"Wait, Kallen Kaslana?"

Kiana looked at the woman with a perplexed expression, arms crossed over her chest. Apparently, the idea of finding out more about her family has piqued her interest.

Phillip, however, wasn't interested in the name when he knew it well enough from the history books. Instead, he looked over at the woman to learn more about her. Her nun dress, missing the hood, was torn at both sleeves and the trimming along the end had some cuts. Not only that, but Kallen sported two bruises: one under her left eye and another on her right shoulder.

"Yes, I am Kallen Kaslana," Kallen replied, giving a small curtsy as she did. "May I ask why you and your husband were falling from the sky?"

Phillip started coughing violently at these words, as Kiana responded with a wide smile. "Oh, that's easy. Ya see, we kinda-" Phillip recovered quickly and covered Kiana's mouth, preventing her from speaking a word.

"Don't," Phillip hissed in Kiana's ear. "She'll think you're crazy." He rounded back to Kallen as he dropped his hand, Kiana pouting at his side. "Sorry for disturbing you. We'll be moving on now."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you," Kallen said with a bow. "Though it may be best if you move on now." The woman turned away from them with a fierce look gracing her face. "My escorts have come to retrieve me."

Phillip tilted his head slightly to look past Kallen's shoulder and spot three black dots along the horizon. Soon, however, those dots closed the distance to reveal themselves as three of the cloaked, masked doctors from where he and Kiana originated. He tried to push Kiana behind him but she resisted and kept herself at his side.

"Madam Kallen!" the leader yelled, a male voice, gravelly and elderly, sounded from the mask. "Why did you attempt to escape?"

"Lord Arthur, I did not intend to escape," Kallen said plainly, as if not to insult the man before her. "I saw this couple falling from the sky and sought to help them."

"Liar," one of the other two hissed. "You're a traitor to Schicksal. Your words carry no truth."

Phillip tuned out the rest of the conversation. Despite both Phillip and Kiana being close by to act as witnesses, none in the opposing group seemed interested in verifying Kallen's reasons. While the knowledge that Kallen betrayed the ancient organization of Schicksal was well-known, she was also known for being rather bluntly honest for the most part. So, either they had long since made their choices on the matter or only Kallen could see them.

Phillip shook his head to clear his head and looked up in time to see Kiana hit one of the members – who took up Kallen's chains and yanked her over to them – in the chest with a flying knee. The person flew back a couple of feet and slid to a stop in front of their group.

"Kiana-"

"No!" Kiana huffed as she scowled at the opposing group. "I'm not gonna let someone hurt my pretty savior." Not a minute after she said this, the man known as Arthur moved faster than either Kiana or Kallen could react. He slipped past Kiana in a quick instance and launched a knife hand at the back of her neck.

However, Phillip intercepted the blow, catching the hand as he stood between Arthur and Kiana. The older man had quite a bit of strength behind him, as the blow still managed to move Phillip's block back a slight bit. Still, Phillip prevented Kiana from being knocked out but noticed that Arthur's strength seemed to increase as time passed.

"The simulation is increasing his capabilities in order to make sure the correct events occur," Gabriel explained; the angel returned from the meeting with divinity that he needed to take. "Eventually, he'll overpower you and take you both in. Best to just settle the conflict and move on."

Great, Phillip replied wearily, already done with the simulations. He looked Arthur dead in the eye – or what the mask had as eyes – and spoke as calmly as possible. "Look, I'll apologize at my friend's behest. I'll take myself and her away and allow you four to move on."

"What?! Hell no!" Kiana placed herself firmly in front of Kallen as if her body would be able to prevent anything from reaching the woman. "I won't let them-"

"Kiana, shut up!" Phillip hissed at the girl, causing her to look offended. She wasn't aware that Phillip's arm was slowly reaching its limit against the increasing pressure. Phillip rounded back to Arthur. "Is that an acceptable deal?"

Arthur fell silent for a moment and allowed the exchange of physical force to continue on. Soon, however, the man stepped back and Phillip's arm fell to his side in relief at the loss of pressure. "Do not seek to aid Kallen Kaslana again." With that, the three-robed people walked over to Kallen.

Kiana, still positioned in front of Kallen, sneered at them. "Didn't you hear me? I'm not gonna let you touch her!"

A hand clasped onto Kiana's shoulder. Instead of it being Phillip to pull her away or one of the robes trying to arrest her, it was Kallen who was wearing a calm yet sullen expression.

"It's alright, little miss Kiana. I've long since lost any reason to continue living."

Kiana turned to her in shock at this. "But... that's not..." Seizing the sudden pause, one from the group grabbed Kallen's chains and began pulling her deeper into the city. Once they were gone, Kiana spun to face Phillip with an enraged expression.

"What the hell?! A pretty girl comes by, saves us from becoming pancakes, and you toss her under the bus!?"

"I don't do something without reason," Phillip stated, eyes lingering on the direction Kallen was dragged off to. "Interfering with the events here won't stop what's going to happen."

"I don't care!" Kiana yelled, storming up to him with a glare. "We don't know what those creeps are gonna do to her! We have to at least try!"

Phillip shook his head at this. "Kiana, this is history. It doesn't matter what we do here, these events already happened in the real world. Moreso, the simulation won't let us off easy if we try to alter things here."

"Fine! I'll go help her myself, you asshole!" Kiana turned her back to him and began to storm off, only to stop suddenly when Phillip latched a hand onto her wrist as it swung back. "Hey, let go of me!"

"Think for a second," Phillip requested as he held the Kaslana back. "You have no idea where they're going, no idea how appealing for criminals works, and no connections. How would you help Kallen in her current condition?"

"I'll break her out!"

"So, you'd make her an even bigger criminal than before? How would that help her, exactly?"

"I don't care!" Kiana tried her hardest to tear her arm from Phillip's grasp. After a full minute of vain attempts, she looked him in the eye with a pleading look. "She helped us, didn't she? Doesn't that mean something?"

Phillip wanted to say that it didn't, that he had seen far too many people fall into traps just because they felt indebted to someone. He, himself, had found himself in similar situations before. However, he made a vow to himself not to taint people's worldviews with his own paranoia. Thus, he would allow Kiana to follow after Kallen, even if the end result would require him to step in.

"I won't stop you," Phillip stated, removing his hand from Kiana's wrist. "However, don't get anyone into any more trouble than they're already in."

"Whatever," Kiana huffed before storming off in the general direction of where the group went in. With each step into the ancient and unfamiliar city, Kiana's normally boundless confidence slowly began to decrease. By the time she reached the center of the city, her confidence had all but vanished and she was second-guessing whether she made the right choice. After a couple more struggling steps, Kiana turned her head slightly to see if Phillip was still seeable, though she knows she walked too far.

The sight startled her.

"What?" Phillip asked, no more than two steps away from Kiana. "Did you honestly think I was going to leave you alone to save Kallen?"

Anything else he wanted to say was swallowed away as Kiana leaped at him with a hug so strong, it knocked him off his feet.

Deeper into the City, Midday.

"So, what should we do first?" Kiana asked, making sure to keep pace with Phillip instead of charging forth.

Phillip managed to calm the Kaslana before any of the simulated people took notice, though none seemed to react to their presence regardless. Now, they began traveling to the western side of the city with the intent of finding either a prison or a familiar face.

"I think we should find Bronya first," Phillip said, stepping slightly away from Kiana to allow one of the people to pass them. "If you're desperate to help Kallen out of jail, then it's better if we have a full team."

Kiana pouted at this, still obviously not wanting Bronya to be involved. "Why do we have to find her? I'm pretty sure we could do all on our own."

"It's not about accomplishing the goal," Phillip stated promptly. "I want everybody together so that, once we're done, we can just head home."

"All we gotta do is remove the helmet, right?" Kiana then reached up and grabbed at both sides of her head, off by a couple of inches (where the edges of the helmet would be), and pushed up. As common-sense dictated, nothing happened, despite Kiana doing the same action several times.

"Common signs of insanity is repetitive action for opposing effects, Kiana Idiotka." Phillip and Kiana looked behind them to find Bronya, now dressed in a pink dress that medieval nobles would wear. She twirled a similarly colored umbrella in her hands as she stepped towards them.

"Why did you change?" Phillip asked. "Also, when did we pass you?"

"Bronya assumed that, given Kiana Idiotka's violent tendencies, she would need to diffuse a difficult situation," Bronya explained, twirling her umbrella once more. "To answer the second question, Subject Phillip and Subject Kiana didn't pass da Bronya. She was at the end of the street when Bronya noticed you two."

"Fair enough," Phillip said, taking a step toward the younger girl. "Do you mind teaching Kiana about her ancestors? Especially one of them called Kallen Kaslana."

Kiana looked shocked about this but Bronya spoke first. "Reminder: had Kiana paid attention to class, she would have known about the Kaslana long before this conundrum."

"Wait, we had classes about Kaslanas?!"

"Yes, Bronya, I'm aware," Phillip said, shooting down Kiana's shout of shock. "Just give her the rundown. I'm gonna see if I can find our... host." Ignoring the confused look on Kiana's face and the understanding one on Bronya's, Phillip continued down the street.

He didn't need to move far. A couple of kilometers down, standing next to a carpet street booth, was one Otto Apocalypse and one Yae Sakura. Otto was entertaining some of the girls of the town for whatever reason while Sakura, who looked as if she had recently swallowed something sour, was leaning against the wall apart from them.

"Trouble in paradise?" Phillip asked the pink-haired woman in a mildly teasing tone.

Sakura's scowl deepened when she saw him. "I need not your taunting. What business do you have with us?"

Phillip pointed over to Otto, who was currently trying to escape the girls and convince them to leave him. "I need to talk with Mr. Apocalypse about what his deal is, but he seems rather preoccupied at the moment." Soon, the crowd of girls was dispersed and Otto strolled over to them, looking far more disheveled than before. "Seems you're popular."

"Ah, they're just impressionable children," Otto replied to Phillip as he patted down his clothes, clouds of dust coming off with each pat. "I created the cure to the black plague during this time and, in gratitude, the populace demanded my placement as Overseer of Schicksal."

"These events are over 500 years old," Phillip stated with crossed arms. "Either you found the fountain of youth or you've done some experimenting with things you shouldn't have."

The eerily smile the man produced unnerved Phillip slightly. "Let's just say I have a wellspring of knowledge at my beck and call." Otto quickly finished straightening his clothing before tucking one hand behind his back and the other across his chest. "Now then, may I ask why you're here and not reconnecting with your friends?"

"I've found the others already. They're down that way," - Phillip shook his head back the way he came - "talking about the Kaslana clan. I'm here to gather what, exactly, your aim is."

"Oh, no. There's no aim here." Otto circled Phillip and stopped beside Sakura, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I'm here to give our Miss Sakura a detailed retelling of how a friend of ours died. I feel she deserves to know the truth."

"You mean Kallen, I suppose?" Phillip asked, to which Otto nodded in confirmation. "Well, she's currently stowed away somewhere in this city. Kiana seems desperate to save her."

Otto let out a chuckle, though it sounded far more sullen than cheerful. "Yes, that would be another bad habit Kaslanas have; chronic hero syndrome. Little Miss Kiana and Kallen would get along well it seems."

Phillip shook his head at this. "I'm not here to compare eras. The three of us were simply using the databank as a means to get Kiana to study. This little detour is not helping, now that Kiana's dead-set on helping someone who's essentially an NPC."

"Sorry for interfering, then," Otto apologized, though he seemed not so apologetic about it. "Though, this is an important piece of history for Schicksal so it may have been better for her to learn it now." Otto cupped his chin between his index finger and thumb, contemplating the situation. After a couple of minutes passed, he snapped his fingers in revelation. "Of course. Noontime, tomorrow, they'll hold Kallen's execution. If you," he pointed to Phillip, "can hold off young Kiana until then, you may try to aid this simulation while gaining invaluable lessons."

Phillip nodded at this but Sakura, who seemed more peeved at those who ignored her, spoke up. "Where were you, Otto Apocalypse, while Kallen was led to her death?"

"Did I not regale that tidbit in our previous talks," Otto asked with a raised brow. Sakura simply shook her head, earning a frown. "Really? Very well then, I'll let you know that I setting up a plan to free Kallen at her execution. Right about now, I should be in talks with Risa, my... cousin." The tone Otto had towards the name "Risa" spewed so much venom, Phillip thought some actually flew out of his mouth when he spat at the ground a second later.

Phillip ignored it though, as a question formed in his mind. "What was the plan?"

"Nothing spectacular, really," Otto stated dismissively. "Risa would release some Honkai beasts, ones locked in the catacombs, on the city. While they were attacking the city, I would deliver Kallen to a boat and we would leave as the city was destroyed."

"...What?!"

Otto shook his head at Phillip's shocked face. "All the Valkyries were displaced to remote locations or placed on impossible missions by the Overseer during the execution to prevent sympathizers from interrupting the execution. I learned it too late to change the plan, so we continued on in the attempt."

Phillip clenched his fists in restrained anger, a dangerous look flashing over his face. "So, you sacrificed a population in order to save just one."

"That one person would have saved millions if she were alive today," Otto explained, an equally livid expression aimed at the younger boy as if Phillip was the one with no understanding of value. "Besides that, had Kallen accepted the initial plan, things wouldn't have escalated to that level."

"Initial plan?"

Otto let out a deep sigh at this, the anger disappearing to be replaced by an odd level of grief. "When Kallen's capture first reached Schicksal, I reached out to my father – the overseer of this time – but he rejected me. However, during that exact same time, he offered that, should I find the means to betroth Kallen, he would save Kallen's life and remove the then-head of House Kaslana." Sakura stood up at this, shock etched on her face. Apparently, this was one part Otto forgot to mention.

"But she didn't accept it," Phillip stated, arms crossed and a frown on his face. "Kallen doesn't feel like a person who would accept a loveless marriage, nor allow herself be a pawn in some political game."

"You are quite astute, I see," Otto said with a humorless laugh. "You're correct: Kallen didn't agree to it. Neither did I, truly, but I was blinded by the grief that Kallen would die. I told Kallen about the deal and begged her to accept it, but she simply denied it and asked for a cup of wine instead. Afterward, I went to my cousin and the current plan was set in motion."

"And that led to killing Kallen," Phillip said, his glare not leaving the man. "I guess you didn't expect her to jump in the middle of the destruction to help people."

"I was honestly hoping her time away would have lessened her heroic nature," Otto admitted grimly. "Obviously, it didn't. This failure has haunted my life ever since."

It was at this point that Phillip realized exactly what he was dealing with. "You're a man stuck in grief, eternally stuck in the single day of Kallen's death." Otto didn't look him in the eye, eyes locked on the ground before him. Phillip took this as a confirmation. "You do realize that, no matter what your relationship at the time, Kallen wouldn't want you to grieve."

"We don't know what she wanted!" Otto snapped, his carefully crafted composure shattering under his anger. A minute later, the man calmed himself with a sigh. "Sorry, I lost myself there. Some pains are... deeper than others. Here." Otto reached into a pocket in his purple jacket and pulled out a map. "The execution will happen in front of a cathedral. You and Kiana can help Kallen from there."

Phillip raised a brow while Otto moved towards Sakura to help her stand. "Are you not planning on staying to watch the scene and brood again?"

Otto simply chuckled at this. "Oh, no. My goal was to show Sakura what had happened, but she seems rather distraught at the moment. Therefore, we shall retreat for now and I'll come to aid your group later."

Phillip furrowed his brow, rather ticked off that the person that got them into this mess was suddenly fleeing. Otto, however, paid this no mind as he collected Sakura off the ground and into a bridal carry before moving on. Biting back a curse, Phillip ran back towards the girls with the map in hand, hoping to warn them of the coming dangers.

The next day, on the balcony of a tavern,

"Are you sure that's what Overseer Blonde said?"

"Yes, Kiana," Phillip said with a sigh. "That's exactly what Otto said. This has to be the 1,000th time you've asked that. Can you quit it?"

Kiana, now dressed in a brown cloak with red trim, crossed her arms with a pout. "Are you sure you're sure? I mean, this guy is running the show on stopping Honkai, right? He even got Mei's dad out of jail and all."

Phillip shook his head and leaned against the steel rail of the building they resided in, peering out to the churchyard a few yards away. "Let's focus on dealing with Kallen first. I'll tell you everything later."

The group had quickly found the church rather quickly, thanks to the map Otto gave them. It was along the outskirts of the town, which allowed them a few vantage points to use. Kiana and Phillip took to the closest building they could, waiting through the day for the coming execution, while Bronya decided to make some explosives for distractions.

"But, like, why would he want to hurt some many people to save just one girl, though," Kiana questioned. "Seems kinda stupid to me."

"Love and hero-worship only can be enough to turn any sane person crazy," Phillip stated, eyes not leaving the church, dulled out by the lack of light. "Add in grief, and the only mixture you get is desperation with destructive ideas, either to yourself or everyone else."

Kiana gave a light hum in response before she took look out of the side of the building, back towards the town, in agitation. "When are they getting here?! It has to be noon now, right!?"

Phillip looked towards the partially cloudy sky, a final piece of the early morning rain, towards one of a few patches of showed sky. "It's noon. They'll be here."

Under normal circumstances, noon with only a small number of clouds wouldn't bring about a darkness that would only come out during the night. However, on the day of Kallen's execution, celestial bodies seemed to believe the day would benefit from some extra gloom. Thus, they brought about a rare event for this dreary event.

After all, it wasn't every day the world would be cast into the shadow of a solar eclipse.

"How can you tell?" Kiana asked, trying to catch a glimpse of the sun without actually looking at it. "And why can you look at me while I'm not allowed?"

"I can tell because I can see the positions," Phillip explained calmly, looking back down at the church once more. "And I can look at it because I have protection while you don't."

"Yeah: divine protection."

Still counts.

"I think I see them!" Phillip looked over to Kiana, who pointed out toward the town. He peered over and noticed a bright light slowly coming towards them, hidden behind a spread of buildings. Once it came out to the open, however, they learned it wasn't Kallen, but a large mob of civilians.

Most of them were carrying torches, generating the light from before, while the rest were carrying larger unlit torches that could stand on their own. As the crowd reached the courtyard, they split into two groups and placed the larger torches down on either side of the brick walkway up to the church, where the gallows awaited. The smaller torches were sacrificed to light the larger ones and, in the blanketed warmth of the flames, the crowd waited for the fallen savior.

The wait wasn't long. Only a few minutes after the crowd, Kallen appeared from the same street the crowd with her hands held by wooden cuffs. She walked stiffly, keeping pace with her captors, as her now white dress swayed with each step. Her eyes held no light, as if all joy had finally left her. Phillip and Kiana watched silently – or as silently Kiana could be while being impatient – as Kallen and her captors reached the gallows.

"Come on, Bronya," Kiana hissed as she watched one of the robed people fasten the noose around Kallen's neck. "When's the explosion?"

Not even a second later, a loud boom sounded from within the city, startling the crowd into dispersing. Deciding that was the cue, Kiana quickly climb onto the railing and jumped off, easily clearing the distance between the building and the courtyard within a few seconds. She landed on one, knocking the person out cold, and turned to face the other.

Phillip let out a sigh and moved to follow her, only for a white-gloved hand to shoot out to stop. "Wait one moment. Allow things to play out a bit farther." Phillip quickly spun around to face the interferer and found the Overseer himself.

"You sure took your sweet time," Phillip hissed at the man, turning his attention back to the fields to keep an eye out for Kiana. Luckily, the other robed person seemed far more sympathetic to Kallen's plight as they directed Kiana back into the city, towards the city's piers. "How long until your plan comes by and ruins things?"

"Not long," Otto said nonchalantly as if he didn't hear Phillip's insult. "It wasn't long after the start of Kallen's execution that the beasts were released."

Sure enough, another explosion sounded from the city, though closer than the first one. Phillip ran over to the other side to get a better look at the site and found three massive, reptilian-like Honkai beasts crawling around the city. Their heads had no eyes, just a massive maw filled with razor-sharp teeth, and each of their muscular legs ended with a large paw with five claws.

A scream from the churchyard pulled Phillip from the destruction of the city and towards the gallows. The remainder of the crowd stared up at the church in fear, where another Honkai stood for a brief moment before launching itself to the ground.

It was a behemoth of a beast – two massive forearms carried the hulking frame while two back legs carried the black, spindly, back half. Its head, long and thin, let out a roar before it swung one of its arms at the frozen crowd, killing those that were hit. That seemed to defrost the crowd, sending all the civilians into a frenzy to flee.

Phillip struggled to calm his nerves, to fight the overwhelming instinct to jump in to help them. After all, these people were only simulations, scripted to the death assigned to them. The only two he needed to keep an eye on were Bronya and Kiana. He left a clone with Bronya, so all he needed to do was keep Kiana from getting herself in danger.

As the Honkai beast rampaged around, Phillip noticed a rather odd figure approach amidst the chaos. Long blonde hair with a familiar purple cloak, the simulated version of Otto climbed the stairs to meet Kallen as he did some... odd actions.

"So, uh," Phillip started as he watched the simulated version of Otto unbutton his white shirt and start on some Shakespearean speech. "Were you always this flamboyant?"

Otto let out a cough, trying to hide the blush of embarrassment on his face. "Yes, well, perhaps I'll go aid young Bronya. She may need it against the horde in her area." With that, Otto fled in a downstream of white code.

Phillip let out a chuckle – mostly due to seeing Kallen slap the simulated Otto so hard he was knocked out – and watched as Kallen shattered her restraints with a single knee strike and pulled the noose apart. She immediately leaped from the gallows and began to try to head off the beast before her, with Kiana jumping in shortly after.

Phillip decided that, instead of simply waiting for the events to occur, he'd get a workout in. He quickly climbed over the railing and stuck himself to the side of the building, before pushing off it for a massive jump that was aimed at the Honkai beast Kallen was fighting. Upon reaching it, Phillip spun to land a dropkick on the side of the monster.

The beast was pushed off of its feet and flew a couple of meters away. Kallen looked surprised by the feat while Kiana was disappointed at what happened.

"I could have taken it," Kiana mumbled grumpily. "I just wanted to see what you would do."

"Right," Phillip replied with a shake of his head. "Listen, why don't you two go handle the outbreak in the city? I'll handle this one."

"What?! Come on, this one is way cooler!"

"When was fighting Honkai about which monster was cooler?"

"What, so I get to gloat about killing some ugly reptiles instead of an actual Honkai beast?!"

"Okay, so you're just looking for bragging rights."

"Um," Kallen spoke up, cutting into Kiana's and Phillip's back-and-forth. "I don't think right now is a very good time for a lover's quarrel."

"Okay, so that's the second time you've made that mistake." Phillip turned completely towards Kallen, intent on rectifying her assumption. "Kiana and I are just-" Just then, Kallen ran up to him, with the clear intention of passing by him. Phillip took a look and found the same monster from before ready to pierce him with a spike on the underside of its arms.

Stepping off to the side to avoid the attack, Phillip then launched a powerful punch to the head that sent the beast flying out of the bounds of the simulation. With that out of the way, he spun back towards Kallen.

"As I was saying, Kiana and I aren't married. We're currently dating, but not married."

"...What's this 'dating' thing you're talking about?"

"Fair enough." Phillip turned towards Kiana, who was looking more and more grumpy as they continued to ignore her. "Can you just head over to Bronya and help her? The only thing I'm doing is stall these things, really." Kiana gave a "hmph" but followed the order and ran off to take care of the other Honkai beasts. Phillip spun back around towards Kallen "Could you-"

It didn't matter. The event that awaited this day had occurred.

Kallen, not three feet away, stood between a younger child that tried to hide behind a piece of rubble and a carbon copy of the Honkai beast, a spike piercing her through the stomach. Phillip cleared the distance in an instant and kicked the beast away, pulling the spike cleanly out, but the damage was already done.

A yell of unfiltered rage called out from the city and, as Phillip turned to find it, a flash of silver passed him by. The Honkai beast that stabbed Kallen was suddenly sliced in half by one Yae Sakura, who had tears cascading down her face.

"S-Sakura," Kallen wheezed out, a glob of blood soon to follow this name. Phillip moved the mortally wounded woman back to the gallows and rested her against the platform. From the corner of his eyes, he watched Sakura enter the city, anger still apparent as she raced onward.

"Think I'll leave it to them," Phillip said as he sat down beside Kallen as blood spilled out from the corner of her mouth. "I don't think I need to explain that you're going to die."

"W-What about Sakura?" Kallen asked, ignoring her worsening condition in favor of the surprise she felt towards the pink-haired girl. "How is she here? She was sealed away!"

"Don't get too excited; you'll waste what little blood you have left," Phillip replied, earning a frown from Kallen. He looked over to the city, waiting for anyone to appear from the line of buildings. Seeing no one, Phillip continued on. "I don't know who Sakura is or what happened. However, if she was sealed, then it's likely the sealing wasn't as strong as expected and broke."

"Even if the seal was, she can't be here! That information isn't a part of this simulation!"

It took only a second for Phillip to realize what Kallen had just said and he shot her a raised brow. "You know?"

Kallen gave a soft, sorrowful smile at this. "It's rather easy to see when everyone seems to play by a script up until my execution. My death would have happened no matter what, and then I'll wake up on the previous day as if nothing occurred."

"...Again, fair enough." Phillip rubbed the back of his neck, unsure of how far he could take it before the system took extreme measures. Deciding he wouldn't lose anything, Phillip continued on. "Sakura left her seal roughly 500 years after the events here. She's currently helping Schicksal with the Honkai."

"Schicksal?" Kallen asked, though nowhere as surprised as Phillip suspected. "That makes sense. If they advanced as quickly as they did in Kallen's time, only they would be able to achieve this level of technology."

"Well, considering they're run by that dumbass -" Phillip nodded over at the still unconscious simulated Otto - "they've been going fine."

This was when Kallen seemed surprised, along with being slightly fearful. "Otto's still alive?!"

"...I'm guessing that's not really a good thing."

"I have both the memories of Kallen and the analysis of an AI," Kallen explained with a serious expression. "I know exactly what Otto is capable of if given no restraint." She sat almost completely still in a way that would convince anyone that she died right there. However, her eyes were darting across the battlefield, as if it held answers to a lifelong question. Soon, she came to it, as her eyes widened and her expression turned into complete fear.

"He hasn't..." Kallen quickly tried to get onto her feet. The keyword was "tried" as she struggled to even lift her body. After some time of fruitless ventures, Kallen finally managed to get to her feet by pushing against the pole behind her and slowly dragging herself up.

"You won't reach them," Phillip stated bluntly as he stood up and surveyed the heavily panting woman. "Your body, even if made from data, will still convey death to you."

"Then help me," Kallen demanded, pushing herself off the gallows and grabbing onto Phillip's shoulder. "I need to get to them. I need to tell them."

"Tell them what?"

Kallen looked Phillip in the eyes and he found an unwavering determination despite the hole in her stomach.

"I need to tell them Kallen's message, saved away for 500 years."

Back in the devastated city,

It wasn't too hard to find the others: explosions and rage-filled screams gave the two an easy trail to follow. Upon reaching a stone-paved clearing near the town center, they found Otto talking with Kiana, seemingly gracing the ego-filled girl with compliments if the broad smile she had was any indication. Sakura sat off to the right side, her face pressed against her knees, while Bronya stood stiffly beside Kiana, back in her fairy mode.

As they grew closer to them, they heard Otto's vote of confidence. "Also, thank you for the test data of our new battlesuit. You've done incredibly well while dealing with a brand-new suit."

Kiana's smile, somehow, grew even wider. "I know, I know. I'm the greatest."

Otto opened his mouth to continue but noticed Phillip coming. However, his eyes locked onto Kallen first and, in a spurt of speed, spun on his heels and walked away. Kallen jumped from leaning against Phillip and tried to run after Otto. Unfortunately, she stumbled for a split second, allowing the Overseer to disappear in a stream of white code. Kallen stared at the spot where he left for a long second, startled that the man would leave her so abruptly. She quickly shook her shock away and turned to Sakura, who hasn't pulled her head from her arms.

"Sakura!" The pink-haired woman's animal ears perked up at Kallen's shout and the woman looked up in wonderment in her direction. Upon seeing Kallen's standing but injured form, Sakura quickly stood up and ran toward the Kaslana.

Kallen seemed to expect this and opened her arms wide to receive the hug Sakura gave her when she got close enough. The two held each other closer for a full minute, something Kiana looked at with obvious envy as she scooted closer to Phillip, before they moved out of it while still holding each other.

"Sakura, listen to me," Kallen insisted. "I may not be the real Kallen, but I do have her memories. She had a message for both you and Otto. You have to deliver it to Otto once you leave."

Sakura's ears matted themselves against her head, a sure sign that she wasn't ready to leave behind the simulation. However, after taking a few deep breaths, she calmed herself enough to nod in agreement. "I will. Could you tell me the message she left for me first, though?"

Sensing a pink atmosphere to come, Phillip grabbed Kiana by the arm and dragged her over to Bronya. "I think it's best to leave now. Can you get us out of here?" Bronya nodded and waved her hand, summoning a pillar of light down from the sky and landing a couple of feet away from them.

"What the heck?! Why are we leaving now?" Kiana yanked her arm from Phillip's grasp and turned back to face Kallen and Sakura. "It's not like they're gonna – Oh." Kiana's eyes widened and her face flushed at the scene she saw between the older women.

Phillip, eyes shut to avoid seeing the display of affection, grabbed Kiana from the back of her shirt and dragged her into the light, mostly because she was too shocked by the sight. Bronya followed closely after and the light faded from the simulated world.

Back in the real world, 20 minutes after entry

Phillip's eyes snapped open, taking in the mountains of books that surrounded him and the yellow carpet below. Sitting up from his prone position, he looked over to the other two. Kiana had recovered in a similar fashion while Bronya had remained seated and only needed to open her eyes.

"Well, that was a trip and a half," Phillip muttered, stretching out his body to rid the stiffness from laying down in an awkward position. As he did this, he noticed Kiana had removed her helmet and was staring at it with an odd expression. "What's up?"

"Nothing," she said quickly, placing the helmet down beside her. "I was just thinking about what Mr. Blonde said. Ya know, that my ancestors were dumb as well."

"Hmm." Phillip shot a glance at the digital clock next to Kiana's bed. Seeing the time, he reached over to the closest history book. "Seeing as that journey maxed at about 20 minutes, let's do a review."

"Huh?!"

Schicksal HQ, Otto's Quarters.

Yae stepped out of Otto's private simulation room, a place that could give a full, panoramic view of historical events that Otto himself made. A blush covered her face as she wore a beaming smile with it. Once the steel door whined as it closed, her animals perked up at a slight sound off to her side and Sakura looked down the metallic hallway.

There, Otto walked towards her, a wine glass filled with the red liquid in one hand and the entire bottle in the other. Despite the impression such a description would suggest, he wasn't drunk in the slightest as he tipped his glass in her direction as a form of greeting.

"I see all went well after I took my leave," Otto said once he cleared the gap between the two. "Which is good, as the hyper-sensory feedback would have actually inflicted the harm you would have received if you and that boy had come to blows."

"That sounds like a very dangerous game," Sakura replied, her eyes narrowing at the man. "Did you think it wise to allow such youths to delve into such a place?"

"Oh, I truly believe that younger girl – Bronya, I believe – knew the risks. She has quite the intelligence." Otto then gave a little shrug in an attempt to place the incident behind him. "Let's talk about the other thing. I'm sure that seeing Kallen's death was more than a little traumatizing. Why don't you join me for a drink? Then, the rest of the day is yours to enjoy."

Sakura stared down at the two objects in Otto's hands in contemplation. On one hand, the sight of Kallen's death did hurt her and, while the brief reunion was nice, the just-as-quick departure left her with only a single recent memory as comfort. So, the offer placed before her was extremely tempting.

However, Kallen left Sakura with a small mission to attend to. There was a message, left specifically for Otto, and she was tasked with delivering it. If Sakura caved into the temptation, the message may either fade from her mind entirely or leak out at a worse time.

Because, as it stood, Sakura had very little interest in giving the message to Otto. Should the man show himself worthy of it, she shall perform the task dutifully. Until then, however, she'll simply hold it over the man for a while longer.

Thinking it over quietly, Sakura came to her decision. "Very well. I partake in drinks with you today."

Otto's eyes twinkled in satisfaction and stepped off to the side to allow Sakura to pass him.

"After you."

This took way too damn long to get out. Sorry for the wait.

Hope you all enjoy the chapter regardless and I'll see you later.