Kiana Kaslana kicked a rock and watched it vanish into the same bare, empty land she had been wandering through for days. The air was eerily quiet. No birds sang, no vehicles sounded their engines, and no one ever came across them. The world seemed to have ended, leaving only Kiana and her companion to wander it alone. The girl who walked beside her had long, violet hair and a forlorn face. She saw what Kiana saw and knew only too well the cause of it. She spoke little, but with Kiana there with her, she always felt safe.

Raiden Mei took inventory of their supplies to distract her from her memories of the recent disaster. They carried ample food, water and other necessary items, but for Kiana, it was not nearly enough.

"I wish we could have something better to eat than this," she complained.

"We can find some more food later," Mei said.

"We'd better."

They had taken shelter in whatever abandoned households they could find. Their absent owners did not object. Mei was disgusted with herself at first, but if the alternative was to starve or to sleep outside in the open, she had no other choice. Despite herself, Mei was glad to hear Kiana's complaints. After all that happened, Kiana was still the same girl who loved good food and comfortable beds. She changed little after the disaster. Mei could not claim the same. It had changed her. She would never be the same. She had an inkling of the person she could become, and she feared it.

"If we find the right ingredients, I'll cook something good for you," Mei offered. Cooking for Kiana was something important to her. She would always do it for her.

"Thanks so much. I can taste it already."

Kiana seemed to cheer up a bit. Mei hoped she felt the same. They spoke only a little to each other as they wandered through the wilderness, but their every word was a promise to protect each other for as long as they lived.

When the day was dark, they found shelter in a small, abandoned house. It was a modest dwelling, but travellers had little room to complain about having a roof over their heads. Kiana and Mei were glad they would not need to sleep on the ground outside. When they stepped inside, they were unsurprised to see no one there. No one had been there for quite some time. All the lights were off and would not turn on. The entire building had no power.

Mei stared at the lifeless location. This was someone's home once. Someone had slept here, ate here, lived their life here. Now, they were gone.

And it was because of her.

"It wasn't your fault. None of it was." Kiana's soothing voice came from behind her. Mei felt her hand on her shoulder.

"Kiana…you said you wanted to see if we could find something better to eat. Should we look for it here?"

To her surprise, Kiana was too tired to eat. "Tomorrow. Let's just get some rest."

"Okay. Let's get some rest."

Mei felt uncomfortable with staying in a stranger's bedroom; she was not that desperate yet. She sat on the couch in the living room and closed her eyes, using her weariness for a brief escape from what her life had become. That was when Kiana rested her head on her lap.

"Kiana? Are you sure you want to sleep like this?" Mei said, running a hand through her silvery hair.

Kiana smiled up at her. "I'm sure."

—-

In the morning, they searched the kitchen for whatever leftover food they could use. There was little left of it; most of the food in the powerless refrigerator had spoiled, leaving them to subsist on less appetizing canned food. They fit their backpacks with as many cans as they could carry and left the house behind.

Kiana complained about the poor fare. "You'd think a house as nice as this one would have better food."

Mei scolded her harshly. "Kiana! Don't say things like this. You know what happened, so don't blame them for anything."

"Sorry, Mei. I didn't mean it…" Kiana apologized. She was on edge, and those words were not what she meant to say. "I know, you're right. I shouldn't have said that. I'm grateful to them that we found some food so we can keep looking for survivors."

Mei sighed. "Let's just keep walking."

They had been doing that for days. The blood flowing in Kiana's veins refused to let her stop until she had saved another from the disaster. Her drive to rescue at least one other survivor pushed her onward. Mei also hoped to find other survivors, but hope was something she felt little of lately.

After they set out from the house, they wandered again in a random direction. They passed countless abandoned, crashed, and flipped over cars, all of them devoid of life. Kiana checked each of them personally. Mei could hardly bring herself to watch. They found no animal life, either. The silence that replaced the birdsong once always in the background was deafening.

Kiana took a small bite of food and appreciated the taste. Mei was right. What right did she have to complain about anything when so many others could not even complain at all?

"Have some of this niboshi. It's pretty good." Kiana offered a bag of it to Mei.

"Thank you, but I'm not very hungry right now…"

"Okay. I'll save it for you until later."

They continued walking along the road, passing numerous derelict vehicles, until they stopped to rest on one of them. Kiana stared into the distance. The sun was bright and warmed their skin. Large clouds floated across the sky. The day was beautiful like any other.

If only they could still be here to see it.

The disaster in Nagazora City meant millions of lives no longer could. Kiana and Mei's home was gone. Everyone they once knew at Senba Academy was gone. All they had left was each other. Kiana glanced at Mei. She watched the day with her, and she seemed resigned.

"Mei, I know you'll find your father one day. He wasn't imprisoned anywhere near Nagazora. He should be safe."

"I know…but he doesn't know that. Why would he have any reason to believe that I'm still alive?"

Kiana did not know how to answer. As she searched for the right words, she noticed movement in the distance. Her vision was keen and flawless, but even she had to strain her eyes to see them more clearly. There were several figures visible near a faraway building.

Kiana tapped Mei's shoulder. "Do you see that?"

Mei looked to where Kiana was pointing. "Are…are those people?"

"They look like it to me!" Kiana said, almost leaping from the hood of the car. "Let's go!"

Kiana started running. Mei followed her, doing her best to keep up. When Kiana ran, she ran faster than anyone else Mei knew. But then Kiana started to slow down. Mei soon realized why. Now that they were close enough to see the group of people more clearly, it was clear they were no longer people. Their eyes were dull and dead, they shambled lifelessly as they turned to the sound of the girls' approach, and their jaws were agape, baring their teeth as they moved to attack.

Mei stared in horror, unable to avert her eyes, as Kiana withdrew her pistol and shot each of the zombies once in the head with unerring aim. The noise of gunfire pained her ears as much as the sight of their now motionless remains pained her heart.

As the final zombie fell, Kiana carefully eyed their surroundings to ensure it was the last one. She found no more. Once again, they were alone. That was when she heard Mei weeping. "Mei? There's nothing to worry about. I dealt with them for you," Kiana said gently. She turned to Mei's anguished voice and saw her collapsed on her hands and knees, her tears falling to the ground below her.

"I'm sorry…all of you, I'm so sorry…"

Kiana knelt and held her in a warm embrace. "It's okay, Mei. It's okay…"

"Kiana…I don't know what to do anymore…they…they were all people once. Each of them had their own lives. And then I…"

"Mei, I already told you that none of this is your fault. Why do you always keep blaming yourself?"

"Who else can I blame?"

Kiana brought Mei in even closer. "The Honkai. It's always been the Honkai. My dad told me about it, how our family has always battled the Honkai to protect those who can't. Right now, I'm protecting you. Please, let me protect you…"

Mei calmed down as she heard Kiana's words and felt the warmth of her embrace. She nodded. Kiana helped her to her feet. They stared into the distance at a barren world.

"How long can we keep searching? How long should we keep searching? Will we really find anyone?" Mei asked quietly, more to herself than to Kiana. "Maybe we should just give up…"

"Until we do. We can't be the only two survivors," Kiana vowed. "My dad told me that most people can't survive a Honkai outbreak, but there are some who can resist it. Like us. Let's keep going."

Kiana took Mei's arm and led her away from the bodies lying motionless on the ground. Mei gave them one last look before she turned away and followed Kiana wherever they would go.

—-

Mei knew the Honkai. She had known it her entire life. It was a destructive force that made continuous assaults on humanity, turning them into monsters and creating monsters. She did not fully know what the Honkai was, however. No one did. Its true nature was a mystery, but the phenomena it manifested as were horribly real. The zombies she and Kiana encountered were only one of them. Most people's bodies disintegrated completely when exposed to enough Honkai radiation, but an unlucky few were reduced to those mindless and aggressive creatures that existed only to pose further danger to the rare survivors of a Honkai outbreak.

Like most people, Mei had chosen to ignore the Honkai by shunting it to the back of her thoughts, hoping and pretending that it would never happen to her or anyone she knew.

The day Nagazora died, Mei hoped to die with it. She had killed too many. She no longer wanted to live. She no longer deserved to live. Kiana Kaslana disagreed. She was the reason Mei was still alive. Whether Mei deserved life or not, she vowed to live on so she would not waste Kiana's efforts to save her. Kiana deserved better than that.

Mei looked at her. Kiana's face was determined as usual, but Mei thought she saw something else. It was either fear, frustration, or anger.

"Kiana, what else did your father teach you?"

"Everything to do with fighting the Honkai, of course. He told me where to shoot zombies and how to fight Honkai beasts. He also taught me to use my head and not only my body so I know what I can and can't do. Some Honkai beasts are too strong to fight alone. That's why we need friends. Why we have each other."

Mei's father was also a diligent teacher to her. She was glad Kiana had one. "We're lucky we haven't seen any Honkai beasts yet," Mei said. "They're much stronger than zombies."

Kiana laughed. "Don't worry. I've beaten plenty of them before."

As the sun fell, they found another abandoned house, this one slightly larger than the last and with working electricity. Although their accommodations were more comfortable than before, dinner was still lackluster. They had to make do with more canned goods. Mei quietly chewed the canned peas and tuna, not caring how palatable it was. Kiana ate her share without complaint, but it was obvious that she was far from satisfied. Mei had always enjoyed cooking for her before the disaster. She hoped she would be able to again.

They wanted to sleep on something more comfortable tonight. Mei was desperate enough to use a stranger's bedroom by now. One of the bedrooms had two beds. They each chose one, turned off the lights, and lay in silence.

Kiana turned her head to Mei, who was facing away from her. Kiana still worried for her. The way Mei had sobbed and apologized to the corpses of the zombies pained Kiana nearly as much. Kiana did her very best to be there for Mei, but she could only walk the road to recovery with her, not for her.

Kiana was also haunted by the question Mei asked her earlier. The longer they went without finding any survivors, the less Kiana was sure they ever would. Her Kaslana blood burned with the drive to protect others. Her father had taught her to trust in the anger she felt whenever others were threatened and to let it give her strength. Now, there was no one in danger and no one left to protect. No one except for Mei.

"Mei?" she asked quietly, not sure if she was asleep.

"What is it, Kiana?"

"Have you thought about what you want to do after…after all this?"

"No. I haven't thought that far."

"Well, whatever you do, I'll be there for you."

"I know, Kiana. Thank you. Goodnight."

—-

The next morning, Kiana took inventory of their supplies and bemoaned the ammunition she had remaining. "I can kill one zombie with one bullet, but that means only ten more before I'll need to fight them up close, and I'm not looking forward to that. At least this wouldn't matter if we find a Honkai beast. Those are completely bulletproof, anyway."

Mei packed whatever food and supplies she could find. The previous homeowner had not owned any real weapons, otherwise, they would have taken them. "It's alright, Kiana. I can help fight them, too. My father didn't only teach me to fight using a sword. He told me that I wouldn't always have one in hand, so he taught me how to fight unarmed just as much." Mei wished she had a sword of any kind in hand, even a wooden one and especially a katana. It was the weapon she was the most familiar with. She would have to settle with the kitchen knife she took from the first abandoned residence they stayed in.

"If that happens, be careful and let me take the lead," Kiana said. Then they set out.

The day was no different from all the days before. Silence surrounded them. They found nothing and no one. To break up the monotony, Kiana brought up something she had been wondering about.

"I wonder if Schicksal is doing anything about this."

"Schicksal?" Mei repeated the name. "I'm sure they are. Maybe they found a few survivors where we couldn't."

"Dad always told me how much he hated Schicksal." Kiana recalled the anger she sensed in him whenever the subject arose. "He said they were villains pretending to be heroes. But he never told me why. Something happened between them, but he never said."

"You can ask him when you find him again," Mei reassured her.

"I definitely will."

Hours passed. They stopped for breaks, eating and keeping watch for danger. There was none. There was nothing, Kiana was beginning to contemplate giving up. Mei was right. They could not continue this forever. She rested her hand on Mei's shoulder, who looked at her.

"Kiana?"

"Mei, one more day. Then…then we can decide what we want to do from now on. Our futures. Just one more day of searching, and we can stop." Kiana hated saying those words, but they were words that needed to be said.

Mei did not look particularly relieved. "Alright. Let's just keep going for now."

Hours more passed. The sun reached its zenith in the sky before falling westward. They began searching for shelter. Kiana looked forward to resting in a nice, warm bed with Mei, although only if Mei were comfortable with that. Then she heard something, the first sounds they heard that day aside from the empty wind. They were not peaceful sounds. They were the cacophony of battle.

"Mei, do you hear that?"

"I do. What could it be?"

"It sounds like a fight, and a really big one."

"Should…should we investigate?"

Kiana looked her in the eye. "If you're comfortable with it."

Mei nodded with determination. "I am."

They ran toward the noise, which grew louder and more violent the closer they came. Several shapes became visible in the distance. Kiana recognized them as Chariot-class Honkai beasts. They were large, lumbering, and slower than the other categories but more than compensated with their sheer size and brute strength. She dreaded the sight of them, knowing that her gun was useless. She would need to rely on her own strength to defeat them if it came to this, which she could do if there were only one Chariot, but there were at least three. She was about to tell Mei to retreat until she saw something that surprised her even more.

It was a lone figure. A small girl.

A survivor.

"Mei, we have to protect her!"

"Kiana, wait!"

But before Kiana could get any closer, she realized the girl was not alone. What appeared to be a large robot hovered near her. It resembled a legless torso with a small, robotic head and two massive arms, each built for battle. The left arm carried a large shield that easily blocked the Honkai beasts' attacks. The right arm was in the shape of a cannon that fired explosive beams of light that perforated their armour with ease. The girl was already surrounded by the remains of three Chariots, to which she soon added three more.

Kiana and Mei stared at her, dumbfounded and awestruck. They had no answers for who this girl and her weapon were.

"Kiana…she just…" stammered Mei.

"I know. I saw…"

With the battle concluded, they could see the girl more clearly. She wore a brown shirt with a yellow bow on her chest. Her grey hair was styled into twin drill curls, each held up by a blue ribbon. Her legs were enclosed in what appeared to be advanced metal armour, and strangest of all, she floated a short distance above the ground. The more they saw of this girl, the stranger and more dangerous she seemed. The most human part of her was the small, yellow doll she cradled her arms, holding it tightly and never letting go.

Before they could decide how to address the girl, she abruptly turned to them. Her expressionless face somehow showed even less emotion than her robot, as did her monotone voice.

"Target acquired. Commencing retrieval operation."

The robot aimed its cannon arm directly at Mei.

"Fire."