Chapter Text
Sirin glared at the device in her hand, as if she could burn a hole through it with merely a glance. She probably could- with a little Honkai energy- but that was besides the point. It was, after all, the source of her misery. Her reduction to a mere tool.
Before they had left Random Play they had run into the small problem of having no way to communicate at long distances. New Eridu tech was, unsurprisingly, different enough that their phones were not able to properly connect to either wireless internet or the cell towers. As such, Bronya had convinced Mei to let up on being so restrictive of Sirin's use of Honkai energy. However, the Herrscher was far from pleased. After all, what god would appreciate freer use of her powers only for that annoying wretch who used to bear the core of Reason and Truth to try and utilise her like a 3D printer? Unfortunately, Mei had become well versed in convincing Sirin to do things for her over the years, and the Herrscher soon found herself staring down a dismantled New Eridu phone with the promise that some of their new funds would go towards an extra large bowl of noodles as soon as she was done. Normally she would demand her payment first, but if nothing else Sirin knew Mei would do the utmost to fulfil her promises.
“And these are the Ether capacitors. They help my phone keep functioning in high ether environments by allowing certain helpful ether frequencies to travel with the electric current in the components, but not others. Those stay stored in the capacitor for me to release later in a safer environment. Though I'm not sure if your phones would need that if they already have that uh… Honkai energy stuff,” Belle said, pointing out the parts as she spoke. She picked up a small rectangular piece that fit comfortably across the pads of two fingers, “This is the ethernet box to communicate with the cell towers, along the side here you can see it's printed what frequency it uses.”
"I see,” Sirin took the device with a surprising gentleness, turning it over in her hands and committing every detail to memory. Her eyes glowed softly as she probed its inner workings with her Herrscher authorities. After around thirty minutes of analysing the parts and Belle's explanations, Sirin was confident she would have no trouble altering their own tech to fit these new needs (of course she could, she was a Herrscher!). She has, after all, been familiar with the authority of reason ever since that fateful day in 2000.
Every so often Belle's blue eyes would flick up to Sirin's face for a moment before refocusing on the Herrscher's hands picking apart the device. This occurred again and again, until Sirin had had just about enough of it when Belle finally spoke, “You know, I was sceptical about you doing this kind of delicate work before, but it turns out you can be pretty gentle when you want to be.”
Sirin’s eyes immediately narrowed at the smaller woman, “Do not insult me. I am only doing this to help Mei, because otherwise I'll have to endure this gay idiot’s whining that I didn't help her precious ‘Mei-senpai’ when she wakes up.”
“And the noodle bribe had nothing to do with it?” Belle grinned.
“Absolutely nothing,” Sirin hissed, “Now leave me to my work before I smite you where you stand.” The Herrscher huffed and jumped off the stool. Belle watched as Sirin stormed out of the room with a swish of white hair and heavy, thumping steps.
Blue eyes darted back to the table where the previously scattered components now lay perfectly reassembled, “Huh, when did she do that?” She was still scratching her head in confusion when Wise walked into the staff room a moment later, “You know,” Belle began, “She's kinda cute in an angry, abrasive, still terrifying way when she's not threatening to kill us all.”
Wise let out a small huff of amusement, “Of course you'd say that.”
“What?!” Belle protested, “You can't tell me you thought that's all there was to her when everyone that knew her already obviously cares about her!”
“Well…”
Belle clicked her tongue in disappointment, “Wise…”
“I know, I know!” He groaned.
“Whelp,” Belle slid off her stool, “Now that Sirin’s done and we’re waiting for Section 6 to get back to us, I guess I'll go get that check-up. Later!” Belle was out the door before Wise could reply, though her brother was no doubt relieved that he would no longer have to worry about Miyabi hounding him over Belle's health.
For once, Sirin would admit that she was rather satisfied. She had done what Mei asked and the noodles had been excellent, so much so that she had even allowed Mei to have some of her serving. And if anyone asked, it certainly was not because of Mei's rather pitiful face when Rice Cake asked for a bite and took nearly half her bowl in one gulp. It was only so Kiana didn’t bug her about it, not because she felt bad for the woman. It was now an hour later and they were walking around a business district called Lumina square. The amount of humans here went way over Sirin’s threshold for the amount of insects she could tolerate, and her previous satisfaction was quickly bleeding away into her usual anger.
However… it had been a long time since she’d been out with Mei like this while fronting instead of simply observing from within Kiana’s mind. It was always different being the one to control their body, and with how boring the moon was she’d had no reason to want that control besides just to prove she still could. Well, there was also Rice Cake’s presence in the base the last couple years. That had given her a bit more reason to switch with Kiana every so often. She was still a bit out of practice after so long. Though she’d never tell any of them that, lest they try to coax her out more in that annoyingly earnest way they had.
Sirin tapped her foot impatiently, these thoughts running through her mind could only distract her from this insubordinate cross-walk for so long. Why was the light still red?! The only reason she hadn’t vaporised it with a rift is because Mei continued to insist they blend in (and maybe something about public safety but who cared about that). Sirin groaned in annoyance (not for the first time), "Why are we waiting for this stupid light? We should be on the other side already, how dare this tedious, ridiculous human contraption command us to wait!”
“Sirin, it is not that serious,” Mei said, facial muscles twitching as she fought valiantly to keep a grin off her face, “Sometimes it’s good to slow down and just have a quiet moment to take everything in.”
Sirin’s face scrunched up in distaste, "I had plenty of moments to slow down and take everything in while I was healing within the Void core. Besides, nothing is quiet in this disgusting city.” Sirin glared at the surrounding crowds and various bedazzled stores and skyscrapers surrounding them.
“That is true.” Mei had to concede that one. Her eyes dropped to the woman's shoulders, a certain white Honkai snake still comfortably nestled there. Somehow Rice Cake was managing to sleep through the noisy crowd and Sirin's own dissatisfaction. Her adventure in the Hollow must have truly drained her.
Supernatural senses picked up a gaze darting over their forms and golden eyes immediately turned to glare at the offending source. She looked down next to her and staring back were the large, rounded green eyes of one of the strange creatures managing the crossings, "What do you want?”
The bangboo seemed unfazed by her sharp tone, “Sorry, I just couldn’t help but overhear your conversation! I understand your frustration at having to wait, citizen, but I assure you I am doing everything I can to ensure pedestrian safety!”
Sirin’s eyes narrowed even further, "Mei, can I punt this little weirdo?”
“Please don’t kick the police robots, Sirin,” Mei sighed.
“Yes, please do not interrupt my work. Harming a police bangboo would require me to summon my partner to arrest you,” The bangboo chirped.
"But they’re police!” Sirin protested. When Mei simply raised an eyebrow and stared at her with a displeased eye, Sirin dropped the subject with a groan. She scanned the surrounding area again, doing her best to ignore how very puntable the little police creature was. Green finally flickered to life along the cross-walk and Sirin was so relieved she might even consider rethinking her desire to watch humanity burn. If she was asked nicely. Too bad for humanity that Kiana wasn’t awake right now.
She very quickly found herself taking back such thoughts over the next hour. As soon as they stepped into the mall building, Sirin realised it was a mistake to let Mei bring her to such a place. However, before she could portal away, a frighteningly strong grip closed around her arm. The Valkyrie in question was all smiles as she pulled the Herrscher close and wrapped her arms around one of Sirin’s own, batting her eyes innocently.
“Oooooh,” Rice Cake's little voice yawned as her eyes fluttered open and the snake quickly took in her surroundings, “Are we gonna dress Aunt Sirin up in pretty clothes?” Her question carried an undercurrent of undeniable excitement.
Sirin’s eyes had frantically snapped between the frankly ridiculous amount of clothing stores, unable to identify another means of escape, before finally resigning herself to her doom. But why not just portal out? She asked herself this every time she somehow ended up being dragged somewhere by Raiden Mei. When had she begun to let Mei do these things to her? Was it the faint dream of white hair and a bright smile? The proud look in blue eyes as she twirled in clothing several sizes smaller than what she wore now? Questions that had an answer somewhere, if she cared to peer into her heart. Answers that, really, she already knew. Of course she did. However, at the moment, she did not in fact care enough to look. Sirin sighed dramatically. Oh well.
The sun shone down with a comfortable warmth as Bronya stepped out of the arcade, arms stretching up high as she turned to watch her companion sullenly follow after her. Bianka held the dulled eyes and blank expression of a woman catastrophically defeated as the door swung closed behind her.
“Even in another world I still can’t get a hang of these infernal machines,” She lamented.
“You spend too much time being the perfect athlete, even Kiana takes time to play games despite how responsible she’s gotten since being trapped on the moon,” Bronya said in her usual flat tones. In one smooth motion she had pulled her phone from her pocket and unlocked it, “Looks like there’s a subway nearby if we want to explore elsewhere. The money Mei gave us should be enough for a round trip with some extra for spending. Pretty sure she took Sirin and Rice Cake along to the nearby CBD.”
Bianka sighed, “Sirin… what are we going to do about her?”
Bronya set off at a casual stroll towards the train station, shooting a look at the blonde as she fell into step beside her, “Do what? We don’t need to do anything.”
“You're not worried at all?”
“Eh,” Bronya shrugged, “She’s just having her fun. Kiana and Mei have managed to get her chill out more than I ever thought possible over the last decade. She might still threaten people and love showing off her power, but I think getting a manifestation of genocidal hatred to settle for scaring people is a pretty big accomplishment for our resident lovebirds.”
“That’s true,” Bianka admitted, “I just… I don’t know. Kiana and Mei put so much effort into showing her kindness and love. I want to get along with her as well. But even after all this time she makes it a bit… difficult.”
“You’re such a worrier when Rita isn’t around,” Bronya smirked, “Look, don’t worry, I know you haven’t spent nearly as much time around Sirin as we have, so just trust me when I say it’s okay. Maybe this is your chance to spend that time with her.”
“She never wants to front when I’m around,” Bianka grumbled as they entered the shade of the station, “I don’t want to take advantage of her being stuck in control.”
Bronya bought two tickets and the two Valkyries now stood in the station waiting for their train. It wasn't much different than a subway back home. Which meant it smelt nasty, was very noisy, and there was way too many people, “She probably doesn’t want to switch while you’re around because she thinks you’ll try to take her on one of your training sessions. Their body is literally that of a Goddess and your workouts still leave Kiana wiped out for the whole next day,” Bronya deadpanned. Before Bianka could protest a small chime came from Bronya’s hand. The Valkyrie sent her phone a casual glance, whatever notification she’d gotten seeming to capture her attention as she quickly brought her phone up and began typing rapidly, “We’re gonna have to postpone the sightseeing, Bianka,” She rotated the phone to show her screen to Bianka, “Belle just sent us a message to meet back up. Section 6 got their info.”
Sirin displayed a surprising amount of tact on their arrival back to sixth street. The Herrscher teleported them into a side alley with a suitable cutaway to hide them from prying eyes. They walked out onto the main street with only a couple of the more unscrupulous figures in the alley paying them any mind, paired with a small exhale of relief from Mei. It only took a minute to get within sight of Random Play. Strangely, they found Bianka and Bronya standing at the news stand across the street, Bianka valiantly pretending to read the paper (it was quite obvious her attention was across the street on Random Play).
The trio quickly joined their companions. Once Bronya looked up at the approaching women, Mei gave her a questioning look, “What’s going on, Bronya?”
The Valkyrie gestured across the street with her chin, “We were coming back after getting Belle’s text when we saw a squad of three cops push their way into Random Play. We decided to wait for you to get back before we decide what to do.”
"Kill them.” Sirin immediately proposed.
“We can incapacitate them,” Mei responded quietly and shot a pointed look at the Herrscher.
"You’re really no fun. Can we bring Thunder back?”
Mei chose to ignore the comment and instead resumed her discussion with Bronya and Bianka. Though perhaps she shouldn’t have taken her eyes off the Herrscher. It was only another few seconds before Sirin’s voice sent a shock of alarm down her spine.
"Oh no,” Sirin deadpanned, “Rice Cake has escaped and is slithering over to ‘show those meanies who’s boss’.”
“What?!” Mei spun in a panic just in time to spot Rice Cake leap up and wrap herself around the handle to Random Play’s front door, “Rice Cake!”
Mei dashed across the road with Bianka and Bronya close behind. Sirin's deadpan expression quickly morphed into a positively predatory grin as she stalked after the Valkyries. Even in the short few seconds it took Mei to cross the street, Rice Cake had already opened the door and darted inside. Bronya’s shout for Mei to wait fell on deaf ears, the woman barrelling inside after the little Honkai beast. Rice Cake’s voice was only slightly muffled by the distance as the rest of her friends and family rushed inside after her mother.
“Cower in fear, human scum! Honkai beast Rice Cake is here to crush you!” She shouted. At the sound of the door slamming back open behind her the little snake turned a proud grin to her Auntie Sirin, who smiled encouragingly.
“Rice Cake!” Mei rushed forward and scooped up the little snake from where it was coiled in mid-air in one swift motion. One of the officers (one who they now saw had been towering over Wise rather intimidatingly) looked at them with annoyance. Mei affixed her face with a bright smile, “I'm so sorry officers, you know how it is when you let kids out of your sight for just a second-”
“I don't have time for this or whatever that thing is, get out of here before I arrest you for obstructing an officer. We have a job to do.” He turned his glare back to Wise, “Same goes for you if you don't open up that back room.”
Mei's smile widened, yet the sight was not a joyful one. The sweet saccharine expression did nothing but send a slight shiver of fear down the spines of all who saw it.
Rice Cake speedily slunk her way back around Sirin's shoulders, “Uh oh, Mama Mei has that look on her face.”
“Sirin,” Mei said, her voice certainly all too sweet for the cold displeasure that burned in her violet eyes, “You know how to utilise Kiana's authority of Sentience, right?”
Sirin turned a positively gleeful look on the officers, who seemed to only begin realising just how much danger they were in when Sirin withdrew her lance from a newly formed portal, "Like the back of my Core, my dear Mei.”
Bianka could only watch on and sigh as her companions rushed forward and three dull thumps signalled bodies hitting the ground in quick succession.
Mei stared down at the unconscious lead officer with a terrifyingly cold gleam in her eye, “My daughter is not a thing.”
"We should just kill them,” Sirin growled, "Pathetic humans don't get to insult their betters and live.”
Mei held her gaze on the bodies for a moment before closing her eyes and sucking in a deep breath, “No Sirin. As much as that angered me, just alter their memories so we can avoid any trouble.”
Sirin grumbled in annoyance but moved to do as Mei asked regardless. It was at that moment, as Sirin had the collar of one of the limp officers in her grip, and right as Wise was shaking off his shock, that the bells above the door rang out in a frightening jingle.
“Hold it, we-” The two newcomers halted almost as quickly as they had entered, the door swinging back shut with a foreboding slam.
A golden glare snapped up and more portals immediately bloomed to life behind the Herrscher.
“Wait!” Wise jumped in between Sirin and the newcomers, “They're friends, I promise!”
“It's okay, Sirin,” Mei nodded, “Stand down for now, I'll protect you while you work.”
"I never get to just eviscerate people anymore,” Sirin grumbled. The portals vanished a moment later.
The taller of the two newcomers eyed them warily, hand tightening around the pistol at her side, “Wise? What is the meaning of this?” She demanded.
Wise chuckled nervously, “Uh, Zhu Yuan! Hi! I can explain!”
Officer Zhu Yuan's eyes narrowed, “You’d better explain fast.”
“Er, well, you see-”
Almost as soon as Wise began to suffer under Zhu Yuan’s unforgiving gaze did the door to the staff room slowly creak open. Belle stepped out slowly. Her expression was tight, ashamed, the look of a woman who had been caught with her pants down. She smiled awkwardly as she stepped over the unconscious officers and placed a hand on her brother’s shoulder, “It’s okay Wise, let me.”
Wise relented rather quickly, allowing his sister to bear the full brunt of Zhu Yuan’s intense gaze.
“Manager,” The other, shorter, woman began, “I received a distress call from Fairy so we rushed over here. Yet when we entered your store we found these strange women standing over unconscious officers and one seemed to threaten us with some kind of rift. You’ll need to explain or I’m afraid Zhu Yuan will burst a blood vessel.”
Belle nervously shot a glance at the Valkyries behind her, “Um… Wait, Fairy? Ah, um, thanks, Qingyi, we can talk about that later I guess? This is a bit… complicated…”
Leaving Belle to her fate for a moment, the Valkyries took this time to observe the two newcomers more closely. To Belle’s left, stood Zhu Yuan. She was a rather tall woman. Her black hair was highlighted with red streaks and pulled up into a functional ponytail that didn’t fall past her neck, a serious and intense focus in her eyes framed by her bangs as she watched Belle desperately try to figure out where to even begin. The other was a much shorter woman, shorter than even Kiana and Sirin, with long dark green hair styled into rather voluminous twin-tails that were held in place by circular decorations through which her hair had been threaded through the middle. Her uniform lacked the official full athletic look of Zhu Yuan’s, but the pads and joint guards made it clear she was prepared to fight at a moment’s notice.
In the meantime, Belle was having great difficulty finding the words to explain to Zhu Yuan just what had happened to her earlier today. Understandable, considering the quite fantastical situation the Valkyries had put her in. Fortunately for the store manager, a smooth and cool voice blaring from the speakers within the staff room came to her rescue.
“Allow me to explain.”
Belle seemed about ready to collapse in relief as Miyabi’s steady voice launched into a detailed explanation of that day’s events to a wide eyed Zhu Yuan, who proceeded to wander into the staff room following the Thiren’s voice. Her eyes darted around the screens, the equipment, Miyabi’s visage on said wall of screens, all of it. Her body somehow tensed even more, her steps hesitant, astonished, thick with a cracking, shuddering wave of realisation. As Miyabi finished, with a nod and smile to Belle, and her image flickered off the screens, Zhu Yuan’s eyes dropped, unfocused, frazzled, stark disbelief clear on her face.
“So,” Qingyi broke the tense silence that had fallen upon the store, “Our law-abiding managers are in fact seasoned Proxies?”
Belle’s face scrunched up in such a severe cringe that one might think she was about to curl up and die, “S-Sorry... It’s true.” She somehow managed to wince even harder as Zhu Yuan’s expression went deathly still, “But I promise we’ve never done anything bad! We are, uh... the most lawful amongst the unlawful!” Belle forced a twitching, awkward smile in the hopes her words didn’t sound quite so desperate to the others.
For several seconds the entire building was completely still. Then came the sound of cloth rubbing together as Zhu Yuan dug into one of her pockets and retrieved her wallet, quickly counting out a thousand dennies and handing them to Qingyi. The smaller girl smiled in triumph and tucked them away before pointing a finger in the direction of the Valkyries.
“And all of you... are from another world? If it wasn’t Hoshimi Miyabi herself telling me this, I’d have to wonder what new substance the Hollow raider gangs have cooked up.”
Sirin scoffed and stood from where she had been tending to the unconscious officers. Mei stepped to the side and allowed the Herrscher a clear path to the staff room if she so wished, “You’d be lucky if I was just some insect high on something. Then maybe you’d survive an attempt to restrain me.”
“Alright, alright,” Belle raised her hands in an effort to get Sirin to pause, “Qingyi?” She stared at the officer in disbelief.
Qingyi smirked, “I had my doubts about your identity. I mentioned it to Zhu Yuan on the way here and...”
“...I didn’t believe it,” Zhu Yuan finished stiffly, “I was convinced the managers wouldn’t deceive us so I was willing to bet on it.” Deep red eyes had found something to Belle’s side quite interesting, never once meeting the girl’s own blue as she spoke, “Too bad,” Her voice remained steady, even as Zhu Yuan failed to hide the underlying hurt in her tone, “I was wrong.”
“I-” Belle’s eyes narrowed as she fought back the moisture that pricked at her eyes and her heart dropped into her stomach, “Zhu Yuan, I’m so sorry, I-”
“Enough,” Zhu Yuan interrupted sharply, “Lets focus on the main issue here.” She spared a glance towards the array of television screens where Miyabi’s face had peered down at her just a minute before, “You do realise you’re levelling serious accusations against Bringer- who’s about to become Commander of Janus Quarter- during the election? Without any evidence or a key witness, mind you. By protocol, I should bring you into the precinct and inform my superiors.”
There was a soft clink as Mei’s thumb pushed her katana from its sheathe. The other Valkyries had also subtly shifted their stances, their opinion on such an action clear to the trained officers.
Zhu Yuan sighed, “But if Hoshimi Miyabi of Section 6, a Void Hunter, is willing to vouch for you...” She shook her head slowly, “Maybe I’m a fool who’s easily deceived, but I trust Miyabi’s skill and expertise.”
Belle winced. Again, “S-so does that mean...?”
“I won’t escalate this to my superiors until the day is over. You’ll have that much time to secure your evidence. In the meantime, I’ll be looking into this myself.”
Belle’s eyes widened. Almost as fast, she had clasped her hands together and bowed her head towards the woman, “Thank you for believing in us, Zhu Yuan!”
“Don’t thank me just yet,” She frowned, “If my investigation shows you’re lying... Like I said, I won’t bend the rules for you. Proxies.” She turned to the Valkyries still waiting behind them, “And you four...”
“Five!” Rice cake yelled out.
Zhu Yuan simply stared at the talking snake for a moment with tired eyes, “...You five. I’m not sure how to feel about you yet. But Miyabi vouched for your skills as well, so I suppose as long as you are helping Belle that can also wait until tomorrow.”
Bianka nodded, “Thank you, Officer Zhu Yuan.” She threw out a quick Valkyrie salute.
Zhu Yuan gestured to the still unconscious officers with her chin, “What did you do to them?”
“Just knocked them out before they could open the staff room,” Mei assured her.
Sirin eyed Zhu Yuan with her usual aura of barely restrained violence, “I’ve altered their memories so they won’t give us any trouble. I was gonna teleport them out of our hair, unless you care enough to take them out yourself.”
Zhu Yuan frowned, “I don’t know how I would explain that.”
Sirin shrugged, “Alright then.” A void portal bloomed to life beneath all three officers, who promptly fell into them and disappeared. At Mei’s questioning look she rolled her eyes, “Oh don’t worry, I just dropped them in an alley down the street. They’ll wake up soon and continue along their way doing whatever it is pathetic insects like them do.”
One last sigh and Zhu Yuan turned to request Qingyi stay and keep an eye on the store before hurrying out the door without another glance.
“Well,” Wise popped onto the balls of his feet before dropping back down and pursing his lips in a valiant attempt to maintain a casual air, “That went pretty well, all things considered.”
Belle could only groan in despair.
The Valkyries were quite happy to get back to work, the awkwardness of watching Belle and Zhu Yuan bleeding away thanks to Section 6 contacting Belle to commence a new mission. The only problem was that Section 6 was already at the target location, and it would take too long for the Valkyries to get to this “Ballet Twins Hollow” through normal means. Of course, this meant Sirin was up again, much to her annoyance- and Mei’s worry- as her Herrscher core drew upon the power of Honkai once more. First to recharge their Valkyrie Battlesuits and spare Honkai battery capsules. Then to tear open a rift to the exact coordinates provided by Yanagi.
“Rice Cake,” Mei called for the Honkai beast’s attention, raising her arm to allow the girl to slither from Sirin’s shoulders to coil around Mei’s forearm, “We’re going back into a Hollow, so I want you to stay here and rest.”
“What?!” Rice Cake stared up at her aghast, “But I can help! I handled those monsters just fine last time!”
“And then you felt sick and weakened due to the Ether,” Mei countered. Her voice softened, “I don’t doubt you could help, dear. We know you’re strong. But we’ve also yet to fully understand how this Ether reacts with Honkai energy. You rely on it the most out of all of us, so I want you to stay safe for now. We’re gonna do what we can to figure this out as part of our mission, and once we know what it does and how to counter-act its effects, I will be happy to fight by your side again. Rest and help Belle and Wise, okay? They’ll be guiding us from here, so you’ll still be able to help us even if you’re not fighting!”
Rice Cake’s expression fell, but she nodded her understanding regardless, “I- I understand, Mama... I am still really tired...” She sulked, “But I wanted to show Aunt Sirin how strong I’ve gotten! That I can help you and Kiana!”
Mei gently booped the nose of the sulking serpent with her finger, “Oh Rice Cake, I understand. We’ll have to make sure you get plenty of opportunities after your mama wakes back up, hm? And Aunt Sirin isn’t going anywhere, I promise. Even when Kiana wakes back up I’m sure she’d love to let you spend more time with Sirin if you ask, okay?”
“Fine...” Rice Cake pouted, “But if you’re gonna keep me cooped up here while you go off on an adventure then you owe me!”
Mei giggled, “Okay, deal.” The Valkyrie held out her hand and Rice Cake slid her tail against it and pumped it up and down in time with Mei’s hand in a silly handshake that pulled another giggle from Mei’s throat.
"Mei is right, Rice Cake,” Sirin added, gently petting the snake’s head, “Kiana would be quite unhappy if I put you in unnecessary danger, and for once I understand her. This Ether is strange... dangerous. Even I will admit that.”
With Sirin adding her support to Mei’s decision, Rice Cake’s pouting seemed to melt away ever so slightly. Still, she was disappointed to miss out, and this showed in the lethargic way she slithered through the air and coiled on top of Belle’s head like a spring. The Proxy jumped in surprise but seemed to settle easily into chatting with her new companion as she and Wise retreated into the staff room. Qingyi remained out front, dutifully standing guard. After a moment, Eous waddled out of the staff room to join the Valkyries.
Mei nodded that she was ready and Bianka led the group through the rift.
After the run down abandoned town they had first seen inside a Hollow, they weren’t quite sure what to expect from one called “The Ballet Twins”. At the same time, the well polished tile floor and faux marble construction that made up the elegant and impressively large skyscraper reception area they stepped into was unsurprising. They were easily dwarfed by the space, this area of the building designed for a crowd much larger than the group of eight that now filled this empty void. Large three storey high windows, some shattered some still whole, made up the front and side walls of the building, while the large reception desk in the centre was flanked by curving staircases leading up one level to a landing with single double door behind the reception desk. All along these stairs, the desk, and around the doors themselves grew those increasingly familiar black Ether crystals inlaid with glowing green veins.
Section 6 was waiting for them and Yanagi wasted no time in confirming they understood the mission. Find Pearlman, the small man that had been with them when they’d met, and take out the mercenaries that were undoubtedly lying in wait.
"I don’t need to keep these mercenaries alive, do I?” Sirin questioned.
Yanagi shook her head, “They will likely only cause more trouble if we leave them to remain active.”
Sirin’s resulting grin sent a shiver down the spines of all four members of Section 6, “Finally.” Sirin interlaced her fingers and stretched her arms over her head, letting out a pleased sigh as she allowed her arms to fall back down. A snap and her Battlesuit manifested upon her body once more, “I will ensure these pathetic fools never waste our time again.” Before anyone could stop her, Sirin teleported herself to the top of the stairs and threw open the doors with a dramatic flair, “Here in a Hollow no insignificant human is safe from the wrath of the Herrscher of the Void! This pathetic Ether cannot overpower the infinite energy of Finality! With this body I will gut you all like the animals you are!” Almost immediately a hail of gunfire burst from the room on the other side. Sirin merely laughed, gleeful smile still on her face as she absorbed it all with her spatial rifts.
The rest of the group rushed up the stairs after the Herrscher, Yanagi shooting the Valkyries a concerned glance as they reached the landing just in time for Sirin to manifest a void lance into her hand and launch herself into the room.
“So uh... what are we gonna do about her?” Harumasa asked, jabbing his thumb at the Herrscher currently skewering mercenaries below.
“What we always do when Kiana or Sirin run wild,” Mei smiled.
Bronya readied her weapon, “Run support until she wears herself out?”
Durandal sighed as she too retrieved her lance and shield, “Looks like we’ll be distracting most of the mercenaries for you.”
“I don’t know if it’s comforting or frightening that you all are used to this,” Harumasa shuddered.
“Well she seems pretty strong, so I guess it’d be fine, right ‘Nagi?” Soukaku hopped excitedly and stared up at the woman with eager eyes.
Yanagi sighed, “Chief?”
Miyabi was silent for a moment, eyes fixated on the wide open room below them. And the Herrscher within taking great enjoyment in tormenting her foes. After a few seconds her ear twitched and she turned her gaze back to Yanagi, “Yes. We’ll leave our new friends to distract the mercenaries. No doubt they’ve alerted their companions to the danger already. We may have a clear shot to the upper floors where they’re most likely keeping Pearlman. We’ll just have to go around the main halls.”
“Hey, what about me?” The group glanced to their feet where the Belle-voiced Eous was flapping its little arms in an effort to get their attention.
“You’re coming with me,” A small smile twitched on Miyabi’s lips, “Don’t fall behind now, Proxy.”
A small pout could be heard on the other end of Eous’s mic, “Awww I’m gonna miss seeing Aunt Sirin destroy the bad guys!”
“Well looks like we’ve got a plan,” Harumasa grinned, “Now lets get going before I get sick watching that girl tear these mercs apart.”
Sirin’s laughter echoed through the halls of the Ballet Twins, the intense Honkai energy radiating out from her core a constant hum in the back of the Valkyries’ minds even through the Ether saturated atmosphere.
Durandal grunted as she batted away a mercenary and skewered the leg of a large war machine before several void lances pierced its armour down to its core, triggering the mechanical beast to explode from within as Durandal jumped away, “I’m surprised you didn’t protest this!” She called out to the nearby Mei.
Mei charged another merc and expertly deflected bullets to aid her dodges until she was close enough to cut him down in one slice, “She needed to get it all out at some point, better she release Honkai energy here inside a Hollow than in the middle of the city.”
Bianka pursed her lips. Mei was right, despite the worry twisting in her gut. If there was one thing the second Herrscher had demonstrated over and over again it was that while Mei held great sway over the woman, Sirin would only tolerate it for so long. Undoubtedly if Mei asked her to stop in the middle of things she’d currently get a resounding “No” in response. Not for the first time, Bianka found herself wishing her sister would hurry and wake up. Though... perhaps she would behave the same if she was cooped up on the moon for nearly a decade. Besides the glaring issue of Sirin’s continued quickness to anger and hatred of humanity, of course. One that was only kept in check by her promise to Kiana. Sirin still despised liars and cheats.
Sirin had quickly wiped out the mercenaries on the ground floor. Soon enough the Valkyries found themselves mostly playing catchup with the Herrscher, as her command over space allowed her to expertly locate and teleport herself to her next target no matter where in the building they happened to be hiding. It wasn’t very hard to follow the trail of destruction the Herrscher left behind. Mercenaries remained impaled to the walls by void lances, limbs no longer attached to bodies scattered the floors, there were even signs that some of the mercenary’s deaths were self inflicted, though by choice or the powers of Sentience was unclear.
They had raced up several stories of the rundown skyscraper when a heavy thunk in the next room signalled they had finally caught up. And if they had been unsure, Sirin’s voice echoing through the halls as they dashed through the doors cemented it. Within another large central room bordered with planters and surrounded by second floor walkways and balconies, Sirin stood with her arms spread wide before a war machine bigger than any the mercenaries had yet fielded.
"Is this all humanity in this world can muster?!” Sirin laughed derisively. A hail of missiles was the machine’s response, one that Sirin expertly dashed through, not even bothering to use her rifts this time. Upon getting closer to her foe, she shot out her arm, palm up and fingers clenched like claws, “Insolent fool! Do you think this armour can protect you from the celestial might of the stars?!” As if triggered by her words, a sphere of inky blackness coalesced around the core of the machine, an outer sphere of deep magenta that seemed to sparkle with the terrible beauty of space itself growing ever outwards, surrounding debris and ether particles being drawn inexorably into this whirlpool of destruction as Sirin’s foe was torn apart by gravitational forces it could not possibly fight against. Sirin turned her back on the machine as it crumpled and caved in on itself, “My vengeance is as inevitable as gravity itself!” With that, the Herrscher snapped her fingers and the stars within this sphere of destruction glared bright for a single blinding moment before the black hole detonated and rocked the building to its foundations.
Bianka raised her shield just in time to defend against several large pieces of concrete and metal that had been tossed wildly in their direction by the explosion, “Has she always been this dramatic?”
Mei chuckled, “According to Kiana, her lines were even cornier during the second eruption.”
Sirin’s glare almost immediately snapped to the Valkyries, “I heard that, Raiden Mei!”
Bronya stepped forward to grab the Herrscher’s attention before she could portal away again, “Sirin, a moment, please?”
"What do you want, Zaychik? I’m in the middle of finally getting to kill again.”
“It’s about the Ether,” Bronya began, “With your constant output of Honkai energy blanketing the area I’ve noticed my battlesuit is not losing energy as quickly as it was when Rice Cake and I were in the Hollow with Belle and Miyabi. Between that and the way it exhausted Kiana when she should have been just fine, I believe it is becoming more and more obvious Ether has some kind of nullifying or neutralising effect when it interacts with Honkai energy.”
“Yes, that is why I have been irradiating the area around me in the first place. Not a problem for a Herrscher, especially the body and core of Finality.” Sirin seemed to ponder something for a moment, “Perhaps that is the answer we are looking for. If you are to continue operating in these high Ether environments, we need Herrscher level Honkai output. Though Bianka seems to be doing just fine. It must be that annoying Stigma.”
Mei frowned, “Wait, Sirin, you don’t mean...”
Sirin smiled, “Reawakening your Herrscher cores? Of course I do. It is well within mine and Kiana’s abilities and would greatly aid in counteracting this... neutralising effect... through brute force until a better way is found.” At the continued look of unsurety she was receiving from her companions, Sirin rolled her eyes, “If you don’t trust me, then know that Kiana agrees with me.”
Bianka’s eyes narrowed at that, “Kiana?”
"Oh yeah, she’s been awake for about an hour now.” Sirin blinked and suddenly her eyes had changed to a familiar pink-starred cerulean, “Hey girls! I’m back! Just letting Sirin enjoy her time in charge!” She blinked again and harsh gold once again stared back at them.
Bianka sighed heavily, “Mei?”
Mei thought for a moment. She had to admit the thought had crossed her mind already, though she had been hesitant to entertain the idea. She wasn’t exactly the unbiased source Bianka was looking for. For all the contention surround Herrschers as inhuman heralds of the Honkai and as much as she enjoyed this peaceful humanity she had fought for, she had to admit she... missed it to some degree. If Sirin and Kiana herself were in agreement this was the current best way to counteract the Ether... “Lets do it. Bronya?”
Bronya nodded, “In this strange world I am beginning to think it would be best to use every advantage we have. Bianka, if you could keep an eye out while we’re focused on this, we would be ever grateful.”
Bianka nodded, “If this is your decision, then have faith I will be your shield.”
“Okay, Sirin,” Mei smiled, “Looks like you get your wish.”
Things were going surprisingly quickly with the Valkyries causing such a ruckus. Miyabi had yet to even need to draw her blade. Several times they had run into mercenaries and prepared to fight only for a portal to open up under their opponent's feet. The soldier’s screams would disappear only to reappear somewhere nearby in the building before quickly cutting to silence. Miyabi did not want to think of what Sirin was doing to them, but at least she was efficient.
A few floors up they had found a large meeting room off to the side of the main central halls that had been converted into a forward command centre by the mercs. Section 6 dove inside, weapons coming up into ready positions to pounce on the surprised mercenaries inside. Only for their plans to be foiled by a head of white hair appearing in a flash and smashing one of the mercs into the ground face first. Almost faster than Miyabi could blink, those purple-rimmed rifts bloomed to life and lances shot from the darkness and impaled every other merc where they stood. Sirin rolled her last victim onto his back, latching onto his throat and lifting him up into the air. A strange shimmer surrounded the Herrscher, and as Section 6 watched, an inky black mist seemed to manifest around her almost like her murderous aura had become a physical presence, that heaviness from the desert settling over them as if reality itself struggled to comprehend the woman’s very existence.
Sirin gestured towards the Agents with a tilt of her head, “I broke your helmet’s air filters. You better tell these nice people where Pearlman is. Inhaling the mists of death is more painful than anything else I could do to you,” Sirin’s grin was positively delighted, “Trust me.” As if in response, the mist roiled over her shoulders and to the ground, their continued creation giving Sirin the appearance of being cloaked in a waterfall. Where it hit the ground it spread not outwards in a natural flare, but instead curved towards the mercenary’s feet dangling several centimetres off the ground.
Tendrils stretched upwards, and the instant they made contact the man began to scream.
"Better hurry. I hear being slowly disintegrated is quite painful.”
“Puh- Please! I-” Another visceral scream of pain, “Top floor! He’s on one of the top floors, that’s all I know, I swear! Please!”
Sirin smiled towards Section 6, “There you go. Now you don’t have to waste time questioning any of these worthless insects.” Sirin’s fist tightened and the mists dissipated to the sickening crunch of the man’s neck giving way under the Herrscher’s inhuman strength. Section 6 stood frozen. Not for the first time the nature of the Herrscher pressed on their minds. She looked human as always, but something about her presence had shifted even from her introduction in the desert. Her smile seemed too manic, just a bit too wide, her eyes glowed unnaturally darting too and fro as if tracking things unseen, the ease at which she tossed a full grown man to the side unnerving, an unsettling fuzziness in the back of their minds screaming that this being before them was inhuman. Pure destruction. A monster.
Perhaps that was what she wanted, for her smile only grew fiercer when she turned and beheld the looks on their faces. And in the next instant she was gone in a swirl of purple energy.
Miyabi frowned, “So this is a Herrscher unrestrained. A vicious predator uncompromising in her brutality.”
Soukaku shuddered, “That lady’s scary...”
“Aunt Sirin is so cool!” Rice Cake chirped through Eous.
“I worry for you kid,” Harumasa shuddered.
“Right,” Yanagi pushed her glassed back up her nose, “Lets get out of here. We have a target location now, lets not waste time.”
Belle followed quickly behind after one last glance at the lance-riddled computer system, “If we come across another communications hub, give me some time to break into their system! It’ll let me confirm if what that guy told Sirin was correct.”
Miyabi nodded and the group quickly fled the destroyed room.
It had been a trap, of course. Further up the skyscraper Belle had indeed found a communications centre and hacked into the system rather easily. This had done two things: Verified Pearlman’s location at the reception area for the top level performance hall and showrooms and triggered a detonation countdown that demolished the room a precious few seconds after they had rapidly vacated it. Finding Pearlman had been easy. Too easy, as Harumasa rightfully pointed out. Yet they weren’t given much choice but to continue onwards as the detonations continued to destroy room after room behind them. Pearlman had been completely unguarded, an expected occurrence considering the military-grade ordinance following them up the building.
“I hope Mei and the others are okay!” Belle’s voice wobbled as Eous desperately attempted to keep up, “Wait, why’s there only one exit result from the calculations? There should be several!”
“Proxy, we don’t have time!” Yanagi yelled back.
Pearlman squealed in terror as the sound of the explosions rushed ever closer, “Please, I don’t wanna die!”
“There’s one exit rift, just go!” Belle made a beeline for this upper reception area’s entrance where the inky blotch of a Hollow rift opened up in reaction to their approach. Belle stopped next to the rift and waved her companions forward until all had exited. As she jumped into the rift, she almost thought she caught the flash of purple hair and white armour in the corner of her eye. A gauntleted hand reaching out for them. But then the rift collapsed, and she was left with nothing but her thoughts and the trap they had so dutifully walked into.
"Fuck!” The woman who bore the appearance of Raiden Mei, clad in a black bodysuit and elegant white armour, spun to her companions. The remains of the reception area smouldered and cracked, the woman seeming completely unbothered in the explosion she had literally run into. Sharp pink eyes and angular, diamond-winged pupils snapped to the golden eyes that had just entered behind her, “Track them!”
Sirin rolled her eyes, “Do not presume to order me around, you ingrate! You wouldn’t even be here if not for me! Besides, I already know. It was simple to track the way that rift bent space.”
"Then what are you waiting for? It’s a trap! Is the mighty Herrscher of the Void scared?”
Sirin narrowed her eyes dangerously, “Don’t make me regret reawakening your core. I can take all that Honkai energy right back! I’m waiting because Kiana insists that we proceed with caution!”
The tension almost immediately bled from the other woman’s body, “I see.”
Sirin scoffed, “Really?! That’s all it takes with you? You’re so fucking whipped.”
"Says the one that does anything Raiden Mei asks if she gives you attention or a reward,” The Herrscher of Thunder snapped back, “Like a pathetic little puppy.”
"Say that again and I’ll gut you alive, bitch.”
Thunder raised a single goading eyebrow, “Bark bark, Sirin. Don’t you want your treat since you’re so well trained nowadays? Does my foolish host tuck you in and kiss you good night, too?”
"That’s it, you’re fucking dead!” Sirin snarled furiously.
Sirin stepped forward, but before she could do much more than blast the room with Honkai energy, she froze in place as if stuck in a spider’s web. A blink, and her left eye returned to its normal pink-starred cerulean, “Now now girls, lets just hold up for a moment,” Came Kiana’s voice.
"Ah, Kiana,” Thunder smiled, “Finally someone reasonable.”
Her face twisted back into a snarl, Kiana visibly having to take a moment to wrench control of her expression from Sirin. Bianka and Bronya ran into the room just in time to hear Kiana’s explanation, “Listen, we could sense others waiting on the other side of the rift. They’ve obviously run into a trap. But I don’t think we should interfere too much with this world. We can listen in quietly, help if needed, but I’m not here to play god, okay? We should still try to allow the events of this world to take their course if we can.”
The Herrscher of Thunder crossed her arms and frowned, “Now where’s the fun in that?”
Kiana smiled, “Oh don’t worry, Mei. I have a feeling we’ll all get an opportunity to flex our muscles, so to speak, sooner rather than later.”
Bianka shot her sister a questioning look, “What makes you say that? Good morning, by the way.”
“Thanks, Dudu~ Just call it... Herrscher’s intuition,” Kiana responded with a knowing grin, “Now, are we gonna eavesdrop or what?”
Just around the corner, out of sight of everyone in the alleyway before them but close enough they could just see the backs of Section 6, a void portal gently broke the fabric of space. Four heads cautiously poked out and focused their hearing as voices became clear.
“Chief Hoshimi Miyabi, you are suspected of improper dealing with Pearlman, the notorious criminal,” Boomed an authoritative, masculine voice, “I need you and your subordinates to come with me.” The man’s tone curled up at the end, a barely disguised smugness sliding beneath the smile in his words. Words that were followed by the clicks of firearm safeties being switched off.
“It’s over...” Pearlman whimpered, “It’s over, it’s all over!”
“Just a moment, Inspector Bringer, it appears there’s been a serious misunderstanding on your part.” Yanagi’s voice cut through the rapidly building tension, a stern confidence that caused even her allies to pause and look at her questioningly, “Section 6 is alleged to have had unreported private contact with an important subject. However, those actions were undertaken solely by Chief Hoshimi Miyabi.”
Bianka raised a curious eyebrow, but she and her Herrscher companions could see clear as day what Yanagi was doing. The only question was how exactly this decision would play out. No doubt having strangers from beyond reality crash the party would only make things worse in this instance. Kiana’s eyes tracked Pearlman as Miyabi tossed the small man back into the rainbow of the Hollow rift behind them and declared that as proof she acted alone. Bringer seemed rather hesitant to accept, until another voice- a woman’s- convinced him to take her willing surrender to fit within their tight schedule. The metallic clink of handcuffs and thumping of boots thundered in the ears of all present as Miyabi was arrested and taken away.
“Whelp,” Kiana began, popping her lips playfully on the p, “I think we’ve ended up in a bit of a predicament. A little bit of a pickle, even.”
“Kiana, please shut up,” Bronya sighed.
The Ballet Twin Hollow always felt creepy. But even as the man and his protective geared team went to work, he couldn’t help but sense they were stumbling upon something magnitudes more dangerous. The place was a mess, dead and dismembered bodies scattered among the wreckage of war machines and fallen debris. That’s not what they were here for. They carefully searched each room, each level the mercs had reported seeing the strange newcomers helping Section 6. The very space felt... wrong. Spatial distortion that felt distinctly unlike what was usually found in a hollow. Even within the protective suit, the longer they stayed in this building the more he felt sick to his stomach.
There.
He uncapped a small carrier tube and gently scraped it against the ether crystal before him. The rim dug into the formation ever so slightly. Just enough to scrape off the strange deep pink crystalline residue that had been left upon it.
The strange substance seemed to glow with a soft inner light as he observed it within the capsule. Almost like it was... alive. He touched two fingers to the side of his hazmat suit’s helmet, waiting for the chirp of an open communication line before speaking, “Sir. Inform Sarah... I believe I’ve found what we’re looking for.”