Damn...this is a few days after Kiana's birthday. Sad, but, oh well. I've been busy with school and stuff so yeah...but I'm almost done, so yay. Now here's the story.

"Well, we're here." Void told Flamescion as they came through the portal. Flamescion's eyes widened as she took in the sight of the building before her. How many years had it been since she last saw this place?

"Our house," She whispered. It was snowing but Flamescion could still make out the building under all the white powder. Memories of a life that had been taken started fluttering back to her. "How did you?"

"I bought it a while back." Void explained. Since she altered the timeline, Siegfried never had to go on the run. He didn't need to move around, and he most certainly didn't need another house in the middle of nowhere. The Herrscher had been fine with that. They were family but they didn't have the same experiences with this place as she did. Still, perhaps she was getting greedy, salvaging whatever she could from her past.

"Sometimes whenever I need to cool my head, or just want some privacy, I'll come here." Void explained. There was also the fact this was also her personal residence where she could clean up after a fight with Thunder without setting off Cecilia. The Kaslana matriarch understandably didn't want the little baby to get normalized to the idea of fighting too brutally like Herrschers, especially since she wasn't as resilient or in possession of a healing factor.

"So why are we here now?" Flamescion asked. As nice as it was to be back home, she felt strange and outplace here now. All those familiar memories had been tainted by the knowledge of what she was and what had happened. She may have accepted it, but she still felt discomfort.

"To clean up." Void told Flamescion as she walked to the house and phased through the door. Flamescion followed suit. The inside was similar to what Kiana had known. Similar furniture, and a similar setup, the only things different were some of the appliances and the television. As Flamescion looked around in nostalgia she heard her hostess talking to someone. She was on her phone.

"Look, the moon was fine, there was nothing world-threatening up there." Void explained. "Tell AE and Otto, that it's all under control, and don't bother me for the rest of the evening." She growled before hanging up.

"What was that about?"

"Questions about our little escapade on the moon." Void answered. "The amount of Honkai had people clamoring over the idea another Herrscher showed up."

"I mean, I technically did." Flamescion laughed.

"Yeah, but they don't know that, and quite frankly, I rather keep it that way. At least until tomorrow." She admitted. "Then I'm going to make you, someone else's problem." Void told Flamescion.

"Why wait for tomorrow?" Flamescion questioned.

"Sirin got results from her finals. All A's, so we planned to stop by her favorite Pizza place to celebrate." Void elaborated. "I don't want to her ruin the celebration, which is why you're also staying here."

"Oh."

"Yeah." Void agreed. "Consider this the time to mentally prepare yourself for meeting them, because when I met them, let's just say I had a few 'minor' incidents." She was lucky Andrius was able to help her work things out and put herself back together, literally. Flamescion went quiet. Since she was clearly processing everything, Void excused herself to the shower figuring the girl could use some time alone.

"She better have a damn good reason for this," Thunder grumbled as she landed outside the house. Void hadn't been responding to any of their messages and the others were starting to worry. She would have just chalked it up to Void being a loose cannon as usual, but it was uncharacteristic for her to be so sloppy when it came to Sirin. Upon reaching in front of the cottage, Thunder kicked the door down in one swoop.

"VOID!" She screamed, her power crackling through the room. The white hair girl jumped in surprise sending a fireball at her. Thunder merely flicked her wrist and dissipated the flames. The girl didn't have time to react as Thunder rushed the girl and slammed her into the fall. "Where have you been?" Thunder growled.

"Mei-Mei- Mei Senpai." Void? choked out. Thunder tightened her grip. She did not have time for this. She looked up to glare at the Herrscher, sick of her pulling such a low blow. That's when their eyes met. Pulsing purple met a bewildered blue as Thunder saw the Herrscher before her.

"Who are you and what are you doing in this house?" Thunder whispered, her grip loosening ever so slightly.

"It's me, Mei, it's Kiana." Kiana tried to tell her.

"Do you have any idea, how little that narrows it down?" Thunder told her.

"I…I'm lost, I woke up and only recently learned I was in a timeline. I found Void and she brought me here." Kiana explained. Much to her relief, Mei loosened her grip and gently lowered Kiana to the ground. It took her a while for Flamescion to catch her breath. Mei hadn't even used much power, but Kiana was already feeling mentally fatigued from just trying to understand what happened. This girl wasn't her Mei, she was Void's Mei. Flamescion's Mei had left her to join World Serpent.

"I'm sorry for attacking you." Thunder apologized with a bow. "I mistook you for someone else."

"It's okay Mei-senpai," Flamescion told her. Thunder's body went stiff as she said those words. Flamescion wondered if she had said anything wrong. "You were just worried for your friend, that's all." Flamescion tried to reassure you.

"Worry might be the wrong word." Thunder corrected. She had a feeling this Kiana didn't know what happened between them. Nor did she expect the girl to understand the special relationship she and Void had. "I was…surprised." Thunder said awkwardly.

She disliked being so close to Kiana. It felt wrong. Her Kiana was dead, she accepted that. Void was who existed now. Yet finding alternate versions of K423-Kiana never stopped being an experience for Thunder. It reminded her why she still fought, made her feel shame for what she did, and left her longing for someone who had practically passed away. She needed to get out of there.

"Have you seen Void?" Thunder questioned in an attempt to change the conversation.

"Oh, uh….she's changing her clothes," Flamescion explained.

"I see," Thunder noted. Her anger had vanished upon meeting Kiana, and she had figured out why Void was late. Now all that was left to do was actually drag her back before it got too late.

Flamescion was left feeling just as awkward as Thunder had been, if not more so. She was unsure how to act with her considering her own Mei, and the way Thunder just acted. "Do I say nice to meet you, or greet to see you again?" Kiana wondered.

She was lucky she didn't need to think much though as the heard footsteps of a familiar Herrscher approached. Flamescion looked up in relief when she saw Void return in a black outfit. It was different from the usual get-up, but Void actually looked like a different person altogether.

However, the Herrscher's expression soon changes when she saw Mei. "YOU'RE GONNA PAY FOR THAT DOOR." Void's voice boomed.

"Put it on my tab," Thunder said nonchalantly. "We've got to go." She told the Herrscher. "It was nice meeting you." She told Flamescion before zipping out of the room in a flash of lightning.

"That girl." Void grumbled as she floated down to meet Flamescion. "That's the tenth door this week." Thunder was doing it to annoy her. She just knew that was the case.

"So, uh…was that?" Flamescion's voice trailed off as she spoke.

"Yes, that is technically Raiden Mei. Mind you she is not the Raiden of this world, but the world I hail from." Void answered. "She and the Thunder Herrscher merged into one, just like Kiana and Sirin did for me."

"She's…different from my one." Kiana rubbed her throat. This Herrscher, Raiden Mei, Thunder, was more violent than her own. Even when they fought before, Mei had only incapacitated her with her strikes. Thunder had been ready to fry her on the spot. Her lightning was more volatile and even after she stopped, Flamescion could still feel a numbness in her neck. "I've hardly ever seen Mei-senpai so angry."

"Don't ever call her, Mei-senpai." Void ordered. Flamescion jumped at the tone of voice. "Don't ever say Mei-senpai." Void repeated, articulating each word with her eyes glowing brighter.

Flamescion flinched and subconsciously got into a defensive stance. Her memories of fighting and being taunted by the Herrscher of Void came back to her. That glare and that cold voice still haunted her memories. At the moment she had forgotten it was even Void, her black dress had all but melted away into her usual white.

Void noticed the change in Flamescion's stance and then realization dawned on her. Closing her eyes, the Herrscher of the Void, took a deep breath as she tried to calm herself. When she opened her eyes, they were no longer glowing. "That came out wrong." Void tried to salvage. She could feel the impulses of her remnants, working in some strange tandem together.

"I'd like to know how it would come out right," Flamescion answered trying to hide her own discomfort.

"Look, Thunder didn't exactly take it well when she found out, Kiana had died and been assimilated into me. You could say she took that loss the hardest and well, let's just say she also made a lot of mistakes in retaliation. Mistakes she's had to learn to live with." Void told her.

"What kind of mistakes did she make?" Flamescion questioned.

"The kind that is better to learn from asking her yourself." Void answered.

"Did she join World Serpent?" Flamescion asked. Void looked at her in disbelief. "My Mei….she left me and joined World Serpent," Flamescion admitted.

"Okay first off…. don't ever tell Thunder that." Void warned Kiana. If Thunder ever learned up that, Void knew she'd go to that World and massacre that version of herself. If there was one thing Thunder hated more than Void, it was WS. She had rather die than ever join them, a sentiment she would act out with any AU counterparts.

"Second, don't ever introduce me to her." Void hated WS and disliked Thunder for all the crap she put her through, especially with the Kurikara incident. If Void ever met a Mei in the WS, she'd put her ten feet under…on Venus.

"And as I was saying. Thunder has bad memories of losing her Kiana, and she had to work through her grief to finally accept she had lost her. But now…." Void trailed off.

"Now, I'm here."

"Now, you're here." Void told her. "I'm not saying you can't be friends with Thunder. Just watch your boundaries. I don't want to have to deal with her if she gets hurt." Void warned. "Thunder's the best sparring partner I got, and if she gets depressed, she doesn't fight at her best."

"I'd never hurt Mei. Never." Flamescion…no…Kiana told Void.

"Do you intend to stay here forever?" Void questioned.

"What?"

"I said, 'Do you intend to stay here forever?'. You have to leave eventually." Void told her. "When you do, then what? Thunder gets her heartbroken. You girls get close in this world, then you leave, and Thunder loses another Kiana, meanwhile you return to your own world and your own Mei."

"Thunder would still have you." Flamescion countered.

"Thunder hates me." Void explained. "And I deserve it. Technically speaking, I'm the one who killed her Kiana. How do you love someone who technically killed your closest friend? What does that say about the person you loved, if you can love the one that took them away?" Void questioned.

Flamescion didn't respond. She didn't have an answer for the Herrscher of the Void. "If you can find the answer, then, by all means, look for it, but I'm warning you. You're here as a guest. Don't mess up my house, my family, my world, and especially don't mess with my rival. You do that, we'll get along find if you don't then I won't help you anymore. Simple as that." Void told her.

"I'll keep that in mind," Flamescion answered.

"Good. There's ramen in the fridge in the kitchen and some ingredients to make Pizza toast if you're hungry. You can watch whatever you want on TV, sleep, or whatever, just don't leave this house, unless someone attacks." Void warned. "Ciao."

Flamescion watched as the Void Herrscher vanished in an instant leaving her in the house. Yeah, this was a familiar feeling. Alone and confused, now it felt like the home she remembered before her dad accepted her.