The void was dark
...
Cold. Lifeless. Yet...'it' could still feel.
...
And 'it'...felt alone
...
How long has it been since the world...'its' world, collapsed? Was everyone in the Kingdom experiencing what 'it' felt right now?
...
The apocalypse wasn't filled with fire and brimstone. But rather, a peaceful farewell.
...
Wait, no. Actually, there was a...celebration instead if memories served right. A final party for the end of the world.
They cared not for their demise. But were just glad to have lived a wonderful life, despite how short it felt.
More memories came flooding in
Now 'it' remembered. 'It'...no. 'She' was a Warrior.
A Shinto Priestess-turned-Battle Maiden. Through years of experience and trials. With guidance from someone
Someone she...vividly remembers
...
She prayed day in, day out. For the moment their Lord returned. One last time.
But her Lord never came back.
Despite her newfound power, leadership, and attunement to the God Realm, she could not bring him back
...
Actually, why was she suddenly gaining back her memories? She swore that when the Kingdom and everything else was swallowed up, they would cease to exist.
Their bodies would cease to exist, but no pain would be felt. That was what the prophecy foretold after all. A millennium in the making.
Well, minus her Lord disappearing during the last few years of their world.
...
A gentle chime blew across the vast void. Its sound reminiscent of a soft chuckle.
She laughed at how ludicrous her journey was in the Celestial Realm. Ever since he took on the mantle of becoming their Monarch, there had never been a dull moment.
Perhaps, this was her final battle cry, as more memories of the past filled her mind.
A dull, insignificant plea that would fall on deaf ears. That she would not surrender so easily to her fate. Prophecy be damned.
...
Still...She wished...
...She wished that she could meet him. Before the tiny embers in her heart fade away...
And yet, the last thing she could parse from her limited consciousness within the void...was a tiny sparking of light. So miniscule...
But it heard her plea.
...
-St Freya-
Sirin woke up with a jolt, beads of sweat riddled her forehead as she found herself panting heavily. Her eyes scanned around, finding out that she had somehow been sent to the health ward section of St Freya.
"Wh-What...?"
Confusion racked her brain. She swore that she was over by the courtyard moments ago. She recalled being asked by Kiana and Durandal to help with their spar. Things went smoothly at first. The bounded field she created served as enough of a deterrent and preservation tool for when the two sisters got heated up. But then after that...Sirin couldn't recall what happened afterward. Almost as if her mind purely blanked out. She could have been hit by a stray bullet or flame or whatever, but to knock herself out cold was something else.
"Ah, you're awake now. Glad to see you're still resilient as ever, even as an alternate world self"
A soft 'ahuhuh' followed afterward as Sirin inwardly steeled herself. She knew one person amongst the extensive list of people in the Hyperion who would laugh like that, and she wasn't very fond of her.
Turning her head slightly so that her eyes were now looking at the perpetrator, Sirin found herself staring face-to-face with the head researcher of the Flamechasers. The perpetual smug smile on her face made Sirin roll her eyes as she gave off a small "Urgh" in reply. Still, Sirin could at least commend her for her taste in fashion. Especially regarding anything work-related, as now she donned an office attire. Complete with the white button-up blouse, black stockings, and black jacket with neon-green highlights. The red spectacles were a nice touch too. Sirin had to admit she was absolutely jealous that Mobius rocked the outfit well.
"You gave us quite the scare, missy. Your, 'Magical Girl Powers', suddenly started to activate for no reason. Whatever magical miracle you were creating, the Honkai backblast sent the entire school into a frenzy"
Mobius frowned slightly, as Sirin did the same. As she continued to list off what happened in the past few hours, Sirin felt her frown worsen. Somehow, in some shape or form, her powers to indite miracles activated without her prior consent. But nothing bad happened to her. Nothing immediate at least. This begs the question; just what on earth happened to cause her powers to activate and why?
"...nd considering you weren't listening, I'll just hand over a small document to the Captain about the minor damages. Your Theresa...Kongming, I think was her name. She wanted to speak with you as soon as possible. Probably gonna play 20 questions with you regarding what happened" Mobius chuckled before bending down and taking out a small flashlight and shining it against Sirin's eyes, who tried to shy away. "No retinal damages either. You're perfectly healthy, all things considered.
Mobius pocketed the flashlight before reaching into her coat to fish out a standard depressor, which Mobius quietly had to remind everyone it wasn't anything special. "Alright. Say 'ahhhh' for me".
As Sirin did as told, the older woman went ahead to check the inside of her mouth and down her throat. "Looks good...Despite you screaming a bit earlier on..." Mobius nonchalantly mentioned as she stopped the checkup. "Any feelings of pain? Hunger perhaps?"
Sirin frowned as her hands slowly cupped various parts of her head and body. "N-No...None at all. Maybe a bit hungry? I...kinda feel drained"
Mobious nodded. "Expected, since you did use a fair bit of your powers", she explained before leaning back and walking away. "I'll have Rita...Your Rita...go ahead and make something for you. Expect Kongming to come in a bit"
Sirin sighed before nodding her head as she heard Mobius give off one final cryptic laugh before leaving the room. As the young girl laid back down onto her bed, her mind began to wonder what happened even more. Mobius mentioned she screamed a bit while using her powers. Yet, she wasn't in pain at all right now. Just how strong of a wish did she grant that it nearly pushed her powers to the edge?
A creaking noise sent Sirin back to reality. She turned her head to the door, finding both Kongming and Rita, or rather Rosemary, had entered. Rita was pushing a small cart with an assortment of confectionaries, things that Sirin herself enjoyed. She must have thought of this incident to be quite serious if she thought Sirin needed the pick-me-up.
Kongming smiled as she walked up to Sirin. "Glad you're awake. You gave all of us a shock when you stood motionless for a moment before activating your powers". Kongming sighed before gently pushing a small chair beside Sirin's bedside. "I bet you want some answers"
Sirin frowned as Rita gently picked up a tray with an assortment of sweets and cakes and placed it atop her lap. "For sure. What happened? I remember helping the two Kaslanas and then...blanking out"
Kongming crossed her legs as she adjusted her sitting posture. "Well, when you 'blanked out', you started mumbling something incoherent. Rita and I were confused at first, but we knew something was already wrong when you suddenly whispered something about a wish. All of a sudden, you activated the same spell we helped you use to bring Luna back. And by the time we tried to stop you, you were lifted into the air like...some kind of vessel"
The young white-haired girl sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "We couldn't get close to you at that moment. Something was stopping us from doing so. Something otherwordly, just like your powers"
Rita, who was now taking a seat the edge of Sirin's bed, placed a hand on her blanket-covered leg. "Lady Kongming and I tried to suppress whatever was taking hold of you using our own methods, but every time we did so, we felt a strong backlash. A moment later, after the rush of chaos, everything stopped and you simply fell to the floor like a ragdoll"
"How long ago was this?" Sirin asked in a terrified manner upon hearing what had transpired.
Both Kongming and Rita looked over to the digital clock by her bedside table. "Given that it's half-past two, you've been asleep for roughly two hours. Minus the time it took for the medics to wheel you in, of course" Rita explained as she took an apple from the tray and began peeling it. "Elysia and the other Flamechasers have been notified if anything felt amiss. Which, if I were to be perfectly honest, should be coming soon"
Sirin grimaced. Rosemary had a knack for knowing when this kind of stuff happened. Much like the cryptic woman herself, her natural danger sense was ominous.
And speaking of, just when Sirin was thinking that everything was fine for now, a soft buzzing could be heard from within the pockets of Kongming's dress shirt. Fishing out the contents, she pulled out her mobile device. Kongming looked over to Sirin and Rosemary, a silent agreement between the three to accept the call and see what awaited them.
The young white-haired girl gently tapped on the screen of her mobile device, which then projected out several holograms of everyone who were already present. Judging from the vague backgrounds; minus the two Flamechasers that present were within the Elysian Realm, everyone else was outside. The video call was more of less a meeting room between the Valkyries, high-ranking personnel and anyone else that needed to be informed.
Kiana looked like she just came back from training. Himeko looked like she was about to collapse, reclining onto a sofa chair. Seele and FuHua were somewhere drinking tea. Welt was next to Einstein and Tesla, where all three looked like they were about to go somewhere fancy.
Just the few people that Kongming took notice of. Truly, a marvel of technology that she still had some issues connecting with.
"Glad you could make it, other me. I assume Rosemary and Sirin to be with you?" Her other self, Theresa, greeted while smiling across a 3D projected desk that was littered with paper. Despite asking the question, she didn't give her other self any time to reply. "I'll make this brief, everyone. I've already asked Elysia and Mei to take a look before reaching out to all of you"
"Moments ago, as I was talking to Kevin in regards to the Elysian Realm, there was a sudden spike in energy that nearly killed the systems within the Hyperion. The anomalous energy outburst had likely hit other installations"
The progenitor of the Kaslana family nodded his head as his figure rose from the chair which he had been sitting moments ago. "The realm wasn't affected, if any of you were worried. However Elysia looked highly perturbed. She immediately took off with Raiden Mei moments ago"
Nodding, Theresa continued. "We detected the spike to be off the coastal region of Coral City, somewhere above the Pacific. No further damages were observed after the initial spike. However, someone or something is preventing us from using our scans to see what could be the cause. And while I hate to see Mei and Elysia going in blind, they're out best bet of figuring things out"
"Can't you just fly over there, Auntie?" Kiana wondered out loud as she continued to wipe the sweat from her body. "Actually, why are you in the Hyperion? Weren't you supposed to be at the school?"
"We're currently station in Kolosten at the moment due to helping out with a few Valkyrie test being conducted. But even if we were done, it would still take a few hours for us to arrive. You know how it goes for international borders..."
As she sighed, she reclined back into her seat. "And to answer your other question, Captain is skipping work again. He went to tag along with Mei and Elysia to investigate the anomaly. So I'm here to fill in for him. Bastard"
"Bronya heard that Sirin suffered from an outburst from her powers. Could this be linked?" Bronya asked as she continued to type away at a keyboard outside, due to the various flowers that were around her.
"Could be. I spoke to Kiana and my other self on that matter to hear from their perspectives. It seemed like she was unresponsive of their words for a few moments before suddenly activating her Mirror Magic" Theresa hummed as she recalled what was relayed..
"It was more than that, Auntie. It almost looked like she was possessed for a moment" Kiana frowned, shaking her head. "I tried shaking her out of it, but she still wouldn't budge"
"Indeed so. I was with her to act as jury for the two Kaslanas before calling out to Sirin to help cut the barrier away. Unresponsive at first, but then she began whispering something to herself before I was pushed away by the backblast of her powers" Kongming frowned as well.
The holographic video meeting stood to a standstill as no one wanted to comment on the matter further. Clearly, this was serious. If someone or something had caused Sirin to use her powers, it was anyone's guess as to what they could have wished for.
Anti-Entropy, who had been mostly silent aside a few murmurs, finally piped in. "We'll get ready on our end. The public will likely go into a freak-out as well, so we'll try to pacify them in the meantime" Tesla commented as she immediately, without looking, grabbed Welt's tie. The old man couldn't get any word in as their feed was cut short afterwards.
A lone bead of sweat travelled down the collective heads of everyone present as they all, minus Kevin, prayed for his safety.
Theresa stood up, pushing back her chair. "For now, we'll try and gather as much info as we can. Other me. Get Sirin back to the Hyperion pronto. I'll send an escort ship to pick you guys up. Everyone else, stay sharp!"
As her video feed went offline, moments later everyone else did the same. And while Kongming couldn't help but still be worried, as of now there were too many unknowns. She turned to look at the other two, finding the same worry evident on their faces too. Things were about to get complicated.
-?-
As usual, a certain young girl had woken up from her slumber. It was all too routine to her at this point.
Wake up, get her morning rituals done, greet the members of the court, discuss their day-to-day plans, and then head on their merry way to actually do such tasks. While some might argue it was boring and monotonous at times, she enjoyed it. It gave her a sense of purpose, knowing she was doing this for the sake of the kingdom.
And yet, something was different. Today felt different.
It took her brain moments to register why, but as vision slowly regained clarity did she know why.
She was not within her own chambers, in her bed. She was within the Throne Room. Specifically, seated on her designated chair next to where...her Lord would be seated.
She immediately stood up, eyes shrinking, pupils dilating as she watched how her hands, and soon after her body, trembled. She...She was alive.
She was alive
But...why? And as the matter of fact, how?
She took in several deep breaths before calming down. Her eyes began to slowly take in her surroundings once more. It...truly was the Throne Room. Everything was the same as she remembered it. Yet that also begged the question, how? After all, she and everyone else she knew, died. It was the universal truth. HER universal truth. The prophecy foretold how their world would collapse in and of itself.
The Realms would be saved, they would celebrate, and then peace for eternity.
So then why?
"I...need to see the outside. I...need to see the kingdom!"
Her legs felt heavy at first, as if they weren't hers. But slowly, she was reacquainted with the concept of walking, and sure enough had managed to walk to the balcony, where her eyes once again shrank.
The Kingdom was intact. The buildings, roads, trees...They were still here as well. And from what she could tell, from the numerous tiny figures that were emerging from the buildings, it seems that everyone was realizing it as well. That they were all truly alive.
A divine miracle. It was nothing short of that. To suddenly revert fate and change the course of destiny. She only knew one person in her life that could ever do such a thing.
As she scrambled away from the balcony, a symphony of cheers and praise rang out amidst the entire Kingdom. She didn't have to listen closely to know why. The celebration was warranted. But as she drew closer to her seat, to reach out for a relic of her possession, something within those cheers resonated with her. They weren't just celebrating that they were alive once more.
They were celebrating because they attested this miracle to their Lord. Her Lord.
"The Lord has saved us once again!"
She grabbed her staff, which was neatly placed against her chair. She could feel its power resonate with her once more.
"Three cheers for our Lord! The Realms are saved yet again!"
She gripped the holy relic tight and concentrated. She prayed every day. Every night. She never lost faith. She always wanted him to come back.
"See?! He never abandoned us! He was merely planning for this day! To save us!"
The staff glowed a brilliant aquamarine hue, as the room was slowly being consumed by the light. The lone girl drew all the strength she could within that moment into the relic. She heard the throne room doors open wildly, but her concentration did not waver. In one blinding flash, a wave of pure energy shot out from within the Throne Room.
Her name was called out several times from behind her, but she didn't bother to look for now. She was searching. Using the powers she had been entrusted to safeguard and protect the kingdom, what just transpired was her way of echolocation. It was a trick that her Lord had taught her. Everything that she had become, was all due to him.
So now that she was alive yet again; through some unknown twist of fate or forbidden magic, there was a hunch within her soul that screamed this was his doing. And by all that was pure and holy, she was going to find him.
A second passed. And then another. And then another.
Until one moment, she felt it. The magic she sent out had resonated back to her. Her eyes slowly fluttered open as her legs immediately gave way. Her name was called several times yet again, but all she felt was pure bliss.
For the first time in a long time, she found him.
The girl with modified light-blue ceremonial robes felt tears streaming down her face as she cried. Yet as her friend rushed over to check on her wellbeing, she turned her head to face them with the biggest and most radiant smile she could ever muster. And with only five words spoken from her, she watched as how her friends began to slowly comprehend why she was crying, before crying themselves.
"He's here...I found him!"