Chapter 6 - Unto the Void
St. Freya Dormitory - Honkai Impact 3rd World - July 2016 - The Morning after the end of the previous chapter
(Kiana Kaslana's P.O.V)
"MAMA!"
These are the first words I scream out as I finally wake up, still feeling so cold….so terribly cold, like the nightmare is still affecting me even now. Nightmare…..no, not a nightmare…..just a terrible, horrible truth…
Mama is dead, she isn't around anymore….
I find myself curling up in bed, struggling not to cry as I try to recite the Kaslana Oath under my breath. However what once felt like something I can take comfort in, feels like ash in my mouth, making me grip my shoulders as I try so desperately to block out what I know to be the truth…
"M-mama..w-why…." I say, gripping the bed as I can barely keep the pain in my heart at bay, the knowledge I'll never see my mama again, after not seeing dad for so long, it's more than I can bare…
Why do I know that Mama is dead, why is it that I feel like there is some deeper truth that scares me so much, that it would make Mama being dead so much worse…?
I glance at my alarm clock, it's nearly time for me to get up for classes, however, I just….don't feel like going today. I grimace as I turn off my alarm clock, choosing to instead sleep in for the day…
I honestly feel bad for not going, because of how it will disappoint Mei-Senpai, but…I just…don't have it in me to be a Valkyrie today, not after what I just learned in my dream. It should feel really silly, to believe in a mere dream, but it feels strange….real as if it's retelling events that's actually happened.
Before I can really think about that though, my head hits the pillow and I try to get back to sleep, hopefully, I can finally get some proper sleep without any more nightmares, I don't think I can handle any more of them…
However, when I finally do drift off to sleep, I am met with the laughter of a girl once more…and my nightmare resumes…
St. Freya Dormitory, Fuchou and Fu Hua's Room - 5 minutes later
(Fuchou's P.O.V)
I groan as I wake up alongside my sister for the day, with the two of us being early risers, we start our day by taking a quick shower, one after the other with me going in second so Fu Hua can ensure that our uniforms are ready by the time I'm out of the shower.
It's my second day dealing with the bullshit that is classes, and I would rather be just thrown into the hordes of Honkai than bang my head dealing with fucking schoolwork multiple times a week. Still, at least I ain't doing this shit alone at the very least, although it is still so fucking weird having a technically younger version of my old-timer as my sister…
But truth be told, I guess we always did have a sisterly dynamic even back before the fucking time-travel bullshit. I sigh as I steady myself inside the hot shower, trying to not think about that shit when I got fucking classes.
Because when I do think about that, I risk thinking about fucker Kevin, which would not be good since well, I don't want to destroy the fucking shower I'm since It actually feels really damn good to take one with this body of mine.
Either way, I shake my head as I finally decide to get out of the shower, not wanting to waste the water any more than I have to since, much like my sister, I prefer to be quite efficient with my fucking water usage.
Once I'm out though, I find that Fu Hua has my Uniform laid out for me, something I am admittedly grateful for since I would rather not run the risk of being forced to wear it by Himeko of all people…
A tad bit grabby that woman when she was measuring me out, the memory it sending a tingle down my spine that I'm not sure if it's fear or arousal or a fucking weird mixture of both. Either way, the less spent thinking about Drunk Himeko, the better…
Eventually, I put on my uniform and before long, both I and Fu Hua leave our room to go see everyone in the squad dorm living room. As we leave though, I feel a sudden and strange feeling wash over me that forces me to turn my head towards Kiana's door.
However, it's gone in an instant, making me confused before I shake my head wondering what the fuck that was as we enter into the Squad Dorm Living room. We spot Mei, Bronya, and Himeko all doing their usual morning routine...
That being, Mei is cooking breakfast for everyone, Bronya is playing her games and Himeko is once again downing a glass of wine. While Fu Hua just shakes her head at Himeko's drinking habits, I instead let out an audible sigh before walking over and grabbing the glass from Himeko's hand…
"Hey, I was still drinking that!" Himeko says before I just shake my head and down the contents of the wine glass into the sink. After that, I give Himeko an annoyed glare before I find myself saying…
"Well maybe this should teach you not to be so grabby with a prospective student, especially when you're drunk and said student is a fucking Herrscher…" Himeko's eyes widen as her mind recalls that drunken escapade with an embarrassed groan, with Mei looking at her with a blush and clear shock on her face while Bronya just gives Himeko a blank look of disappointment.
Himeko just looks like she wants to crawl into a hole and hide away due to the embarrassment before she frowns as she notices that Kiana isn't up yet, grumbling as she finds herself getting up to go check on the Kaslana Scion in her squad…
"So, what's for breakfast Raiden-San…?" I ask Mei, who seems quite happy to move the topic away from Himeko's drunk molestation of me to pull up a pan with an incomplete pancake as she soon says…
"Pancakes Fuchou-san with Maple syrup and a side of bacon, I hope you all enjoy it…" Mei says as I grin, finding myself growing quite hungry as I take a seat at the table. However, as we all begin to take a seat, I feel that same feeling from before, only this time it doesn't go away this time and feels like it's slowly growing stronger…
I get up from my seat with a sense of growing concern as I walk toward Kiana's room, and as I get closer the feeling I was getting from Kiana yesterday hangs over the hallway like a thick aura.
The moment I open the door, what greets me is a sight that shocks and terrifies me…
On the floor, is Himeko writhing in pain as clear signs of Honkai corruption appears on her body, with Kiana's slumbering body exuding Honkai energy like a miniature reactor, almost as if a fucking Herrscher core is….OH FUCK NO!
Being the only one who has Immunity to Honkai corruption due to already being a Herrscher myself, I rush in and drag Himeko out of the room. It takes a fair bit of time due to the busty redhead writhing in pain and nearly knocking me down once or twice but I do get her out into the Hallway…
Now that Himeko is out of Kiana's room, her body begins to recover from being exposed to what is essentially enough Honkai energy to fucking revitalize a fucking Herrscher core. However, Himeko isn't out of the woods yet as I can tell the Honkai energy still lingering inside her is trying to destroy her from the Inside.
Her fucking artificial Stigma is fighting the effects of Honkai but it can only do so much without something to get rid of the energy within her body. I begin to panic a bit as I try to think of a solution to save Himeko and at first, come up with nothing…
But then I think of something so damn crazy, it just might work…
I grab onto the exposed skin where the Honkai corruption still remains and use my own Honkai Energy to draw out the lingering energy within Himeko, essentially absorbing Honkai Energy within the Busty Redhead's body.
It takes several agonizing minutes, but I manage to slowly draw out the Honkai Energy from Himeko's body, allowing her body to heal itself as she finally stops screaming in pain, looking at me with a haggard look of surprise, relief, and gratitude…
"H-how…?" Himeko asks, surprised that I could even do that to heal her. To be fair, the idea was crazy because it was a mix of my own Herrscher powers working in tandem with that strange fucking Ki stuff I can do since I got to this time period…
But at least now I know I can do something like that, regardless there is still the problem of Kiana, which makes me slowly stand up and walk to the open doorway of Kiana's room. Before I enter, I turn to Himeko and give her a confident smirk as I soon say…
"Don't worry, I'll get sleepyhead wide awake, just…don't let anyone in lest they go through the same shit you did…" Himeko weakly nods as she slowly pulls herself up to a sitting position as she spots Mei and Bronya walk down the Hall…
"DON'T COME ANY CLOSER YOU TWO, THAT'S AN ORDER!" Himeko shouts at the two, both Mei and Bronya looking surprised at the sudden order with Mei looking quite worried now as she asks…
"H-himeko-san, what's going on…?" Before I hear any of the conversations beyond that, I shut the door to Kiana's room, looking around at the room that would have been any other teenage girl's room if it weren't for the pervasive feeling of Honkai Energy being exuded from Kiana's sleeping body…
"Tch, of all of the things to fucking forget about, why is this shit…" I say to myself while grumbling, snapping my fingers as I switch my Uniform out for my usual attire, my Herrscher dress as Kiana called it once…
I shake my head as I kneel down and grasp Kiana's hand, soon taking a short breath and attempting to use my domain over sentience to try and connect myself to Kiana's slumbering mind, hoping that I can snap her awake before the range of Honkai energy leaves this fucking room…
Kiana's Dream - Dream Lab - 5 minutes before Fuchou enters Kiana's dream
(Kiana's P.O.V)
I've been wandering this strange lab for what feels like hours now, wondering why it all feels so familiar as I stare at all the tubes with liquid in them. It feels so creepy yet I can't shake the feeling that something big happened in this place…
Soon though, I suddenly hear alarms blaring as something seems to have broken containment, but when the voice on the loudspeakers says what it is, it seems to always be static to my ears. I shake my head as I rush through the Lab, feeling a sense of urgency as I soon find a lab with an empty tube as if something had broken out from it…
In the middle of the room, I spot a familiar weapon on the ground….the lance thing that killed Mama. I feel incredibly uneasy being in this room, but before I can leave the door slams shut behind me…
Seeing that I can't go back, I gulp and head into the room as I slowly find myself walking toward the broken tube, with a plaque on the bottom of the tube being the words K-423. I feel the words resonating with me strangely as I begin to shake with anxiety, eyes darting around as I feel a sense of killing intent directed toward me…
Suddenly a woman covered in shadows appears out of nowhere and I am forced to dodge out of nowhere, gritting my teeth as I am forced to fight her with my guns and martial arts. The more I fight the woman that's covered in shadows, the stranger I feel, as if something terrible is about to happen.
However, without warning, the woman manages to knock my guns out of my hands and kick me in the stomach, sending me tumbling towards the lance that killed my Mama. As I slowly get to a kneeling position, I find the shadowy woman aiming her guns at me, a sense of fear flashing through me as without thinking I grab the lance right next to me….and thrust it through her chest…
"Y-yea, take that, no one can beat Kiana….K…kaslana….." I say as the shadows disappear from the woman's body, revealing her to be…..MAMA!
"MAMA NO, PLEASE STAY WITH ME!" I scream as I leap forward to cradle Mama's body in my arms, hoping that somehow, some way She is still alive. But She just stays there, kneeling as I found her in the previous dream…
I….I killed Mama….it was me, I was the one who killed Mama….
I just slump over kneeling, shaking as I cannot process this, I don't want to process it…
It's then I hear a voice, a voice I only heard once before on a Schicksal Video….
"Yes, this one will do….K-423 will become the vessel to contain the core belonging to the Herrscher of the Void…." I hear Overseer Otto say behind me, forcing me to look back before I find myself scrambling backward at what I see…
"T-that…..that girl…..looks l-like….me…" I say as I look at the young girl in the K-423 tube, I feel unbearable pain in my head as I grip it before the pain fades….and I realize what I truly am….
"N-no…t-that girl is me….I am K-423…N-not…K-kiana Kaslana…..n-not….me….." I say as struggle to process everything, as a purple ghostly figure floats down before me with a sinister chuckle…
"Oh poor, poor Kiana….not even the real Kiana, you….a mere clone….are the reason that your dear Mama died, why your dear daddy left you….why you'll always hurt those around you….you're nothing but a fantasy…." The ghostly figure says, her voice laughing as I just look at her, just feeling so…drained, so dead inside….why me….?
"But don't you worry, I'll take over your body and make sure that humanity will rue the day they used you, just like they used me….so rest now K-423, sleep an eternal slumber and know only bliss under the will of the honkai…" The ghostly figure says as she reaches forth a ghostly hand at my face…
M-maybe….maybe it's better this way…
Mama….Papa….I'm sorry….
Just before the Ghostly figure's hand is about to touch my face, it stops as both of us hear a resounding crack as behind me, a fracture opens up…..and a black blur slams into the ghostly figure, sending it slamming against the wall…
As the dust settles, I see…..FUCHOU?!
[P.O.V Shift - Fuchou P.O.V ]
I growl as I stand in front of Kiana protectively, the white-haired girl looking despondent and without any hope that made me so attached to her. I struggle to keep my fury contained as I fucking heard every single thing as I literally had to punch my way into this fucking dream.
"FUCK OFF, KIANA ISN'T GOING ANYWHERE" I shout, Honkai energy licking at the air around me as I hear chuckling from where I hit that fucking manifestation of the Herrscher of the Void. Eventually, the dust settles as at first, I mistake the figure that walks out with a elegant swagger to her steps to be Kiana in her old Herrscher of the Void Dress, but I can clearly see that not only is her eyes fucking gold, but her hair is a shade of purple for some reason…
"Why must you interfere now of all times Herrscher of Sentience, why must you desecrate the gift that our god grants us by siding with the humans…?" The Herrscher of the Void says as she looks right at me with a gaze that fucking pisses me off, a look of contempt and arrogance mixed up into one.
"I don't care if your god rains down gold or gives you free days on Sunday, I am Fu Hua, I am Fuchou Jingshen….I will fucking kill you if you take another step toward Kiana…" I snarl out, a thick blood-red Honkai energy aura surging forth from me as the Herrscher of the Void chuckles as she snaps her fingers, gateways of the void appearing all around me as lances aim themselves right at me.
"Then die a human, worthless Usurper…" The Herrscher of the Void says as the lances fire out in an effort to skewer me. My mind flashes back to…Her, recalling reaching out to her as she dies in the snow…
"I WILL NOT DIE THE SAME!" I scream out instinctively, I form Ki blasts in my hand and begin to fire at the lances rushing at me and Kiana. Each Ki Blasts slams into a lance and destroys them, surprising the Herrscher of the void as I look at her with an expression of sheer rage.
The Herrscher of the Void Scoffs as she forms a cube-like construct above me and Kiana and tries to flatten the two of us, it sailing down within seconds and slamming to the ground. Initially, the Herrscher of the Void thinks she's killed us both but looks annoyed when she sees that the two of us survived, two fingers, index, and middle finger, pointed at my forehead as I managed to get the Instant Transmission technique working in time…
"...Why…..why are you risking your life for me….?" Kiana asks during the lull in the fight, making me turn my head to her as I just look at her with an expression of anger before I soon say to Kiana…
"Because I fucking care about you, that's why, I can't help but care about you…" The words catch Kiana completely by surprise, a faint glint in her eyes returning as my words piece through the deep veil of self-loathing and utter hopelessness…
It's right then that we both hear the Herrscher of the Void laughing as if she just heard the world's most hilarious dark joke. Before long she eventually calms down as she shakes her head and says…
"First you claim that strange woman as your sister, and now this cloned trash as some sort of lover….I will kill both of them before I kill you.." It is deathly quiet as I struggle to process what The Herrscher of the Void just said…
But when I do, the Herrscher of the void suddenly finds herself face-to-face with me having gone Super Saiyan, grabbing the purplette's face before I smash it and the two of us through the lab wall, into one or two more before falling into the elevator shaft…
The Herrscher of the Void Growls before firing a void lance at me, forcing me to push myself away from her to doge as we continue to freefall down the elevator shaft. Once the Herrscher of the Void recovers from my earlier grasp, she looks surprised at my strange transformation before flicking her hand forward to fire more Void Lances.
I burst forward in a surge of Ki flight right toward the Herrscher of the Void, attempting to land a punch but the Herrscher of the Void floats away before firing more Void Lances. As I once more dodge out of the way, I can see that things have gotten to a stand-still…
It's then that I get a crazy idea, not sure if it will work but considering where we are currently, it might just work. The Herrscher of the Void can see my manic grin but before she can do anything, I snap my fingers….and to the horror of the Herrscher of the Void, Gateways slowly begin appear behind me and aim lances right at the Herrscher of the Void instead!
"HOW, HOW CAN YOU CONTROL THE VOID?!" The Herrscher of the Void Screams as she creates gateways of her own that fire lances at the same time my own do, the lances smashing into each other as I chuckle…
"You yourself called me the Herrscher of Sentience…and we're in a dreamworld right now, do the fucking math like I had to bitch!" I scream as I point upwards and create a cube-like construct of my own, the process taking a noticeable amount of time more than it did for the Herrscher of the void, and have it slam down towards us both before using Instant transmission to get out of the way, leaving the Herrscher of the Void to get pummelled down to the bottom of the elevator shaft…
As I appear next to Kiana, she has this sullen look on her face as I kneel down next to her, placing a hand on her shoulder as I soon say… "Kiana, look….I don't know what that bitch told you, but you're not just some clone of some kid…..To me, you are Kiana Kaslana….my friend…"
Kiana chuckles humourlessly as she soon responds by saying.. "I…wish I could believe you Fuchou-san, but…..I….I was the one who killed Mama….I drove Papa away…I—"
Before Kiana can spiral any further, I do the only thing I can think of to snap her out of it. I flat-out slap Kiana across the face, her eyes widening as she places a hand on her now-red face, looking up at me with a look of shock and surprise.
"Get a hold of yourself, you yourself didn't do ANY of those things, it was that bitch from before and only that fucking bitch…" I say firmly as I bring Kiana into a tight hug. At first, Kiana is hesitant in returning the hug, but when she sees that I won't pull away suddenly, she grips onto me for dear life as she begins to sob hard, I feel both a sense of great sadness and also a great deal of relief.
Just as I am about to try and pull Kiana off of me, I feel an intense amount of killing intent behind me as I force the two of us to leap away, narrowly avoiding death by Impalement from a ton of Void Lances.
I see a heavily wounded and utterly furious Herrscher of the Void looking at me with a look that could burn holes into titanium as she screams out… "USURPER, I WILL NOT ALLOW YOU TO TARNISH THE VOID WITH YOUR CHEAP TRICKS!"
She then begins to form multiple cube constructs at the same time I am trying to also form a single one, as I get only a second or two to have that cube construct I have forming quickly slam into one of the cubes so that instead of squishing both me and Kiana, we're both sent flying into one of the lab terminals with my back slamming into the plastic terminal and cutting into my back-muscles.
There is excruciating pain coming from my back, but I struggle onto my feet despite how hard it is now to keep myself upright, blood pouring out from my back wounds. Kiana looks at me with immense worry and fears for my life as she grips my dress…
"I-it'll be ok Kiana, I can keep going.." I say, but I know that the wound on my back has really impacted my ability to fight. The Herrscher of the Void grins as she slowly and methodically opens several gateways with void lances ready to finish us both off…
I grimace as I position myself in front of Kiana, hoping to at least prevent her from being Skewered by this next attack, feeling a sense of…finality in all of this as I look at the Herrscher of the Void and deep down…I know that I won't live to achieve my vengeance…
Kiana..Mei..Bronya….Old-timer….
I'm sorry…
As I close my eyes, awaiting the lances to fire and kill me, I think about the time I spent with those four prior to this time-travel stuff, I just…hope I could have seen them just once last time like they were that day…
However, just as the lances are about to fire…a wave of flame immediately destroys all of the gateways, I open my eyes, and what I see is….truly unbelievable…
"Jeez, didn't think you'd struggle so much against me so much…" a distinctly familiar voice says as I slowly walk towards the owner of the voice, reaching out as I ask…
"K-kiana…?" Kiana, the one from my original time period is here, donning her Herrscher of Flamescion powers and weapon as the Herrscher of the Void just looks at her stunned, as if completely unable to process what she's seeing.
"Not just Kiana…Go, Kurihara!" another familiar voice says as a strikingly familiar red draconic Honkai beast slams through the lab ceiling and blasts the Herrscher of the Void, forcing her to warp away to avoid taking more damage.
Atop the Honkai beast, leaps off Mei in her Herrscher of Thunder form as she looks at the Herrscher of the Void with a flat look as she soon says… "It is unsettling to fight this form of you again Kiana.."
If both my original Kiana and my original Mei are here then that means…
Blue energy blasts suddenly appear from behind where Mei is standing, sailing right into a recovering Herrscher of the Void as both Herrscher of Reason Bronya and Old-timer show up ready to fight.
"H-how…?" I ask, both shocked and happy to see the four, but before Original Kiana can answer, the Herrscher of the Void suddenly lets out a huge surge of golden Honkai energy, finally releasing a ton of Honkai energy at once…
"I WILL NOT TOLERATE THIS MOCKERY FROM YOUR DOMAIN NO LONGER USURPER!" The Herrscher of the Void Screams as gateway after gateway begins to form all around us as the five of us are quickly forced into a circle to protect the current timeline Kiana as we begin to destroy lance after lance…
While I fight alongside my friends from my timeline, I can't help but feel there is something off about them, but I put it out of my mind for now as we work to continue ensuring not a single lance hits CT Kiana.
Eventually, there is a brief lull in the barrage of void lances, one that HoF Kiana takes advantage of to quickly bring her blade skyward before slamming it down and sending a wave of flame down upon the Herrscher of the Void.
As HoF Kiana creates that wave of flame, I feel a brief drain on my Honkai energy reserves which confuses me but I shake my head, intending to take full advantage of this opportunity as I fly over to the Herrscher of the Void, appearing right about her as she looks up with shock written all over her face, said face looking so much like Kiana's it hurts but….
"FUCK YOU!" I scream out in rage, pain, and frustration as I slam my fist down hard, sending a shockwave resounding through the lab as I finally knock out the Herrscher of the Void. I breathe heavily as I look down at her, just exhausted from the entire experience as I chuckle, turning to my friends from my current timeline…..only to look on in shock as they begin to disappear in motes of red energy…
Insert Music - Regression by Ayanga, Honkai 3rd Impact
"W-what….what's going on….why are you disappearing…?!" I scream out, rushing over to them as they all smile sadly, with OT Kiana soon responding by saying…
"We….aren't actually here Senti…we're just….recreations made from your own memories and energy, brought on through your domain of Sentience and your deep desire to see us one more time…"
I shake my head as I feel myself tearing up, my lips quivering as I scream out… "PLEASE, DON'T LEAVE ME AGAIN….I CAN'T…..I CAN'T BARE TO SEE YOU ALL GO…..Not again….please….."
I end up stumbling over and falling flat on my stomach, even so, I crawl over to them as the dispersal of Honkai energy begins to accelerate, not wanting to lose them a second time. OT Kiana smiles and pulls me up, her handing beginning to grow transparent as she looks over to an awestruck younger version of herself…
"We're still here Senti, in your memories..forever….so please, don't worry about us….live your life how you see fit….." OT Kiana says as she gives me one final hug, which I return with tears streaming down my eyes.
She then turns her head to her younger self before saying… "Try to become a better me, I mean I'm already this badass so you can surely go beyond me with Senti's help~!"
CT Kiana looks at OT Kiana, slowly nodding her head before softly saying… "I…I'll try…."
OT Kiana smiles at that as she slowly begins to glow red, the glow growing brightly and brighter before she finally disappears from my hold on her into glimmering red motes of light, making me look up and try to grab the lingering motes as they fly up into the air and fade.
Then OT Mei comes up, her body half-faded as her Honkai beast is only a head now, she smiles before putting a hand on my shoulder and saying… "Help our younger selves do better this time, ok Senti….as a favor to us…"
"O-Ok Mei….I promise…." I say with an extremely shaky voice, trying to prevent myself from breaking down as the grief is coming back in full all over again. It is then OT Mei's turn to disappear into those same motes of red, with Kurihara roaring one final time before fading all the same…
As OT Bronya comes forward, her upper Torso is all that remains as parts of project bunny are flat out gone from the mech holding her above the ground, she gives a soft smile as she soon says… "Show Kevin….that he was wrong, wrong to believe that we were failures…"
I give Bronya a firm, shaky nod as I can't even bring myself to speak at this point, knowing if I do at this point, I won't be able to stop myself from breaking down as OT Bronya finally fades alongside project bunny…
All that remains, is Old-timer as she seems to still be somewhat whole, only slightly transparent as she looks over to the Herrscher of the Void briefly before she says… "Before I go…shall we work together to seal her away, lest she torments Kiana-chan here again…?"
At that, I shakily nod, but before I question how to do it, Old-timer places a finger on my lips before gesturing to follow her, making me walk alongside her as she picks up the unconscious Herrscher of the Void and brings her to the broken tube, placing her in the same K-423 tube before she has both of us standing in front the tube…
"Imagine the tube, just like the others in this room, rewrite the cognition that the tube is broken…I know you can do it…" Old-timer says, making me slowly nod as I close my eyes to focus, my mind recalling the images of identical tubes as I focus on restoring the broken tube into those same tubes of liquid.
Kiana looks surprised as the slowly fading Old-timer smiles watching me use my domain to restore the tube, then once the tube is restored, Old-timer soon says… "Now, Imagine a bulkhead sealing the tube, to keep the being within contained…."
I slowly nod as I focus, the tube containing the unconscious Herrscher of the Void now being sealed by metallic bulkheads that completely lock together to prevent anything from getting in or out.
With that done, I slowly turn to Old-timer, reaching out to her in hopes to stop her from disappearing. Old-timer merely smiles and reaches out to me in turn, grabbing the back of my head and bringing me forward until our foreheads are touching…
"Please…don't go…." I softly say, pleading with her to not leave me all over again, however Old-timer merely smiles and just before she begins to finally fade, she says one last thing…
"Senti…no…Fuchou…..thank you, for being a part of my life…and becoming my sister, both in our time-line and in this new one…" Her words surprise me, as I realize that this isn't merely a recreation of Old-timer speaking to me during those last moments, but Old-timer herself speaking last words to me….
As Old-time fades, all that remains is but a single feather, a single fiery down that floats toward me and disappears into my body. For a brief moment, I feel everyone from my timeline wrap their arms around me all at once before fading, bringing me to my knees as I begin to out grieving sobs that echo from all over the battle-torn lab.
Several seconds later though, I feel another pair of arms wrap around me, making me look up to see Kiana with tears in her eyes before we wrap each other in a tight hug, grieving together for our respective loved ones.
For Kiana, her mother, and the death of her Innocence…
For me, those I lost to my original timeline…
We grieve together for several minutes before we finally begin to go from sobbing to simply sniffling, gripping each other's clothes before we pull away from the hug. I look away from Kiana as I softly say…
"So….I guess you probably know what's going on huh….?" Kiana is silent before slowly nodding her head as she squeezes my shoulder, giving a watery yet comforting smile as she soon finds it in herself to respond by saying…
"Y-yea….you…you're from the future…aren't you…?" I simply nod, not trusting my voice at this moment as the silence continues once more. Eventually, Kiana just hugs me again, surprising me as she soon says…
"Don't worry Fuchou, I can keep a secret or my name isn't….well…it really isn't Kiana Kaslana really huh…" Kiana growing rather depressed all of a sudden, making me growl as I flick her forehead, making the white-haired girl rub it with her hands…
"Stop being an idiot, of course you're Kiana Kaslana, who cares if you were a clone or something, you're Kiana Kaslana to me, to Mei, to my fucking sister, and of course both Bronya and Major booze-a-lot too.." I say firmly, making Kiana look at me shocked before she gives me a blindingly bright smile of sheer joy and happiness.
"Thank you Fuchou….truly…." Kiana says as her smile becomes more fond, a noticeable blush on her face as she hugs me warmly, something that I return. While I wish we could stay like this, I sigh as I pull us up, turning us toward the fracture I made to get in here…
"Let's return Kiana, our friends are waiting for us…." I say, with Kiana smiling and nodding, the two of us walking toward the fracture as Kiana grasps my right hand with her left one, fingers locking together…
It is in that same position we finally exit the dream…
Music OST end
St. Freya Dormitory, Kiana's room - seconds later after exiting the dream
(General P.O.V)
Mei and Fu Huha look over both Kiana and Fuchou respectively, deeply concerned due to the fact the surge of Honkai energy coming from Kiana ended some time ago, and the two have yet to awaken.
However, before long they notice both Kiana and Fuchou beginning to wake up, with the two of them opening their eyes to see the relieved expressions of both of them. As the two look surprisingly exhausted, Fu Hua runs off to go tell Himeko that both Fuchou and Kiana have woken up.
All while Mei, with a deeply relieved and joyous smile, simply says… "G-good morning you two, welcome back to the waking world!"
With that, the threat of the Herrscher of the Void has been neutralized…..
For now…
St. Freya Academy, Overseer's Office - Two Hours Later
(General P.O.V)
"Fascinating, so the Herrscher of Sentience was not only able to absorb latent Honkai energy from those suffering from the onset of early Honkai corruption but also neutralize the Herrscher of the Void from within the mind of the vessel…" Otto Apocalypse says, reading a recent report on what happened this morning…
This has the blonde man quite intrigued by the possibilities that could be created with the aid of the Herrscher of Sentience, should she prove willing to provide said assistance. It is a shame that said Herrscher is unwilling to share the details of what happened in the dream or is Kiana Kaslana or rather….K-423…
While he had hoped that K-423 would inherit the powers of the Herrscher of the Void, he's perfectly willing to be patient for that to happen, especially when there is a perfectly viable Herrscher right in arms reach so to speak, willing to aid Humanity over the Honkai…
Only time will tell if this Herrscher will prove to be worth the risk of allowing her so much free reign. But so far it's proven to be quite beneficial, even if unintended in some cases as Major Mureta Himeko was not only able to make a full recovery but surprisingly was made stronger from the experience…
While he is unsure why the Major became stronger, he is sure of one thing at the very least. The Herrscher of Sentience has plenty of hidden tricks at her disposal, ones he hopes to coax out of her slowly in her time here…
He has plenty of time after all…
Author's Notes
Well, when the muse hits you, it can hit HARD.
Yes, I know I only very recently released a new chapter of Devilflare Princess, but I literally couldn't stop writing this entire chapter from start to finish in a matter of hours because the muse for this was so fucking strong.
So, let's get into the Plot Discussions…
The truth and suffering of Kiana Kaslana
This….was going to be a whammy regardless of how it happened, with everything being carefully orchestrated by the Herrscher of the Void within her. From the room she wandered into, the appearance of the lance, to the intentional shadowing of her mother, all to push her into trying to kill her own mother without realizing it.
The revelation of her being a mere clone of the real Kiana is just the Icing on this cake of suffering and pain that the Herrscher of the Void put her through, all in an attempt to try and take over Kiana.
Thankfully Fuchou cuts in just before the Herrscher of the void manages to wrest control, speaking of which…
Sentience VS the Void
At first glance, the HoV has a ton of advantages in this fight, especially when Fuchou is still trying to figure out how her domain works exactly. From the Gateways with the void lances to the constructs that the Herrscher of the Void can create on a dime.
However, Fuchou isn't without her own advantages, that being her Ki abilities and her Super Saiyan transformation. Of course, that isn't enough, especially with such a tight space to work with.
This is where Fuchou finally starts to flourish with her use of her domain, although still not exactly mastering it, as she manages to one-up the Herrscher of the Void with a surprising use of those same gateways that the HoV is so fond of.
Of course, the only reason that Fuchou can get away with doing that is because she's doing it in the dream of Kiana Kaslana, this wouldn't work in the real world as she is now.
This also leads me to the final plot point of the chapter…
The Final appearance of the Original Timeline main cast
This was both a combination of Fuchou's recent use of her domain, her deep desire to see her old friends one more time before her death, and a silent plea for aid. However, much to the dismay of Fuchou, they're not truly there…just recreations of her deceased friends brought to aid her one last time from beyond the grave and through the passage of time with the power of her own domain.
With this, it's a final goodbye to the Original Timeline Main Cast as well as Kiana finally learning of Fuchou's biggest secret…
Now then, Next time on Sentient Wrath: The recovery of Fuchou, Kiana, and Himeko, the completed capture of Mei Raiden, and team bonding.
See you all next time!