Himeko stood at the bedside of her friend's room. It taken the staff nearly three hours to clean out Kiana's room of all of its ice and snow. There were no signs of her waking up but what did Himeko expect, it was too early to tell anything. They were lucky Kiana didn't need to be intubated and she was able to resume breathing on her own.
Her thoughts were interrupted when her phone rang.
Raiden Mei
"Mmm?" Himeko answered her call. "Yeah?"
"Teacher! I can't find Cecilia anywhere! She's not in the library. She's not in the cafeteria. The last time I saw her was in the ICU but after that…"
"Woah, woah. Mei, slow down. What about Cecilia?" Himeko asked.
"She's not here! She's not anywhere!" Mei said.
"Eh? Did you check the dorms? Maybe she went back and locked herself in her room?" Himeko asked.
"I'm there right now. I ran into the Class President earlier and she said she'd look for her but… we have a problem. I'm tracking her battlesuit's GPS location but I can't find it anywhere on campus. Either she turned off her transponder or she's not here anymore," Mei said breathily.
Himeko heard the door swing open on the other side of the line. She heard Mei's cries of worry as she called for Cecilia's name over the call.
"Well?"
"She's not here. This was the last location I thought of looking for her. Is she over there?"
"No… and I saw the visitor log. She checked out hours ago. Mei, gather whoever you can. I'll head down to the docking bay and see if the flight logs noted anyone leaving. I want you to go search the campus with whoever you can find," Himeko urged, turning around and leaving the room.
"R- Right! Major Himeko!"
"Out."
Himeko hung up the call and turned to face her unconscious friend. "Kiana, I promise. I'll keep Ceci safe while you're out. Count on it."
Himeko left the room, never noticing Kiana's fingers twitching in response to her words.
"Copy."
Cecilia lowered her hand and turned to Ceci and Siegfried. She had a small smile on her face. "HQ says they've located the Second Herrscher. She's at the top of the tower and from the looks of things, she's hurt pretty bad. It looks like our last attack really injured her. We can take this chance to deal with her while she's down."
"Ugh, finally! It's been such a long week! We've been hunting her in this godforsaken snow plain ever since HQ got that transmission from this lab," Siegfried said, yawning into his hand.
"I still don't feel comfortable about this," Cecilia said, gripping her arm.
"..."
Ceci looked between her parents. The two had looks of discomfort on their faces. Ever since they discovered that pod a few minutes ago, it looked as if her parents were having some second thoughts about the whole operation.
The Second Herrscher was a victim of this place. Ceci clenched her fists.
Subject 051: Sirin.
"Sirin, that girl. She's just a child… I understand her pain and wanting to get even. But…" Siegfried clenched his fists. "If she wants to bring justice to everyone who wronged her, she didn't need to drag the whole world into it."
"Ziggy…"
"I know you have second thoughts about her, Cecilia. I do too. But… for the sake of our daughters, we have no choice but to-"
Cecilia placed a hand on his cheek. "I know. Maybe if things were different. If we had found out sooner…"
Siegfried nodded.
"Come on you two. This is our chance to end it all. We need to finish this before she has a chance to recover," Cecilia said, removing her hand from her husband's face.
"Roger that!"
"Yes, Ma'am!"
The three began making their way up to the top of the tower, eliminating the rogue mechs and the occasional honkai beast that spawned along the way.
Ceci felt alive.
Never once in her life did she ever dream that she would ever get to fight alongside her parents. Her heroes. The ones who gave her life and her current goal. She would bring them back with her. She was going to right a wrong she committed long ago.
We'll defeat the Second Herrscher and make everything right!
The three slowed to a stop at a set of metal doors.
Ceci gulped.
This was it. Beyond this door, everything would be decided. The future of the world. Her own future and that of her sister's. And she would not allow this opportunity to pass.
"Ready?" Siegfried asked.
The two nodded and he pushed a button opening the door. A blast of frigid air hit their faces, filling them with energy and determination. Ceci watched her father's grip around Shamash tighten ever so slightly before pushing forward toward their fated enemy.
Ceci clenched her jaw and followed after her father.
"Wait."
She turned around and saw her mother looking at her intensely. Cecilia stepped forward and placed a hand on Ceci's shoulder.
"I know it's bad luck to say these things before a fight. However, I have to tell you something. This is… the first time we've met yet I feel a strange sense of closeness with you," she said.
Ceci's eyes widened when she saw the warmth in her mother's eyes.
"It seems that… I soon found myself watching over you, Ceci. I feel like I can truly call you a comrade, Ceci."
Ceci knew that her mother would never know just how much her words energized her. She felt an unyielding determination coursing through her body. This was what assurance must have felt like. With her around, Ceci felt like she could do anything.
A few tears began to leak out the edge of her eyes. "I… Me too. I've heard a lot of great things about you, Cecilia. And I used to be nervous at first but…"
She closed her eyes and clenched her fists before looking at her with determination blazing in her blue eyes.
"With you, I feel like we can do anything!" Ceci said.
Cecilia looked shocked for a brief moment before it faded and gave way to a smile. It was the brightest smile Ceci had seen from her ever since they reunited at the base of the tower. And for that one instant, Ceci saw her older sister's image overlap with that of her mother's.
Kiana... I… What was I… doing?
Her surroundings began to flicker and she felt a throbbing pain building in the depths of her skull.
"Bringing them back. You promised this to her after you got her hurt. That no matter what, you would cure her and bring our family back. Are you really giving up now?" a voice in the back of her head creeped its way to the forefront of her mind and reminded her of that fact.
"Ceci? Are you ready?"
Ceci rubbed her eyes before seeing that Cecilia was no longer in front of her but behind her. The woman looked over her shoulder with a reassuring smile and held her hand out.
"Y- Yeah!" Ceci took her mother's hand and the two made their way past the steel doors towards their awaited foe.
"You two sure took your sweet ass times!"
The two were met with a barrage of flames that sliced apart a volley of white spears. A blast of heat and light momentarily filled their vision, stunning them for but the briefest of moments.
Siegfried grinned as he stood in front of Ceci and Cecilia, holding his sword out. A trail of blood trickled down his forehead.
"More humans?" the Second Herrscher hovered in the air, one hand held out and the other holding her side.
Ceci looked at their opponent, briefly locking eyes with her. Her yellow eyes made her freeze in her spot.
Sirin…
"Ceci. Now's not the time to get scared. Siegfried and I will push forward. Give us some cover fire!" Cecilia ordered.
"Y- Yes, Ma'am!" Ceci replied, hastily aiming her pistols at the Second Herrscher.
"Insolent. Do you think the fruits of man's sin can really do anything against a servant of God!?" the Herrscher's golden eyes glowed and her violet hair began to levitate.
A blast of violet aura shook the entire tower, causing winds to accelerate and lightning to batter the area.
The three raised their arms to shield their faces from the intense winds.
"Cecilia!" Siegfried yelled.
"I know!" Cecilia raised her lance and rooted herself to the floor.
Siegfried held Shamash, with the blade pointing towards his back left. The blade ignited and he swung the blade, unleashing a swathe of orange flames.
The sky was darkened for a moment before a massive explosion of orange light ripped the atmosphere apart and bathed the land in a warm orange glow.
Ceci's eyes widened as she stared dumbfounded at what her father had just done.
Above them was a hole in the sky with the clouds around them, having been completely dispersed from the force of the impact. The Second Herrscher was in the middle of this hole, covered in a translucent violet barrier. However, it was clear to all of them that she had taken a substantial amount of damage.
"Cheating insects!"
The Second Herrscher raised her hand into the air, summoning several portals around her. She threw her hand forward, firing several blasts of energy at them.
"Take cover!" Siegfried yelled.
"Evasive maneuvers, Ceci!" Cecilia ordered.
Ceci nodded and the three scattered across the top of the tower.
The blasts were thrown haphazardly, with the precision of an angry child. Some missed the tower completely, landing in places beyond the top of the Tower.
Explosions rang throughout the landscape as the energy blasts impacted and restructured the surrounding geography bit by bit.
Ceci activated her Time Fracture, narrowly dodging a Honkai energy blast that would have completely taken her out of commission.
In her slowed time, she locked her sights on the Second Herrscher. "Target acquired. Locked and loaded!" she fired her pistols at the Second Herrscher as time resumed its normal flow.
Without batting an eyelash, Sirin waved her hand and blocked her attack.
"Ceci!" Siegfried yelled.
Sirin vanished from her spot, disappearing in a flash of violet light.
Ceci found the Second Herrscher right before her, eyes staring into her own. She instantly grabbed Ceci by the throat, lifting her into the air effortlessly.
"Khhk!" she gripped the Second Herrscher's arm, kicking uselessly in the air.
"Have you realized yet?" the girl asked.
"Realized… what?" Ceci coughed.
"What you are? What's been happening? To think it would be this easy to take you down," the Second Herrscher said.
"What are you…?"
"You saw my pod back there, didn't you? You found my diary entries," she whispered.
"S- Sirin…" Ceci rasped.
A heinous smile appeared on her face. It was a smile that was filled with vile malice not belonging to any human let alone a child.
"It's only a matter of-"
Sirin's sentence was interrupted when Ceci raised her foot and kicked her square in the jaw. The Second Herrscher was forced to drop her foe as she stumbled back.
"Y- You-!?" she vanished from her spot as a silver spear pierced through the air, landing on the metal floor and leveling a good portion of the top of the tower.
The structure shook as the metal crumpled from the force of the blow, obliterating the lower floors from the sheer force of the blow.
Ceci coughed violently, holding her neck.
"Are you alright, kid?" Siegfried asked.
"Yeah, I'm good." Ceci slowly got to her feet. Her combat lenses materialized above her eyes.
"Neko Charm."
[Main Systems: Initiating Burst Sequence…]
[Locking on. Target 5 m. Identifying…]
[Second Herrscher]
"Let's finish this." She twirled her pistols and aimed them at the Second Herrscher.
"You hear her, Ziggy?" Cecilia said, pulling Abyss Flower up.
"Yeah."
Sirin hovered in the air, eyes locked on Ceci. A small malevolent grin appeared on her face. "I'll let you have your little show. But do you really think… a bunch of human cheaters can overcome the power of a Herrscher?"
She raised her hands slightly, summoning several portals to her side.
"Something's coming," Siegfried said.
The sound of screeching echoed from the portals as Honkai Beasts swarmed out of them and made their way towards them.
"She's summoning Honkai Beasts," Siegfried said, readying Shamash.
"Then, it looks like we just have to cut through the swarm to get to her. Ziggy, Ceci. Do you think you can clear me a path?" Cecilia asked, eyeing the Second Herrscher.
"Of course, the kid and I can clear you one. We'll be counting on you, Cecilia," Siegfried said.
"Right. We can handle this, Cecilia. Just focus on doing whatever it is you need to do," Ceci said, stepping forward in front of her mother.
"Thanks, you two. Abyss Flower… let's do this."
"You heard her, kid. Let's go." Siegfried shot forward from his spot, straight into the swarm of beasts.
"Roger!"
The two made quick work of the horde's front runners. Flames, bullets, and the swiping of cat's claws tore through the onslaught of Honkai Beasts.
Amidst this endless swarm, Ceci watched as her father spun, his blade work appearing like a graceful dance of destruction. Whether it be a Chariot, a Templar, or even a simple Cassiel, they were all cut down or incinerated completely off the face of existence.
"I can't let myself lose to Dad of all people," Ceci muttered. "Haaah!" with a battle cry, she charged forward.
She fired shot after shot, dispatching the Honkai Beasts before her.
Ceci swiped her arm upward, sending a massive cat's paw to disrupt a Chariot before firing into its soft spots.
The more she cut down. The more she felt it. That same feeling. Her Kaslana blood was boiling at the sight.
"Take this!" Ceci swiped her arm, sending a cat's paw to slash a group of Honkai Beasts in front of her.
Only, the cat's claws were bathed in blue flames.
It's just like before… does it respond to my emotions? What a cliche power-up! Ceci remarked. But…
Her battle high was bringing something out in her that she would never be able to do consciously. Was she going to manifest the same powers as her older sister did back in Nagazora?
"Let's find… out!" Ceci kicked a Templar in the side, cracking its silicon carapace and sending it flying into another group of beasts.
She ran forward, aiding her father, and slowly pressed her way to the Second Herrscher.
"Almost there…" Ceci shot down a few more Honkai Beasts. She felt a shadow loom over her. She looked behind her and saw a massive white crab standing with its claw raised.
It brought its claw down, intent on flattening her like a tomato. She attempted to move but was thwarted by the swipe of a Cassiel's wing.
No! I can't… die here!
A series of ice spikes erupted from the ground, skewering the massive white crab.
"Now's my chance." She kicked the Cassiel behind her, stunning it before using it as a way vault. She hopped on its head, leaping toward the Second Herrscher.
"Wha-!?"
"Haaah! NEKO…!"
"You damn pest!" Sirin roared, opening another portal
"CHARM!"
Sirin fired a lance from the portal just as Ceci swung her arm, unleashing a flame-coated cat's paw at her.
The lance shattered on impact, much to Sirin's shock and Ceci flew past her, landing on the tower with a roll.
Sirin stared with wide eyes before coughing up some blood. "Ghhkk…" Blood sprayed from three deep wounds made in her torso by Ceci's attack. However, the blood was quickly suppressed by ice that was slowly creeping into her flayed flesh.
"She… did it!" Siegfried said. "Now's my chance. Thanks for the opening, kid!" Shamash's blade erupted in a torrent of flames. In one swing, Siegfried unleashed a massive wave of fire that vaporized the Honkai Beasts Sirin had summoned.
"N- No!" Sirin managed to avoid the firestorm by barely teleporting out of the way. However, even with her speed, the flames still managed to get her side, severely burning her arm. She screamed in agony, tears of pain streaming down her face as her left arm hung uselessly by her side.
"H- How can this… be?" she said.
"Cecilia! NOW!" Siegfried roared.
Sirin's eyes widened as she turned to Cecilia, only to be run through with the Abyss Flower. Her eyes were wide in terror and shock as she looked into the older woman's light blue eyes.
"I'm sorry, Second Herrscher. For what's happened to you, for what we have done to you," Cecilia said.
Sirin gritted her teeth and gripped the Lance's body weakly.
"Rest in peace, Second Herrscher," Cecilia said. "No, I shouldn't call you that. I hope you find happiness wherever you go, Sirin."
With that, she pulled the Abyss Flower out of the Second Herrscher's body, causing blood to spill all over the floor of the rooftop.
Sirin stumbled backward, reaching her hand out to Cecilia one last time before falling over. The light from her eyes faded. Her breathing, which consisted of agonal rasps, subsided until her chest no longer rose.
"We did it…," Siegfried said dumbly.
Cecilia smiled at her husband. She raised her hand and gave him a victory sign. "Looks like- Eh?"
She stumbled for a second as Ceci slammed into her, hugging her tightly.
"We did it!" Ceci said, tightening her hug around her mother.
Cecilia smiled warmly, petting and stroking her hair. "Mmm. We won."
Siegfried walked over to the two and placed his hand on her head. Ceci poked her head out from between her mother's chest to look at her father.
"You know, for a battle-hardened Valkyrie, you're just like a little kid," Siegfried said.
That cocky smirk. This man really was her father through and through. And here, she thought she would never be able to see him again after that day.
Ceci puffed her cheeks before pulling her father into the hug. She hugged them tightly as if they would disappear, burying her face in her father's jacket.
Siegfried looked shocked for a moment before smiling warmly.
"She's just like our Ceci," Cecilia giggled.
"Mmm," Siegfried agreed.
"Siegfried… Cecilia… Can I hug you two for just a little bit longer?" Ceci asked.
"Of course, kiddo. Take your time," Siegfried replied.
"Sure, Ceci. However long you like," Cecilia said in a motherly tone.
"Great job, kid."
"Good work, Ceci."
"Hehe~!"
Her parents' praise. It was something she had longed for. She had lost her mother when she was young and her father sacrificed himself to save them shortly after. Ceci had known she would never see them again but fate had proved her wrong. They were here, in the flesh. And now with the whole ordeal regarding the Second Herrscher being resolved, she was going to bring them back to Kiana and be a family again.
Like they were meant to in the beginning.
Ich liebe dich… she thought in her mind.
Sirin's little spell really did work.
"Ceci?"
She heard a familiar voice behind her. Ceci turned around and saw Theresa standing there with a surprised but worried expression on her face. Ah, Ceci thought. She must be worried about her since the three of them went up to face the Second Herrscher together. She grinned and pulled away from her parents.
"Haha! Aunt Theresa! You're too late!" Ceci said, pointing at her with a tired but smug grin on her face.
Theresa tilted her head. The pit in her stomach was growing by the second.
"W- What are you talking about? Too late to what?" she asked.
"Cecilia, Siegfried, and I already beat the Second Herrscher. You must have taken too long down with the other Valkyries," Ceci said, puffing her chest out.
Theresa's eyes widened slightly. What? What is she talking about? She stepped forward, worried for her niece. "Hey, Ceci. What are you saying? There's no one else here."
"Huh? Did the Second Herrscher hit you in the head too hard, Auntie? They're right…" Ceci turned around to see nothing but an empty space.
"...Here…" It took a few seconds for the shock to settle in. She shook her head in denial.
No, no, no. What? Mom and Dad were right here. They were just right here!
"Mom! Dad!" Ceci called out.
A sharp pain cut through her head, almost forcing her to her knee. She gripped the side of her head as her left eye flickered from blue to yellow repeatedly. Her vision swam and her reality glitched as her surroundings faded into a blank grey space filled with cubes.
"Cecilia. How did you get into this dataspace?" Theresa asked, giving her niece a stern look.
Ceci stood there, wide-eyed at the empty space. Her mind was failing to comprehend the situation that was unfolding before her very eyes. Where were her parents? They were here just a moment ago. Denial began to creep through the cracks within her mental stability.
"No… Mom and Dad were here. They're just hiding… no, you guys took them away again. Like you did on that day…," she began to mutter.
"Cecilia. I don't know what's going on but we need to leave immediately before the system detects unauthorized access. This dataspace is-"
Theresa's senses went haywire. She jumped back, narrowly avoiding the high-speed impact of a black blur that landed before her.
"Wha-? You, what are you-"
To her surprise, she failed to see the assailant's oncoming attack. Theresa felt the air knocked out of her momentarily as she was thrown back and crashed into one of the digital cubes.
"I'm sorry, Principal. However, to ensure the success of this mission, I will have to politely ask you to leave this space."
"What are… you?" Theresa growled. "That suit… Godsbane…"
Fu Hua stood in the spot Theresa once occupied. She had a cold look on her face in the place of her strict, yet caring one. She wore a pitch-black and violet battlesuit with black gauntlets around her forearms and hands as well as black greaves. Around her waist was a small skirt of black blades.
"Cecilia," Fu Hua called out.
"Class… President?" Ceci slowly turned around to face her. Her eyes were still dull with shock and Fu Hua could see she was slowly losing her grip. I can sense the Honkai energy spiking inside her but… what is this… other feeling?
"Class President, my parents are-"
"Were never here."
Ceci took a step back in shock at her words. "W- What are you talking about? They were here! Where did you take me? Where is this place!?"
Her eyes were filled with a gleam of slight madness.
"This dataspace that you're in right now. The one you followed Theresa into never had any virtual environment or AI. The Babylon Labs. The Siegfried and Cecilia that you saw. None of it ever existed," she said.
Ceci's jaw tightened as she marched forward angrily. "What are you talking about!? They were here! They were right here!"
Fu Hua stared at the emotionally distressed Ceci without a single shred of emotion on her face.
"Mom and Dad… they were here with me. We took down the Second Herrscher together! Theresa saw us off to the Tower!" Ceci yelled.
She grabbed Fu Hua's shoulders, glaring intensely at her fellow classmate's nigh-emotionless face.
"I protected them! We were going to be a family again! Mom was going to heal Kiana with the Abyss Flower! Give them back to me!"
"They… were nothing but your fantasies. Delusions created by your head," Fu Hua said.
"No… no, no, no," Ceci said, letting a hollow laugh escape her lips. She let go of Fu Hua and took a slight step back, shoulders slackened and face devoid of all emotion. "You took them away. You're just like the rest of them…"
Fu Hua ignored her slow descent into madness, continuing on as she twisted the verbal dagger she inadvertently stabbed into Ceci's heart. "Ever since you entered this dataspace, you've remained rooted to a single place. Everything you've seen. Everything you've experienced and felt. It was all a dream created by the Herrscher to immerse you, weaponizing your greatest wish against you.
"Your reunion with Siegfried. Meeting Cecilia. Fighting alongside them and taking down the Second Herrscher. None of it was real. It was all just a product of a delusion born from your deepest wish. A trick used by the Second Herrscher, Sirin, into breaking your spirit," Fu Hua said.
"No… you're lying…" Ceci fell to her hands and knees. Another lifeless laugh escaped her lips. "Everyone is against me. This whole world…wants to rip my family apart. Mom and Dad are back… I'll bring them back. I'll bring Kiana back… I won't let anyone take my family from me ever again!"
"Cecilia," Fu Hua said.
That's right! Those magic words! The ones Kiana says to me every night! The spell that Sirin used to see her Mom… They'll work for me again, right?
"!?"
Fu Hua and Theresa turned to Ceci as a black and violet aura began to leak out of her body.
[Strong Honkai energy reaction detected…]
Fu Hua's battlesuit AI rang in her ear. She clenched her fist. She could sense it as well. This was the power of the Herrscher inside Cecilia. No, not just that.
"Her Resonance with Kiana… Her emotions and Herrscher core must be forcefully sending her Stigmata to the point of activation," Fu Hua cursed.
"Ich liebe dich… Ich liebe dich… Ich liebe dich!" she chanted over and over again. A poisonous yellow began to bleed over her once blue eyes. Her sclera turned black as the temperature throughout the whole data cradle began to plummet.
Theresa let out a breath, noticing the change, and saw that her breath had turned to mist.
"This should do the trick," Ceci said, slowly getting up. Violet flames surged forth from the back of her battlesuit, twisting and shaping themselves into three pairs of wings. Her skin, from her elbow down to her hands, turned black and violet markings appeared on her forearms. Her nails extended, becoming sharp talons and her fangs elongated inside her mouth.
Fu Hua's eyes narrowed and she prepared herself, dropping into a stance.
"Activate Burst."
[System Activating. Directing all Honkai Energy Output into Burst Mode]
[80%]
[95%]
[Burst Mode Activated: Entering Eclipse Mode]
Her battlesuit changed in an instant. Her bladed skirt fanned out, becoming a set of wing-like propulsors. A black visor materialized over her face, covering her eyes and mouth. The energy indicators on her battlesuit changed from violet to a bright orange as the honkai energy particles within surged from the main reactor.
"This time… reality will not become as you want it to," Fu Hua said, staring down the manic Ceci.
Ceci stared at her silently, glaring at her intensely with her yellow eyes. The frost around her feet began to grow thicker and the violet flaming wings surged violently behind her. Ceci pulled her guns out of their holsters.
"It's time to wake up from this long dream, Ceci." Fu Hua shifted her heel slightly and shot forward.
[Main System: Locking onto target.]
[Identifying…]
[Target identified: Cecilia Kaslana.]
Welcome to the second to final chapter before the official final chapter of this arc! With this, we grow closer and closer to the end of the end. Befall will son start playing inside your heads, followed by Nightglow and extreme amounts of depresso espresso and years of actual psychological trauma for everyone involved. Since this is the second to last chapter, I'll leave much of what I have to say in the actual short epilogue I have planned for this arc. If you noticed, I skipped the level leading up to the Herrscher fight because... a lot of them were just filler dialogue. Important filler dialogue but filler dialogue nonetheless. I figured, why not just get into it. Anyway, I cut out Knight Moonbeam because I figured AHR + Partially Awakened Herrscher power would be cooler... pun completely intended. Anyway, thank you for your continued support for this story. I've only gotten this far because of you guys. I'm quite happy. This is my favorite thing to write at the moment.