"Have you seen Cecilia?"
Himeko looked up from her desk to see Mei standing in front of her. The worried look in the girl's eyes was easy to spot, despite Mei maintaining a rather well sculpted mask. However, when it came to Kiana's younger sister, Mei was quite easy to read. Himeko placed a can of Sapporo she had been drinking down on her desk.
"No. Isn't she in the ICU right now with Kiana?" Himeko asked.
"No, I just checked. She's not there. She's not anywhere. Not even in the Principal's office," Mei said.
"Maybe she just wants to be left alone. She's going through something difficult right now. We need to give her some space to process this," she replied.
"But… Teacher, I'm worried about her," Mei said.
"Don't worry. Ceci's a tough girl. She'll come out of this and find us on her own but right now, she probably just needs to be alone," Himeko said.
"..." Mei nodded and turned around to leave the office.
"Mei."
"Yeah?" she looked over her shoulder and saw Himeko placing her papers down.
"If she doesn't turn up by nightfall, come back. We'll find her together. We haven't gotten any report of any aircraft leaving the premises so we're okay. Plus all the battlesuits have transponders on them so we can track her down if we need to," Himeko said.
Mei nodded before leaving the room. As she walked down the hallway. Mei could not get rid of the growing pit inside her stomach. "Ceci, where are you?"
Ceci looked around as she followed her parents into the dark bastion of a laboratory. After getting past the initial entrance, Ceci noticed how dark the interior was. It was not dark in the literal sense, but to Ceci, the place looked hopeless and depressing. Various doors lined the halls with stairs and platforms leading to them. There was a central elevator at the end of a circular foyer.
Siegfried whistled when he saw all the doors. "Wow, this place looks like a prison."
"Yeah, what kind of lab is this?" Ceci asked.
Cecilia's eyes scanned her surroundings. "The Overseer manages this lab directly. Even I don't know what happens here and I have a pretty high clearance level. Theresa might but now that I see what it looks like… I doubt that now."
"You think the rumors are true?" Siegfried asked.
"What rumors?" Ceci asked, following after him.
"That he keeps kids with no parents here and experiments on them," he replied.
"I don't know but this place seems a little… off," Cecilia said. She tightened her grip slightly on Abyss Flower's handle. "Let's not get too distracted. We need to get to the Second Herrscher."
"Right. Let's look around to see if there's anything that might get us further in." Cecilia walked ahead of the two.
"There's an elevator up ahead. We can probably take that higher up the tower," Siegfried said.
"Yeah, let's-"
The three suddenly jumped back as a massive shadow fell from above and landed in front of them. The shape unfolded, standing and towering before them. Its white chassis glinted dimly in the low light of the environment. Its blue eye glowed and steam exited from several exhaust vents on its back.
"Anti-Entropy?" Ceci asked, twirling her pistols.
"That's not Anti-Entropy," her mother responded. "Those are prototype G-12 Mechs. They haven't even been released yet. What's one doing here?"
"I don't care what it's doing here. It looks like it wants to fight," Siegfried said. He brandished Shamash, aiming the pistols at its central eye.
"We don't have time for this," Cecilia said. She lifted Abyss Flower and reared her arm back. In one fluid motion, she threw the spear forward at high speeds.
The spear pierced through the mech like it was made of paper. The lance stabbed into the metal wall behind.
The mech fell down, corroding slowly.
Siegfried and Ceci stood there with slack-jawed expressions on their faces.
"What?" Cecilia asked.
"You…"
"Didn't…"
"Huh?" Cecilia raised an eyebrow when she saw the look on their faces.
"Why didn't you let us handle it!?" Ceci asked.
"Yeah! I know you can still fight but…!" Siegfried exclaimed.
"Eh?" Cecilia was taken aback. Did they actually want to fight the mech? She almost wanted to laugh. And their combined expression was sort of endearing. It was only now that she noticed just how much Ceci looked like her husband with the exception of the face. The shape of that girl's face was like hers.
"Whatever… let's just go to the elevator," Ceci sulked, holstering her pistols.
The three approached the lift, on the lookout for more mechs that might show up. Cecilia walked over to the wall and pulled Abyss Flower out while Ceci checked on the touchpad.
Ceci pressed a few buttons on the pad.
[Access Key required]
"Access key? We need a key to this place?" Ceci asked.
"Cecilia, what about your badge?" Siegfried asked.
"Uh… sure," Cecilia said, walking over. She pulled a card out of the pocket of her battlesuit and pressed it against the touchpad.
[Access denied.]
"Looks like my ID won't get us in that elevator," she said.
"That's weird. There's not many places in Schicksal we can't get into. What the hell is Otto hiding in this place," Siegfried said.
"Let's not think about that right now. Let's look around to see if someone might have dropped their access key while they were evacuating this place," Cecilia said.
"Let's split up and look for something. I'll take the top half. Cecilia can take the ones down here and kid, you can take the cells in the middle," Siegfried said.
"Right. Gotcha! I'll find that key!" Ceci said.
"Mmm. Key. Key…," Ceci said as she walked down the middle row of cells. She looked over the railing and saw her mother inspecting the lower floor. Her father's footsteps were in the rows just above hers. She felt a pang of happiness in her heart. She was actually doing it. She was spending time with her parents.
Her parents were here right in front of her and they weren't dead. Her father and the mother she had heard many stories about.
"And Mom's so cool, kyaa!" she squeed.
"I wonder what I can do to help them. I gotta-"
Her train of thought was interrupted by the sound of something banging against the metal doors. She immediately went on guard and pulled her pistols out of their holsters. As she took a step forward, another bang echoed down the hall. It was coming from the cells in front of her.
"Hello?" Ceci asked.
Another bang happened as if in response to her greeting.
She clenched her jaw and inched her way closer to the cell. As she did, she passed by a cell whose door was slightly ajar. The moment she stepped into the range of the opening, the cell door swung open.
Ceci dodged the attack without so much as batting an eyelash. Her eyes narrowed when she saw an orange blade embedded into the metal floor
"A Honkai zombie?" she muttered.
A zombie dressed in lab clothing lumbered out of the cell, wielding a curved scythe.
"Oh. It's just one," Ceci said.
And soon after, it was followed by two more zombies, one of which looked significantly younger than the other two.
A child-!?
Ceci moved back, narrowly avoiding the claws of one of the zombies. She jumped back and grinned. "Attacking someone who's distracted. That's a new one. I didn't think you zombies were so good at picking up on cues."
The clawed zombie leaped forward, its talons splayed and ready to rip her in half.
Ceci ducked under the swing and rammed the barrel of her pistol into its midsection. She fired the bullet, sending it flying away a considerable distance.
The doctor zombie rushed forward, swinging its scythe wildly.
Ceci parried each swing with her pistol before sweeping its legs out from under it. She stomped on its throat, pinning it under her boot. With one swift motion, Ceci fired her pistol into its skull, killing it in one shot.
Her eyes trained when she heard silent snarling in front of her. The child zombie shuffled its way toward her, reaching and grasping. Its glowing violet pits and snapping jaws did not detract Ceci from hesitating.
Bella…
Ceci blinked. Where did that name come from? She shook her head and saw the child zombie's legs tensing. On instinct, she fired her pistol, striking it in the skull.
The child zombie fell to the ground, hitting it with a louder thud than the other zombies. Or at least, it was louder to her.
Her heart was racing for some reason. Her heart never beat this fast when she was dealing with Honkai zombies. What the hell…? she thought.
"Hey, kid!"
"Cecilia!"
Ceci blinked when she heard her parents calling out to her.
"You okay? We heard gunshots!" Siegfried called out.
"Yeah! Just a few zombies. There's some inside the cells!" she answered.
"Be careful, Ceci! Don't push yourself, okay?" Cecilia said with some worry in her voice.
Ceci almost rolled her eyes reflexively at her mother's statement. It had become a habit of hers ever since Kiana had gotten on her about everything from how she dressed to how she fought. It was like she was her mom. She walked into the empty cell, stepping over the Honkai Zombie's corpse. The putrid smell of death almost made her gag but she pushed on, taking note of how claustrophobic and cramped the entire space was. It was as large as a broom closet. Large enough for someone to move around in but small enough to where the walls appeared to be closing in on all sides.
She walked over to one of the beds. The blanket had crusted, dried stains of blood on it and the pillow was worn and yellowed.
"Now… let's see if one of those scientists dropped one of their keys while they were getting everyone out…"," Ceci said.
A series of hushed whispers briefly entered her mind as she got closer to the cot. As if she were guided by some kind of invisible force, Ceci knelt in front of the bed and spotted something sticking out just barely from underneath.
Raising an eyebrow in curiosity, she reached underneath and pulled it out. "It's… a notebook?" In her hand was a worn-down, dirty notebook. The edges of the cover were frayed and crumpled and the rings were twisted as if they were held by a great physical force. "Let's see…"
Her brow furrowed and her eyes squinted as she tried to make sense of the handwriting. All of it was in Cyrillic, a language she was familiar with but the handwriting was no more than just chicken scratch. "Jesus, their handwriting is worse than mine… but let's see…"
"The doctor told me to keep a diary. I've never kept a diary so I don't know where to begin."
"Doctors? I thought this place was a lab. Is this place actually some kind of hospital? If it is, they need to fire whoever did the interior design for this place. It looks like they're trying to kill patients instead of healing them…," she muttered as she flipped through the pages.
"The treatment still hurts today too. But the doctor said that we can't stop. He said that we're helping save other people from dying like our parents did. But… it just hurts so much. The other kids who ended the treatments were taken away. No one ever came back…"
Ceci squinted, trying to make out the words through the tear splotches.
"I'm so scared. I don't want to go back. I don't want to live in this dark and cramped cage. I want Mom. Mommy, where are you?"
"Mmm? What the hell? Where's all the pages?" Ceci flipped through torn page after torn page. A pang of irritation flooded her mind as she tried to find another entry. "Come on. Who kept this diary? A kid-"
"I hate them."
"Eh?" she blinked.
"Bella. They took Bella! They took her! I hate them. I hate them. I hate them. I hate them. I hate them. I hate them. I hate them. I hate them. I hate them. I hate them. I hate them. I hate them. I hate them. I hate them. I hate them. I hate them. I hate them. I hate them. I hate them. I hate them."
Ceci's eyes scanned through ten more lines of just one single phrase. "I hate them."
"God, if you really do exist, please. Please save us! Give me the power to punish these sinners! Please give me the power to save us from this pain!"
"There's one more entry…"
"I miss you, Mom, Dad. But I won't cry. I definitely won't cry this time because I remember the magic spell you taught me, Mom. You say that magic whenever I'm sad. All I have to do is say that magic spell and it'll let me see you again, Mom, Dad. Ich liebe dich…"
Those words are the exact words that…
Ceci's left eye slowly shifted to the color yellow as she read the diary. Honkai energy began to subconsciously leak from her body. However, the progression was stopped when she felt a hand on her shoulder.
She blinked and her yellow eye quickly faded back to blue.
"Kiddo, you alright?"
Ceci glanced over her shoulder and saw her parents standing behind her with worried expressions on their faces.
"Ceci, are you okay? You didn't meet us when we said we would," Cecilia said, kneeling in front of her and placing a hand on her forehead.
"What? I've just been here, reading this notebook for like the past 10 minutes," she replied.
Cecilia and Siegfried glanced at each other. Siegfried turned to her and shook his head. "Kid, it's been almost an hour since we said we'd meet back up."
"An… hour? But that's impossible! I just fought those zombies a few minutes ago," Ceci said.
"Ceci… are you okay-?"
Their words never fully registered in Ceci's ears. A sudden, piercing headache threatened to split her skull wide open. She fell to one knee, gripping the left side of her head as she felt it pounding against her brain and skull.
"Aaaggh! My head! My head hurts like hell-!"
Her left eye flickered between yellow and blue as her surroundings began to glitch around her.
"Ce-!"
"-ddo!
"Dad…? Mom…?" Ceci whispered as her surroundings flickered around her. The walls of the cell room were briefly replaced with a glowing stream of blue lines and the metallic floor where she stood momentarily turned into a series of gray interlocking, pixelated tiles.
She soon began to grip both sides of her head as she dropped the diary.
That word.
Ich liebe dich.
Ich liebe dich.
Ceci's eyes rolled into the back of her head as darkness began to overtake her and she passed out.
"-in-!"
"S-!"
"Ceci!"
Her eyes flew open and she found herself looking into the eyes of her mother. Cecilia had a worried look on her face as she looked down at her. Ceci blinked, realizing that her head was laying on her mother's lap.
"W- What happened?" she asked, sitting up.
"You passed out after we came to get you," Siegfried said.
"Passed out?" her head throbbed and her vision blurred for a few seconds.
"How are you feeling? Is your head alright?" Cecilia asked.
"S- Sorry, it's just… reading this diary reminded me of my past. I… lost my Mom and Dad when I was young. My sister is the only person I have left in my life. I can kind of relate to what this child was going through. She… has an empty heart," Ceci said.
Siegfried and Cecilia shot each other glances. Cecilia looked at the downcast Ceci and pulled her into a hug.
"Eh? Ce- Cecilia?" Ceci asked.
"Shhh. You've lived such a hard life until now. Such a poor kid," she whispered.
"M-"
"Don't worry. Just rest in my arms for a bit," Cecilia interjected. "You've been so strong all your life. I can't imagine going through what you went through. I'm sure your parents would be proud of you."
Ceci's eyes widened as a few tears leaked out of her eyes. She snuggled into her mother's embrace, basking in the warmth that was traveling through her. Her worries and struggles were beginning to fade. "Thank you, Mo- Master Cecilia…"
After a few seconds, the two pulled apart and Ceci wiped a few tears that were left in her eyes.
"Feeling better, kiddo?" Siegfried asked.
"Yeah. W- We should continue looking through the other rooms. Maybe we can find the key there," Ceci said, getting up. Her face was turning red from embarrassment.
"Don't be in a rush, kiddo," Siegfried said, following after her.
"Oh! Wait! Don't forget to bring that diary! We can probably use it as some sort of clue!" Ceci said.
Cecilia nodded and picked up the diary. As the three walked along the metal platform, Cecilia kept shooting her parents subtle glances as they talked to each other while inspecting the diary.
I… I wished that Mom held me when I recited that magic spell in the diary… and it worked. Maybe this magic spell is for real? Ceci thought as she checked the different rooms.
"Well, we checked all of the rooms. What about…?" Ceci asked.
"The scientist's dorm. If they were observing people here, there's probably a room for them to hole up in. And if there is a dorm close by, then there's probably a bunch of keys and IDs somewhere there," Siegfried said.
Cecilia looked at her husband with a raised eyebrow.
"What?" he asked.
"Did you just… say something smart?" she asked.
"Oi! You're acting like I'm stupid or something," Siegfried protested.
"You're not stupid, dear. You just have your moments," Cecilia replied. "Come on. Let's go and get that key. I think I know where the scientist's dorms are at. If it's in the same place, it should be in a place with a good vantage point where they can see all the cells. And the only place that can do that is… up there!"
She pointed to a platform at the center of the room.
"I can go and get it!" Ceci said.
"Eh? Wait, what about your-"
"I got it! I'll be back," Ceci said. She ran toward the stairs and climbed it at high speeds. If I can get that digital key for them, then they'll definitely praise me this time! Just like when I say that magic spell!
She opened the door and peeked inside. Her eyes lit up when she spotted the keycard. "Let's get this back to them… Mmm?"
Next to the keycard lay another piece of paper. The aged look of the paper reminded her of the diary she had seen an hour ago. "Another one? Let's see what this one says," she said. Ceci grabbed the paper and the keycard.
"Everything hurts. The doctors want to do more checks on me. They took me to a room filled with TVs. I… I like TVs. I remember that Mom used to hug me whenever we watched TV together. But the TVs here are weird. They show nothing but strange numbers. And the pain… Mom… Bella…"
"Wow, that's kinda sad. I… I wish I had her childhood. I never got to watch TV with Mom and Dad didn't own a TV where we lived. Maybe…"
Ceci closed her eyes tightly and recited the words. "Ich liebe dich…"
"What the hell are you doing, Ceci? I gotta get going! But… I really want to watch TV with Mom and Dad. No, I want more! I want to play video games with Mom and Dad!" Ceci exclaimed. "Ich liebe dich!"
She waited for a few seconds. "Well, I tried. Nothing's happened. This really is just some kid's imagination."
The moment Ceci got off the stairs, she noticed something odd. Both of her parents were gone. She raised an eyebrow before looking around. "Siegfried? Cecilia?" she called out. Her eyes flitted to each inch of her surroundings. "Where did they go…?"
"They abandoned you… just like they abandoned us. Your father died because he hated you. Your mother left you because she regretted ever giving life to you. And soon your sister will leave you as well…"
Ceci winced as she felt a throb in her head.
"What was…?" she slowly blinked. Ceci looked around, sensing nothing around her. The only thing that stood before her was the security card terminal.
"Whatever. Let's just get this thing inside the terminal. When Mom and Dad get back and see the activated lift, they'll definitely praise me for being a good girl," Ceci said giddily.
Ceci stared at the black ID card and held it up toward the terminal. "Right, so just insert this card here and let the system do the rest of the work." She slipped the card inside the terminal and her eyes lit up as the screen came to life.
[Visitor data detected. Level 3 clearance. Authentication in progress…]
"Wow, that's it? This is super easy! Now we can take this elevator all the way to the top where the Second Herrscher is," Ceci said.
However, her cheers were cut off by the automated voice of the system.
[Error detected. Core clearance missing. Authentication failed.]
A mocking "Access Denied" notification stared back at her.
"What? What the hell?" Ceci said.
[Unauthorized access detected. Preparing to freeze the visitor. Security lockdown imminent.]
"Woah! Wait a second!" Ceci began pressing the buttons on the keypad.
[10]
[9]
[8]
"Wait! Stop! What the hell happened? I thought this was the keycard for the terminal!" Ceci yelled. "No! This can't be it! This can't be the end! I can't let Mom and Dad face the Herrscher by themselves!"
The space around her began to glitch and flicker. A blank bluish-gray space glitched in and out of the background and the structures around her shifted into blue-gray cubic structures erratically.
"No! No! I can't let it end here! Mom and Dad still need me!" Ceci said frantically. Her left eye began to glow and changed from blue to yellow rapidly.
[Warning. Warning. Extreme mental stress detected. Vital signs-]
[Vi- signs- er-]
"E- Eh?" Ceci's left eye returned to normal and as it did, so did the world around her.
[Core clearance detected. Authentication complete. Initializing program.]
"What the…? I have clearance?" Ceci raised an eyebrow in confusion. Her eyes dulled for a split second before her expression returned to normal. "Of course I have clearance! I grabbed the right card!"
"But what is this?" she narrowed her eyes as she leaned in toward the screen, trying to make sure her eyes were not playing tricks on her. "Eh? Is that… a game!?"
"Hey, kid. What's up? Did it work?"
Ceci jumped when she heard the voice next to her. She leaped back and pulled her pistols out, aiming them at her father.
"Woah! Woah! Slow down there, Tex," Siegfried said, raising his hands in mock surrender.
"Don't do that!" she said in exasperation. Ceci placed her pistols back in their holsters and placed a hand on her chest, trying to calm her rapidly beating heart.
"Mmm? You look surprised. Did you forget we were standing right next to you?" Cecilia asked, tilting her head in confusion.
"N- No, I… Anyway! Look at this. A video game popped up on the authorization screen instead of something…," she said.
Siegfried and Cecilia both turned to look at the screen. Cecilia's eyebrows rose considerably while Siegfried's eyes bugged out of his head. He cocked his head back and laughed hysterically.
"What the hell kind of shitty security system is this?" Siegfried cackled.
"Isn't this Kallen Fantasy III?" Cecilia asked, pointing at the screen.
"Kallen Fantasy… III?" Ceci said, staring at the screen with her parents.
Kallen Fantasy III. What an odd name for a game. She saw the logo of a white-haired woman dressed in a black and violet rogue's outfit. The woman held a black raven's mask and had a sly, playful smirk on her face.
"Mmm! It's a video game that was developed and distributed by Schicksal! It follows three characters. There is Kallen, the Valkyrie of Light, her boyfriend, Otto, and their pet Homu. The whole aim of the game is to defeat the Dark Fox of the East and to ensure that Otto and Kallen get married by the ending. There are generally multiple endings in the game. There's the basic ending where the two get married. The bad ending where Kallen gets captured by the Dark Fox and turned into her slave. And then there's the True Ending where Kallen and Otto slay the fox together and become the head of the Destiny Organization," Cecilia explained with stars in her eyes.
"Wow… um…," Ceci was at a loss for words.
"She really likes this game. She wants to get the rumored Kallen Fantasy IV after this," Siegfried said.
"Well, this game was developed by Overseer Otto as the third installment. Of course, it was never released but he's the only person I know that would do something like this. While it was never released to the general public, it was released to the Valkyrie Forces as a way to train reflexes and strategic thinking. I… actually got the highest score in the game, beating Lord Otto's score by 3. Then, he banned my account," Cecilia said.
"Um…" She looked between Cecilia and the terminal. The woman had immediately moved toward the keypad and pressed multiple buttons furiously. After a few seconds, the screen change from the start menu to a character selection screen.
"Ceci, come." Cecilia beckoned for her to come over.
She obeyed and Cecilia moved from the screen.
"Okay, I'll let you do this terminal and give you a quick walkthrough. Ziggy here is a speedrunner so he can tell you how to exploit all the bugs in the game to get through it faster," Cecilia said.
"Wait… what?" Ceci looked between her two parents.
"Since we are in a hurry, let's just go with the Homu for now. It's a well-balanced unit unlike the DPS-geared Kallen and the Support-Geared Otto. Now, let's go!" Siegfried said, pressing the select button.
"Hey, wait!" Ceci placed her fingers on the keyboard, controlling the Homu.
"Now, go through there." Cecilia pointed to a spot on the screen.
And so, Ceci began playing through a stage of Kallen Fantasy. Siegfried had given her tips on how to exploit the stage's glitches while Cecilia helped her beat the bosses of the stage with various strategies. While they were in this to activate the lift, Ceci was having the time of her life.
It's coming true! It's coming true! I'm sorry for calling your spell stupid and a scam, kid! I'm actually playing video games with my parents, kyaa! Ceci thought.
"Come on!" Siegfried urged.
"Ceci! This is the last phase! Just dodge once and hit with a heavy to stagger! After that, perform a visceral," Cecilia said.
"Alright… dodge… stagger… and YES! I did it!" Ceci pumped her fist, cheering loudly.
"Good job, kiddo!" Siegfried said, ruffling her hair.
Ceci purred involuntarily, leaning into her father's touch. It was always just like this. Her old man would praise her whenever she did something like this.
"Good job, Ceci. You got the lift open. I knew you had it in you," Cecilia said.
Ceci beamed with pride. Mom praised me too! This is the best! I have to tell Kiana when we get back. Me, Mom, and Dad fought a Herrscher! She'll be super jealous! She never got to fight with Mom and Dad, she thought.
"Well, looks like the lift is open. Let's push forward. Our path to the Second Herrscher is open now," Siegfried said.
"Yes, let's," Cecilia agreed.
Ceci nodded fervently in agreement. "Let's go! Let's go beat this Second Herrscher up!"
"Ah! Class President!"
Fu Hua stopped walking when she heard the voice behind her. She looked over her shoulder and saw Mei running toward her. The girl was clearly out of breath and she had a haggard look on her face.
"Mei? What's wrong?" Fu Hua asked.
"Have you seen Ceci? She hasn't returned and it's almost sundown," Mei said.
"No, I haven't. Wasn't she in the infirmary with Kiana?" Fu Hua asked.
"She's not there. She's not anywhere," Mei said. "I can't even find Principal Theresa."
Fu Hua remained silent. Her serious expression betrayed nothing. She placed a hand on Mei's shoulder, reassuringly squeezing it. "I'll find Cecilia and bring her to your dorm so there's no need to worry, okay?" she said.
Mei nodded. "I'll go with you-"
"No, Mei. You go back and wait for us there. Besides, when I find her, she'll be really hungry so you might want to go and prepare something for her," Fu Hua said, taking her hand off Mei's shoulder. She walked past a slightly dumbfounded Mei.
"W- Wait!" Mei said, calling out to her.
Fu Hua stopped and looked over her shoulder.
"Please, let me come! She's special to me and I-"
"Mei, I'll find her. I promise. Besides, I have an idea of where she might be. Just go back to your dorm so you don't get in trouble with Himeko," Fu Hua said. A slight amber glow appeared in the back of her hand, just away from Mei's field of vision.
A translucent orange feather fell slowly in front of Mei, causing her eyes to dull momentarily before returning to normal.
"R- Right! I'll go! Just please go find her, Class Prez!" Mei said, before turning around and heading back.
Fu Hua waited until Mei's presence vanished from her immediate vicinity. She waited for a few more seconds before turning around and heading in the direction of the Headmaster's office.
Sorry for the rather late update. I was on vacation and had a lot of fun. Anyway, as you can see, Ceci is slowly losing it. Unlike Kiana who managed to break out of her delusions, Ceci is slowly falling farther into hers. That and she's beginning to subconsciously tap into Sirin's persona, recalling brief memories and things Sirin was familiar with. It'll all be more fun to break her when we reach the end of this arc and have her use her Herrscher abilities instead of Knight Moonbeam and tap into some of her... hehehe MANTIS abilities maybe? Maybe a first look into HoD Arc MANTIS-Herrscher fusion...? *wink wink* Anyway, I don't have much more to say. Next, we'll go back to Kiana so we can have a look at Part II's main antagonist and some PE lore!