This truly was the worst case scenario, KIANA decided.

There was simply no other way to explain it. She thought that when she agreed to help the twins out, it would be a simple matter of supervising the twins while they tried to become idols.

So why, then, was she standing on a stage with them in front of a row of judges?

"Contestent Group #26, please state your name for the judges." One of them called out.

"We're the Vodka Girls, the next stars of the world!" Rozaliya answered, with a pose matched by Liliya.

"Why am I here again?" KIANA whispered to the twins.

"Doesn't matter, we already filled in the form saying three, so you've gotta stay!" Rozaliya said seemingly unashamed at dragging KIANA into this.

"You said when we got here that you wanted to experience as much as you could." Liliya spoke up from her other side. "And being an idol isn't something you can experience everyday." Damn it, she kind of had a point.

"You in the middle, is that your professional outfit?" One in the middle? Oh, that was her. The judges were asking about her outfit.

"I was caught off guard, I don't have a colorful outfit like these two." She froze just as she finished.

Oh wait, yes she did.

"I'll be back in a moment." With that she retreated backstage.

.

.

.

When she came out again, she was wearing a completely different outfit, one with an indigo dress with yellow markings, as well as white gloves that came up to her biceps and faded to indigo at the hands, with the same yellow markings.

Was it considered heretical to use a Herrscher dress for a stage play? She didn't know, but she's been committing heresies against the Honkai ever since she got to Earth, so she didn't really care about one more.

"Woah! Where were you keeping that?" Oh right, Rozaliya and Liliya had seen that she didn't have any bags to carry the dress in, and didn't know that she could materialize it whenever she wanted. Her brain scrambled to find an excuse.

"In my pocket." She lied effortlessly without breaking face.

"Woah…" Luckily they seemed to buy it.

"All right! We're all set now!" Rozaliya said as she turned back to the judges.

"Hold it." It was one of the judges who spoke. "Are you sure you're qualified to be here? The other two at least have the drive to try, but do you even have the idol's spirit? I think we need a demonstration on your own before we proceed." The other judges nodded their assent.

Idol's spirit? What in the world was that?

"What am I supposed to do?" She turned to Liliya as she asked.

"Uhh, I dunno. You said that you knew someone like an idol, right? Then just try imitating how she acted." Imitate Elysia? It seemed impossible, but she supposed it was at least worth a shot.

She breathed in calmy, remembering how Elysia spoke and acted in their short time together. Don't try to completely copy her. Instead, just try to follow her mannerisms.

She opened her eyes and struck a pose. Her hand came out and pointed at the judges in a finger gun shape. It just felt natural.

"Keep your eyes on me~!" She tried to match Elysia's enthusiasm, and even managed to mimic the inflection in Elysia's voice. All in all, she'd say it was a pretty good impression.

.

.

.

Why was nobody saying anything? Was that a good thing?

Rather than the judges, it was Rozaliya who broke the silence.

"Um, KIANA… how to put this…?"

Liliya interrupted her.

"You forgot to smile." Oh. That was bad.

The smile was a rather important part of Elysia's personality. How could she forget that?

The judges were silent for another moment before speaking.

"Ahem, I see. Good effort, though the facial expressions could use more emotion. Very well. Vodka Girls, you may begin properly." Ah, at least it worked.

At least with Rozaliya and Liliya carrying the show, they'd have a better chance.

KIANA had forgotten one small problem.

"We failed?! How? Why?" Rozaliya yelled.

Rozaliya and Liliya did not make good idols.

Sure, they had the enthusiasm and uniqueness, but not much else.

KIANA herself wasn't much help seeing as she barely even knew what idols were.

Nobody told her there'd be singing.

To put it simply, all three of them contributed to their failure, which made KIANA feel a little better.

They were now standing outside the building, KIANA having changed back to her casual wear, and Rozaliya was crying out to the heavens in grief.

"Oh boy. Now she's gonna be like this all day." Liliya seemed to be more dreading the rest of the day rather than mourning their failure.

KIANA looked around trying to see if there was anything to distract Rozaliya from her bad mood. She paused as she noticed a somewhat familiar sight.

"I have an idea." KIANA spoke up without looking at them. She pointed out and Liliya followed her gaze. It was a billboard.

On that billboard was an ad for an amusement park. Homu Land Shenzhou.

"We can go there. I had been to another Homu Land before and I've yet to see many amusement parks on the same level."

Liliya turned to KIANA.

"Have you been to a lot of amusement parks?"

"A fair amount. It's my goal to see all of them."

Liliya seemed confused.

"Your goal? Why would you have something like that as your goal?"

KIANA turned to face Liliya.

"Because it's the promise that I made to Elysia, after she saved me from a life without purpose." That was probably the best way to describe her situation without mentioning details. "I promised her I would see all the sights of humanity, and ride all the roller coasters for her."

"A promise…" Liliya seemed tempted to say more, but was interrupted by Rozaliya perking up.

"Amusement park? We're going to an amusement park? We're going to Homu Land?!" She began cheering and dancing up and down.

Liliya watched as she pranced around.

"Well at least it seems to have gotten her up. Let's see…" She pulled out her phone and brought up a map.

"We're right on the border, and Homu Land is way south from here. It'll still take some time to get there."

She looked over the map again. "Not to mention, Schicksal has a big presence in Shenzhou. Matushka always told us to be wary of them. "

KIANA looked confused.

"Schicksal? What's that?"

"An Anti-Honkai organization that operates in Eurasia, according to this search just now." Wait, wasn't Anti-Entropy also an Anti-Honkai group?

"If they defend against Honkai, then why did your Matushka warn you to stay away from them?" Sure, KIANA herself had reason to stay away, as she was a Herrscher, but the girls?

"Matushka said that Schicksal likes to kidnap girls like us and turn them into their soldiers." Ah, that seemed like reason enough.

"All right, so the solution is to just stay away from them while we travel. Should be simple enough."

"Yay! We're going to Homu Land!" Rozaliya was still cheering.

In Siberia, she had gotten to see how buses were. In Shenzhou the twins had decided that they needed something faster than a bus.

Hence why they now found themselves on a long metal box called a 'train'.

KIANA was staring out the window, watching all the trees and mountains pass. She had seen similar sights before as she flew between towns, but it was odd seeing how it looked from the ground.

This was another new experience for her.

She turned to see her companions sitting next to her. Liliya was staring at Rozaliya, and Rozaliya…

Was out of her seat, with her face smooshed up against the window.

"Roza, sit back in your seat." Liliya chided, more like a mother than a twin sister.

"It's fine, she can just trade with me." KIANA spoke up before moving over to where Rozaliya was supposed to be sitting, with Rozaliya herself greedily taking the open window seat.

Once they were settled in their new seats, KIANA turned to the twins, having wondered about something ever since they left the idol agency.

"What's your plan from here?" She asked.

"Homu Land!" Ignoring Rozaliya's shout, KIANA kept staring at Liliya, knowing that she would know what she was asking.

"With how poorly that went, I'm not sure you two are quite ready to become idols yet." She continued.

"Don't you mean three?!" Rozaliya asked.

"I don't think I want to be an idol. I'm quitting the Vodka Girls." KIANA replied, turning back to Liliya while Rozaliya gasped in shock.

"...I suppose the only thing we can do right now is get better." Liliya finally responded.

"Of course, but you also need to remember that you have people waiting back home. Across my travels so far, most parents I've seen hate being separated from their kids for long, and I'm sure your Matushka is no different."

Rozaliya gasped again.

"Are you leaving us behind?"

KIANA gave her a deadpan stare.

"We're still heading to Homu Land, I'm not backing out on that. I mean afterwards. You're rather far from your home as is."

"That's true. If Matushka files a missing person report, you might be mistaken for kidnapping us." Liliya muttered softly.

Rozaliya gasped for a third time.

"Wait! We weren't kidnapped! We chose to go with KIANA! If anything, we kidnapped her!"

"It's not like you're going to be locked up or anything. From what you've told me, your Matushka is very kind. I'm sure she'll let you practice being idols so long as you don't run off on her." KIANA brought the conversation away from any potential crimes she may have committed.

"That's true, she gives us cookies, and treats us nicely…" Rozaliya trailed off as she spoke.

The twins muttered to themselves for a little longer, before turning back to KIANA.

"Alright. We'll go back home." Liliya looked resolved in their decision.

"After Homu Land!" Rozaliya added.

KIANA gave a soft smile.

"All right, after Homu Land."

Sapphire was a rather large city, apparently. Probably the biggest that KIANA had been in so far. She'd have to explore more once they were done at Homu Land, there was definitely much to be experienced here.

Speaking of Homu Land, this one was just as large as the first one she had been to, back when she first got to Earth. Though, something felt a little different from back then.

She wasn't quite sure how to describe it, but it almost seemed that this one was more fun than the first, for a reason she couldn't place.

Of course, for as much fun as she was having, it couldn't hold a candle to Rozaliya and Liliya. This was their first time at an amusement park, after all.

"Hey so, I've been meaning to ask, but, KIANA? How did you manage to pay for all our tickets? Now that I think about it, the train too. Aren't you broke?" Rozaliya turned a questioning look towards KIANA as she asked.

Telling the truth would mean confessing that she was able to use some of the powers of the 8th Herrscher with her Shade of Finality: Sentience, and that she had been practicing enough that she could now manipulate people enough to get around without paying, so KIANA remained silent.

"Where to next…?" Liliya hadn't been listening to Rozaliya's question, and was looking at the map they had gotten at the entrance. KIANA took the opportunity as her escape, as Liliya turned from her map to KIANA. "Anything you want to go on, KIANA?"

"Me? I'm planning to go on all the roller coasters. After that I'll just follow your lead." Rozaliya gasped. She was really doing that a lot recently.

"All of them?!" KIANA simply nodded. Rozaliya turned a shaky finger off in the distance. "E-E-Even, that one?" KIANA looked to see where she was pointing.

Oh. That was a very tall roller coaster.

Liliya looked over the park map for the part about the coaster in question.

"Kingda Wei. One of the tallest roller coasters in the world. Launches from 0 to 128 miles per hour in 3 seconds…?" She was slowly matching Rozaliya's face as she spoke.

"You don't have to go on, you know, I can go myself." She didn't quite understand why they'd be afraid of a simple roller coaster, but then again, she could fly.

"No! We will go on! We must go on! How can we call ourselves idols if we recoil from a ride? We'd be admitting defeat, accepting that we are inferior entertainers to a pile of metal! Right, Lili?" Rozaliya turned to face Liliya, who was rapidly shaking her head from side to side. "Great! We'll go with you KIANA. Both Lili and I are with you!" Liliya's head shaking seemed to quicken for a moment, before she gave up and let out a sigh.

"Let's just get this over with…"

Taking her words as affirmation, Rozaliya marched onwards to the Kingda Wei ride with KIANA and Liliya behind her. The line was remarkably short for such a crowded day.

"Huh, looks like everyone else is a bunch of cowards then!" Rozaliya's ego seemed to spike with the absent queue, despite her earlier shaking at the prospect of riding it.

They got settled on the ride, with Rozaliya and Liliya sitting in front of KIANA for 'supervisional reasons' according to the ride operators.

Once everyone else had gotten on, which wasn't that many, the bars came down as the ride prepared to launch.

KIANA looked to see how the twins were, and saw Liliya clasping her hands together with her eyes closed, and seemed to be muttering a prayer.

Rozaliya however was still high on her ego, and was laughing at Liliya's plight.

"HA HA HA! Such a simple ride could never phase me! I pray to none for I am a god of my own making! This ride will be a piece of cak-!" The ride launched.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!" KIANA wasn't sure if that sound she was hearing was the wind or Rozaliya. "*hack* *gack* *cough* A FLY!" Oh, it was Rozaliya.

As they neared the top of the track, the ride began slowing down, and Rozaliya's ego returned.

"Hah, hah, see! So quick, so simple! Here I stand at the top, and the only casualty was that fly! I have seen all your secrets, Kingda Wei, and I am not impres-" The ride started falling.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!" As they fell and KIANA listened to Rozaliya, that feeling from earlier returned.

She wasn't quite sure why it was, what made this amusement park so much more fun than the others she's been to?

Though, she corrected herself as she remembered that her very first park visit had been just as fun as this one, and she didn't mean the Homu Land in California.

Looking over at Elysia revealed that she had her hands up in the air, and after a moment, she mimicked Elysia, raising her hands and feeling the wind push past it.

It was nice.

As KIANA slowly brought her hands up, and once again enjoyed how the wind felt in them, she found her answer.

'Amusement parks are better with friends.' She realized.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Rozaliya kept screaming.

By the time they left Homu Land, it was night time. However, the twins seemed far from tired, so KIANA decided to explore the city with them.

Luckily, with both the bright lights of the city and the full moon staring down at them, it could barely even be called dark.

The three of them had just left one of many shops, and were heading to their next stop. Which of course, actually meant 'follow Rozaliya and make sure she didn't get lost.'

Liliya slowed her pace so she was walking next to KIANA, while Rozaliya walked ahead of them.

"Hey, so, you had asked us earlier, but what about you? What are you going to do next?" She asked.

KIANA thought it over for a moment. What she was going to do next?

"Well, first I'm going to make sure you get home safely. I'm not going to just leave you to get back to Siberia on your own." Liliya smiled, knowing that if they were left to their own devices, Rozaliya would probably find an excuse to avoid going back. "After that, I suppose I'll just continue as I always have. Travel around the world and fulfill my promise to Elysia."

"Right, your promise… to ride all the roller coasters for her?" Liliya still seemed skeptical at the promise.

"Yes, Elysia saved me, and only asked that in return, so it's only right I do that much for her."

"Are you sure she really meant for you to fulfill it to the letter?"

"What do you mean?" To KIANA, it was only natural that she listened to what Elysia asked as much as she could. She was in Elysia's debt for giving her a will of her own.

"I mean, let's say, I wasn't able to eat cookies anymore for some reason, and I made Roza promise to eat all the cookies for me." Hearing her name in a sentence with 'cookie' Rozaliya turned around to them with a questioning look on her face?

"Cookies? Where?" Ignoring Rozaliya, Liliya continued.

"With that promise, I don't actually want her to eat all the cookies in the world. Then she'd get a stomachache. I just would want her to be able to still enjoy cookies without me, not go on and run herself ragged trying to eat every cookie." It was an odd analogy, but KIANA believed she understood.

"So you think that Elysia made me make that promise not so that'd I go on every roller coaster for her sake, but instead that I could still enjoy them without her?" It made more sense than she'd like.

Seeing all the sights of humanity and riding all the roller coasters was an impossible task, even with her being practically immortal. There was always going to be some she couldn't see.

A brief memory from not too long ago came to her mind. A town devastated by the Honkai.

A side of humanity that she'd never get to love.

There were always going to be sights she wouldn't get to see.

"I see." She had fallen into a bad habit, hadn't she? Her old life had been predetermined without any say from herself, because she didn't have a self back then.

So the moment she was able to make her own choices, she sat back and let her promise to Elysia become her new drive and entire goal in life, when she should have simply used it as motivation.

She nearly became a slave to her promise similar to how she was a slave to the Honkai before.

"I'll… take your words into consideration. I lived my old life without ever making a choice of my own, so when I got a choice, I just fell into that old lifestyle and let my promise make my choices for me."

"Elysia wanted me to make my own choices, so I will." She turned to the girl who helped her out. "Thank you Liliya."

She looked at the full moon. The place where her journey had begun.

"For now, I'll probably keep going around the Pacific, but I won't be doing it the same way. Maybe I'll stay in some towns for longer, experience what it's like to live in one place for a bit. I still want to be able to experience humanity, but I'll do it the way she meant for me to."

Rozaliya called out from ahead.

"Are you done having your exilient relish now?"

Liliya called back.

"It's 'existential realization', Idiotka. And yes, we're done." She turned to KIANA. "Right?"

KIANA smiled.

"Yeah, that's right."

"Good, cause I think I see a new shop I wanna check out. It looks like they've got a lot of toys!" Rozaliya was already running ahead.

Liliya sighed.

"That idiotka…" She glanced at KIANA. "Shall we go after her, then? Before she ends up breaking something?"

KIANA nodded.

"Yeah, let's go."

As they began following Rozaliya, KIANA felt a lot lighter. A burden she hadn't even known existed was now lifted from her shoulders. She let out a small smile.

But as she walked, she felt something else. A familiar surge of energy, coming from the edge of the city.

And then lightning engulfed the sky.