"Kiana, how are you holding up?"
Kiana cracked open an eye to see Theresa standing in front of her. Her aunt had her habit on, making her look every bit more the nun she was supposed to be cosplaying as. Or was she supposed to be a serious nun? Kiana had no idea.
"Peachy. Just peachy. I'm on a ship with my aunt and my father's younger sister with Himeko passed out in a chair," Kiana said.
Theresa sighed and sat down next to her.
Kriemhilde was in the pilot's chair, navigating the ship.
The Fafnir was the name of Kriemhilde's ship. Kiana had expected them to be working together but she never expected to be riding aboard the same vessel as her estranged aunt. The mere thought of it was grating to her and she wanted nothing more than to grab a parachute and jump ship.
However, she needed to stay for the sake of her friends.
"I don't get what your problem with your aunt is," Theresa said.
"She abandoned us. After the Second Eruption and after Dad died," Kiana said. "It's as plain and simple as tomorrow's sunrise."
"I see. I don't have any place to talk here since I… well, I do know of the little chasm in Siegfried and Kriemhilde's relationship-"
"Little? Is that what she told you?" Kiana interrupted.
"No, well… look, just try and get along with her. You might be working with her more in the foreseeable future and I want you two to not kill each other like you tried to do in New Zealand. Seriously, there is massive collateral damage to a large portion of the city. I don't want to have to send an incident report to Grandfather should the two of you ever get paired together," Theresa said.
"I'll put aside my disdain for her for the sake of the mission. Are you happy now?" Kiana said.
"Well, it's a start. By the way, are you sitting under the vent?" her aunt asked.
"Vent?"
"Yeah, it's really cold around here," Theresa said.
"Cold? I don't feel anything. It feels normal," Kiana replied.
She looked around to see if there were any vents that might have been blasting any cold air onto them but found none. Kiana raised an eyebrow and glanced over to her diminutive aunt, who was rubbing her arms in response to the chilly temperature.
"Are you sure it's just you not wearing enough layers? We are pretty high up," Kiana said.
"No, no, it's… this battlesuit might be ceremonial but it's still a battlesuit. I fought in Siberia wearing this you know… er, well I did wear other things underneath but that's besides the point," Theresa said.
"Are you sure it's not because you're short?" she asked once more.
"You… You have your father's sense of humor," Theresa grumbled.
"Isn't that a good thing? Dad had a pretty good sense of humor," Kiana laughed.
"Just shut up for the rest of the ride please," she said.
"Aw, come on, Aunt Theresa. Don't be like that, ahaha," her niece said.
It had been so long since she had been back here. Nagazora was now a fifth of the size it originally was. Mei's awakening as the Third Herrscher had proceeded to corrupt and level most of the city. What was left of the ruins could be seen in the distance. Large buildings, all warped and charred by the Wrath of Baal as Himeko liked to refer to it as. Kiana found it fitting. The Queen of Thunder was referred to as the God of the Heavens and Storms of an ancient pantheon from the Middle East.
She could see the plants reclaiming a land that was once built for the man to live in. If she had any free time after this mission, Kiana made a promise to herself to come back out here by herself and explore the ruins to see if she could find anything they left behind. Or possibly, head back to Senba Academy just to relive old memories.
"Brings back memories, doesn't it?" Himeko said.
"What memories? My panicking that Cecilia grabbed Raiden Mei's wings or you swinging the Blade of Hyperion at Raiden Mei and proceeding to create a crater about the size of an entire neighborhood?" Kiana asked.
"You have very good memory," her usually drunk friend remarked.
"Raising a hellion like Cecilia will do that to you. But…" Kiana glanced out over the city behind them.
What remained of Nagazora and its people tried to make the best of what they had left and were now thriving in a way that Kiana could never imagine.
However, at the city's center, Kiana could see it. The objective of their operation. Massive Electric, or ME Corporation, stood proudly in the distance. Its dark twin tower bastion stood above every skyscraper in the city, towering into the Heavens as if it were a second attempt at being the Tower of Babel.
The corporation, from Kiana's knowledge, was originally run by and owned by the Raiden Family with Raiden Ryoma as the head and Raiden Mei as the heiress. A tech giant with fingers deep in the pockets of the weapons industry and one of the leading technological pioneers in the world. It was a shame that it was rocked by a fraud scandal, leading to Ryoma being arrested and Mei falling from the grace of her fears, which served as one of the many factors in the awakening of the Third Herrscher.
But still, even after that day, all that chaos and suffering, Kiana saw that the city had found new ways to live on following the disaster.
"This place is much more lively without the undead running through it," she said.
"Are you two ready?"
Himeko and Kiana turned around to see Kriemhilde looking over to them. The slight breeze caused the shoulder cape of her black military style attired to sway in the wind. She had Balmung resting on her shoulder.
Theresa stood next to her with the usual smile, arms crossed and a Golden Cross strapped to her back.
"You brought Judah?" Kiana asked.
"I brought Judah… Kiana, I bring Judah everywhere with me. Especially now when we're dealing with two Herrschers. Who knows, we might need to restrain them," Theresa said.
The Oath of Judah. The 11th Divine Key and a weapon capable of restraining and nullifying all Honkai Energy within its range. A truly terrifying weapon for the Headmaster of Saint Freyja and the perfect weapon for combatting the Honkai and the Herrschers.
"Right. Anyway, I tried to land as close to ME corp as possible without being detected. Fafnir is a small ship and is equipped with stealth capabilities though, I don't know how potent Cocolia's stealth detection radar is," Kriemhilde said.
"So, we have to be prepared for anything when we go in, as usual," Himeko said, hefting her greatsword onto her shoulder.
"As usual? When do you not do it?" Kiana asked.
"Tch, don't get all testy now," Himeko said.
"Ahem. We'll split into teams of two," Theresa said.
"Split? Wouldn't it be better for us to stick together?" Kiana asked.
"No, for this, we need to move fast and we need to be sneaky. Going in smaller teams will help us. And with two teams covering ME corp, it'll help us finish this faster," her aunt replied.
"Right. So… me and Himeko?" she asked.
"Nope. You and Kriem," Theresa said.
"WHAT!?" Kiana stamped her foot on the ground.
"Oh calm down. It's for the sake of the mission. Besides, it'll do you some good to learn some more Kaslana moves from an older, more experienced Kaslana," she said.
"I don't need to learn any more things-"
"Need I remind you that Kriemhilde defeated you in New Zealand. You clearly have more room for growth and there's only so much I can do to help you at St. Freya. It'll do you some good to learn about the Kaslana Family's techniques from an actual member of House Kaslana," Theresa reasoned.
"If she's not comfortable, we can swap-"
"Fine."
Kriemhilde's eyes widened and she turned to Kiana.
"What? It's for the mission. Besides, it's better for us this way. The two S-Ranks are divided evenly between me and Himeko. And… Aunt Teri can keep an eye on the drunk for the sake of the mission," Kiana said.
"Hey! Going for low-hanging fruit, Kiana?" Himeko snapped.
"Ehem. We need to get going. The more time we waste here, the more time we lose getting them back alive," Theresa said.
The three nodded.
"Himeko, with me. We're taking the west gate. Kiana and Kriem, you two go find an entrance on the eastern side. Keep your channels open and secure to a private signal," Theresa said.
"Roger that, Auntie," Kiana said.
"Alright, Madam Theresa," Kriemhilde replied.
"Let's move out!"
Kiana and Kriemhilde took off running down the streets at rapid speed. After a few minutes, the two disappeared around a street corner.
"I guess we should get going too, huh?" Himeko said.
"Yeah, let's do this before we waste any more time," Theresa said in agreement.
"W- Wait!"
The two froze when they heard her voice. Theresa and Himeko looked at each other, noticing that the other had a look of abject horror on their face.
"Am… I'm drunk right?" Himeko said.
"If you're drunk, then that means I'm also drunk. If not then…" Theresa slowly turned around and her worst fears had been realized.
Cecilia ambled out of the ship, donning her White Comet Battlesuit. She had her hand on her ribcage and walked with a slight limp in her gait.
"Wait… I'm coming too!" Cecilia said.
"C- Cecilia!" Theresa yelled. "What… We told you to stay behind in St. Freya!"
"Well, guess what? I'm not and now, you have no choice but to bring me along," she replied.
She took one step forward but was immediately restrained by a swarm of golden chains. The chains wrapped tightly around her, preventing any semblance of movement.
"Wha-? Aunt Teri! Let me go!" Cecilia said.
"No. We're not letting you go with us to ME Corp. Especially not with those rib injuries!" Theresa said.
"Well, I'm going! Unless you want to fly me all the way back to St. Freya?" Cecilia said.
"What was going through that thick skull of yours when you decided to stow away on Kriemhilde's ship!?" Theresa bit back.
"Because… I have to be here! It's my fault they got captured! I made the call for Mei-senpai to flee without knowing that Cocolia would have brought more reinforcements! That's on me! And it's on me to make things right!" Cecilia said.
"God… damn it. You're just like your parents," she said, rubbing her forehead in frustration.
"Besides, what are you going to do? Leave me here to wander on my own into ME corp?" Cecilia asked.
"You…"
"And wasn't it you that said you need three valkyries to form a lineup?" she added with a smug smile on her face.
"Don't… Don't you dare throw my lines back in my face!? ME corp is an extremely dangerous Anti-Entropy stronghold!" Theresa said.
"Just let her come," Himeko said, interrupting their conversation.
"Wha-? HIMEKO! Don't feed her delusions!" Theresa said.
"I'm not but what else can we do? If she remains on the ship, she'll just sneak out anyway. If we bring her with us, we can keep a close eye on her to make sure she doesn't do anything stupid," Himeko said.
"I… Fine. But we're radioing Kiana," she replied.
"Got that, Squirt? Only way you're coming with us is after we radio Kiana," Himeko said.
"Fuck," Cecilia cursed.
Kriemhilde and Kiana ran from rooftop to rooftop, clearing the gaps between the buildings as if they were merely playing hopscotch. The cityscape passed them like a blur and the sounds of the nightlife all melded into one cacophony. The two said absolutely nothing to each other, not that Kiana wanted to. To her, this was a mere temporary arrangement. It was a means to an end and that end was to save her friends from Cocolia's clutches.
The two came to a stop at a ledge. Kriemhilde held her hand up and Kiana looked over to her.
"Anti Entropy Mechs. No doubt, they're Cocolia's," she said.
"Well, then let's…"
"Wait. We're alone now. I guess this is a good learning opportunity for you," Kriemhilde said.
"I'm not here to learn anything. I'm here to save Mei and Bronya," Kiana snapped.
"Trust me. If you get the hang of this, saving them will be much easier," her aunt said. She crouched at the ledge, counting the amount of mechas that patrolled the streets below.
Kiana bit her lip and looked down. There were a lot of mechs. She didn't want to admit it to her aunt of all people but even she would have trouble dealing with something like this. There was a chance that she would not make it out unscathed.
"Do you remember when I stabbed you in the chest back in New Zealand?" Kriemhilde asked.
"Huh? Are you bragging about how you beat your niece unconscious?" Kiana raised an eyebrow.
"No. Tell me, have you been feeling… different?" she asked.
"No. I'm still me. Why?" Kiana asked.
"Figures. I don't have anything to show to you that you've changed. Well, humor me this one time. Have people told you that it feels cold whenever they're around you?" Kriemhilde said.
"Well… Aunt Theresa did when we were flying over here but I figured it was just a vent or something," she replied.
"My ship has climate control but there are no vents where there are chairs," Kriemhilde said.
"Are you saying she was cold because of me?" Kiana asked.
"Only one way to find out."
"Find out what?"
"How quickly you can learn to utilize the powers of House Kaslana," Kriemhilde answered.
Kiana tilted her head in confusion.
"The powers of the Kaslana Stigmata are all instinctual and respond to you when you're in danger. Gaining control over it was something Siegfried and I had to spend time doing. Let's see how you fare in a live situation. In the end, it is just learning to control your Stigmata and Honkai energy in a different way," Kriemhilde said.
"Wha-?"
"Point is. To control this is to go with the flow. Give into the feeling but don't let it control you," Kriemhilde said.
"Control? What? What are you even saying?" Kiana asked.
"I guess a demonstration is better than just trying to explain it," her aunt said.
Kiana's eyes widened slightly when she felt the temperature drop several degrees. Kriemhilde's eyes began to glow and her sclera slowly turned black. Ice formed where her boots touched the ground.
Kiana let out a breath, watching it turn to mist as it exited her mouth.
"This is…"
"This is the power of the Kaslana Stigmata. Born from something ancient written within our genes. As a Progeny of the Kaslana, you two can use this power. A power capable of deposing the False Gods," she said.
"And by False Gods, you mean the Herrschers?" Kiana asked.
Kriemhilde smiled.
"Just watch and try to learn it. Remember, search for that feeling inside you. Well, do it after you see this."
"Wait! I still don't-" Kiana blinked and her aunt vanished.
The sound of gunfire and explosions drew her attention as she turned her gaze to the space below.
Kriemhilde appeared in a burst of speed, driving Balmung through the mech's head.
The Cyclone ahead pointed its minigun and began firing an onslaught of speedy bullets at Kriemhilde.
She began dashing towards the mech, each bullet phasing through her as if she were intangible. However, in reality, she was dodging them by a hair's breadth. Her movements were so fast that it made her appear to be an illusion with physical mass.
Kriemhilde crossed the remaining gap in a single bound and drove her fist into its head, knocking it down with sheer strength.
Ice formed beneath her feet and she propelled herself into the air. Kriemhilde raised Balmung above her head, activating it. She plunged down towards the mech, lightning trailing behind her, and slammed into the ground.
The impact violently shook the entire city block, causing lights to flicker and car alarms to blare. Windows and walls cracked against the force of the shockwave and the remaining mechs were sent sliding back.
Kiana watched as Kriemhilde methodically dispatched the rest of the mechs with a frightening amount of ferocity and efficiency. It was like she was ripping through paper.
That feeling she felt when she fought Kriemhilde came back. Kiana gripped her head, her vision swaying and blurring periodically.
So… So this is the feeling that she mentioned. The Resonance…
Kiana groaned as she struggled to remain in control of herself. Her eyes flickered as a blue light shone deep within her eyes.
"I have to… not let it control me while also going along with its flow," she repeated over and over again.
The sounds of the battle below became drowned out as the whispers began assaulting her head once more.
Ḯ̴̛̯̩̓̋t̷̫̣̹̎ ̵̤̩̱̇i̵̗̺͌͑̔s̶̨͉̥̯̓ ̶̭͈̻̻͑ẙ̶̤̈́̚ǫ̷͚̫̣͊́́͝u̴̜͋̉r̴̘̞͙͂̈́ ̴̳̠͒d̷̙̫̉̊͠ų̷̪̱͂̇̅̚ṱ̷̠̋͘͝ÿ̷̦̪̟̥́͛͝.̵̧͇̘͍͊́̕͝
C̶̪̳̍à̷̤̼͎͋̏s̷̡̫̲̀͝t̷̲̓̇́ ̷̮͔̍ḋ̴̼͚̳o̷̠͒̎́w̶̧̩̳̌̾̀͘n̴͚̄̆ ̶͙͖̏t̸͍͍̄͘͜ḫ̷̼͇̟́͐è̵̝ ̷̖̥͑̕v̴̳̓͆í̶̻͓̝̪͛l̴̤̭̈́͌͜e̵̢̦̮̎̈̒͜ ̵͔̎G̸̨̪̼̱̈́́ȍ̷͉͂ḏ̴̿͗̋!̶̤͍̹̤́
P̶̱̳̉͜u̵̪̳̓r̷̛̰̈́ǵ̷̩͈̒̆̇e̷͇͚͗̅͌ ̵̋́͜t̶̠͘ͅh̵̠̲́̈́́͘͜e̸̠̭͘ ̴̹̪̬͛͌̅e̶̙̞̻̚n̴̼͙̿̈́̓è̵̜̣͇̌̒͑͜m̶̛͉̯̓̒͗y̷̗̞̣̳̑!̷̨͖͉͍̊̍̋
"NO!" Kiana said, gripping the side of her head.
The whispers were overwhelming.
"Don't let it control you. Master your instincts. Let them serve you!" she chanted almost as if it were a mantra.
It was one of the things her father had taught her. And it was something she had taught her sister.
And now it was her way of maintaining herself. The whispers had almost overwhelmed her entirely but now, they had been reduced to a mere itch in the back of her mind. It was something that was noticeable but not powerful enough to the point of irritation. Shudders wracked her body as she began to calm down.
After a few minutes, Kiana felt her senses return to her and she panted heavily on the rooftop. She looked down at the roof, which was now covered in a thin layer of frost.
"I think… I got the hang of this," she muttered.
Kiana slowly got up and saw that her aunt was clearly taking her time. Not wanting to waste any more time, Kiana shot from the roof with incredible force, far more than she had used.
She slammed into one of the mechs, sending it flying an incredible distance of several feet.
"Wha…?"
"Listen up. Our Stigmata possesses hidden abilities that are encoded in the genetic code of our family. The first thing you need to do is learn to control your strength. Right now, your body's muscles have increased in density considerably, granting you an increase in physical strength. Controlling how much you put out allows you to minimize the damage done to your surroundings and teammates," Kriemhilde said.
Kiana remained silent but took her words to mind.
An AE Mech came rushing towards her and swung its hulking arm toward her.
Kiana flipped, narrowly avoiding the arm. A blue light expanded from her body, slowing time down around her.
She landed on the ground and took off towards the mech, jumping into the air and performing an axe kick.
True to her Aunt's words, her physical strength had increased. Her heel split right through the helm of the mech, slamming it face first into the ground.
The blue light faded, allowing time to resume normally.
Kiana looked down at the palm of her hand before squeezing it.
It wasn't just her strength. She could feel it. She felt lighter and far more durable than before.
Feeling a rush of confidence flow through her, Kiana pulled Shamash out of its holsters and ran headlong into the remaining herd of mechs.
She kicked up her speed, dashing past them. As she passed, Kiana performed a twist flip, firing Shamash's flaming rounds as she did so.
No matter the strength of the metal, it offered very little resistance against the flames of Shamash. The bullets shredded the mechs, striking them in critical areas and reducing them to bullet-riddled piles of metal that vaguely resembled something humanoid.
Kiana rolled and turned around, watching them all fall to the ground.
Even if Cocolia is the one making them, all the weak spots are the same in the mechs that Tesla and Einstein make. Well, it helps that I can power up to move faster now, Kiana thought as she got up.
"You took care of the Mechs on your end?" Kriemhilde asked, pulling Balmung out of a Mech's chassis.
Kiana nodded and strapped Shamash to her waist.
"I never knew we could do something like this. No wonder dad was so strong. Being able to take on massive chariots with his bare hands," Kiana remarked.
"Mmm. This state you're experiencing right now is the base form. It's a segue into the next form which I'll show you later. However, before we go, I want to tell you that this power is not without its price," Kriemhilde said.
"Price?"
"Your father. Your father began taking pills after the end of the Second Eruption," she said.
"Dad? Medicine? I've never seen him take any medicine," Kiana said.
"He probably hid it from you two. But, when we still talked, your father had already defected from Schicksal and sided with Anti-Entropy. I'm assuming that's where he got those pills from," she said.
"Now that I think about it, I always found it weird that you and Cecilia were with Theresa and not with Dr. Einstein or Dr. Tesla. I was 100% sure that you two would have followed your father's footsteps and joined Anti-Entropy but I guess I was wrong," Kriemhilde said.
"What… What did the pills do?" Kiana asked.
She never knew Siegfried took pills. This power within their blood. The downsides slowly began to outnumber the advantages that it offered. As it were right now, Kiana saw it as a double-edged sword. It was one that took more from its wielder than it granted given that her father had to take pills because of it.
Kriemhilde smiled bitterly and looked down at her hand. "It suppresses the ICHOR in our bodies."
"ICHOR?"
Kriemhilde nodded. "Our body contains something known as ICHOR. Intra-Chromosomal Honkai Gene Repeats," she answered.
"Wait wait wait… Honkai? Honkai Genes? Are you saying that…?" Kiana trailed off.
"Yeah. I'll explain more later but for now, we need to get a move on," Kriemhilde said.
"Hold on, explain now."
"No, not now. Later when we're more situated or when we retrieve Raiden Mei and Bronya Zaychik," her aunt said.
Kriemhilde began walking towards an alleyway.
"Though." She stopped and turned around. "This is the first time you've spoken to me without resentment or annoyance in your tone."
"Kind of hard to be hateful or annoyed considering what I just learned…" Kiana mumbled. "Besides, I do hate your guts but Aunt Theresa told me to at least act cordially to my father's sister for the duration of this operation."
"You're not even going to refer to me as Auntie, just once? Like you did when you were still a little girl?" she asked.
"You lost that privilege that day you abandoned us after Dad died. Cecilia is my only family now. All you are is a sack of flesh that happens to be related to my father," Kiana said, her tone harsh and unforgiving.
Kriemhilde nearly flinched at her tone. There was no fixing the past. She had done wrong by them by not showing up in time to save them nor giving any sort of response. And thus, she had suffered dearly for it.
"Kiana, I…"
"Stop. Just… stop," her niece replied. "Let's go save Mei and Bronya. That's what we came here for. I didn't come here to listen to your reasons. I came here to save my friends. Now, come on."
"Kiana," she said sadly.
Kiana said nothing in response and scaled the building, reaching the ledge and grabbing onto it in mere seconds. She pulled herself up and looked out over the street.
"Do you see anything?" Kriemhilde asked.
"No. Nothing but patrols and cameras," Kiana replied.
That's strange. Did Cocolia move the entrance? I was sure it was around here somewhere, she thought.
"What are you looking for?" Kriemhilde asked.
"A way in," Kiana said.
She nodded.
"There's a lot of security cameras here. I never knew that Nagazora turned into a police state after the Third Eruption," Kriemhilde said.
"I guess Schicksal doesn't go back to places it's already saved," she replied. "But I don't think those cameras belong to the city. They're probably…"
"Cocolia's," her aunt replied.
"Yup. Let's see if I can… wait, no. Shamash has no silencer function. The shot will be too loud. Can Balmung shortcircuit the cameras?" Kiana asked.
"I can try. Give me a few minutes," she said.
"Alright," Kiana said.
Kriemhilde began slowly building electricity within Balmung's blade, causing it to brighten until it glowed dimly. She raised the blade and lightly stabbed it into the concrete roof beneath her, sending out a pulse of highly concentrated electricity.
Every camera within a 50-foot radius short-circuited, having been overloaded by Kriemhilde.
"It's done. All we need to do is sneak past those mechs," Kiana said.
"Ready when you are," Kriemhilde said.
"Let's-"
"Earth to Kiana."
Kiana stopped and held her hand up.
Theresa's voice rang in her comms. She brought her hand up to her earpiece.
"Go for Kiana," she replied.
"We've run into a bit of a situation on our end. And… we almost lost control of it too. But don't worry! All is well now! We're just looking for the entrance on our end," Theresa said.
"Are you sure? Kriemhilde and I can double back around and provide backup if you need us to," Kiana said.
"No, that's really not necessary. Himeko is here to help so there are no problems there. It's just… this problem is a tad more… chaos related," Theresa said.
"Chaos related?" Kiana raised an eyebrow.
Theresa had always been direct when it came to relaying battlefield information. This was the first time she had heard her aunt at a loss for proper descriptors.
"Err… can you elaborate on that?" she said.
"Cecilia is here," Himeko's voice came in through the channel.
Cecilia is here.
Those three words caused her blood to freeze. She swore her heart stopped beating momentarily out of sheer shock. Her vision became unfocused and the world around her spun and blurred. Kiana stumbled around the roof before slowly lowering herself to the ground.
She shook her head, attempting to deny the statement she had just heard into fiction.
"No, no, no, no. You're joking, right? There's no way Cecilia is here," she said.
"Er, we'll put her on. We added her to the private channel so we can connect her to you," Theresa said.
"Put her through. Now."
Her tone left no room for negotiations. The fear she felt was compounded by the fury that was now coursing through her body. Kiana clenched her fists and her eyes flickered.
"What's going on?" Kriemhilde asked, noticing the frost beginning to form around her niece.
"My sister. She stowed on your ship and followed us here. Of all the harebrained, inconceivable…"
Kiana heard Theresa through the comm link urging her sister to join the channel.
After a few seconds of unintelligible arguing, a new voice linked to the channel.
"H- Hello… Kiana, ahaha-"
"You're dead," she said.
Her laconic reply sent shivers down her younger sister's spine.
It was so palpable that Kiana could feel it through the comm link.
"You hear me, Cecilia? When we get home, you are in for it," Kiana said.
"Well, I wouldn't have snuck on if you had just let me go on the mission! I can take care of myself! I already took out three Anti-Entropy Mechs and a few Honkai beast-"
"You let her fight!" Kiana growled.
"She ran off when we mentioned that we were contacting you. We had no choice in the matter, Kiana," Theresa said.
"Goddamnit, Ceci! What were you thinking?" Kiana demanded.
"I was thinking that I needed to save them, Kiana! I was the leader of that mission. Those two were my responsibility! I'm not going to just sit at St. Freyja and let them rot in some Anti-Entropy cell!" Cecilia snapped.
"Ceci-"
"You always told me to do the right thing and to never sacrifice my beliefs and empathy for anyone. Well, this is it. This is what I think is the right thing and I'm going to do it," Cecilia said.
"This and that are different! I'm not going to let you die or get hurt like this! Especially when you're this injured and emotionally charged!" Kiana argued back.
"Look, we can spend all day arguing about this or go save Mei-senpai and Bronya. I'm going in whether you like it or not," Cecilia said.
"You are not going in there, you hear me! Cecilia!" Kiana said through the comms.
"So that's how you're going to be? I'm not Dad and I'm not a little kid anymore, Kiana," Cecilia said.
"Cecilia, if you go with Theresa, so help me God, I will-"
"This is what I hate most about you, Kiana."
Kiana's blood ran cold when she heard the line disconnect.
"Cecilia? Cecilia! Cecilia!" Kiana yelled. "Damn it!"
Kiana punched the ground, sending small spider web cracks through the concrete.
She felt tears streak down her face as her worry and anger dominated the forefront of her mind.
"We'll keep an eye out for her. Don't worry, Kiana," Himeko said.
"That idiot… running headlong into this! She's in for it when we get back," Kiana said.
"I'm sure she will but for now, focus on the operation. You can deal with family matters when we get back to St. Freyja. Retrieval of the Third and Fourth Herrschers is the top priority at the moment," Theresa said.
Kiana let out a long-winded sigh. "I got it. Make sure that idiot doesn't do anything stupid."
"I'll watch her like a hawk," Theresa replied.
Theresa and Himeko disconnected and all was silent once more save for the mechs that patrolled the streets below.
"Well?" Kriemhilde asked.
Kiana raised her hand and wiped her tears.
"We need to keep going. Cecilia is there with them. We need to find Mei and Bronya and get to the rendezvous point," she said.
Disclaimer: Like I said in the last chapter, I'm putting ME Corporation in Nagazora since that's where I assume it is or still is. It would make senses was to why there are Honkai beasts in the level though other than it's just standard Honkai Stage design. Anyway, that's it from me. Good luck on all of your Herrscher of Truth Pulls. And you know the drill. Like, subscribe, and review. See you all next time.