

Cecilia, ever the mother she was, had already moved to meet Flamescion and stared at her with a kind smile. Flamescion smiled back as the woman who had lived in her memories for so long was now right before her. Yet she found herself not able to meet Cecilia's gaze for too long before her eyes wandered elsewhere. They moved to linger on Siegfied as tears began to form.

The Patriarch of the Kaslana family noticed her gaze and stepped forward, to stand next to his wife, and to stand before a girl not too different from his own daughter. Siegfied noticed the tear in the girl's eyes and gently dried them with his sleeve.

"Kiana." He whispered to the girl. "Is that really you?" He asked. He could tell, somehow. This girl was Kiana, not the biological one he had, but another daughter he might have raised in the future under the same name.

"Hey… Dad." Flamescion's voice broke as she answered him. It was the first time since he had left her that she had seen him. Even if he wasn't her father, he was still…. her dad.

"You look tired, Kiana," Siegfied told her.

"Yeah….I feel tired." She answered. She hadn't even realized when her body moved. She had already pulled Siegfied into a hug. She had already started to weep even more into him.

Neither of the parents said anything further. They would give her some time before she explained herself.

Void stared amused as Pom-Pom tried to figure out an answer. For the most part, so did everyone else. They were all waiting patiently to know why the conductor had allowed her aboard. She could feel the tension in the room, most of which had been caused due to Welt revealing some of her history. She could feel quite a few eyes on her, similar to the conductor.

She didn't care too much for the attention. She had no alternative plans. Instead, she opted to observe those around her more intently as well. Quite a few of these faces looked familiar to her, though some were completely new. She had questions for them, perhaps she would ask later if she remained on good terms with them.

The first person she'd talk to would be the woman with red hair. She was undoubtedly Himeko, but the lack of familiarity Himeko had shown her was… curious. She had thought her teacher would show more reaction to her. Perhaps Himeko had never met her in this world or time, perhaps only Welt did.

Of course, there was Welt himself, he was familiar with her, but he seemed older than before. Perhaps he was from a point further in time, where she had been defeated…or perhaps Kiana had survived and existed instead of Void. He held hatred for her, it didn't seem they were on friendly terms.

Next though was someone who personally put the Herrscher on edge. Serval, the rockstar who had moved the kids behind her. That blonde hair and blue eyes had made Void wary, especially since it wasn't just that, the face…it was also the same as hers, as Bianka's. Void wondered if perhaps this was the life of a Bianka that had been adopted elsewhere…or perhaps this was someone who just looked like the top Valk.

Then there was Elysia Jr. or rather March. The girl with pink hair had a vibrant personality that reminded Void all too much of the annoying elf who continuously tried to touch Thunder's horns. She seemed less flirty than Elysia but something of her still felt similar. Perhaps it was the hair, or the eyes, or the ice…it rubbed Void the wrong way.

The others didn't seem to hold that much interest to her. Two of the human kids were cute, but Void had little sisters, she knew cute. The last one though….

"Baby Bella." Void squealed when her eyes landed on the little purple dragon child. She looked like a mini-Bella, and despite Void's professionalism… a part of her caved at the site. Without warning she scooped the little girl up into her hands and hugged her tightly.

She didn't care at the looks of worry she was going to get. She didn't even consider it. Or the attempts Welt might make to separate them. She wasn't even paying attention to the 1 million volts of lightning being sent into her system by the child. She just wanted to hug the baby Bella.

"I sense a disturbance in the universe," Bella told Sirin. "It's as if my position as my queen's dragon is being threatened by another," Bella explained to the little child.

"How can you be so sure? Last time you thought big sis was ignoring you only to learn about your surprise birthday party?" Sirin noted. "You know you're too needy sometimes." Sirin sighed.

"I just want to serve my queen….is that so wrong?" Bella whimpered.

"No…but if you try serving every version of me out there, you'll collapse from exhaustion," Sirin said. "I bet you're already making plans to cook a banquet for sister Flamescion."

"I'm not," Bella said in denial. Sirin shot her a look. "Fine I'll make it a small dinner, but you know how the others eat."

"So long as you don't overwork yourself." Sirin sighed.

"I still think someone's threatening my position," Bella admitted.

"Who could possibly threaten your position? You are the most jealous dragon I know." Sirin chuckled.

"You know other dragons."

"Kurikara."

"Right….." Bella answered. Despite her best attempts, she truly could not shake the feeling. She bet somehow somewhere, there was another dragon getting cozy with her master. She didn't have any evidence, but she knew. She could feel it in her core. When she found out who, she'd crush the life out of them for attempting to steal her queen.

"VOID STOP CRUSHING MY PASSENGERS!" Pom-Pom yelled, snapping her out of her trance. Void blinked her eyes at his words, taking in her surroundings for the first time, the people who stared at her and the dragon who was turning blue under her grip. She immediately released the mini Bella, causing them to fall into Pom-Pom's arms.

"Hehe….my bad." Void chuckled in embarrassment. Her eyes turned blue without her even realizing as she nervously scratched behind her head.

"Are you sure she's supposed to be some genocidal world destroyer?" Himeko questioned Welt.

"While I admit that's not her usual behavior…I'd still rather not take any chances." Welt admitted. He then turned his attention to Pom-Pom. "As for you, I'd like an answer now please."

"Okay," Pom-Pom said. "She asked, and I agreed, and before you say anything. She has no criminal record with the IPC so she didn't seem like she was in trouble. She also didn't make any outrageous requests to me. She wants the Express's help for something that seems reasonable enough, so I agreed." Pom-Pom answered. "She uh…also threatened to hand me over to her little sisters if I didn't comply and Pom-Pom is not okay with being a stuffed toy."

"Wait…sisters?" Welt questioned. "The Herrscher of the Void doesn't have sisters." He noted.

"Correction…YOUR Herrscher of the Void doesn't have sisters." Void interjected. She then opened up a holographic display behind her. It showed a picture of her family, her parents, Thunder, Bella, Kiana and Sirin, Teri, and Kallen, and Void herself. "I do," Void answered.

Welt stared at her. His mind seemingly started to put some pieces together. He looked at her cautiously. "Who are you?" He asked. He thought he knew, but now he didn't.

"I'm the daughter of Siegfied Kaslana, the niece of Theresea Apocalypse, the rival of Raiden Mei, the successor, and sister of Sirin and Kiana. Some people call me Kiana, others call me the Herrscher of the Void, Sirin, but for most, I am simply Void Kaslana." Void answered. "Does that answer satisfy you, Reason?" She asked.

"I am so confused," March muttered. "You're their successors, but you share their names, and they are also younger than you. How does that work?"

"She's a clone of Kiana, that was implanted with Sirin's memories, she suffered amnesia and was raised as Kiana after the real one had gone missing and then she regained her memories as a split personality becoming Sirin, she then time-traveled to the past to live a normal life." Hook said.

"Uh, Hook, that has to be the most far-fetched and seemingly ridiculous way to explain her existence," March noted. "Like she's a clone that suffers amnesia and time travels with a split personality. Isn't that a little farfetched?"

"March you once imagined Pom-Pom as a mafia boss and Mr. Welt as his transforming Automation minion." Stelle deadpanned.

"That doesn't count." March quickly dismissed, her face flushed with embarrassment.

Void just stared at the little kid in shock.

"How the hell did you know?" She questioned Hook.

"Wait…what," March said in disbelief.

"Ehe."

"Alright let's do this one last time," Flamescion told her newfound family. She had gone through some of the details of her arrival, but for the sake of clarity, she was going to do one more recap.

"My name is Kiana Kaslana.

I was cloned from Sirin and Little Tuna.

For the last few years, I've been the Herrscher of Flamescion." Flamescion explained.

"I saved Arc City,

Vanquished my inner demons.

and became a hero just like my predecessors." She continued.

"But Mei Senpai still left and I lost my mentor," Flamescion said slowly.

"I've beaten the Herrscher of Domination when I unlocked this power." She told them.

"I've beaten Otto Apocalypse, with Bianka's help, and recently I was going to beat my ancestor Kevin, but things got weird." She informed.

"There was this flash of light and then everything went dark. When I came to I was on the moon and I meant the Herrscher of the Void. We fought and I uh...lost. She took me in and let me stay here while she went to find out how I got here." Flamescion said.

"Yeah…I think that's it." Flamescion admitted. "That's everything from the journey till now."

"So, it's very identical, with only a few differences," Mei noted. It was almost the exact same except there was no Void, only Kiana in the end. She frowned at this. She should be happy, but….in the end, when Kiana lived, she still lost her by leaving her.

The others didn't really have anything to take away from this. For them, it was just a different version of Void's story. Although, one of them did have something to take away from this.

"So what I'm hearing is….I have another sister." Smol Tuna smirked as she rushed over to hug Flamescion.

"And I have another Master." Bella followed suit.

"Hey," Sirin told her. "I'm still here."

"Sirin is Sirin," Bella told her.

"Why you little…"

"Alright…let's try this one more time," Void told the Express crew. "Just so we are clear on everything." She told them.

"My name is Void Kaslana. I was cloned from Sirin and Kiana Kaslana, and for the past few years, I've been the Herrscher of the Void." Void told them.

"I was kidnapped by a mad simp named Otto, and when I woke up I had a violent split personality made from years of torture and an eldritch being known as Honkai. I caused an eruption which destroyed quite a few places. Unleashed several monsters and I even killed my mentor…by accident when she tried to save me." Void explained.

"Your mentor….High me Koa." Himeko questioned as she looked at Herrscher.

"Yes," Void answered. "That's what we are going with. Or we can use my aunt's nickname and call her the red busty drunkard." Void deadpanned. "But let's continue."

"I managed to merge my different personas, accepting my demons. I defeated other Herrschers and got more powerful as a result, somewhat helping humanity in the process." Void continued.

"But despite my power…I couldn't save my Bella. She died." Void told them. "And then my rival resurrected her as someone else."

"I've faced countless challenges with numerous losses following behind. Which culminated in me fighting a man by the name of Otto Apocalypse, alongside Thunder."

"This caused me to earn the attention of Paimon, the overseer of all time itself. She saw something interesting in me and recruited me and a few others to act as her heralds. In return, I got myself a second chance at a family. Now I have that." Void admitted.

"And that was it. Everything was fine and dandy…then this other Herrscher showed up, another me, called the Herrscher of Flamescion. We fought…I won and now I have her crashing at my place while I figure out how she got here. I talked to Paimon and she said to board the train. The Astral Express should be able to find Flamescion's home. That's why I'm here." Void explained.

"And you think we'll help you, Ms. Herrscher lady." March deadpanned. "You just said you laid waste to humanity. Why do you think we'd help you after that, Herrscher?"

"I made up for all that stuff. I did help some people after all. Besides…why are you getting so testy about me a Herrscher, Welt's one as well." Void explained.

"Wait…what." March gasped, as did a few others. Suddenly all eyes turned to face Welt, who was looking rather nervous now. "Mr. Welt, is it true? Are you a Herrscher?"

"Well technically, I am, or rather I was, but I did pass my powers on to a successor," Welt explained. "Besides I never did use my powers against other humans. I fought exclusively against the Honkai." He explained. "Well, them and World Serpent."

"Maybe in this life," Void noted. "In other realities, you did succumb to your nature." She pointed out. "In my travels, I've encountered evil versions of myself and my loved ones, I even fought your evil counterparts. Lemme tell you, this time I won the rematches." Void told him.

"We're getting sidetracked." Dan Heng interrupted before turning to Void. "So you claim to be reformed and that you mean humanity no harm." He inquired.

"I never said that. I harm those who harm my friends and family. Humans, monsters, machines, it makes no difference to me."

"But you don't actively seek to destroy anyone." Dan Heng stated. "If that's the case then I see no issue with helping you."

"Wow wow …. we can't just make a decision like that." March interrupted. "We don't even know if she's telling the truth or not. She could be lying to us for all we know."

"That's a reasonable assumption," Stelle noted. "What's in it for us if we help you? For the most part, only you seem to be getting something from this."

"You're helping the 'hero' of Earth, return to her world in time to save it from ensuring destruction," Void told them. "Isn't that worth your attention?" Her eyes glanced over to Mr. Yang. "Or am I right to assume that Kiana's actions are pointless and her sacrificing herself to contain the Honkai on the moon for almost a decade is a worthless and unnecessary action?" She questioned.

Welt stared at her, trying to read her intentions. His encounters with Sirin and Kiana had given him insight to their personalities before. They weren't actors or complex thinkers. They often spoke their mind on their intentions and made no secret of their desires. If HoV was intending to destroy them, then she wouldn't dance around the topic. It was confusing.

All the knowledge he had on this opponent was contradictory to what was being presented and illogical in any other aspect. If someone wanted to deceive them, then posing as the HoV was not the likely choice. If this was HoV then her scheming and attempting to deceive them did not fit her style. That left the possibility of her being honest. There was another possibility of her being a variant of HoV and being more deceptive though which caused even more hesitance on his part. There had to be some way to solve this. Wait….

"Introduce us to this Flamescion," Welt spoke up, earning everyone's attention. "I'll meet Flamescion and then depending on how the interaction goes, we'll decide if to help you or not." He told Void.

"I figured you'd say that," Void told him as she turned to face the front of the train. Welt could feel the familiar power oozing off her as she stretched out her hand. "Let's make it quick then," Void said as she opened a portal midway through the Astral Express's path.

Welt cursed himself for being so forgetful. Of course, she was able to do this. The Astral Express was like the Cosmic Juggernaut, the Divine Key of the Void. As the Herrscher of that concept, HoV was the Master of It as well. Welt frowned as he realized just how courteous the Herrscher was being. She could have taken the train at any time she wanted.

"Not bad," Pom-Pom mentally communicated to the Herrscher. "You were able to redirect my train after seeing me summon it."

"It felt familiar to me," Void told him. "All I had to do was open a portal and the train added the extra energy needed."

"It's a conduit for my power, of course, it works with your portals. The Star Rails are basically roads through the void you command. Although, if I'm being honest, your technique was very sloppy. Everyone noticed the change the instant you opened the portal."

"I'll try better next time Pom-Pom," Void told the rabbit.

Elsewhere Silver Wolf was looking through the security cameras on the Express. She had been relaxing aboard the train while everything was going on. It was the best place to play some of her games without the lag thanks to its near-universal signal coverage.

"So that's Sirin's sister," SW noted as she glanced at the Herrscher. She had never intended to be along for the ride, but Kafka had told her to keep an eye for Elio. The Herrscher was a threat to destiny itself, according to him. She didn't know the specifics, just that Void muddled the scripts.

"Finality's Flame needs to consume the Void's End." That was the cryptic message Elio had given her. What it meant she didn't know, but she bet it was going to be fun.