Chapter Text
The retort of pistol fire thundered loud in her ears as she dashed forward, katana flashing in the fluorescent light as she pressed in on her opponent. Kiana grinned as Mei’s blade darted forward and clipped her pistol, causing the stun shot aimed at her neck to fly through empty air a mere centimeter from its target. Mei pulled back and slashed high, only for Kiana to duck under the strike and launch a kick directly into Mei’s stomach. The priestess stumbled back with an explosive exhale as the strength of the Valkyrie made itself known.
“You’re quick, Mei!” Kiana said with a smile, throwing out a few more kicks to keep her opponent off balance.
Mei briefly wondered how Kiana expected her to respond with the flurry of strikes currently assaulting her defences. Her uniform was made of a special Honkai-infused material that allowed priestesses empowered by the Goddess (and with enough innate Honkai resistance) such as her to enhance their physical capabilities, but despite this she was barely able to keep up with Kiana’s sheer speed. Her technique was just as brash and headstrong as one might expect after spending a few hours around the Kaslana, but that didn’t make her any less dangerous when her leg was already impacting her side by the time Mei had even registered she’d shifted her weight for a kick.
“Is this the power of someone completely in tune with their gem?” Mei pondered as she barely sidestepped another shot from the Valkyrie’s dual pistols.
Something in the back of her mind seemed to speak back, “This power could be yours if you weren’t such a coward.”
It was such a distinct feeling of something other while also feeling so familiar and so like her own thoughts. This confusing dissonance quickly became her downfall as she stumbled in her attempt to match the Kaslana’s blinding speed and fell face first into Kiana’s incoming knee. The sickening thwack that followed brought a wince to the face of all present. Though none as much as the young Kaslana.
She was beside the fallen priestess in a flash, panic written all over her face, “Oh shit! Oh my gods, I’m sorry! Mei I’m so sorry, I thought you would dodge that!”
Mei grimaced in pain, the fingers she’d instinctively brought to her injured nose coming away wet with droplets of blood. Her eyes flicked up to the distraught Kiana and a small smile bloomed on her lips. Kiana’s expression morphed into a mix of earnest confusion and concern as Mei began laughing softly, “I suppose that makes us even, doesn’t it?”
Kiana let out her own short laugh of disbelief, “Y-yeah, I suppose it does.”
Mei pushed herself back to her feet with the aid of Kiana’s cautious touch. The Kaslana guided her to the sidelines by the entrance where their audience awaited them. Said audience consisted of Bronya, a medical team on standby with anti-honkai serum, and- to Mei’s increasing mortification- several of her curious fellow priestesses.
“That looked like a serious hit, Mei!”
“Are you okay? Is that blood?”
“Consider dodging next time.”
“Damn, she really knocked you into next week, huh rich girl?”
She ignored them as best she could, though she could not ignore how Kiana threw a glare at the originator of the last comment.
After a quick look over the medic hummed in confusion.
“What is it, doc?” Kiana asked.
“It’s just a little strange, Val- I mean, Her Grace the High Priestess said that Miss Raiden currently could not tap into the power of her gem. By my estimation, even with the enhancements of her uniform, taking a hit like that from a Valkyrie should have at least fractured her nose. But as far as I can tell she’s completely fine. The bleeding’s already stopped as well. So either she's tougher than she looks, or her injury healed itself by the time she got over here.”
Bronya finished the thought, “Which shouldn’t be possible without tapping into the gem for the Herrscher-like healing factor.”
“Exactly.”
Mei’s eyes darted back and forth in confusion, “But I wasn’t trying to do anything…” Her gaze snapped back to Kiana, “Is it possible to do it subconsciously?”
Kiana scrunched up her face as she thought, “Well, yeah, me and Bronya don't exactly think about everything we use our gems for anymore. But that's after months of practice at minimum!”
“Kiana idiotka, you can't use your own timeframe for reference when you had Hua's help.”
“Yes, I'm well aware Hua is not here,” Kiana growled.
Bronya's expression twitched with the smallest of grimaces, “I'm sorry.”
Awkward looks were exchanged between everyone present, no one sure what to do at the sudden tension.
Kiana waved her hand, brushing off her friend’s apology, “No, no, it’s okay. I'm sorry. I know what you’re trying to say. I'm just a little…” Kiana made a face Mei couldn't quite nail an emotion to. Bronya, however, seemed to understand immediately. Kiana sighed, a frown etching itself into her features. Sharp blue eyes studied the unfamiliar girls standing near Mei, “So who’re the voyeurs?”
Mei smiled awkwardly and gestured towards the first woman on the left, “This is Isabella Garcia and her squad, the Moonbeams.”
Kiana stared at the woman Mei had introduced her to. She had heard of Finality’s Moonbeams. Despite the cute name, they were an elite squad of warrior priestesses who grew to fame for rescuing members of Schicksals own elite Valkyrie squad, the Immortal Blades. Schicksal hotly debated the details of the rescue, no doubt chafing at the prospect of their “superior” Valkyries being rescued by a (relatively) small temple instead of an ally from the alliance of nations and cities they enjoyed more than adequate funding from. Kiana needed to look no further than the scar running vertically from the woman’s cheekbone up through her eyebrow to know it was a hard fought victory. The fact the woman still had a functioning biological eye while sporting a scar like that was testament enough to her skill. And perhaps no small bit of luck. Divine protection, perhaps? A voice distinct from her own thoughts grumbled in the back of her mind, viciously mocking such a notion.
As for the woman herself, she was a good head taller than Mei and had dark brown skin, the color of freshly tilled dirt with a warm tint that contrasted beautifully with the mostly white uniform of the temple’s warrior priestesses. Her hair was such a rich dark brown it appeared almost black, but the way it caught the light highlighted it in a lovely lighter brown around the edges and made the truth of its color clear. It was parted to the right of the center of her head and pulled back into a singular braid running down to the center of her back, done loosely enough that her hair retained some of its wavy volume. A few loose strands rested daintily beside her eyes, the woman brushing them behind her ears every so often, though some inevitably fell loose once more. Her eyes were similar, appearing so dark as to be almost black, an enchanting, calculating gaze that met Kiana’s analyzing frown with measured confidence. Her uniform was different from Mei’s. While it had the same base it lacked the shoulder cape and had lengthened coattails so that it appeared more like a trenchcoat than a military blazer. At her side was a longsword sheathed in a scabbard inlaid with a row of cylindrical pink decorations that bulged up from the flat center of the scabbard. A brilliant pink gem cut into the shape of a crescent moon was set into the silver hilt of the sword.
The woman tilted her head in a slight bow and smiled brightly, “That’s me. And the pretty ladies next to me are Sophia, Caihong, and Cecilia.”
Sophia looked much similar to her squad lead, but lighter skinned and several centimeters shorter, the same warm undertones giving her skin a beautiful shine. Her hair was cut shorter than Isabella's and was left loose, the strands falling in much tighter waves than her leader down to her shoulder blades. Kiana could almost imagine that if the waves of her hair tightened any more they'd pull themselves into curls. Her eyes were a brilliant hazel, a gaze more wary of the Kaslana than her leader but that did not diminish the self-assuredness the Kaslana found there. Her uniform looked much similar to Mei's, her belt containing the same pouches and bags with the addition of a pistol and a knife.
Caihong was a woman of Shenzhou origin, and her short height fit comfortably within the average (though she still managed to be taller than Kiana if only a little, much to the girl’s annoyance). What little was visible of her pale skin had been tanned slightly from many missions out in the Honkai wastelands, her knuckles and fingers covered in the little nicks and scars of one that enjoyed working with her hands. Her hair was shoulder-length if Kiana guessed. She had pulled it back into a ponytail, her blunt bangs appearing similar to Mei’s, but did not fall past her eyebrows like the Raiden’s. Her uniform was the same white with purple accents and flowery patterns, but the shoulder cape had been swapped out with a black half skirt that fell to just around the back of her knees and appeared to be made out of a tougher material. Her belt had additional flaps attached to either side of her hips, each with many pockets holding various tools and implements like something Kiana would expect from a mechanic, though why she was wearing it around the temple she couldn’t tell. She had an extra belt that circled her body from shoulder to opposite hip that held additional pouches and loops the woman had attached various devices and honkai ammunition canisters to.
Cecilia… Kiana quickly brushed away the memories that threatened to spill forth at that name, bitter sorrow echoing from the depths of her mind. The woman was obviously from Schicksal’s area of the world, same as Kiana. She was as tall as Isabella if not just slightly taller. Her pale skin and lighter hair made her stand out from her companions, even Caihong. It matched Kiana’s own cream colored tone, if covered in a few more burn scars than the Kaslana. Kiana couldn’t quite tell if the dirty blonde was her natural hair or a dye job. Either way, the strands fell loose and straight, down to just past the small of her back. The hair that might fall into her eyes was worked into braids on either side of her head that travelled back into a small ponytail that blended in with the waterfall of blonde falling down her back. Her uniform sported a full cape with the same braided cord spanning the distance over her collar where the fabric was anchored to prevent the cord from choking its wearer. The Honkai energy-like gradient that all the capes sported made the underside of her own shine brilliantly. The outside of the cape was white with the Eye of Finality emblazoned proudly upon it. Her right hip sported a basket hilted rapier, a finely crafted series of thin metal strands woven into the general half-spherical shape of the guard while the gaps left between ensured the lightness of the hilt. Excellent protection from slashes, not so much from thrusts that might slip through the gaps, though there was always a chance such an attack could be stopped by the small ring of metal where the hilt met the blade, not unlike the guard of Mei’s katana. Just with a bit extra. With the tassels hanging from both her shoulders clear to see, the woman appeared like an old noble of the Republic of Talyaani. Not that the other women in the room looked any less noble, but it was simply pertinent to Cecilia’s area of the world and evoked a certain image in Kiana’s mind.
Sophia gave a slight bow, “Pleasure to meet you.” Her voice was a smooth deep tone pleasant to the ears that reminded Kiana of the mentioned Fu Hua.
The other two gave their own greetings, all pleasant enough.
A higher pitched, Shenzhou accented voice spoke up next, “We’d heard whispers of someone our little Mei was suddenly appearing everywhere with,” Caihong grinned, “But we never expected to find a Kaslana attached to her hip.”
A soft whine from the Nagazoran girl made her embarrassment clear, “Caihong!”
Kiana’s footing shifted ever so slightly closer to her friend as the squad chuckled, “You know Mei?”
“Oh yeah,” Isabella nodded, her voice was controlled and confident, pitch somewhere between Sophia and Caihong (closer to Sophia’s deeper tones), but containing the frayed edges and intensity of someone whose voice was often put to work shouting orders over the din of battle, “She was a candidate to join the team, but Cecilia won out over her.”
“She’s good,” Cecilia began, “But to make it in this squad you can’t just be good, you must be exceptional,” Her eyes narrowed at Mei as she used a wipe to remove the blood from her fingers.
Kiana rolled her eyes. Great, the girl was stuffy and annoying like an old Talyaani noble too.
“Mei’s good, don’t get Cecilia wrong,” Isabella cut in, “It’s just that some people were better,” She shrugged, “It happens, but I don’t doubt Mei could get into just about anywhere she wants if she puts her mind to it. Hell, I hear the head archivist has taken quite the shine to her and that old bat is hard to please.”
Sophia snorted, “That’s one way to put it.”
Kiana’s eyes flicked over to Mei, who met her gaze for only a moment before those violet eyes dipped down to the frown that had formed on her friend’s face. Mei smiled reassuringly, “Caihong was one of the first to welcome me into the temple, she even taught me how to customize my weapon to better channel our limited Honkai energy.”
Caihong waved her hand, “Ah, it was nothing. Might have to go over your sword again though, what with all that new energy you’ll be channeling through it eventually.”
Turning back to their leader, Kiana raised an eyebrow, “Your sword is powered by a gem of Conviction.”
Isabella grinned, “Hey, good eye! It was passed down through my family for generations. One of my ancestors asked that it be removed from her body after death and used to continue fighting for humanity,” Her hand rested on the hilt, finger absentmindedly stroking the gem inlaid there, “No one since has been able to wield the gems true power, but in this sword even the relatively miniscule amounts of Honkai the Goddess allows us to wield is enough to bring out some of its power.”
“I’ve heard of gems being used to power weapons,” Bronya commented, “They’re usually firearms of some sort, though.”
“My family is a bit on the… traditional side,” Isabella said, bitterness seeping into her smile, “Anyways, you’ve met the team! It’s nice seeing Mei found some friends outside the temple. She usually stays rather quiet and keeps to herself.”
“Keep dragging her out for breaks, yeah?” Sophia added.
Kiana’s frown finally began to melt, and the Kaslana laughed, “You got it! Now, sorry to cut things short but I think it’s time to go another round,” She playfully nudged Mei’s side with her elbow, “If you think you can handle it.”
Saying goodbye as they once again left the sidelines (and no small amount of gratitude from Mei towards the medic) the trio ventured out into the wide open space of the training area. Though it was rather empty when the holographic system was deactivated, it still served its purpose for now.
Mei walked after the two Valkyries, her brow furrowed as her thoughts raced through her experience the previous night. She had spoken to a Goddess again . Well, to the Herrscher of the Void. The fact she was still alive constituted a miracle! While her fearful, more cautious thoughts wanted to believe the evil Herrscher was untrustworthy, the more she thought about it the more she could not find reason to believe that Sirin would lie. While she undoubtedly carried an air of cold indifference and seemed to be barely restraining her desire for violence, what could she have to gain from pushing Mei to tap into her latent Honkai Energy? If she merely desired to cause her pain there were many much more immediate ways of doing that than tricking a middling priestess into being ripped apart by Honkai energy. What would she have to gain from tricking Mei into being overwhelmed and corrupted by the Honkai? She had no connection to the Herrscher of the Void and her Honkai resistance- while substantial- couldn’t possibly be a reason to be targeted by a Herrscher already hosted in the body of one of the strongest beings known to humanity. Not to mention the fact that Sirin still had her own body somewhere out in the Honkai irradiated wastelands scattered over Halifax’s surface.
“ She is cunning and loves to see humans suffer, however she has always detested those she labels as ‘cheaters’.”
Again thoughts sounded clearly in her mind as clearly as any other thought she had ever had, despite the strange but absolute feeling that they were something else. Something other . And it seemed to be answering her own train of thought. As much as she tried to find some reason to distrust what was said, everything she thought she knew about the Herrscher of the Void had been turned on its head purely by the method by which she had contacted Mei. That and… even without her thoughts answering themselves something within her wanted to believe the Herrscher was telling the truth, if not fully trustworthy. A Herrscher considered to be the pure embodiment of evil, yet apparently trusted enough by her Goddess to let a fragment of her live within and even control her physical body. If such a being was confident that Mei could succeed today, was it such a bad thing to let that plant a seed of hope in her heart? The trio stopped as they reached the center of the room and Mei was forced to pull up short so as to not run into Kiana.
Bronya tilted her head questioningly, “You alright, Mei?”
At this Kiana also spun and cast a worried gaze along Mei’s form.
“Y-yes, I’m alright,” Mei stuttered, “I was just thinking, I apologize.”
“About what?” Kiana asked.
Mei took a deep breath and locked eyes with her Valkyrie sparring partner, “I’d like to try using my gems again.”
Kiana’s eyes widened for just a moment before her expression settled into a steely determination. She nodded. Bronya backed away as the two took up their positions. Kiana eyed Mei for a moment before her voice broke the silence of the training hall, “Let me go over something again before we start. When you touch the Honkai, when it begins to truly flow through you, it… lets say enhances your human physicality before it begins to strip your humanity away at great cost and great… benefit. The more you use it, the more you will learn how to balance this ability to become more than human without slipping over the edge.”
“And if I do slip?” Mei questioned.
Kiana grinned, “Well that’s what me and Bronya are here for,” She casually spun a pistol around her finger, “I’ll knock some sense back into you if I have to.”
Mei’s laugh failed to mask her anxiety, “Comforting,” The statement carried an undercurrent of sarcasm, however Mei found that it also brought a comforting warmth. She held her katana at the ready, and as she let her eyes fall closed, she was greeted with the final sight of Kiana’s confident grin fading into something softer. An expression that radiated absolute trust and no small amount of affection. Mei did not understand what she had possibly done to evoke such strong emotion. Nevertheless it stoked her determination to not let Kiana down. This feeling had so far smoldered like breathing coals in her chest. And now as she allowed herself to sink into the abyssal waters of the Honkai those same embers leapt aflame.
Once again that familiar sensation that heralded the energy flowing through her overtook her senses. An endless current of unbelievable power, of unfathomable depth, of unimaginable cruelty. She gently drew the power from her gems just as she did the day before, only this time there was no sudden rush. No sudden breaking of her carefully constructed barrier against the ocean roiling against her mind. The Honkai energy carried with it an undercurrent of malice even as it felt so natural flowing between her fingertips. She could sense its danger, even as such danger beckoned to her with all its possibilities. The most striking difference was, of course, the lack of that presence clawing into her mind. The fact that the Herrscher of the Void had been trustworthy after all. And with that, the ease at which she was able to draw more Honkai energy into her body. The invigorating breaths of life that immersing herself in the Honkai always brought with it seemed to intensify tenfold now that the presence was absent. Like tight muscles finally relaxing and feeling that rush of relief as the Honkai flooded her veins. Pushing aside her curiosity at the usual feeling of incredible familiarity she instead allowed it to guide her. Her body seemed to instinctively know how to react, her mind treading strangely familiar paths, and as she opened her eyes she knew she had finally succeeded as elation shivered through her from head to toe. This was right . This was natural . This was…
Mei’s eyes tightened as she pushed down the urge to lose herself in this kaleidoscope of emotion and urges. She could feel the power of her gems roiling just under her skin like a thunderous firestorm begging to leap from her fingertips. As her eyes readjusted to the light, the wide grin on Kiana’s face was merely a final confirmation. The power that came to her was… natural. The sparks that danced across her skin and pink flame seemed to flicker from her pores, a much greater almost disorienting spatial awareness brought a smile to her face unbidden. She dared to open the valve limiting her flow of energy just a bit wider and those sparks grew to longer bolts of electricity that began darting around her entire body and jumping to the metal flooring she stood on. The flames left soot and ash along the flooring as shifted her footing. She “twisted” it back and the intensity of these powers fell back down.
Kiana’s grin somehow widened even more as she dropped into a ready position, her pistols clicking as she switched the safeties off. Before Mei could so much as blink Kiana was darting towards her. A small gasp tore from Mei’s chest as she ducked under a kick the Kaslana had thrown with even greater speed than before. An instinctive desire to crush this woman for daring to attack her flashed through her mind and was quickly shoved back down. She focused her breathing. She knew what Kiana was doing, and would answer in earnest.
Mei regained her footing and the two women began their dance. Her body felt… lighter. Her sword moved faster. She could feel how her mind connected Kiana’s movements to incoming attacks faster than she could remember ever doing before. She smiled with no small satisfaction as she parried and turned away attacks that would have struck her full force before. Kiana still landed hits and stun shots that left her skin tingling and her muscles feeling numb, but the sensation quickly withered away in the face of the energy pouring into her very cells. She could feel her perception sharpening the longer she remained immersed in the Honkai, her speed increasing even further, the sparks and flame along her skin beginning to dance along her blade. For the first time, Mei was keeping pace or even surpassing the technological marvel that was a valkyrie battlesuit, and the gem that powered its user. What had Kiana called it? Her Void Drifter battlesuit? Mei shuddered, it was a bit too soon to hear that word again.
Regardless, that didn’t make Kiana’s defenses impenetrable. Mei just barely sidestepped another kick, stepping inside Kiana’s guard and landing a solid elbow into her midsection. Mei allowed Kiana to stumble back, holding her katana at the ready to hold her opponent at bay. Mei’s chest heaved as she caught her breath, eyes never leaving the grinning Kaslana.
“You surprised me,” Mei said, “You were holding back earlier, weren’t you?”
Kiana chuckled softly, “Well I can’t make things too easy for you now, can I?”
“I always forget how incredible Valkyries are in combat. It is rare I get the honor to see such a sight.”
“Pfft, come on,” Kiana rolled her eyes good naturedly, “I’m pretty cool, yeah, but you make it sound so…” Kiana scrunched up her face in distaste, “Stuffy and formal.”
“Yes, because I’m trying to show you respect, Kiana,” Mei huffed.
Kiana laughed, “Ah come on…” She nodded towards her sparring partner, “It feels incredible, doesn’t it?”
“Yes, it…” Mei’s eyes lowered to her katana before darting back up to the Kaslana, “The Honkai has always felt strangely familiar to me even in the relatively miniscule amounts I wielded before. Immersing myself in the power of the gems feels… right. Like this is how things were meant to be.”
Kiana nodded again, “That’s how it gets you. It’s not wrong to enjoy the feeling, but just remember what its ultimate goal is.”
“Yes,” Bronya’s voice sounded out as she floated closer to the pair, “This is a power constantly attempting to slip through your defenses to corrupt you, and if you revel in it too much you will inevitably lose sight of your humanity. Do not brute force it. Allow it to flow through you, allow it to saturate you in its power. And learn how to redirect it, how to move with its current to twist and bend it to your will under its own momentum. If you simply try to block it, to move against the current, to bend it through sheer strength rather than using it against itself, you will get nowhere.”
Mei nodded, the responsibility of using such power weighing heavily in her expression. She stepped back into a more relaxed position and lowered her weapon, the sparks and flame soon extinguishing.
“It is forever the danger of using the Honkai,” Kiana said, her eyes unfocusing as if she was looking at something far away, “To use it, to some degree you have to give yourself up to it. It’s not like electricity or something. The Honkai is… alive in a way. At the same time, as someone changed by a Herrscher gem, your body now needs some level of Honkai energy to function properly.”
Bronya nodded, “It is a delicate balance. But it is one that can be wielded to humanity’s benefit. There is a reason people like us are so rare, and only those personally chosen by a Herrscher are capable of wielding it properly,” Her eyes darted back to the sidelines where Isabella and her team watched with interest, “Not just anyone can handle the burden of even this small portion of a Herrscher’s power.”
Something in the back of Mei’s mind seemed to smile haughtily at Bronya’s words, “I felt like…” Mei began, holding up her hand and clenching her fist in wonder, “My senses and body were sharpening, growing stronger, the longer I focused on channeling the energy in the gems. I feel relatively normal now that I’m not concentrating on it.”
“That’s normal,” Bronya confirmed, “Over time it will become second nature to maintain your honkai levels at a level comfortable for your body. At the moment it’s more likely you completely cut off the flow when you stopped focusing on it, and the power flowing out of your gems will slowly dissipate from your body over the next hour or so.”
“Alright, that’s enough talking,” Kiana groaned, “There’s only one way she’ll really learn how to use her powers,” The Valkyrie lifted up her pistols and grinned, “Ready for another go, Mei?”
“It appears whatever has been resisting her attempts to use the gem is no more.”
The High Priestess of the temple nodded, the tinny sound of the speakers relaying the audio of the figure bathed in holographic light simply voicing what they both knew. On the screen in front of her and her holographic guest were various monitors displaying different views of the training hall, and within it a certain trio of women.
“I told you she would pull through,” The High Priestess replied.
“So why have you not announced that the Finality has chosen a new gem bearer after all these decades of silence?” Dead quiet was the only answer, the figure’s question hanging in the air like a sword ready to plunge down at the slightest twitch. The hologram turned to face the woman still staring intently at the screen, “Valerie. Why do you keep her a secret?”
Valerie sighed and finally turned from the girls sparring on screen. Her eyes were sunken and hollow, an exhaustion that came from more than just age, “Something stirs in the dark. Last night we detected a large burst of Honkai energy almost on top of Finality’s tree. In the middle of our very own temple! And then again our equipment picked up another this morning,” She eyed her guest with knowing eyes, “A Herrscher level signature near the remains of Schicksal’s Babylon Labs.”
“Yes, we picked that up too. However, need I remind you that no one has seen the Herrscher of the Void’s mortal form for centuries?”
Valerie raised an eyebrow, “You of all people should know that Herrscher activity near the Babylon crater bodes ill for us all. It was Schicksal’s mistake that caused the second eruption. Without your Overseer’s endless lust for power humanity would have one less mortal foe.”
Her guest raised her hand, “You do not need to retread ancient history. I am well aware of the atrocities Schicksal is responsible for, trust me. However Otto Apocalypse has been dead for millennia, just as his labs are no more so is Schicksal as he created it..”
Valerie laughed coldly, “Schicksal is no better than it was then. Its leaders now are no Theresa Apocalypse and Schicksal has long fallen from the heights she brought it to. But we are off topic. You ask why I hide Mei’s acquisition of a Herrscher gem?”
Her guest nodded.
“That Herrscher signature near the crater, the fact that something was able to manifest directly in the middle of our own temple, and our city suffering under an ever increasing assault of Honkai beasts can only mean one thing. The Herrscher of the Void is planning to show herself once more, and soon. Arc City cannot hide the truth for much longer, my priestesses are running themselves ragged aiding the local authorities in keeping the beasts from breaching the city, but the rising ambient Honkai levels will soon outpace our capabilities.”
“So why not send your gem bearer?”
“She is not ready!” The High priestess snapped, “Her difficulty wielding her gems is not normal. There is something more at work here. The Herrscher of Finality would not choose her frivolously, and as such we should take these unforeseen roadblocks on the way to her mastering the gems powers just as seriously. If Sirin discovers the presence of one blessed by Finality…” Valerie shook her head, “It would bode ill for every one of us, Raiden Mei most of all.”
“Is that why you’ve allowed the Kaslana girl to train her?”
Valerie pursed her lips, “There is… something about that girl,” Their eyes turned back to the screen in unison, Kiana and Mei now dancing around each other, her blade flashing in the light as she struck out at the Valkyrie, “I keep careful track of members of Schicksal’s great houses that venture into my city. And yet nobody knew that this girl was here until she showed up on my doorstep at Raiden Mei’s side. And then she demonstrates an unusual amount of knowledge about Herrscher gems even for one wielding one herself.” She eyes her guest from the corner of her eye, “Did you complete my request?”
“Yes,” Her guest pursed her lips, “The Kaslana family has always been rather small compared to the likes of Shariac, they likely only outnumber the Apocalypse family. It made things rather simple,” The woman typed a few things into a terminal Valerie could not see and another hologram flickered to life displaying personnel files and a full body rotating hologram of Kiana Kaslana, “There has not been a Kiana Kaslana born in the last two decades. And none that we have files on match the few personal details you gave us.”
Valerie opened her mouth to speak before her guest interrupted.
“Well, none within a human lifespan at least,” Her guest kept her eyes locked with the High priestess, “I am personal friends with the current head of the Kaslana household and was able to convince her to allow me to delve into the Kaslanas’ personal archives. What I am about to say does not leave this room.”
Valerie nodded, her brows pulling down in apprehension.
“There is one record that has remained buried deep within the files the Kaslanas have kept in their own detached system for millenia,” Another hologram flickered to life with a girl strikingly similar to Kiana Kaslana, however instead of the Valkyrie battlesuit of the girl on the screen behind her, this girl was wearing a battlesuit in the form of a white bodysuit accented with orange and outlines of black around orange stars. However, everything else about her looked… exactly the same, “This is Kiana Kaslana,” her guest continued, “The first Kiana Kaslana. And the only Kiana that matched every description you gave me of this girl.”
Valerie stared in disbelief, she opened her mouth to speak, however no words would come to her as her eyes noted every similarity, the way her eyes crinkled with her smile, the curve of her bangs, even the way they held themselves, “A… reincarnation?”
“I don't know. Such a thing has been theorized but never confirmed. But if it was reincarnation, she would have birth records more recently, would she not? Her files are only partially accessible, the touch of Honkai corruption has ruined much of the data concerning her later life. Curiously, the only files to have been corrupted are the ones concerning this Kiana Kaslana, and they are kept on a separate terminal away from the rest of the archives in a room that can only be accessed by the head of house Kaslana. What she is, I cannot tell you. But it would appear this Kiana that has ingratiated herself with Raiden Mei is quite the interesting anomaly.”
Valerie turned back to the screen, watching as the girls laughed together, their sparring seemingly complete. Kiana had thrown her arm around Mei's shoulders as they walked away, faces close as they giggled at some joke or another.
“Whatever you decide, Valerie, do not hesitate for too long. The girl forged a rather poor ID for Schicksal's St. Freya academy, and I'm sure the principal is none too happy. I doubt it will be long before she sends Valkyries to apprehend this wayward Kaslana. So long, old friend.”
The hologram died, leaving Valerie alone with her thoughts and two spinning depictions of what appeared to be the exact same woman. Two millenia apart.
So lost in her thoughts was she, that she failed to take notice of the small chitinous pink insect that quickly took flight and squeezed through the nearest exit.