Chapter Text
“Massive” did not even begin to describe St. Freya’s library. If the building looked larger than life on the outside, the inside somehow managed to make Mei feel even smaller. The shelves were thrice as tall as her, the highest shelves needing attached ladders to reach, and there were multiple stories of these shelves covering every square inch that wasn’t needed for walkways. Several designated reading areas through the center were equipped with long tables along with several separate rooms set off to the side with beanbags and recliners. And this didn’t even begin to touch what seemed to be petabytes upon petabytes of data stored on servers hidden somewhere within the structure and around the world.
The vast amount of worldwide data Schicksal had access to was mind numbing, with many recorded or scanned first hand accounts of historical events complete with detailed digital reconstruction of the very document itself, some rarer data regarding expeditions into the Honkai Wastes was simply impossible to find on the general internet. The Temple of Finality had some of it, of course, due to the nature of their work, however Schicksal had been around long enough and was large enough of an organization that there were many secrets hidden with its halls of databanks. It was rivaled perhaps only by Anti-Entropy. Mei had spent the rest of the day pouring over the archives, slowly growing more and more outwardly frustrated as she failed again and again to discover anything new. Vague references and censored articles hounded her every search. However, there was quite literally thousands of years of information for her to sift through, and even with Kiana’s help that would take time. Still, that did not keep her from thumping her head against the table at Herrsher study after Herrscher study that was redacted to the point they were practically unreadable. Similarly, all she could learn about Schicksal’s lost headquarters was that no one knew where it was. A report from around the time Sirin had supposedly destroyed the entire area had seemed hopeful. Unfortunately the details within were of the virus Schicksal had released across worldwide systems to erase the location of the city from all records. Schicksal refused to allow anyone to loot the advanced technology contained within, and had alienated itself from world governments at the time to protect its secrets. The last clue as to what had happened, and it was simply a dead end. Kiana had nearly fallen out of her chair when Mei’s frustrated fist slammed against the thick wooden table.
After a rather frustrating day, she was more than willing to retire to the temporary residence Seele had granted her in one of the dorm buildings. More than anything, she was ashamed that she had let Kiana witness her emotions get the better of her like that. Though of course, she had still brought multiple historical records back to her room regardless of how vague the information within might be. It was there, hours after sunset and after Kiana had finally crashed from the mental exhaustion of reading historical text all day, that Mei found herself still studiously flipping through page after page. Bent over the small desk set next to the bed and lit by a cheap desk lamp, Mei hardly noticed the cry for rest from her drying eyes as she analyzed every sentence, every specific wording, for any hint as to the past of the Herrschers or the location of Schicksal’s ancient headquarters.
Eventually, of course, her eyes began to droop, knuckles digging against her skin in a futile attempt to wipe the tiredness away. The bed just a couple meters to her right called to her, but a stubborn piece of her refused to accept the defeat of climbing into bed. But fight as she might, her head began to slide ever further down the hand supporting her cheek.
Until the sharp rap of knuckles against wood drilled into her ears and shot Mei back to wakefulness, nearly scattering her books over the floor in the process. The mentally exhausted priestess pushed herself to her feet with a small groan and shuffled slowly towards the door, praying to the Moon that whoever it was didn’t curse her with that sharp noise again. When she finally pulled open the door, it took Mei a moment to fully register the person standing in the hallway outside.
“Seele?” The woman’s brows pulled down in confusion.
The shorter woman smiled up at the priestess, “Good evening, Mei. I’m sorry to disturb you so late.”
“No it’s-” Mei covered a yawn with the back of her hand, “It’s okay. What can I do for you?”
“Actually,” Seele tilted her head to the side, her smile gaining a mysterious tilt to it, “I wanted to do something for you. To aid your search for knowledge.”
“Oh,” Mei blinked in surprise, “Okay, let me just grab Kiana-”
Seele’s gentle hand on her shoulder stopped her in her tracks, “No. Let her rest. Kiana… well, it’s not for me to judge the position she has put herself in. But I feel… obligated to offer my assistance to you. Please come with me.”
Mei stared after the retreating form of the smaller woman for a moment, blinking in confusion before her body finally began moving as the words settled in her mind. The walk was shrouded by the quiet peace of the night, the many Valkyrie students and their professors safely sheltered within warmly lit rooms. The salty smell of the nearby sea and chill night air seemed to reinvigorate her with every breath as Seele led her down the pathway. After a few minutes of peaceful silence, Seele softly struck up conversation, asking Mei about her life as a warrior for Finality. Mei was more than happy to speak of her temple, finding a small ache in her heart pleasantly assuaged as she fondly spoke of her life there to the principal. Seele listened with that air of quiet kindness that never seemed to diminish, nodding and making comments to show she was still listening, and asking questions where appropriate.
As they started down the bridge to the Library, Mei would finally switch things around, “What about you, Seele? I’m curious how you and Bronya met.”
Seele immediately brightened, “Ah, that feels like so long ago. We grew up in the same orphanage. I was much more timid and afraid than I am now, and after Bronya grew close to me she took it upon herself to protect me from some of the bullies amongst our siblings at the orphanage,” Her smile grew nostalgic, “I fell in love with her strength, and the kindness that strength still contained despite everything she went through. When I became trapped in the Sea of Quanta due to an experiment gone awry, I feared I would drift in the dark forever. Until the day Bronya used the power gifted to her by the Herrscher of Reason to dive into the sea and finally bring me back to the mortal world,” She locked her gaze with Mei’s, a strange emotion in her eyes the priestess couldn’t quite place, “My reliance on her was not always healthy. Now I have come into my own, and we have learned how to compliment each other both on and off the battlefield.”
Mei gave the girl a smile of her own, “I never knew Bronya could be such a romantic with the way she talks around Kiana.”
Seele giggled, pushing open the door into the library and beckoning Mei inside, “Bronya and Kiana have a… unique friendship. They met while attempting to escape a city that had been attacked by the Honkai, and spent a week desperately trying to survive. In the end they were brought to St. Freya by a Valkyrie serving on the Hyperion at the time, which had been dispatched to bring the situation under control. From what Bronya’s told me, their relationship was rather rocky at the start as she found Kiana rather annoying. But fighting the Honkai together tends to bring Valkyries closer, and my Bronya was no different.”
“Yes, I know what you mean. There are many unbreakable friendships and even romantic relationships between the women of my temple forged in the fires of the battlefield,” Mei laughed softly, “Some of our scholars even say the Herrscher of Finality encourages relationships between women.”
Seele snorted, “Yes, that sounds accurate,” Before Mei could question this comment, Seele stopped walking, “We’re here.”
Seele opened an electronically locked door at the furthest back wall of the library. Behind was the expected employee only maintenance areas. The square room held exposed pipes, doors set into the wall that covered water risers, and the whirr of electronics and cooling systems could be heard coming from a stairwell down a hallway to their left. What looked like a small break room was through a doorway down another hall to their right. In the center of the wall before them was a single lift, its silver finish gleaming in the low light of these back halls. Seele went straight to the lift, which opened as soon as she pressed the button to descend. Mei followed her inside and watched as Seele pressed a palm sized keycard against a sensor above the four buttons giving options for the different levels of the building.
However a moment after Seele had swiped her keycard, a panel opened up at head height above the buttons and a glassy orb appeared behind this revealed section, set into the wall. Light shot forth, a grid glowing over Seele’s eyes which she held wide open. After a few seconds there was a beep of confirmation and the panel slid back shut. The next moment another panel slid away underneath the level buttons, revealing almost a dozen more floors below the option for the ground floor.
Mei raised an eyebrow, “That’s a bit cliché, don’t you think?”
“Never underestimate Schicksal’s willingness to install unnecessary security. This particular one has been here since Otto Apocalypse led Schicksal.”
Mei’s eyes widened, “That long ago? And they’ve never even updated it?”
Seele shrugged as she pressed a button over half a dozen levels down. The lift shuddered slightly as it began its descent, “Even with his death being so long ago many in Schicksal are still hesitant to touch some of the more esoteric technology he had hidden within Schicksal, and that includes the things that take you to such technology.”
“Hence this lift remains untouched.”
“Correct,” Seele nodded.
“So where are you taking me, exactly?”
The lift shuddered to a stop with a soft chime. Seele smiled up at the priestess, “A piece of esoteric technology a previous principal managed to get upgraded.”
They exited the lift into a cavernous chamber constructed deep under the foundations of St. Freya. Mei could barely make out the ceiling above them, as the red lighting seemed designed to only provide the minimum required to navigate along the floor. The shining finish gave the chamber a dark color from the lack of light, the areas near the floor looking like polished marble, however Mei was fairly certain it was not truly marble. The light scattered across the floor until it bent upwards against three towering walls that split the path forward into two massively tall corridors. On each of these three walls was emblazoned what appeared to be a house crest.
To the left was a great red eye with three trapezoidal shapes along the top and bottom evoking the image of eyelashes, with four curved designs shaped like they were drawn by a paintbrush curving around the eye framing its bottom half.
In the middle was a green three petaled flower spread such that each point formed the shape of an upright triangle. Similarly, three smaller shapes that appeared to be leaves grew out from the gaps between the petals, their ends hitting the points of an upside down triangle.
On the right was a yellow sword, pointing downwards and silhouetted by the outline of a shield. Six diamond-like wings were inlaid around the line of the shield, like light shining from the crossguard of the sword.
Mei’s voice carried with it an undercurrent of awe, “What are these? They seem… familiar. But I can’t quite place them.”
“Ah,” Seele halted her progress, “I forgot these particular symbols have evolved into quite a different appearance nowadays.” She turned to Mei and held a hand out palm up, as if presenting them like a tour guide, “These are the ancient crests of the three great houses of Schicksal. House Apocalypse, House Schariac, and House Kaslana respectively. Nowadays they’re much more… elaborate, now that the families have come back into prominence.”
Mei could not help the way her eyes were drawn to the crest of House Kaslana. It was like… something important sat just out of reach. Like words on the tip of her tongue. Something she should know, something she shouldn’t have forgotten. It hovered there as if taunting her, no matter how much she attempted to grasp it. Something about that sword and shield evoked a strange… sorrow… in her heart.
“Come,” Seele beckoned her deeper into the structure, “The night won’t last forever.”
Mei followed Seele deeper into the branching corridors, though Seele pointed out that they converged at the same place. After a couple minutes of walking, Seele opened another security door, this time with a full body scan. Behind it was another cavernous room, however the ceiling was only about half as high. The room itself had a floor sectioned into many cubes, some of which seemed to have been raised from the floor to form various shapes throughout the room.
“Reset simulation,” Seele spoke loudly, and seemed to be putting more effort into enunciating her words more clearly.
As Mei expected, the shapes throughout the room disappeared as they retreated into the floor until it was smooth and looked more like a simple tiled floor.
Seele turned to Mei, “I will leave you to it. It is better that you experience this alone and at your own pace. I will be waiting outside. Once I leave, simply say ‘Activate: Second Eruption archives’. Speak loudly and enunciate clearly to make sure the computer understands your request. You might feel a little funny at first, a previous principal managed to get the Herrscher of Sentience to help them upgrade this place. Her power will connect to your mind and make it feel as if you are actually there and the projections will respond and feel accordingly.”
“Seele wait,” Mei grabbed the girl’s arm as she turned away, “Second eruption? What are you talking about? We haven’t numbered any of the eruptions caused by the Herrschers.”
Seele smiled sadly, “Yes, well, that’s what I brought you here to see. If you want to learn the true nature of the Herrschers that command our reality, the Second is the best place to start. I pray your determination will carry you through. I must stress that what you are about to see is a history long buried by both Schicksal and time. It has been painstakingly recorded and reconstructed by those that lived through it and their memories of the things they could not speak of. This is the truth you are searching for.”
Mei allowed the girl to pull from her grip, watching as she left the chamber, the door sealing back shut with a hiss. The priestess took a deep breath and steadied herself. Her eyes darted around the room, the place just as cavernous as their path to get here, with plenty of room to walk around.
She breathed in, “Activate: Second Eruption Archives!” She held her breath. After a few seconds she began to wonder if she had done it wrong. It was then that the clunk of mechanics thundered throughout the room. Mei clenched her eyes shut as the whirr of electronics grew louder and a bright flash reflected off the smooth surfaces of the room like a flashbang. An uncomfortable tingling latched onto the back of her mind, her skin crawling as the sensation grew to the overwhelming and intensely uncomfortable sense of a foreign presence slithering through her head like worms.
When she opened her eyes, she appeared to be somewhere else entirely. She was stood on a circular dark metal landing pad, the large H clearly marking a landing area for incoming helicopters. Beyond was an even greater circular disc forming the base of a massive black tower that rose from the snowy environment like a great scar. Beyond the dark metal, the tower was nestled in a narrow section of the valley between two mountains. Everywhere not part of the metal construction was covered in a layer of snow, though how deep it was Mei could not tell. The area beyond the circular base was well forested and was immediately noted by the priestess as a good place to get lost if needed. The chill wind was mostly kept at bay by her uniform, though once again Mei felt herself relaxing at the familiar touch of the cold.
“There it is, Babylon Labs,” The sudden voice behind her nearly made Mei jump. She spun to see a diminutive pale-skinned woman in what appeared to be a dated religious habit. She stood at the door to a large double propeller helicopter, though how she didn’t notice it before she spoke Mei did not know. The woman stepped up next to Mei and gazed up at the woman, “Huh? Are you the Valkyrie they sent to meet me?” Her eyes darted down to Mei’s katana, “Never seen you before.”
“Uh,” Mei’s eyes darted back and forth at this unexpected turn of events. She seemed to be getting questioned by an adolescent wearing a Valkyrie battlesuit, the girl’s voice possibly putting her age around twelve years old, “I’m uh, extra security,” Leaning into it, Mei stepped backwards into a deep bow, one arm bent across her torso and the other behind her back, “My name is Raiden Mei.”
The girl smiled and curtseyed in return, “I’m Theresa. Theresa Apocalypse.”