2:30pm

Kiana rushed down the tracks as fast as she could, huffing and puffing hard as she continued to drag the unwilling Mei behind her. The next station, placed next to the Homu amusement park, was only a couple more meters away from them. That only caused Mei to resist harder, however.

"Kiana-chan, please! We need to go back and help Phillip-kun!"

Growing tired from trying to drag the thrashing girl, Kiana slowed down. Mei thought she finally convinced the white-haired girl to return to their friend, only to yelp in surprise and embarrassment as Kiana picked her up bridal-style and started running towards the station again.

By the time Mei managed to calm her emotions, the two had already arrived at the station. Kiana walked over to a nearby bench and placed Mei down on it. Mei shifted into a sitting position, ready to make her argument again, just in time for Kiana to slump into the extra space in exhaustion.

"Well," Kiana said through her pants. "I guess that was good practice for our wedding, huh?"

Mei went red immediately at the suggestion. "D-Don't say that out loud! What if someone heard you?!"

"Then I'd shout it to the world!" Kiana jumped to her feet, turned to face Mei, and would have shouted out if she hadn't noticed the lack of people in the building. "Oh, right: doomsday." Kiana shifted her attention to the railcar entrance, looking back towards the first station.

Mei stood up, her concerns still not lifted. "Kiana-chan, please. Phillip-kun is in trouble. We have to help him."

Kiana pouted for a moment before nodding. "Yeah. Guys really can't do much without us girls, huh?" She gave Mei a wide smile. "Don't worry, though. I'll bring him right back here, dragging if I have to."

"Wait, that's not what I-"

Mei's objection was caught in her throat as Kiana rushed out, faster than she thought possible. She looked down the tracks to see Kiana already covering several feet, making it evident that the heiress wasn't catching up. All she could do was sink to her knees as she watched her important people leave her behind.

Pitiful.

Mei flinched at the voice, a callous and cruel voice that rang out from inside her head. The world shifted to her, suddenly encased in a purple veil while a shadowy figure appeared before her, strolling to her fallen self. It took only a moment for Mei to realize what was occurring.

"No. Please, just leave me alone."

"Now, why would I do that, my cowardly host?" the shadow taunted her, though its voice held no physical weight. Instead, it seemed to reverberate inside Mei's mind. "Weren't you the one that agreed the world deserved to burn for the turmoil it caused you? Did you not believe it was right to harm those that left you?"

"I-I was just-"

"And now, they leave you again." The shadow turned around, glaring at the retreating form of Kiana. "The boy that promised you he'll restrain his capabilities and rely on you lied, now fighting a battle that could kill him. Your white-haired savior rushes off to aid him, leaving you behind to fend for yourself." The shadow turned back to Mei, disappointment evident in her tone. "And you'll just sit here, lamenting your weakness and incapabilities. You truly are pathetic."

"I'm- I'm not… weak."

"True, you are not completely worthless," the shadow sneered, growing ever closer to the fallen girl. "However, you falter at every opportunity, struggle at every obstacle, and fail constantly. Your strengths mean nothing without the will to use them." It finally closed the gap and bent down to meet Mei, the cruel smile grinning even fiercer than before. "But I can grant such strength. So, tell me, Raiden, Mei…"

"Do you want the power to help them?"

2:35 pm,

Sparks flew as Phillip's blade clashed against the stranger's. As they pushed off of each other, Phillip threw three slashes at her, evaded by a back step each, before trying to stab the woman. The woman deflected the blow at the last second before attempting the same, but Phillip pushed the blade up with his own to go over his shoulder instead of piercing through. With a spin kick, he sent the stranger several feet back.

"On your left!"

Phillip jumped back at Gabriel's call, evading the lunge of the spectral fox the stranger summoned. It corrected its path quickly and charged him again, trying to take a bite out of him. He stepped back to dodge each attempt before noticing a shadow growing in size in front of him. Phillip looked up to find the woman coming down with an overhead slash and blocked at the last second. With a push, Phillip pushed and sent the stranger stumbling back and followed up with a round-house kick to her abdomen, which sent her flying and slammed into the side of the fox, which growled at the blow.

Both stopped for a second to catch their breath. The woman, while skilled, was obviously out of practice with accurate attacks that were simply rusty. It allowed Phillip the physical advantage in their confrontations, which led to her being flung around quite easily. On the other hand, Phillip was winded from constantly swapping focus on two enemies. When he tried overwhelming the opposition with clones, they dispersed immediately upon closing in on the fox. It almost put him out of commission by itself due to the shared experience he had with the clones, so he decided to avoid using them.

That also explained another major problem he faced: the fox. Just by being close to the beast caused his strength to wither away. It took Gabriel's aid to block off the effects, and even then, he needed to be extra cautious of the tag team.

Phillip shook himself from his thoughts and prepared himself, noticing the woman was getting back on her feet. However, before either of them could move, the patter of rain sounded against the rails, causing them both to look to the sky.

The once clear, blue skies were now crowded with dark gray clouds, allowing no light to breach through. Lightning lit up the darkened world, accompanied by resounding thunder.

Phillip had a feeling that the storm was something unnatural, but he couldn't tell what the source would be. Scouring his memories of any potential storms that appeared without warning, he could only come up with one possibility.

Mei…

Phillip stored his weapon away and crossed his arms over each other in front of him. With no reason to stall the battle any longer, he decided to utilize something he hadn't used in a long while.

Kaimon: Release!

He felt intense power surge forth from inside him, his muscles tensing up and ready for explosive action. With this power, he flashed towards the woman, clearing the distance between them in less than a second. The stranger had enough instinct to raise her weapon to absorb enough of the blow but was still blown back by the wind current. The fox was also incapable of withstanding the shockwave, carried away by it, and sent down the tracks back to the first station.

With the threat temporarily neutralized, Phillip spun on his heels and rushed down the tracks towards the girls. He only hoped he reached the girls on time to protect them.

3:00 pm,

"Shit!"

Kiana rolled to her left to avoid the lightning bolt shot at her. Her opponent, a possessed Mei, wasted little time firing several more while Kiana ducked, rolled, and ran around to evade the attacks.

"Is all you're capable of is running around?" The Herrscher asked, unrelenting in her stream of electricity. "You were less than useless to that insect in our first duel. Please tell me it wasn't because you have no fighting capabilities."

Kiana gritted her teeth as she jumped over another bolt. Once her feet touched the floor, she sprang forward, the lightning going over her head as she did. The Herrscher was surprised when Kiana's guns managed to slip past her guard, aimed at her forehead. She managed to dodge the bullet fired but was forced to take the kick to her side at full force and was sent skidding to the edge of the tracks.

The Herrscher stopped just at the edge and let out a low laugh. "Going for the kill? How cruel of you, being one of her friends."

"Nah," Kiana replied, a grin plastered on her face. "I had a feeling you still wanted Mei-senpai's body, so I tricked you into lowering your guard." Sure twirled her guns before resting one behind her head and aiming one forward. "Now, either give me back Mei-senpai, or I'm gonna start beating you up!"

"Insolent little insect!" The Herrscher charged forward, an orb of lightning held in her right arm that was reared back. Kiana did the same, placing both guns off to her sides as she ran forward. As the two met and were about to clash, however, the orb dissipated from the Herrscher's hand.

The Herrscher gave a "tsk" at this before slipping past Kiana to grab her left arm. Not waiting for a struggle, the Herrscher began channeling lightning down her arm, causing Kiana to scream. Such vocal gave the Herrscher a near-infinite amount of euphoria… and a similar amount of sudden fear.

The fear was enough to distract the god-like being from the sudden heel kick that slammed into her right cheek. She was forced to let go as she stumbled to the side, leaving Kiana to recover from the attack.

"Insolence," the Herrscher mumbled to herself, wiping the scuff from the hit before looking at her opponent. Kiana's arm was limp at her side, still gripping her gun hard. This left the girl incapable of her normal battle stance while panting heavily from her staff scream.

The Herrscher smirked cruelly at the sight. "Look at you now, down an arm and on your last leg. I would give you a chance to run for your life, but I believe you would simply waste such an offer." She raised her hand, lightning dancing between her fingers as she aimed it at the white-haired girl.

Just as she was about to fire, however, her hand limped. The Herrscher then slumped forward, revealing Phillip behind her with his hand turned sideways to show he had knocked her out. As the girl fell, Phillip got in front of her to cushion the drop with his shoulder instead of the steel rails below her.

Kiana looked shocked at his appearance, but only one question appeared in her head. "What happened to that one girl?"

Phillip let out a sigh beside his heavy pants. "Dealt with… though not dead. At least… not from the last time I checked."

"She got you winded, though, huh?" Kiana replied, earning a dry chuckle from Phillip. She groaned as she allowed her legs to give out and slammed against the rails with a heavy thud. Kiana pushed herself up to a sitting position before she continued. "You should apologize to Mei-senpai soon. It was kinda your fault that she changed like that."

Phillip wanted to counter this, that it wasn't his fault for the stressful atmosphere the situation caused. However, between his exhaustion from using the Gates and the nagging feeling that he couldn't altogether remove himself from said situation, he didn't argue with the girl.

"Maybe I should," Phillip muttered before looking at Kiana to inspect her condition. "You don't look too good yourself, though."

Kiana looked herself over, looking at the battle damage she sustained. Even if you removed the torn part of the hemline of her shirt, she still had plenty of burn marks from lightning attacks. A few bad dodges had left them, though the scorched handprint around her right wrist was a far more prominent mark. Between that and the scuff marks from skidding shopping metal, she was definitely worse for wear.

"Ah, this is nothing," she dismissed. "Nothing a seasoned Kaslana can't take. You should be worried about yourself and Mei-senpai."

Phillip allowed the unconscious Mei to slip into his right hand, laying her down gently against the rails. Then, as he ignored his body's screaming and burning pain, he walked up to Kiana and pressed his left palm against her head. She was going to protest when she saw the white and green glow coming from his hand.

In an instant, she felt right as rain, and most of her pain disappeared. Any marks that blemished her skin before had disappeared, though her clothes were still scuffed. Even her arm, once paralyzed, now functioned normally. She lifted it to her face and flexed her hand a bit, keeping her right hand around the wrist in case it faltered again.

"Holy-"Kiana looked Phillip in the eyes, appreciation seeking in her chest. "Ya know, maybe you weren't talking crap before. I mean, I don't know any Honkai beast that can heal people."

"I doubt you ever will," Phillip responded, his hand slipping off Kiana's head and falling to his side. He turned around to pick up Mei, hoisted her back onto his shoulder with only his right hand, and secured her with a single armed piggyback. He then started back down the railway towards the next station.

"We'll probably end up staying at the station for tonight. It would do us no good continuing on in our conditions, and nighttime could potentially be more dangerous than morning."

Kiana nodded at Phillip's statement, making sure to stay at his side but noticed something off: Phillip's left arm didn't sway naturally at his side. "Hey, is something wrong with your arm? It's all limp and everything."

"Overuse," Phillip lied, knowing how poorly the girl would react if he told her that his arm was now paralyzed due to his "healing" ability. "I used a lot of strength fighting, so it won't work much right now."

"... Dumbass," Kiana mumbled before holding her hands out, expecting to be handed something. "Give me Mei-senpai. You need to rest your body."

Phillip shook his head at the offer. "I'm strong enough to get to the station, so let's just-"

Phillip's words got stuck in his throat when Kiana slammed her foot onto his, stopping him in place and forcing him to kneel. Kiana took this time to rend Mei from his grip, holding her like a bride and running a couple feet before stopping to look back. She gave him a broad smile, obviously believing she didn't do something wrong.

"Catch up when you can! We'll be waiting!"

Phillip just watched as the girl ran away from him, the pain he was in paralyzing. Ironically, the only part that didn't hurt was his left arm.

God damn it, Kiana, Phillip cursed, struggling to stand up and move. The first gate was already a pain in the ass. I didn't need you stomping on my foot along with that.

"Complaining isn't getting you closer to the station," Gabriel commented. "Besides, she did stop you from collapsing midway while I'm still healing you. Give me a minute, and you'll be walking again."

Phillip couldn't complain too much at the angel's words as he felt the pain slowly fade. Just as Gabriel said, only a minute needed to pass before his body was fully functional again.

Great, Phillip thanked, stretching out his body and getting pops in return. I'm going to need it to punt Kiana down the street.

"If you want to thank me, make sure to put up some kind of security when you reach the station," Gabriel suggested, a tone between commanding and concern. "We have someone in the park that we don't want right now."

Phillip's eyes narrowed before directing his sight off to his left, in the general direction of the amusement park. He had a feeling of precisely who Gabriel was talking about, as the other rarely left her hideouts.

Bronya was close, and that was a situation he didn't need the girls getting involved with. Thus, he booked it to the station, going to set up his security as soon as possible.

6:00 pm,

"Let me go! Owwies!"

Phillip started down at Kiana, stuck underneath his left arm while he grounded his right knuckle into her temple. He pondered the idea of letting the girl go, to turn the other cheek and grant her mercy, but decided against it as he pressed his knuckles deeper. Off to the side, Mei simply giggled exhaustedly as she leaned into the bench she sat on.

As soon as Phillip entered the station, he began setting up seals that negated sensors, such as heat-seeking or vibration detection. Once he accomplished that, he summoned several clones and gave them directives to prevent and detour entrance. He simply ignored the girls for his security improvements during all of this.

In fact, he didn't realize his revenge until much later, when Kiana basically demanded his attention. After all the clones left for their jobs, Kiana jumped into his vision and opened her mouth to say something that forced his vengeance into back into the forefront.

"Looks like your arm's better, huh?"

It took a moment for the words to sink in, and once they did, it only took a single second for Phillip to grab hold of her and noogie her for several minutes straight.

After his revenge was enacted, the only thing left to do was await Mei's awakening. It took a few hours, but she finally did at 4:30 pm. By then, the sun had already begun setting, painting the city in an orange tint that seeped in from the windows. She nearly jumped to her feet, scared that Phillip was still in danger and was set to rush off to try and help him. When she saw him seated on another bench close to hers, she simply crumbled back into her seat in apparent exhaustion.

However, their current situation was a result of Kiana trying to alter the story to make herself more heroic than she actually was. He did try to fix her alterations, but Kiana simply tried to override every time. So, he took extra precautionary measures and started the noogie feast once more.

"Phillip-kun, it's fine," Mei consoled, a smile still stuck on her face at the silly scene before her. "I understand her stories aren't accurate, but they are fun to listen to."

"See? Mei-senpai didn't mind, so let me go!"

Phillip paused briefly, ground his knuckles into her scalp one last time (earning a yelp for his efforts), before letting Kiana go. She turned to him with tears on the edge of her eyes and both hands on her head.

"You big meanie!" Kiana kicked him in the shin, though it didn't actually hurt him, before running over to Mei and hugging her. "Mei-senpai, save me from this stupid meanie!"

"Kiana-chan, please don't cry," Mei shot Phillip an amused/scolding look before returning her attention to Kiana. "Sure, he may have gone slightly overboard, but he also wanted to make I was told the correct events that occurred."

Kiana looked Mei in the eyes, looking ready to start crying. "B-B-B-But I wasn't lying."

"I believe you," Mei said with such a sweet smile that Phillip almost believed her to be Kiana's mother. "Why don't you go wash up? I'm feeling very tired and need to sleep."

Kiana jumped up, tears already dried as she nodded with a massive smile. She zoomed towards the stairs, stopped to send Phillip a raspberry, before heading off to the restrooms.

"You have a way of getting her wrapped around your finger, Mei," Phillip commented as he watched Kiana follow Mei's requests too the T. "She never seems to have problems with your demands."

"Maybe she trusts me more," Mei suggested, stifling a yawn set to erupt from her throat. "Regardless, I do wish to sleep now. I'll see you both in the morning." With that, she laid back down on the bench and closed her eyes, ready to set off to dreamland.

Phillip shook his head at the scene, though a grin never left his face. Rolling his right sleeve up, he summoned one of the blankets they stored, moved over to Mei, and draped it over her sleeping form. She didn't stir, not even to grip the blanket, so Phillip was allowed to walk back to the staircase.

Once there, he almost collided with a rushing Kiana, who looked still excited for whatever reason. Phillip stored himself just in time, grabbed her shoulders, and pushed with enough strength to prevent her from knocking him down.

"Mei isn't going anywhere, Kiana, so don't go running me down just for a power nap." Phillip looked her over and noticed her clothes still had some scratches on them. "Do you want a fresh set, or just your pajamas now?"

Kiana looked confused at the question before remembering her current situation. "Pajamas, please. Oh, and some new undies."

Phillip gave her a flat expression before he turned around and removed his jacket and shirt, showing off the large, circular seal placed on the center of his back.

"Do you remember what I told you? I'll channel the chakra while you conger the image of what you want from the seal, and it'll come out."

"Y-Yeah, I know. You don't have to lecture me." The shaky tremble in her voice did not fill him with confidence.

"Then remember not to trace around," Phillip started as he sat down to allow better access to the seal to the girl. "It was uncomfortable the first time; it's gonna be uncomfortable now."

With his breath, he managed to hear her whispered response. "Not my fault you're built. Shouldn't put that in front of a girl if you didn't want it."

"I heard that."

"Nothing!" Kiana quickly pressed her hand on the seal, obviously ready to move on with the conversation. Phillip snorted but started pumping chakra regardless. A few moments later, mainly because Kiana couldn't make up her mind, a "poof" sounded from behind him. He quickly redressed to prevent Kiana from getting any ideas.

"Okay," Phillip said as he twisted his arm and summoned Kiana's sleepwear, which consisted of a white sleeveless top and yellow shorts. He tossed them to her to prevent him from seeing what she picked out before unsealing a blue blanket from the other seal. "Take this and sleep either close to Mei or on one of the nearby benches. Just make sure not to disturb her."

Kiana looked over at Mei, snoozing soundly underneath her purple cover. "Aww, she's already asleep?!" She let out a groan of disappointment before heading back down the stairs for the bathroom.

Phillip walked over to the other side of the rails, wanting to scout out the route ahead of any possible problems. What he found was an unmoving cart several feet away and a few zombies clambering about the rails. He decided that his clones could handle both easily, so he returned to the staircase and waited for Kiana to return.

She exited the bathroom a minute later, her original outfit bundled up in her arms. Phillip decided he would meet her half-way and jumped from the top of the stairs, landing right in front her. Kiana, no longer phased by his physical capabilities, simply handed her clothing off to him before rushing off to Mei.

Phillip didn't give it too much thought, simply bringing out a brush and ink from another seal in his palm. He drew up the washing seal on a steel pillar at the right side of the stairs, before stuffing Kiana's clothes into it. With that dealt with, Phillip sat down beside it and shut his eyes, relinquishing his consciousness to slumber.

Someplace close and yet far,

He awoke to a sight that would appear odd to any other person. Phillip, on the other hand, had grown very accustomed to it.

A forest of shattered marble pillars, stretching as far as the horizon, was before him, small chunks floating stagnantly above each one. Half of them showed far worse wear and tear: cracks were deeply sown into them, and parts were shattered off, while others were fine outside of the top missing.

Phillip pulled himself to his feet and stretched out a hand before him. A porcelain chair rose from the pitch-black ground, giving him a seat in the bizarre landscape. He took it readily and leaned back slightly to stare at the starry sky above.

"I hope I didn't keep you long."

Phillip pulled his gaze from the Milky Way to look at the closest pillar in front of him. A gray void, made in the shape of an arched doorway, formed within the pillar while the other pillars started to bend towards him. Soon, a figure formed within, waltzing towards him at a snail's pace. It breached the void, and the person stood before him in full color.

A young lad, dressed in a Roman robe and golden sandals, waved his hands and the pillars retreated immediately to leave a circular clearing for the two. His eyes were nothing but jovial in the rainbow irises as he waved again to summon his own chair, a table, and a tea set to match. He slicked back his brown hair before resting in the chair, sending Phillip a light-hearted smirk.

"Welcome back to your subconscious. Hope you didn't miss it too much."

"Gabriel," Phillip called stoically, uninterested in the angel's taunts. "You don't call me here unless there was something serious to talk about."

Gabriel leaned back into his chair, the jolly expression never faltering at the jab. "Oh, lighten up. Here, allow me to lighten the mood with a familiar face." His entire body shifted, hair darkening while his eyes became indigo. By the time the morph finished, Gabriel had resembled the spitting image of Mei, clothes now adjusted to evade showing off too much outside of some side boob. "There," Gabriel said in the exact same tone of voice as Mei, though with far too much flirt than natural, "Is this better?"

Phillip retained his neutral expression. "What's the problem?"

Gabriel pouted, before reverting to his first form. "Party pooper. Fine, let's start off with business." He leaned forward, picked up a cup from the table, and took a sip of tea before he continued, "First, I would like to congratulate you that you've managed to survive thus far. As the bottom of the barrel pick, management honestly didn't believe you would make it as far as you have."

"Thanks for the reminder," Phillip responded, a snarl waiting on his lips. "Glad to see you angels have such grand beliefs in me."

Gabriel simply shrugged at this. "Blame Michael. He's still salty that his champion lasted for roughly two worlds before overconfidence kicked in." He took another sip. "The next thing is that I've been given the authority to tell you that a power will soon be returned to you."

Phillip nodded, his aggravation giving way to actual appreciation. "Can I ask which power will come back?"

"Unfortunately, I'm not allowed to give that information. The best I can say is that it is based on a situation you'll find yourself in."

"Of course," Phillip commented with a humorless smile. "Big G enjoys holding out until the situation needs."

Gabriel gave a snort at this. "Can't say you're wrong." Placing the cup down, he decided to finish the talk. "Beyond this, there's nothing more I can state without consequences. I would say I hope that we hit these events rather swiftly, but..." Gabriel seemed somewhat uncomfortable with his following words, so he swallowed them down and switched them around. "Let's just hope you're better prepared than you are now."

"And if I'm not?"

"Then pray to God we have miracles." The blatant seriousness and flat expression on Gabriel's face disturbed Phillip. Between that and the fact he said the word "God" without condemnation were enough to make Phillip uncertain of his own future.

Gabriel shook himself from his solemn expression and returned to his jovial self. "Anywho, that's the situation. Time for you to return to the waking world. Oh, and," Gabriel sent him a sly smile, which made Phillip even more nervous. "Please thank Mei for her little 'present.'"

Phillip stood from his chair and lunged at the angel but couldn't reach him before the world pushed him back, vanishing in the distance as a white dot in a black background. His consciousness slowly faded away, though his mind lingered on the last thing the angel said.

What gift?

December 12th, 6:45 am,

Phillip's eyes slowly opened, taking in the steel complex that surrounded him as golden beams of sunlight breached the glass roof. He was still leaned up against the steel beam, so nothing came by in the dead of night. Otherwise, his clones would have collected the group and transferred them to a safer location, though he expected that Kiana would share some grievances with that.

However, Phillip did notice something off from yesterday. He was now covered with the purple blanket he gave Mei yesterday. Also, there was an odd weight resting on his left shoulder. A tuff of purple hair alerted him of precisely what the weight was, or rather, who.

With a discreet hand sign, Phillip created a clone and then substituted with it, allowing Mei to continue sleeping peacefully despite a minor bump. He silently fled to the higher level to find Kiana.

She was situated beside Mei's bench, snoring loudly as she continued her slumber. Phillip didn't give her too much thought as he walked to the rail exit to see if his clones handled the obstructions he noticed early.

Once he got there, Phillip knew that they had, as the cart was no longer in sight, and the zombies were eliminated if the scorch marks indicated anything. He stretched his arms above his head as he simply bathed in the sunlight, trying to remove the stiffness that came with sleeping on hard floors. Soon, however, he felt eyes at his back, so he turned to face the perpetrator.

Kiana was finally awake, staring wide-eyed at him as if she saw something miraculous. Phillip gave a confused glance before shrugging it off and moving toward her. Her eyes clearly tracked him, showing she wasn't completely entranced but only managed to shake it off once he was in front of her.

"Hey! Mei-senpai is missing!" She stood up instantly, allowing her blanket to flutter down as she pointed to the bench behind her. "She was here last night, and now she's gone! We gotta-"

Phillip raised his hand to pause the girl's rambling. "Calm down. Mei is alright, just sleeping somewhere else."

"Huh?!" Kiana wasn't expecting that response. "But... why didn't she tell me? And why did she tell you instead?" Phillip couldn't pinpoint the tone she used in that last line, but it felt like a mix of jealousy and some other unpleasant emotions.

"Trust me when I say this: she didn't tell me." Phillip performed one hand sign, and a plume of smoke burst out from behind the steel pillar near the steps. A yelp and crash later, Mei stumbled out from behind it, clearly bewildered at the current events. However, it didn't last long as she caught sight of the two on the upper level and quickly scaled the stairs to meet them.

"Phillip-kun, what just happened?" Mei asked once she reached the small group, crossing her arms with a pout on her lips. "Considering previous... events, I assume you did something to produce that smoke."

"Yes, I did," Phillip stated, knowing Mei wished to keep the event a secret between them. "I left a clone to pop and awaken you when it was time." He took a step back in hopes of addressing both girls. "It is time to move on. Hand me the blankets to seal back up. I'll receive Kiana's clothes, and we'll move on."

Mei's eyes widened, and she immediately moved her eyes to Kiana. She calmed down just as quickly upon spotting her attire. "Yes, of course. That makes much more sense." Realizing the other shifted their attention to her, she tried to change topics. "Um, I'll go grab my blanket."

"We'll be coming as well," Phillip added, unintentionally ignoring her embarrassment. "Her clothes are sealed on that beam, after all."

Mei didn't try to deter him, simply starting down the stairs rapidly. Phillip and Kiana shared a confused look before shrugging and following after the girl. Once they reached the pillar, Mei bundled the clothes into her arms while Phillip pressed his palm against the seal, summoning the clothes in a much smaller plume of smoke. He handed the now fresh, renewed, and warm clothing to Kiana, who seemed somewhat surprised at the clothes' heat.

"Omagad, they're so warm," she exclaimed as she stuffed her head into the bundle and sighed in contentment before rushing off to the bathroom where her shoes resided, or at least Phillip assumed so.

Phillip turned back to Mei, who handed him the blanket in a folded sheet. He quickly sealed it away and moved to go up the stairs and gather Kiana's when Mei paused him.

"How does this seal work, exactly?"

Phillip looked at her and saw her looking over the seal with interest. "Think of it as a portable washer and dryer."

Mei seemed to ponder for a moment before meeting his eyes. "Could I have a change of clothes?"

Phillip let out a sigh before stripping off his coat and shirt. He knew for a fact that Mei had covered her eyes, but was also peering through her fingers, so he tried to make it fast for both of their sakes.

"Let's just get this over with, alright?"

6:56 am,

It wasn't as fast as Phillip had hoped.

Mei was too shy to give it a fair shot. It was only through Phillip's guidance that she managed to gather her things, and even then, Mei was flushed red when she flew to the bathroom.

The other part was that Kiana, now clothed in her original outfit, had returned just before Mei finished. She made some grumpy comments about him seducing Mei, which both of them tried shutting her down each time. When Mei did leave, Kiana immediately demanded her clothes be sealed away. Like always, he handled sealing the regular clothing while she dealt with the rest.

Unfortunately, this led to his current problem.

"Will you quit it?!" Phillip jumped up and quickly gathered his shirt to put on. Sure, Kiana did place her clothing away, but she started tracing around his muscles again, which set him off. "It's bad enough that I have to pull off my shirt to do this; tracing isn't helping."

Kiana crossed her arms and looked away from him, a slight blush on her face. "I don't mean nothing about it. It's just... new, ya know." Her murmur would have gone undetected to anyone else, but Phillip could still hear it loud and clear.

"Just… keep your hands off, alright?" Phillip slipped his coat back on and gave Kiana a flat look. "Wait for Mei. I'll go collect your blanket." Not waiting for her response, Phillip jumped from where he was and landed on the highest platform, settling into a slow walk with no pause in motion. As he collected the blanket and sealed it away, a clone appeared at his side with a grim face.

"We have a problem."

Phillip glares at the clone hard, hard enough to make it flinch but not enough for it to shy away. After a moment, Phillip dropped it with a sigh before moving forward. "What's the problem?"

"We've done our best," the clone admitted. "Diversions, distractions, and all, but she stopped following us recently and started heading towards the station. She'll be here soon."

"Damn," Phillip cursed, realizing that diversions may have made the location a little too obvious rather than just rerouting Bronya. Flashing down to Kiana, who kept a firm yet suspect eye on the restroom, he decided to be blunt. "We need to go. Now." She opened her mouth to respond but couldn't get the words out before Phillip grabbed her hand and dragged her to collect Mei.

"Hey! What gives?!"

Phillip ignored her cries, raising his fist to start banging on it to garner Mei's attention. Luckily, the door opened up to show Mei, wearing a cleaner version of her original clothing, ready to walk out to meet them. She jumped upon seeing Phillip at the door, almost spilling the pile of clothes in her arms onto the floor.

"Phillip-kun, what are-"

"No time to talk," Phillip instructed, pressing the underarm of his left arm onto the pile to seal them away. He then grabbed her by the shoulder and directed the girls to the stairs. "Someone is coming that we shouldn't bother with currently."

"Boss!"

Phillip looked to the clone, standing at the top of the staircase, and saw it point to the glass doors of the building. He looked at them and noticed a shadow getting closer every second. Phillip dropped his grip on their arms, giving them enough time to turn to the doors before wrapping his arms around their waists.

Kiana was the first to object. "What are you-"

"Sorry."

With that, the group flickered out of existence, leaving only the clone to occupy the station as it jumped to the ceiling and cloaked itself. Just in time, too, as Bronya opened the door to the station.

Bronya analyzed the station with a critical eye, spotting the seals left behind in the rushed exit. Bronya levitated towards the one on the steel beam as blue screens of various data appeared around her. After studying both the screens and the symbols before her, she called Cocolia with a touch to the radio piece in her ear.

"Matushka, Bronya has found residue of Subject Phillip. Possibilities of him traveling with the Third Herrscher is 99.95%."

~Good. What is your position?~

"The Bronya is currently situated at the station near HomuLand."

~...Bronya-~

"The Bronya denies any accusations and slander against her profession." The cold tone would convince just about anyone unless they could see the blush on her face. "The Bronya deduces Subject Phillip likely left in a rush, as multiple other sigils are seen. Furthermore, several identities similar in height to Subject Phillip attempted to deter the Bronya from entering the station."

~You changed topics too quickly, Bronya. However, if you can track down and capture the Herrscher and the boy, then I'll overlook your little detour. ~

"Da, Matushka." With that, the girl ended the radio signal and scanned the rest of her holographic screens. Most of them were still filled with static, probably due to the diagrams littered around. The only sensor that wasn't affected was the catalyst tracer due to lacking a proper signal, so it remained flat and stagnant.

However, that was set to change.

Project Bunny materialized behind her and reached forward with a clawed hand. After an uneventful moment, a semi-transparent blue energy seeped from the sigil and collected in the hand. The blue screen that tracks the catalyst energy immediately sprung to life, showing several pings and their coordinates on an XYZ plane.

Including one not too far from her at that very moment.

Wasting little time, Project Bunny aimed and fired a rocket from its other hand towards the ceiling just above the rails. It detonated with enough force to obliterate the glass, but Bronya only needed to see the screen to know the source fled just before impact.

With nothing left to discover here, Bronya levitated up to the railway and continued along, set on finding the prey she was given.

7:00 am,

The group reappeared on the rooftop of a building several meters south of the station, landing with a soft thud as they did. Phillip immediately let go of the girls, looking around to ensure they weren't walking into a trap. Kiana took this time to stagger over to the edge of the building and emptied whatever was in her stomach, while Mei seemed less distraught and more confused about the sudden action.

"Phillip-kun, what just happened?" she asked with concern in her voice. "Why did we leave so suddenly?"

Phillip turned to her with a studious gaze, slightly surprised she wasn't joining Kiana in vomiting off the building. "Are you okay? Body Flicker is rarely easy on those that experience it the first time."

"I... feel fine," Mei stated with uncertainty. "I'm honestly surprised that teleporting feels slightly natural."

"Not teleporting," Phillip explained. "Just extremely fast travel." He shifted his gaze over to the slouched Kiana, huffing and puffing to regain her breath. "Are you finished yet?"

His response was a gesture he had given Siegfried many times before.

"Kiana-chan, that's rude," Mei commented before turning to Phillip. "You haven't answered my other question: why did we need to rush out so suddenly?"

Phillip flinched at both the question and the sudden surge of new information from his clone dispelling itself. He wanted to just curse, seeing as his standard procedure had led them to a worse spot than previously, but he didn't need the tongue-lashing Mei would give him. Thus, he made a decision that, while it might not be popular with the girls, would be more beneficial for the time being.

"Look, I'll explain it later," Phillip stated, running his fingers through his hair to calm his nerves slightly. "Right now, we need to find a place to hide out for a while, get her off our tracks."

"Who, though?" Mei grew more and more frustrated with Phillip's insistence on evading the question. "What exactly has you so frightened that you forced us to leave so suddenly?"

Phillip let out a sigh and turned to her with a solemn gaze. "It's not a fear of my safety; it's a fear for yours."

"What does that mean?"

"The person who arrived at the station, the one that we fled from, was Bronya, one of the two who took over your father's company."

Elsewhere,

Otto stared at the screens intensely, watching the scene replay before him. While the sword swings appear invisible to a normal human eye, his drones captured them and slowed it all down to a snail's crawl, showing him every excruciating detail of the battle.

The boy has shown promise, especially in dispatching his opponent before fleeing the scene. Such power, such strength, would work perfectly in aiding his plan. Maybe give his more prominent Valkyrie a challenge and reason to increase her own capacity.

However, funnily enough, his focus was somewhat lacking on the main objective. In fact, Otto was more concerned with the boy's opponent. The pink hair, odd ears, and blade combined seemed strangely familiar, even if he was positive he had never seen such features before.

Just as he was upon the answer, his office doors swung open to disrupt his concentration. Otto rotated his chair to look at the newcomer, who happened to be his secretary, Amber.

"Lord Otto, Theresa's Valkyries are en route to Nagazora. They should arrive within the hour."

"Thank you, Amber," Otto said offhandedly, trying to return to his original thought process. "Tell her that there are a few survivors that need rescuing. I'll send a list later on."

"Of course, Lord Otto."

As Amber spun around and left the room, Otto focused on the image of the pink-haired woman, scanning his memories for the reason she felt so familiar. Then, it struck him.

A letter from so many years ago, so long ago that he had forgotten most of the details, sent to him by his most cherished person. He simply dismissed the objective as her doing what a hero does, but now the object of her desires stood before him.

"Have you returned here searching for your savior, Yae Sakura?" He questioned despite knowing she would never hear the question. "Or have you been cursed to roam this world?"

After a moment of analysis, he reached down to his chair, pressed down on the arm, which lit up in a red light, and called out. "Amber, alert Theresa that I have one preliminary target in mind."

"At your command, Lord Otto."

Alright, I think I'll end it here.

Sorry if the beginning fight was as spectacular as the original.

Anyway, I hope to see you all in the next one.