Chapter Text
“The remnants of Project Stigma will also be under your dominion… you will become the true Goddess of Earth.”
There was no hesitation when the girl shook her head. “I have no interest in that.”
“...Is this it?”
“Yeah, this is it. With the Cocoon as witness, you shall take over and protect the complete Authority of Finality.” There was the slightest relaxation in the tight lines around the man’s eyes. “...This will do.”
“Then what about you?”
“It’s time for me to go. To where they are.” His lips curved upwards ever so slightly at the look on the girl’s face. “No need to feel regretful. This is also my wish. Now, I can finally tell them with pride…” He paused just long enough to take a deep, steadying breath. “‘Everyone, sorry to have kept you waiting.’” His pools of sky blue which had maintained such coldness, such melancholy, and such calculated determination for more ages than anyone else could count… finally brightened with the faintest shine of relief as he faded into the void.
“Goodbye, Kiana idiotka.” The girl kept her back turned to her friend as she raised her hand in a lighthearted, casual wave.
As if she couldn’t sense the tears her best friend struggled to blink away.
“Mei-senpai.” So much she wanted to say, (“I love you.”) and yet the words caught in her throat (“I’ll miss you.”). Scratching and burning as they attempted to escape and yet they could not, (“You are part of the beauty I’m fighting for and so much more.”) trapping her in quiet torture.
“Kiana…”
After everything they’ve been through, the women could read each other like an open book. Standing at this precipice, they gazed deeply into each other's eyes. Both women's expressions bore nothing but a loving understanding. A silent agreement that this would not be the end. And both their eyes shone with unshed tears. Each knew there were emotions swimming behind those shining Herrscher eyes that simply could not be put into words. Was it fear? A dark anxiety eating away within that these things would not be enough? That the woman before them would not be able to understand the intense, all consuming emotion held close to their hearts?
No.
It was simply that there was no need for these things to be emptied for both to see. They already knew. Both women felt small smiles grow. A wave of longing tinged with the bittersweetness of upcoming parting washed over them.
"I promised we would go home together… But now…" Mei's eyes shimmered with moisture, nearly falling down her cheeks as she grimaced.
The corners of the other woman's eyes crinkled as she smiled. Wide. Genuine. Open. Loving. But also sad. Melancholic. And even a hint of bitterness. So much swirled within that bright smile Mei almost couldn't bear to look. Yet remain looking she did, for she would never turn her gaze away from the woman that was her whole world.
"Don't worry, Mei! I'll be back before you know it! And even if I'm not on Earth, we can still talk every night! But if you miss me too much I guess you'll just have to come up and visit me!" The woman winked and stuck out her tongue playfully.
Raiden Mei couldn't hold back the chuckle that bubbled up from her chest. In a sudden burst of courage she reached out. Hand sliding across and cupping the back of a head of white hair, the other on her shoulder, both pulling the woman closer. No sensation mattered more to her in that moment than the blissful feeling of their lips against each other and the arms she felt encircling her. Herrschers did not need to breathe, and Mei took full advantage of this for what little time she had left. When the rumbling of the train tracks behind them pulled them back to reality, their eyes met for one last time.
"I love you… Kiana Kaslana"
A gasp tore itself from her throat as the girl shot up from her bed. The adrenaline slowly draining from her system made the pounding of her heart sound like cannon shots in her ears. The name on the tip of her tongue slipped free without a sound and faded into the stale, recycled air of the airtight room. Eight years later… and she still couldn't escape the memories that ended her old life. After all they went through, she had shouldered the world's burdens yet again. And while they all agreed it had been necessary, that would not erase the drowning sadness behind their eyes as they said their goodbyes. Sure every once in a while they would find free time to spend a few days with her on the moon, but it simply wasn't the same as being on Earth with them.
Kiana was quite aware of this. Most of the time she wished she wasn't.
Her ability to meet with Mei and Bronya through their Herrscher link had dwindled to the point of nothingness over the years. Her reward for all her hard work. Honkai levels on earth had steadily dropped due to her constant diligence in drawing it all back to her, the planet's new Goddess of Honkai. All it cost her was one of the last few links she had with her loved one. She could still speak to them in their dreams, sure. But it just wasn't the same as being able to visit Mei through their cores and spend the night catching up in each other's arms. Or actually physically having them with her on the moon. It was in these moments of weakness that she'd feel the gentle nudge of curiosity from the Cocoon. It wasn't so much hearing the Cocoon ask anything as it was simply knowing the question it had and the feelings behind it. Such were the benefits of being tied so intimately with it as the Herrscher of Finality, she supposed.
Curiosity mixed with no small amount of worry probed at her distraught mind. It felt almost like a worried puppy gently pawing at her side. For all its mind boggling power, the progenitor of all Honkai really acted like a child sometimes. The thought managed to bring a small smile to her face. Deciding she'd had enough of trying to sleep like a normal human for now, she swung her legs over the side of the bed and gently pushed the knowledge that she would be fine in time to the Cocoon. It seemed to accept this answer and she felt its presence return to a steady hum of power in the back of her mind. As the Herrscher of Finality, she didn't actually need sleep. But if she was honest, sometimes she simply missed it. Didn't hurt that it also helped pass the time.
Its gaze was still on her, but the cocoon no longer actively strayed into her consciousness. After all these years on the moon managing vast amounts of Honkai energy and communicating with the Cocoon daily they were… something like friends. It was a strange relationship considering the Cocoon- while being its own entity- was also a mirror of herself. They were two sides of the same coin, as Bronya had said. A small huff of annoyance made her thoughts on such higher dimensional shenanigans known. But still, they were rather amicable considering all the things its power had done to her planet.
Her planet?
Kiana shook the thought from her head. She really needed to stop letting herself think like that.
With a mere thought, her Herrscher clothes manifested upon her body in a swirl of amethyst light. "Well, time to get the day started I suppose." She murmured to herself. A gentle nudge of encouragement from the Cocoon helped her push herself forward and out the door. Einstein and Tesla had recently returned to Earth on important business so it was just her and the few teams of scientists researching the old ruins that dotted the stellar body's surface. Most of them tended to stay away from her, what with the maelstrom of Honkai Energy she contained and was constantly pulling into herself. Unless they wanted to run some experiments with the last living Herrscher, of course.
Kiana sighed, it was gonna be another boring day.
With nothing better to do, now that her job of absorbing Honkai Energy from Earth was basically second nature to her now, she used those same powers to gently stretch her senses towards the planet before her. Tendrils of invisible Honkai Energy stretching towards Earth and a mastery of her god-like senses extending through imaginary space allowed her to sense things much more clearly and somewhat check up on her friends and loved ones. Even if it was much more vague than a video call, unless she wanted to breach their local dimensional space and cause a Honkai Eruption. The experience briefly brought a memory to the forefront of her mind. When she'd first discovered she could do this she'd been… a bit overeager to be able to feel that Mei was okay while they were seperated. The Doctors had quickly arrived to scold her for causing spikes of Honkai energy across the planet wherever she focused her- or the Cocoon's technically- senses. Now though, she had a much finer control over how and where she spread Honkai Energy to allow her to keep watch over those closest to her. At most she would be causing a temporary, barely noticeable bump in local Honkai levels. Kiana smiled softly. She couldn't help the small swell of pride within her chest at how much her control over the powers of Finality had improved over the years. The benefit of having nothing else to do most days but absorb Honkai energy and experiment with her powers. For instance, she could check up on her friends nearly subconsciously while she went about her day now.
Extending out her tendrils of consciousness while she walked, she allowed the waves of Honkai energy to gently lap against the edge of the Earth's biosphere. Small tendrils extending from the ripples of her power guiding her senses to those she watched over.
Bronya was hard at work it seemed. Kiana could sense the mental exhaustion radiating from the woman, however it was also mixed with no small amount of pride and satisfaction. Kiana smiled. Maybe next time her best friend visited she'd be getting a new demo for Arahato? She could sense Seele nearby as well. Kiana grinned, Bronya was in good hands, and that was enough for her.
Theresa felt much the same, she was tired, a small shimmering of annoyance tapping against Kiana's consciousness. The Overseer was surely stuck at a desk of paperwork when she'd much rather be drinking a cup of bitter melon juice. Ugh. Kiana reflexively shuddered in disgust. How her Aunt could drink that stuff would forever be beyond her.
It was night wherever Dudu and Rita were. She could feel the couple together, their emotions much more level, giving her an almost muted feeling as they slumbered away. Maybe she could talk to her sister's dreams later? Shicksal's strongest Valkyrie rarely found time off to visit the moon. She missed her sister. Kiana pulled away before the current of sadness that poured from her heart could accidentally spill over into her connection to Bianka.
Ah, Siegfried… her spirits lifted as she felt the joyous laughter her father held in his heart. She could almost hear it herself. He must be at a bar, she could feel him struggling to think straight, his thoughts slow and meandering just as much as they were beaming with enjoyment of the moment. Kiana shook her head fondly. "You're gonna have one nasty hangover, Old Man." She murmured to herself.
Kiana stepped out into New Atra and found herself gazing up at the husk of the former Finality. At the same time she gently pressed her consciousness against that of a certain Herrscher of Sentience. Senti acknowledged her warmly for a split second before her pride caught up and she batted Kiana away in annoyance. Kiana huffed softly in amusement, Senti hadn't changed much when it came to other people touching her mind. But at least it was enough for Kiana to get the sense she was alright. As the only person who was capable of noticing her little checkups, that was usually all she got from the Herrscher.
Fu Hua was… rather stressed out actually. Kiana frowned. She couldn't tell much more, but it was plain for her to see the woman's emotions were a frayed mess. Maybe when she visited Mei's dreams she should ask her to take Fu Hua out for a break…
Speaking of Mei. Kiana's focus instantly snapped over to the comforting and familiar presence that was Raiden Mei. Mei was… melancholic. Yet also simmering with determination and focus. Maybe she was out on a mission? The melancholy, at least, was usual around this time, if Kiana was guessing Earth's time correctly. From what the others told her, Mei would spend an hour or two each night gazing up at the moon. Up at her . Kiana's heart clenched with longing, the image of a saddened Mei almost too much for her to bear. She wanted to run to her. Jump back to Earth right this instant to wipe that frown off her face and once again fill her heart with joyous laughter. But she couldn't. Not… not yet. The doctors had said she could return soon, but Earth still had a 1% ambient Honkai level and she needed that number to be Zero before she could return. Kiana nearly growled in frustration at the resurfaced memory. She reluctantly pulled her senses back from the planet before her frustration caused any unwanted Honkai spikes.
Every day she spent knowing Mei suffered for their separation was torture.
Her family hadn't wanted to tell her how badly Mei's mental health plummeted some days. But there were simply some things you couldn't hide from the Goddess of Honkai. Her and Mei were simply too intimately connected, even without Mei's Herrscher Core. Her eyes shifted away from the husk as the telltale brush of an approaching human lit up her senses. Partly from her expert spatial awareness from the authority of the Void, and partly because the Cocoon was still similar to an excited puppy when it came to interacting with humans. Eight years wasn’t very long for a being that lived outside time, after all.
"Um, Miss Kaslana?"
Kiana turned a bright smile on a rather timid looking scientist who stood a good two meters away from her while her co-workers stood in a circle further back by one of the ruined walls. Even at a glance, they were doing a terrible job of hiding the fact they were keeping a nervous eye on the two women. Kiana had to fight to keep her smile from dipping when she saw the Honkai radiation neutralizers clenched carefully in their hands.
"Um, sorry lady, is something wrong?" Kiana forced a chuckle and scratched the back of her head sheepishly.
The scientists' eyes darted around, following the flows of starry amethyst energy that enveloped the Herrscher’s extremeties and shifted like a window into another dimension on the underside of her dress. "It's just… you've been standing there staring at the husk of Finality for almost an hour now. Are you... alright?"
Kiana beamed at the young woman. "I'm alright! Just takes a lot of my attention sometimes managing uh…", she moved her hands up and down, gesturing at her body and the stellar body they stood on, "All of this." She pointed to Earth hanging in the starfield above them. "And the rest of the Honkai on that."
The woman nodded slowly. "Makes sense. I-I'm sure it's an unbelievable burden.."
"Pfft, naaahhh," Kiana waved her hand in a casual dismissal. "It's easy now that I've had almost a decade to get used to it. No need to worry about me so much!" She grinned.
The scientist nodded, turning away as her purpose had been fulfilled. "Alright, that's good Miss Kaslana."
"Ehhhh no need for the Miss stuff, lady, just call me Kiana."
She nodded. "Okay… Kiana." A small smile flitted across her features. Though the next second it morphed into a small frown. "Huh, you don't know my name? My seniors insisted you would instantly know me."
Kiana grimaced, "Well I may have kinda… read people's minds when I talked to them… But that was years ago! And mostly on accident! I was still learning how to control all my powers, I wasn't trying to like, invade people's privacy like a creep or anything!"
The woman went through several emotions over the span of the Herrscher's rambling. Her expression quickly flicked from surprise, to uncomfortable, to understanding, and lastly, a giggle fell from her lips. "Well I suppose as long as you weren't doing it on purpose. I can see why the other teams are rather enamored with you. It sounds like you have a rather vast collection of abilities."
Kiana turned her head away as heat rushed to her cheeks. "Ehehe, it's nothing… I'm the same Kiana as ever just… a bit more than human nowadays."
The woman pursed her lips and nodded in agreement. "I've got to get back to work, but it was nice having this little chat with the resident Herrscher." The two nodded their goodbyes, Kiana's grin wavering just slightly. The resident Herrscher. Was that really all she was to these people? As she watched the woman rejoin her colleagues and throw studious glances back her direction, the girl couldn't help but wonder.
Kiana quickly shook those thoughts away. Even if they were true, it didn't matter. She still had a job to finish. Stepping back onto the round platform stretching out over the final crater, Kiana drew on her powers to manifest her Honkai wings back at her sides. Her dual white winds were segmented into four organic looking rounded protrusions tapering down into the point where all four met. It had always made Kiana think of some kind of strange skeletal fish. With nary a word she turned her back to the husk and allowed herself to fall backwards off the edge, much to the horror of the nearby scientists. She couldn't help the grin that bloomed on her face at their increasingly horrified expressions as she fell. Seconds after entering freefall, she flipped backwards and ignited the Honkai energy built up in the wings. Though they floated at her sides and sometimes even orbited her as if they had a mind of their own, they were still part of her and as such, their thrust affected her as one would expect anything else attached to the human body. From the three channels created between the four "feathers" of the wings, her energy erupted into beautiful ribbons of otherworldly purple and pink energy.
With a whoop of joy, the woman rocketed back out of the crater on a trail of starry amethyst fire.
After having her little joyride (under the atmospheric dome of course, she doesn't wanna make people too worried) Kiana was finally entered into the main complex she'd called home for the last eight years. Entering the room converted into a decently sized apartment for her, the Herrscher settled down comfortably on a meditation mat Fu Hua had given her. That had been nearly seven years ago now, hadn't it? It's position gave her the best view, in front of a big floor-to-ceiling window in her lounge that looked out across New Atra and the moon's surface with Earth hanging in the inky blackness beyond the horizon. It was here that she could really settle down to focus on safely siphoning the remaining Honkai Energy from Earth. There may be only 1% left, but 1% on an entire planet was still a lot of work for one woman.
Fortunately, Kiana had pretty much perfected her method by now.
She once again stretched her awareness out towards the shining blue planet before her. Like an invisible hand reaching across the vast emptiness of space, she grasped onto the rippling remains of Honkai energy and wrapped it around her "fingers" like so much string. Now came the part she needed to really concentrate on. Bit by bit, she unraveled it from around the planet. Bit by bit, she pulled it back across all 384,400 kilometers of empty space and wound it tightly around herself. To anyone that might've had a mind to attempt to measure this process with scientific instruments, they would be shocked at the near instant stream of large amounts of Honkai energy suddenly shooting from the Earth to the Moon. But for Kiana, this was a painstakingly slow process. Every minute twitch of the "strings" in her hands, every distraction, could mean possible Honkai beast outbreaks or spikes of Honkai Radiation. And it was up to her to make sure that didn't happen. She had promised the Doctors, Theresa, and everyone else on Earth that she would free them from Honkai.
And if nothing else, a Kaslana doesn't break her promises.
5 hours later and an exhausted Kiana collapsed onto her couch. Sweat dripped down her features and stuck strands of hair all down the back of her neck and back where her top had been practically soaked through. A tired hand stretched out and the laws of gravity were casually broken as a towel was pulled to Kiana's hand.
The last Herrscher groaned in exhaustion. Pushing herself up from her prone position seemed- in the moment- to be a task beyond even the mighty Atlas of Greek mythology. Kiana groaned again. The exhaustion might have been prevented even just slightly if she hadn't insisted on using her powers to keep tabs on Mei even as she siphoned more Honkai Energy off the planet. Even now she instinctively maintained a thin tendril of power reaching back to Earth. Just strong enough to have Mei's presence be a constant in the back of her mind and for her to be able to feel any spike of emotions from her loved one. Maybe instead of simply talking in her dreams like the voice of God she could help Mei have good dreams if she had a bad day? She'd never actually tried that before. She was a bit hesitant to manipulate minds in any way but surely Mei would understand she's trying to help? It would probably be better to ask the next time her lover visits the moon.
Kiana released a deep sigh into the cloth as she wiped off beads of sweat. This 1% felt like it was taking an eternity, she'd been at this last little obstacle for months now and she'd barely gotten it down to 0.6% according to the sensors the Doctor's left for her use. It was really annoying. She had half a mind to-
A sudden overwhelming terror gripped her heart like a vice and a frantic cry tore itself from her throat as the girl tumbled from the couch. This was quickly followed by a blinding pain that felt like nothing less than a sword through her gut. She could feel the Cocoon attempting to lash out through her at whatever it was hurting her and was forced to divide her attention to keep it at bay, lest it inadvertently target Mei. The living space howled with the sound of the most powerful being in the solar system retching and pounding the floor with her fist as she fought against the sensations washing over her like a tidal wave. The wind picked up and swirled chaotically through the room as her powers instinctively manifested to protect her. Out of desperation, she cut herself off from her surroundings and curled in on herself. Curiously, the instant she broke that last thread that kept her tied to Earth, she could feel nothing but relief. The swirling chaos disappeared as quickly as it had arrived, leaving Kiana curled up in her own sweat and tears amidst her tattered room. Teeth met tongue and a small trickle of crimson seeped from the corner of her lips in a desperate attempt to fight back the urge to dry heave.
After a few minutes of recovery Kiana groaned around the taste of iron in her mouth. "What the fuck was that?" She wheezed. With another pained moan she rolled onto her back and tilted her head upwards towards the windows, taking what solace she could in the faint sensation of the sun's rays. This also brought a certain blue planet into her vision. The hanging blue gem almost immediately brought a terrible realization to the Herrscher. Her blood ran so cold one might be forgiven to think she had started taking after the first Kaslana.
"MEI!"
Ignoring the lingering pains- Mei's pain- the Herrscher launched herself to her feet and jumped into a void portal that took her just outside the habitable dome of the ruins. She was no longer thinking, consumed by the all encompassing need to get to the woman now . Her head was spinning, her fear for the woman's safety spiraling down, down, down. Mei needed to be okay. Mei had to be okay. She felt sick again recalling her recent torment. She had never felt backlash like that before and so was unprepared when she felt it both through Mei and with her own body. She had basically experienced the sensations twofold. But that could not deter the utterly frantic woman from her mission. She could feel a startled group of scientists calling out to her and scrambling to try and get proper equipment to try and halt her, but they could never make it in time. She was locked onto Mei's location with a frighteningly intense focus. This time, she simply used the reflection of the Cocoon instead of connecting herself to Mei directly. And without nearly as many theatrics as earlier, she summoned her wings and launched herself from the moon's surface nearly faster than the eye could see. So great was this thrust that it would forever mark the scarred surface of the moon with another cracked and broken crater. A testament to the desperation of the girl now flying towards the earth at breakneck speeds.
"SHE WHAT?!" Theresa screeched at the comms panel. The scientist on the other end grimaced and reluctantly repeated himself at a slightly slower tempo.
"K-Kiana Kaslana left the moon. She was last seen launching herself towards the Earth."
Theresa let out a humorless, exaggerated chuckle that morphed into a loud groan of exasperation part way through as she drew her hands down her face in a display of absolute exhaustion. "What is my idiot niece doing?"
"Uh, Madame Overseer?"
"Yes?" Theresa groaned.
The Valkyrie now standing in the doorway to Theresa's office winced. "Uh, Ma'am, we just received a report that Raiden Mei's Valkyrie Squad was ambushed. They've escaped temporarily, one of her students contacted us, but Raiden Mei was seriously injured."
There was a small thump as Theresa's forehead met her desk. Suddenly it all made sense. Her fingers wearily typed away at her comm terminal. "Remind me to apologize to Rita for this later." She said as her finger descended on the holographic button labeled 'call'.