Chapter Text
Some old folktales and ancient texts speak of a time before Gods. A time when the planet of Halifax truly belonged only to humanity. Ancient murals- now known only to the bravest explorers that venture deep into Honkai irradiated territory- depict a time before even Honkai beasts. A time when humanity spread across the planet, forming the foundations of the myriad of cultures and civilizations to come.
Yet as they advanced, so too did the Honkai beasts appear. Strange creatures clad in snow-white chitin armor riddled with veins glowing pink with a malevolent energy. Energy that could easily kill a man when many were in close proximity.. Women, while bearing a greater resistance to this energy, would nevertheless succumb to the same fate with enough exposure. Those with enough innate resistance may lose their minds, becoming little more than shambling corpses that aid the beasts in their violent rampages. Seeing female warriors turned against their own people by the Honkai twisting their minds into servants of destruction was not an uncommon sight. They were just as agile as in life, some even becoming more dangerous as the Honkai coursing through their veins gave these walking corpses strength and speed beyond normal humans.
Humanity would develop crude new weapons, ones that could use this powerful energy against the very beasts that carried it. Schicksal and its churches launched crusade after crusade into lands long thought lost. For a time, humanity raised its fist in triumph over the beasts of Honkai, believing they could once again flourish in the face of danger.
The discovery of beings known as Herrschers changed everything. Gods that could control pieces of reality like the void, fire, and gravity and gained power from those humans that embodied aspects like justice, righteous vengeance, duty, and loving protection. Incredible abilities that could overwhelm humanities defences in an instant, and appearances heralded by a massive explosion of Honkai energy that would inevitably lead to a massive swarm of Honkai beasts and the irradiation of the surrounding area for miles. No matter the Herrscher, these Honkai Eruptions were devastating. Humanity was merely lucky that some of these gods, like the Herrscher of Reason, would rather protect and guide humanity than subjugate or destroy it. For there was little humanity at the time could have done to stop them.
The Herrscher of Finality was the most powerful of them all. Records in the Grand Library of Schicksal detail how she appeared after the disappearance of the Herrscher of Flamescion, and would fearlessly face down beings even other Herrschers were hesitant to fight, such as the Herrscher of the Void and the most powerful Imaginary Husks. Ancient texts tell of her similar appearance to the Herrscher of Flamescion. Even her power over those same aspects of the world. But the Herrscher had never satiated humanity’s curiosities, and so there were some that believed the Herrscher of Flamescion was still alive somewhere in the universe. Off the battlefield, she of the Moon would aid those around her with incredible feats of healing and blessed those that followed her with the ability to manipulate Honkai energy without the use of ancient technology like a Valkyrie Battlesuit. She drained irradiated sites of Honkai Impact and Herrscher birth of their dangerous energy, allowing humans to step foot in these lands without great preparation for the first time in millennia (though this power did not come without cost and had to be used sparingly according to the Herrscher). The Herrscher of Finality quickly became one of humanity's most revered figures.
And so it made no sense to Mei as to why she was now staring at that same Goddess lounging on a couch and slurping up a bowl of instant noodles.
“I- w-what? Where am I? Why are you…?”
The Herrscher tilted her chin up in greeting, a bit of noodle still drooping from her lips, “‘Sup? Don't worry if you're a little disoriented, I had a piece of me go down to your celebration to bring you back here.”
“Here?”
“Yeah!” The Herrscher smiled, “Look!” She pointed to her left and Mei finally noticed the massive windows on the far wall.
Mei's eyes widened as she took it all in. Beyond the windows was the darkness of the void. A beautiful vast array of twinkling pinpricks of light shone back at her, and in the middle of it was a massive object taking up the majority of her vision. A mix of blues, greens, and browns, a planet- HER planet- was suspended in the void. Mei could hardly believe her eyes as they traced over Halifax's vast deserts, forests, and deep oceans. Just enough of the planet was shrouded in darkness she could see the beginnings of the patterning of city lights that shone all the way from the planet's surface.
“Pretty cool, huh?”
“I-” Mei gulped down deep breaths, a shaky arm supporting her against the wall, “This is all… a little overwhelming.”
“Hm,” the Herrscher frowned, “Yeah, I guess that's to be expected, I did kinda just show up and teleport you to the moon.”
Mei sunk to the floor as her legs seemed to lose all of their strength, “Why- Why me?” She questioned quietly.
“Well I've been meaning to get more involved in the mortal realm again,” The Herrscher began, a pleased look overtaking her, “And I figured ‘Why not respond to one of these rituals requesting my presence that's always tugging at the back of my mind?’ So I did! Though I have to admit,” The Herrscher put her meal down on the table before her and jumped to her feet so she could make her way over to Mei, “I was a little biased in my choice. I've had an eye on you. I may be a bit out of the loop but I still know what a big deal it is for a Raiden to refuse to dedicate themselves to the Herrscher of Thunder!”
“She's been watching me…” Mei mumbled to herself. She gracefully pushed herself to her feet, and then louder, “You've been watching me this whole time?”
The Herrscher winked and made finger guns with her hands, “Yup! What, did you think your ability for controlling Honkai energy came from nowhere? I keep an eye on all my priestesses. Especially the cute ones!” She eyed the wide eyed priestess for a moment, “Ryoma was probably pissed , huh?”
“You-” She paused to steady herself, “Of course. Of course you know my father.”
“Well,” The Herrscher pressed a finger to her chin in thought, “The Ryoma I actually knew is a few dozen centuries too old to be your dad, but from what I’ve seen the Raiden Ryoma of this time generally has the same temperament. For better and worse. He’s a bit more on the asshole side this time.”
Mei took in a deep breath through her nose, steadying her racing heart. After a moment she took as relaxed of a stance as she could manage, her hand instinctively resting on the pommel of her katana.
The Moon Goddess smiled, “Well now that it seems you’ve collected yourself, I suppose I should get a bit more serious and get down to business, hm?”
Mei nodded, her expression growing hard as she steeled herself, “I am at your command, My Lady.”
“Okay, maybe not that serious.” Her Goddess frowned, “But… I do need to inform you of a few things. As you know I haven’t been around much recently. That’s not an accident, there are other things that have been requiring my attention. And so I must admit that my desire to confer a blessing upon one of my adherents is partially a selfish wish on my part. This is not just me telling the world I like you or something. I mean, it is, but that’s not the point. I am granting you a portion of my power. You will- to put it simply- become an effective weapon against the Honkai as well as a symbol, for no doubt you will gain fame and notoriety from this. But…” The Herrscher looked away, a light bite to her lip.
“What is it, my Goddess?” Mei questioned softly, “Whatever it is I swear I will do my utmost to fulfill your expectations.”
A smile flashed across her lips before settling back into an intense stare. The Herrscher seemed to be debating something. The soft glow of power in her eyes held an otherworldly sensation that caused an uncomfortable twisting in her gut whenever she tried to meet them. It was as if something in her mere presence near Mei wanted her to feel unworthy. The fathomless abyss of Honkai energy swirling just under the surface beckoned to her with Honkai stained hands, if she would only reach out and grab it. Maybe then she would find her worth.
Mei blinked, a strange rush of disappointment rippling across her skin as she resisted this pull.
The Herrscher of Finality studied her for but a moment before holding out a closed fist. Palm up, she slowly uncurled her fingers. Sitting in her palm was a small darkened octagonal shaped gem, the light catching its edges revealing a dark and lifeless purple hiding within, “I have no right to ask this of you, Raiden Mei.”
The longer she stared at the gem and listened to the hesitation in her Goddess’s voice the more a strange sensation settled into the pit of her stomach. The gem looked dead but even with her comparatively pathetic ability to sense Honkai energy she could almost feel the gem waiting to brighten with life once more. Even just looking at it in the Herrscher’s hand, it seemed to carry an unbearable weight and responsibility. And yet…
“What is it… My Lady?”
“This… is a Herrscher gem,” The Moon Goddess’s eyes fell to the gem for a moment before flicking back up to Mei, “It was entrusted to me by the most special person in my life. This is a physical representation of our power. One that has yet to awaken its full potential. This is a gem of Conquest. A fraction of the Herrscher of Thunder's power.”
Mei's lips parted ever so slightly as the words struck her dumb, “The Herrscher of Thunder?”
“Yes,” The Herrscher smiled, “I think she would have wanted you to have this. Just think of it as… her acknowledgement of you. For carving your own path.”
The priestess accepted the gift with practiced reverence, cradling the gem in her hands, “The Herrscher of Thunder hasn't been seen or heard from in decades. Even my father has given up hope of ever communicating with her again.”
The Moon Goddess winced, “I'm sorry, I… I'm not at liberty to say any more. Let this serve as a reminder she has not abandoned Halifax. Become our chosen, Raiden Mei. Wield the power of Thunder and Finality both. I sense dark clouds on the horizon, and with many of us predisposed, humanity may need to rise to the occasion once more.”
Mei gripped the gem of conquest tightly. A moment. Then two. A sigh spilled from the priestess's lips, “They never said my life in your service would be easy,” She breathed deeply, and held the gem in her closed fist against her heart, “I accept, My Lady.”
The Herrscher's smile softened in relief, “Good. May I see the gem for a moment?”
Mei handed the gem back to the Goddess, who gripped its edges so she could face the flatter face towards Mei. Within moments a light flared to life within the gem of conquest, its crystal lattices beginning to shine with a brilliant purple light, “Now, you may feel strange for a bit when you get back. Your body will need time to adjust to having two Herrscher gems. But don’t fret-” The Herrscher stepped forward and cradled her shoulders with her free arm. Before Mei could think to question the sudden closeness, her other arm suddenly shot forward and pressed the gem into the center of Mei’s chest. The Priestess’s mouth fell agape as a burning sensation drilled into her senses. Her body tried to bend forward and her arms tightened and seized up against the melting hot pain as her Goddess slowly pushed it deeper and deeper into her skin. As darkness edged into her vision, a finger pressed against a spot right next to the gem and another blinding hot wave of paint rippled through her. Her Goddess’s last words just barely flitted into her mind.
“I will always watch over you… Mei.”
Bright.
That was the next sensation in her senses.
It was so bright.
Vague shapes moved in the distance, silhouetted by this blinding radiance. Her muscles tensed, her eyes attempted to close, and yet she could not move. A jumble of voices echoed around her. A chaotic swirl of talking and laughter and shouts that made it impossible to make out specific words. Her chest burned unrelentingly, the pain making it even more difficult to think. As she fought, her limbs gradually became more and more mobile. Like her movements were lagging behind her thoughts, or trying to drag herself through thick molasses.
She could feel the Herrscher gem… no… gems in her chest pulsing with power. She tried to ignore the glimpses she got of angular pink veins running up her skin as she moved her arms to wade through whatever force was holding her back.
The further she walked, the more her vision was filled by ribbons of pink energy flowing past her. The wind whistled in her ears, gradually picking up speed. Everything whipped past her faster and faster, the voices growing louder and more garbled until nothing was left but the waves of Honkai energy flying past her and a roaring all consuming noise in her ears. The light grew brighter, the white in front of her seeming to inch forwards, consuming more and more of her vision until everything in all her senses reached a grand overwhelming crescendo.
And then it all vanished.
In the darkness, she stumbled. Voices flitted past, some supportive, some sad, some derisive. Every time Mei felt she had nearly grasped their meaning before they slipped through her fingers and disappeared back into the darkness. She stepped forward… and met open air.
Down.
Down.
Down.
Down she tumbled.
Her hair whipped against her face, unseen in the pitch darkness. A pinprick of light still shone above her. A star watching over her. One that winked with a sparkling light, illuminating the darkness as it descended. A strange feeling of peace washed over her as the light continued its descent towards her. She was… relieved. Comforted. Whatever this thing of light was, she trusted it implicitly. By the time it was only a couple meters above her it seemed to suddenly grow limbs, the light forming a white silhouette of a woman, her own arm stretched out towards her own. Its smooth descent culminated in a shining hand clasping her own. She was pulled up.
And suddenly the world had taken shape around her.
Despite the instant change of scenery and sudden solid ground beneath her feet, Mei did not feel a rush of disorientation. Instead her mind was instantly drawn to the view before her. Atop the roof of a run down concrete building, a chain link fence warped with age ran around the perimeter of the building’s edge. A large hole in one section of the fence next to her stood out from the more natural decay. The scent of plantlife and the damp musty smell of the rundown building filled her nose. Beyond the fence was a beautiful sunset of reds and yellows bathing a sunken city in its light. Skyscrapers half drowned and leaned over on its neighbour, rubble floating in the current, nature slowly overtaking everything above the water including rickety constructions that seemed to have been built by people still occupying the city. A gentle breeze caressed her cheek, her hair flowing as if fingers were running through it to admire its beauty.
Mei’s bodily control had been lost once more, the woman feeling a strange detachment from the movements of her body like she was watching through a window instead of her own eyes.
It was at that moment that the hand holding her own squeezed and her head turned to the person she now realized had been standing next to her all along.
The girl was clad in a white top paired with black shorts, her body criss crossed by a haphazard collection of a few belts holding pouches and ammo. A short black cape covered her shoulders, the left side emblazoned with the border of a hollow white star. The rest of the cape and inside of the star was also a deep black. Strangely familiar icy blue eyes gazed back at her with a tenderness that made her heart ache with longing. Her brain desperately searched for the information that would place why she felt such a familiarity with these eyes and the white-haired woman they belonged to, yet she could not find an answer. The longing in her heart seemed to dig deeper like a gaping wound. The gem in her chest throbbed with pain in step with her heart. Even more so when the woman spoke and affection washed over her in such an incredible wave her eyes welled with moisture and she became afraid she might burst into tears.
“It’s been a long time since we were last here, huh?” The girl commented quietly. Her gaze returned to the city spreading out below them with a small smile on her face, “So much has happened since then…”
Mei felt her mouth form around her own response, “Indeed.”
“Do we…” The girl hesitated and turned back to her, eyes low before looking up at her with pleading eyes, “Have to part ways again? Here and now?”
Mei squeezed the gloved hand resting in her grip, “No,” Out of the corner of her eye she was just able to catch the girl looking up with a hopeful glimmer in her eyes. Mei’s head turned to meet her gaze with a confidence that didn’t feel entirely foreign, “We will stay together until the end this time.”
The girls hesitant, hopeful expression blossomed into a brilliant smile. Her own joy rose from her chest and bloomed into a smile of her own.
A beautiful, peaceful moment that ended with a violent clap of thunder.
Her surroundings changed just as quickly as the thunder shook her bones. In an instant she found her body wet from rain, though none was currently falling. Her emotions suddenly dropped into a deep melancholy rippling against an even more intense wall of determination. She remained on the same rooftop, however the fence now lacked its conspicuous hole. Her clothing was much the same, a black and white bodysuit and white leggings with black armor protecting the back of her wrists and red plating protecting her left hip.
She took all this in within seconds as her body moved to dodge a fist flying at her face. The braids of white hair flying behind her opponent made her heart ache as her body deflected another attack and shot her arm out to clamp her hand around the girl’s neck.
“Give up.” The deep tone of her voice was alien to her. A flat, serious tone that left no room for the warmth she had experienced just seconds before. She threw the girl in her grip to the side, easily tossing her across the rooftop. She did not look, but she could hear as the girl’s body hit the ground and bounced into the fence from the force of the throw. Lightning arced around her, the reality of the unbelievable power flowing through her body only enhancing the strange detached feeling she was experiencing. Despite having just tossed a full grown human with one hand her muscles felt no strain. Having a moment to think about it, even dodging the woman’s attacks had been ridiculously easy and hadn’t even made her break a sweat.
The sound of shoes scraping against concrete brought her attention back to the present, “I’m not letting you go!” A familiar voice shouted, though it was now laced with a deep hurt that twisted her gut.
Her gaze raised to the overcast sky before she rolled her eyes to the side to watch the woman attempt to stand, “How?” She questioned flatly, “You can barely stand.”
“With… my fists!”
No matter what the woman did, she was easily able to counter. Dodging, grabbing, tripping. She remained on the defensive, almost casually letting the girl wear herself out. At one point she had managed to grab Mei’s leg, her right eye shifting into a golden-orange and pink veins of Honkai corruption forming along the same side of her neck. The instant she saw that eye, a vicious fury rippled through her body. The rest was a blur, electricity running through her body as she went on the offensive. By the time the fuzzy disorientation faded from her mind she was pinned in place by a forest of black and white spears piercing the ground such that they restrained her limbs between them. A final lance hovered in the air before her, its tip mere centimeters from her neck.
“This is my… mission.”
Mei lifted her gaze to the sky as a brilliant bolt of lightning lit up the clouds, “Maybe this is for the greater good…” She tensed her left arm, the power coursing through her veins allowing her to easily crack- and then break- the lances pinning them in place. Her now freed arm gripped the lance poised at her neck. Her voice grated against her throat as she desperately cried, “But how can I pretend this is the right thing?” She leaned forward as the words fell from her lips, the lance tip drawing a gash against her pale skin before her shaking hand pushed it to the side. Her eyes could finally refocus on the white-haired girl. Her clothing had changed, the exotic white and black bodysuit adorned with six tails trailing from her waist and purple highlights. Her left eye once again shone that golden-orange.
“Mei… don’t!” The girl pleaded.
“I only know…” She closed her eyes, her head bowing and teeth grit as she squeezed the lance in her grip. Tighter and tighter until it shattered to pieces. She looked up. The girl before her was utterly distraught, her mouth open from her pleading words, a despairing edge to the lines around her eyes. Her arm stretched out as if to grab Mei. As if to pull her out of this swirling maelstrom of despair and resignation. But Mei knew she could not take her hand. She would remain resolute. For her… it was all for her. Her voice raised into a shout, the rain around her halting its descent as a building electrical charge in the air exploded, “The world means nothing to me without you!”
Her world was filled with a flash of lightning, the thunder roaring in her ears just as her determination to save the woman she loves tore at her heart.
Until the light was split by the clash of blades.
In a blink Mei found herself astride a blood soaked battlefield, her katana locked with a straight sword. The Void Knight before her- information that seemed to appear in her mind the moment she needed it- disappeared in a flash. Mei spun, using her momentum to swing her blade around just in time to intercept the next attack as the knight appeared from a portal right behind her. The power core of her Valkyrie battlesuit whined under the effort of repelling a void blessed warrior. The Honkai energy powering the suit echoed in her head like a dull roar as she pushed the sword to the side and dragged the blades across each other as she slid past her opponent’s guard and slashed open the weak neck joint of their armor. Her electrified katana, designed to overcome the near impenetrable chitinous armor of Honkai beasts, cleaved through chainmail that would have halted an ordinary blade. Before her opponent's body had touched the ground she adjusted her grip and expertly parried a Honkai beast that sought to gore her on its lance.
Before she could strike back, the bark of bullets biting through Honkai armor tore through the beast in front of her. The thing quickly disintegrated into angular pink dust.
“Mei! There you are!”
Just beyond where the Honkai beast had once stood was that white-haired girl again. Clad in the same white bodysuit accented with black and star-like orange pattering as the girl she had just fought on the rooftop. Her hair was held in the same two familiar braided pigtails down her back.
“Kiana!” Her mouth moved on its own once again, despite the shock reverberating through her core at the words coming from it. She waved the girl into cover and they both ducked behind a nearby boulder, “We can’t stay here, the Herrscher of the Void’s forces are going to overrun us!”
“Ahhh don’t worry!” The girl brushed off Mei’s worries, “We have the strength of a hundred warriors when Mei’s around!”
“Kiana, I’m no super woman.”
The girl grinned, “I mean when Mei’s around she gives me the strength of a hundred warriors!”
Mei shook her head, not giving in to the girl’s antics, “Kiana even with the strength of a hundred, facing a Herrscher head on would be certain death. We need to regroup.”
Kiana’s smile faltered, “I don’t know how many others there are to regroup with. We need to find Bronya,” Her voice fell to a horrified murmur, “Even that brat doesn’t deserve what I saw the Herrscher of the Void do to the others…”
Mei opened her mouth to respond when Kiana’s head suddenly snapped up, “Kiana? What’s wrong?”
“It’s the gem.” Kiana’s eyes seemed to search for something, even through the boulder next to them, “I only noticed it after all this went down, but when she’s physically present I can… sense her.”
Kiana’s eyes continued to shift until they settled back on Mei. The white-haired girl’s eyes widened in shock. That same instant the air surrounding the two girls seemed to warp and shift, growing heavier. More… alien. An unnatural, absolute silence fell over them despite the battle continuing to rage around them. The very atmosphere around them felt wrong . The voice that broke this silence made every hair on Mei’s body stand on end and an all consuming, primal dread settle in her stomach.
“Found you, traitor.”
“Mei, watch out!”
Before Kiana had finished, the multilayered, otherworldly voice that had appeared behind her spurred the Valkyrie into action. Her legs tensed and she dove to the side just as a black and white lance darted through the area she once stood and gouged out a large chunk from her pauldron.
“Mei- Ghhk!”
Mei rolled to her feet, sword at the ready, only to be met with a horrifying sight. Long purple hair flowed past the feet of the figure before them, pointed bangs framing brilliantly glowing golden-orange eyes. Said eyes were set into the face of a girl a few years younger in appearance than either Valkyrie, her body clad in clothing wrapping across her body like white and purple ribbons, their ends forming a skirt shaped like multiple wings covering down to her middle thigh, the wings collapsed in and feathers held close like old depictions of mythical seraphims. Four longer ends flowed from the back of the skirt, forming four flat tail-like ends several meters long that each ended in four-pincered claws. A cream-colored eye decorated the tails just before it split into the claws. The girl’s arms were covered in long purple gloves that travelled up to her bicep, the fingers and highlights along the edge of her clothing’s wing-like shoulders colored pink like Honkai energy. Her feet did not touch the ground, the girl hovering above the earth with little apparent effort.
Her mere presence seemed to thin the air. A prickling along her skin as this otherworldly being warped and twisted the very space around her, golden portals opening into a black void around her. The tips of more spears poked through their boundary. Pointed squarely at Kiana. Her young frame belied a horrific strength as the girl had easily darted forward and clamped her hand around Kiana’s neck, lifting the Valkyrie completely off the ground.
The girl snarled, her rage terrifying even on such a young face, “I granted you my power. I gave you the highest honor I could bestow, and you repay me by joining these pathetic upstarts that dared think they could stand against me!” She shook Kiana like a ragdoll, the girl’s struggle against the Herrscher of the Void’s grip a futile endeavor.
“I-I thought you were doing- ngh- the right thing,” Kiana choked out, “But you're just a monster.”
The Herrscher's face lit up with renewed fury, “I should have stamped all of you filthy insects out long ago. I will never stop, until all who have betrayed me are nothing but ash! I will never be powerless ever again!”
Mei braced herself against the bloodied ground, ready to leap at the Herrscher regardless of her slim chance of survival.
Such a moment never arrived, however.
Before she could act, an explosion of brilliant flame deafened her ears and blinded her eyes. The tongues of fire danced with brilliant oranges and reds as they licked across her skin. Her vision was filled with red. Nothing but red. A red fire. A red battlesuit. Red hair…
With a gasp, Mei opened her eyes just in time for her disoriented brain to recognize her temple- lit up by the midday sun- before she stumbled from a purple-rimmed hole in reality and fell in a heap against hard stone.
She could just make out frantic voices approaching her. Muted and sounding far away as her eyes slowly drifted shut despite her struggle to remain conscious. As a dull pain thudded in her chest and myriad of strange images flashed through her mind, her eyes locked on to an approaching head of braided white hair. Before darkness finally took her, one last coherent thought flashed through her mind as worried cerulean peered down at her:
Kiana Kaslana… who are you?