A little head-up of what might be dwelled deeper in the future.
"Since we are all having fun and no worries about each other, I would like to address some serious matters with you all."
While the voice of the chibi HoTE sounds cuter, the serious tone underneath still slightly unnerves most of the audience. Especially Sirin who almost jumps a bit in fright, fearing that she's about to say something about herself.
Though it seems HoV doesn't share the same sentiment as she questions: "Really? Can't you just address them through the visions? Like what you did earlier?"
"Sometimes words are much stronger than visuals." The chibi replies. She looks around to see if anyone wants to object, and so far none wants to interfere. "It's about my introduction to you all. If you remembered my conversation with Ai-chan about 'word choices', I purposefully hid some information and straight-up lied about some so some of you won't be scared."
Cecilia immediately glances at Sirin and Benares who are slightly shivering. She raises her hand up to gain attention: "May I suggest to lead the children to another…"
"No." HoTE shakes her head.
"But…" The Valkyrie plans to say some more, but HoTE's suddenly heated glance stops her in place.
A few seconds later… and after the chibi blocks the sound of the fight before them, she starts: "You remembered that I introduced the Herrschers at the end since they're at a later date of the time. However, it's also to slightly add a dramatic effect to it."
"Slightly doesn't describe the full reaction of us." Kallen deadpans a bit.
"Still, there are two more in here that I haven't addressed yet."
Some of the Flame-chasers and the Valkyries start looking around the audience, trying to find if someone is possibly…
"And one of them is me, isn't it?" All turn to whoever just said it, and see ELYSIA who gently smiles.
"...ELYSIA?" KEVIN asks, not believing it. "There's… no way she's one… she fought with us all the time…"
"And so are the Current Era Herrschers… some of them, at least." HoTE replies while glancing at HoV and HoS who just 'hm'. "However, Ely is different from the rest of the Herrschers. She's the very first Herrscher in the history of mankind, and the only one to be born Herrscher."
ELYSIA's smile is as bright as ever without falters. Though the others feel a bit uneasy about this revelation. Especially the Flame-chasers, who have fought with her, many were even 'tamed' by her personality…
"Mei-senpai…" HoO turns to a worried HoFi. "Did you know about it while you were with the World Serpent?"
"I did. But it was a bit too late. If things went a bit smoother, maybe the Elysian Realm would still be saved…"
"It's no wonder…" APONIA places her hand on her own heart and addresses. "Your thread of fate is different from the others…"
"I don't really mind it." EDEN, unsurprisingly, giggles and slowly twirls her wine glass. "Elie is Elie, there's no changing it."
"I guess it makes sense. Sometimes she didn't really act like a normal human."
"I will take it as a compliment, SAKURA."
"...Given how friendly the Current Era Herrschers are…"
"We are not." HoV and HoS denies.
"And Miss Raiden…" SU addresses HoO that way to avoid confusion with Doctor MEI. "Said that ELYSIA contributed to them gaining humanity, I don't see this information as problematic as before."
"That's why I left it be, until now." HoTE concludes. "If I introduced her as Herrscher from the beginning… I don't like dealing with the mess after it."
"...An in-fighting would happen." KOSMA predicts.
"Yep. Anyway… not related to Herrschers stuff. It's about KALPAS. The Recorders had a suspicion that he's not from Earth."
That information does surprise many, but not from Flame-chasers themselves as MEI answers: "We don't really have any records of his past before he found him. And without him, I don't think we can even come to the idea of Project Ark."
"He did come alongside a falling rock." MOBIUS snickers a bit evilly. "If he's an alien, it might explain how he can handle SAKURA stabbing him through the heart."
"...After seeing her getting stabbed…" Sakura points at the fight. "Then that feat doesn't sound so astounding."
"It's still something any human without healing regeneration can't do." Welt comments.
"You rebuild your entire body from scratch. You have no right to speak about that." Siegfried snickers.
"Wow. So Herrscher of Reason can do that? Incredible!" ELYSIA being ELYSIA.
"That… does come with the next Herrscher… and Otto, many hated you for what I'm about to say."
"...I accept that I'm being hated a lot at this point." The Overseer sighs. "One more won't fix my reputation."
"At least you still have a heart." It's Bianka who defended him. "If not, you could just throw humanity into darkness."
"The end justifies the means." Rita adds. "While some of what he did is indeed evil, what happened after it did bring some goods."
"...That depends." Chibi HoTE throws her hands in the air. "Do you remember about the final Beast future Otto bested before reaching the tree?"
"That's not something you can forget easily." Younger Theresa sighs.
"Don't you think that one looks similar, if not the same, to the Honkai Beast that killed Kallen?"
That freezes the nun and the maiden for a couple of seconds before they turn to Otto who just sighs. "I understood why everything happened the moment I saw the vision."
"...You knew the Honkai Beasts would come?" Kallen questions with slight venom in her voice.
"I released them. I worked with my sister to make a plan to help you escape." Otto reveals, and he receives a hurtful look from his only friend. "You did nothing wrong and you knew that! You could just…"
"That's enough." The attention's back to the Chibi. "We need to know the past not to drown ourselves in it but to avoid repeating the same mistake. And besides, if the others were in his position, they would try the same thing or even worse."
"...You have gone through that, haven't you?"
"Not me, HoV, but someone close to me. And I was the one who had to finish the job they left behind… unfortunately."
"What's worse than him sacrificing everyone to save someone?" HoS is not convinced. "Yeah, he did save somebody along the way, but it was for…"
"How about dooming the entire universe including themselves?" That immediately stops her, with many others shocked. "A bit derailed there. Otto, this is the mark that directed your life afterward. Almost all your actions are to bring her back from the dead."
The Head of Apocalypse nods, feeling the heavy burden on his back from the future… before he notices one word: "Almost. Not all?"
"Does 'looking after your granddaughter in your childish body' sound like a part of that plan?" HoTE narrows her eyes while speaking with a blank voice.
That causes Rita to let out a small giggle. A question mark appears over Otto's head as he has no idea what the chibi is talking about.
"Anyway, back to this matter. Year is 2000."
Now the flinch's clearly visible.
'Cap, she's scared.'
'Better now or later.' The chibi replies through telepathy before saying out loud: "Otto doesn't mind whom he should use for his experiments… as you knew, Kallen."
A small pop of realization as some turn to the Sirin trio who look very uncomfortable about it…
"Stop staring at them." Surprisingly, it's HoV who calls for the others' attention before she glares at the chibi HoTE. "You just have to bring this up."
"Like I said in the Discord call." Chibi shakes her head then turns back to the audience. "The Second Eruption happened at that time. The Herrscher of the time is titled Herrscher of the Void…"
Those who don't know are about to point at HoV…
"And it was Sirin."
The action's stopped.
"Sirin and Bella were two kids among many more being experimented in the Tower of Babylon which is under Schicksal control. And speaking of Bella… She's the only one being pulled from the dead to be here temporarily."
With the first statement, some give the girls apologetic looks, some send hatred to Otto, some say put since they believe the girls have enough grief to deal with. With the later one, though, all eyes open as wide as possible.
"...You can revive people?"
"Not in the truest sense, Kiana." The chibi denies HoFi's comment. "I can only bind souls to bodies. If you think it sounds like necromancy, it is."
"Can you bring anyone back?"
"Technically, Bronya (young). However, the price is… I suppose you can guess."
"Then… the body I'm in now…"
"You can stay put, Bella. Things like this are why I'm still around to deal with. Anyway… Otto's experiments don't always end with successes, which is not something I will blame him for. But…"
"...That's the last straw." Sirin finally speaks, though her voice is shaking. "If you ask me to forgive them, I won't."
"Your head might be screwed if you do that." HoS agrees, unsurprisingly. "He did way too many evil things to be forgiven."
"But blaming everyone is not the right thing to do." Kallen interjects. "Not everyone is evil."
"Each has their definition of 'evil'. And since you guys know how the Honkai works, Sirin accepted its power and became the second Herrscher which marks the Second Eruption of the Current Era."
The chibi stops for a moment so everyone can swallow the information.
The PE Crew, predictably, doesn't react much except ELYSIA who gives the girls comforting headpats. Though they definitely understand the pain the children endured and sympathize with them.
Otto, upon hearing the story from a different perspective, realizes how low he had stooped just to save Kallen. But given the two Herrschers who show clear disdain to him, he's afraid that it's not the lowest point.
The young Kiana is anxious. Thanks to the 'private call' between the Kaslanas, she found out what she is, and she's hoping that in the future she doesn't have to suffer… too much.
"That's not the worst part, I'm afraid." Sieg adds. "Want me to continue this part?"
"If you can." HoTE gestures for him to go.
"Mind your words." Older Siegfried warns.
"...Well, before that, I want to apologize to you first." The younger version turns to Sirin and slightly bows down. "What I am saying next is just to state facts, nothing more nothing less, and I don't mean to upset you."
Sirin is a bit taken aback due to how unexpectedly formal he is. But, a second later, she nods for him to continue.
"It's about the fight between Welt and Sirin. I didn't see much, but I can tell that he's about to defeat her. However, a clown backstabbed him and stopped him from… finishing the job."
"And given the first vision we watched…" Welt confirms. "It's Otto who did it to protect her for his own causes."
"...I know I'm at fault here, but may I ask why I need Herrscher of Void's power? That won't bring Kallen back."
"At the time…" It's HoV's turn. "My previous form carried multiple gems including one of the Herrscher of Death. That's what you were after."
"And you caused the Old Timer to lose her memories too." HoS grunts, very displeased remembering the pain.
"Hate all you want, but do so on the right people."
No one objects.
"Benares' origin is a Honkai Beast Dragon, although she does have a fragment of Bella's soul that Sirin gave her, therefore giving her a human form as well."
"...Is it why Benares looks similar to Bella?" Younger Theresa questions, which earns her a nod from HoTE.
"There are a lot of concepts of souls throughout the history of humanity. Which one are you using?"
"Fundamental ones, PROMETHEUS."
"I would prefer to be called Bella."
"Will try, but we also have Bella here." HoTE replies, much to Benares' slight annoyance. "On that note, Red Seele is usually called by Veliona between us to differentiate the two in one sentence."
"Veliona…"
"You know that name?" MEI notices KEVIN narrowing his eyes, probably thinking about something.
"...It's a bit off-topic, but..." Instead of answering her, he glances at a certain Sea of Quanta traveler and asks: "Miss Seele, the Stigma you have there, was it…"
"Sorry, but that's for another time." HoTE interjects.
"I think he wants to ask if mine is natural or not." The girl guesses, but both KEVIN and HoTE shake their heads.
"Getting back to the subject. Kiana…" The chibi looks at the K-423 clone who is shifting in her seat, then to Durandal who just finished another bite. "Durandal, I know you two already talked with the other Kaslanas, but can you… Not this again."
The Chibi suddenly groans, so everyone's expecting another person to be teleported to their place and landed on her. What they don't account for is the portal being opened above Otto and dropped said person into his lap.
The man himself is caught off guard as well, though his reflex allows him to hold the person back from bouncing off him and to the ground. He looks up to see the portal disappearing, then back downs and has a double-take at the person's hair color and style…
"Amber?" Overseer Theresa addresses in surprise.
"Madam Theresa…" The girl replies back…
"Just Theresa is fine, we're not at work."
The girl nods, then looks around to see many faces, then she stops at Kallen who's looking at her curiously. "...Where are we?"
"My office." HoTE Chibi floats in front of her while introducing. "This is Amber, and to make it short, she's another of Otto's granddaughters, so to speak."
Upon hearing the name of the Schicksal Overseer, Amber turns her head back to see him gently smile at her. She then realizes how she gets here and quickly gets out of him: "My apology, Lord Otto. I should have…"
"There's nothing you can do to avoid it." Otto calmly states, stopping her from apologizing for what she didn't do. Then he turns to the Chibi and asks: "Why me?"
"Not my idea… actually, she can do the work for me." After realizing why Amber's dropped at the moment, HoTE suggests. "Miss Amber, can you tell us about the K batch?"
"...The K batch?"
"Sorry, I don't know the name. Kinda based on the name to call A-batch and K-batch…"
In response to that assumption, both Theresa throw their respective Oath of Judah towards the chibi, pressing her into the ground.
Amber blinks behind her visor when she turns her attention to the two Headmistresses. Upon seeing the girl's confusion, the younger explains: "She's asking about how we are made."
"...I don't believe I have the authority…"
"Or she's gonna tell us anyway." The older one interjects as she walks out and picks the chibi up. "She just wanted others to do the dirty jobs."
"I would like to phrase it as 'let them reveal their true selves', thank you very much."
"...Lord Otto…"
"Just Otto is fine. I'm not the 500-years-old me. And take a seat too, no need to stand for that long."
Amber is slightly confused of how Otto calls himself, but after seeing that the asset is akin to a theater, and everyone is relaxed, she takes the note and sits down next to Kallen.
"Well, for starters…" Siegfried suddenly walks to Otto and gives him a whack on the head. "I know it's your future, but it's you."
"Fair. Though I thought you would hit harder."
"Like I said, it's your future. Besides, my daughters and their friends kicked his *BEEP* so it's all good."
"...What should I say?"
"Truth, Amber." Older Theresa suggests. "No need to hide. At least we won't be able to kill each other." She then sees Amber pointing at the fight behind the screen. "Ah, don't worry about it. Those guys are tough."
Noticing that the rest is also carefree of the matter, Amber drops it and starts: "It was after the Second Honkai War ended. Mister Siegfried went back to work for Schicksal in order to raise Kiana. Lord Otto tried to analyze her DNA genome to find out what gave him the power to win against the Herrscher but to no avail."
"I don't think you can analyze 'sheer will and determination'." Sieg jokes.
"Scientists had, are, and will try." Einstein follows with a smile.
"Years later, he tried mixing Sirin and Kiana and creating clones to benefit from their power. All failed until K-423 woke up…"
"And it's me." Kiana says with a very low tone that only Mei and Bronya can hear, with the two hugging her to comfort her mood.
"Siegfried was aware of her existence and tried to bring her out of the research facility with his daughter. However, during the escape, Kiana fell off the plane and was then retrieved by Schicksal."
"Fell off…"
"It's technically true." Chibi interrupts in Siegfried's words. "Well, she did fall off after Schicksal attacked, but yeah."
"...Your casual voice makes us concerned about your sanity."
"I think I reached the level of insanity not many want to deal with, MEI. Amber, please continue."
"In twenty-ten…"
"That operation killed everyone in my squad." Himeko stops drinking and joins the conversation. "We had a capture-or-kill order on the Schicksal 'traitor' while retrieving 'a valuable subject' for the organization."
"Like Miss Himeko said, Lord Otto ordered the Assault Squad to capture K-423 and kill Siegfried since he is a threat to his plan. However, the Herrscher power awakened and killed all but one."
"Since no one around was strong enough, I had to seal her power off with my left arm as the cost." Siegfried adds. "And I believed that it's better to stay away from her since my presence might trigger the re-awakening again."
Otto pinches his nose bridge while thinking about the chains of events he heard so far. Except the Previous Era, everything going after Kallen's death seems to be caused by his own hands alone. He knows he's not a good person, and he's definitely willing to do anything to bring her back. But not once did he stop after five hundred years, and in those five hundred years he didn't find a solution?
Unless he found that last one, but it could only perform after years…
"...Don't you think it could make Sirin come back if you weren't there?" Younger Kiana takes a deep breath before asking Siegfried.
The older man hesitates for a moment, not because he can't tell, but because he has to choose the words in order to not make them out-of-context…
"It's not something a simple explanation would suffice, unfortunately." Chibi answers the question for him. "You can't expect one to make all the right choices in their entire life. That's just not possible. Besides, his reason did have merits."
While not satisfied with the answer, she understands and backs down, not wanting to push it… then turns to the Major and asks: "Aunt Himeko, did you know…"
"No ideas. I thought you're just the Kaslana kid like everyone else… Now thinking about it, Madam Principal. You said that she's 'very special'..."
"Sorry for hiding the truth."
"At least that one didn't bring too many problems."
"Are you naive?" HoV interrupts. "Think a little further, would you? If…"
Her own chibi suddenly floats up and blocks her mouth, stopping her from continuing the sentence.
Although that slightly alerts the Major, fearing to know about the future…
'...Discord time again. Should I talk about her?'
'Oh! She was a very good General in my era… but she became the Herrscher of Fire. Is she the same in Current Era?'
'No. But I'm thinking if I should talk about why she's not with the future group?'
'...That would break her.'
'I'm aware of it, HoV, you almost did that… Maybe you can tell her later.'
'Shouldn't it be better for Kiana to do so? Her Herrscher version I mean.'
'...Ai-chan?'
'I'm with sir Welt in this one.'
'Me too.'
'Then later.'
"I suppose it's for now. I want to put those details out for a while already."
"We're returning back to the usual then." Adam says, then notices that the fight before them is slowing down. "Are you done fighting KALPAS and Miss Seele?"
"Yep. They're out of steam for now." The Chibi replies, just in time for the real her to carry the exhausted Flame-chaser and Scythe-user over her shoulder back to the group.
"Do you need help to fix it?" HoTr offers.
"No need." The chibi flicks her fingers, and in the middle of the ashed battlefield, a huge clock appears and starts rewinding the time of the area, returning to its stable state.
"If any Herrschers have this sort of ability, I think humanity is doomed."
"Which is why PROMETHEUS also played a part in the Current Era's situation, Lyle."
Back to the PE group, after being placed down, KALPAS looks at his comrades and grins a bit. "Been a while since I have fought like this. Did I miss something?"
"ELYSIA and Sirin are Herrschers." HoTE replies, much to the others' slight horror, given how violent he is.
"...Hm, makes sense."
"Oh? You are not mad?"
"You are not normal, ELYSIA. You are the only one approaching me in the earlier days. And that kid? Already had some suspicions, but they behaved like normal kids so I didn't do anything. And I doubt her…" He points at the real HoTE. "Would let me do anything to them anyway." KALPAS then notices Amber and asks SAKURA about her. After the latter explains, he just nods in acknowledgement.
"Thanks for your consideration." The fake Herrscher nods. She then places Red Seele next to Blue Seele then places her chibi version up to her shoulder. "There are still more things I want to say, but I think it's better for you guys to talk about it with each other instead of me narrating it."
"That's so reasonable." Tesla sarcastically says.
"That's not my call."
"So what's the next one?"
"That's…"
A beeping noise interrupts HoTE's answer to Carole's question. She excuses herself and heads to the table to check what's going on… and what she's seeing makes her narrow her eyes in suspicion.
"Cap?"
The False Herrscher raises one finger to gesture to the Navigator to keep quiet for a moment. That alone is enough to put some on alert.
After a few seconds, HoTE pulls out a phone and starts dialing a number. Once the call's through, she answers while applying a Silence spell in order to stop others from listening to her conversation.
Although that didn't stop the audience from seeing how she reacts. First it seems to be a normal conversation and she talks calmly. Then, to their amusement, she starts narrowing her eyes with disdain written on her face, and after a few more seconds, she starts shouting soundlessly with comical gestures that clearly tells that she's a little pissed.
The call ends after a minute, and HoTE puts the phone down, lets out a soundless curse then deactivates the Silence spell.
"What is it?" HoS asks curiously.
"Just my other-other-self warning about the otherworlds' problems. Don't worry, it's just stupid stuff, he can do it himself."
"Other-other-self? Really? How many 'other selves' do you have?"
"At the moment, Adam? Two. Anyway, the next vision is coming up now…"