Chapter Text
“What the hell was that back there?!” Kahana’s calm and placid expression strained to keep itself in place as Siegfried ranted, only adding to the splitting headache and sore body she was experiencing. They were currently driving through the streets of the ruins of Nagazora City in a car that had frankly seen better days. Weathered and worn, the paint-job was all but nonexistent, and what windows there had been long gone.
However, that was nothing compared to the actual state of the city. While most of the zombies had been cleared out by forces she assumed had been Schicksal Valkyries, the ghostly silence that had replaced the moaning and groaning of zombies wasn’t much better, interrupted only by the puttering of the car engine and Siegfried’s attempts at getting her to talk.
A gentle hand on her shoulder drew her attention with a pained wince, light as the touch had been, and she was forced to stop in the middle of the road when Siegfried turned her around with a worried look on his face. “Okay, what’s going on, Kahana? You’re looking like a vampire there.”
That probably wasn’t a good sign. While Kahana’s body could handle the magnitude of Honkai energy required to form a Herrscher core and then some, carefully dissipating the electromagnetic radiation from the Seven Thunders of Retribution while also dealing with the superheated plasma from the Judgement of Shamash had caused the absolute mother of all migraines. Pulling out the Key of Heaven had helped the ordeal go over more smoothly, but her body was still suffering from the exertion.
“It should pass within a few days, I’ll be fine.” She waved her father’s concerns off, once more targeting her attention to what street signs remained, trying to locate the general area of her apartment. Collapsed building, collapsed building, collapsed parking garage, her intact apartment with the Oath of Judah leaning on the door, that one house with the man that was always muttering about catgirls, and - wait a second.
Oath of Judah, the 11th Divine Key, most notably wielded by the legendary Schicksal Valkyrie Kallen Kaslana as a gift from Kevin. Last she had heard of her in Kahana’s universe, she had mysteriously disappeared after falling in love with a girl from a village… oh that was probably her version of Sakura, now that she thought about it.
If she was correct about how events played out in this universe, the Divine Key would only be usable by those of the Kaslana family. The living members that she knew of would be herself, her alternate self, and her father, Siegfried. Kahana frowned to herself, stopping the car at the end of the block where her apartment was.
Think, Kahana, think. The Oath of Judah would be wielded by someone in the Schicksal organization, no doubt about that. Otto Apocalypse, who was a noteworthy name in this universe, from what she knew to focus on, was experienced in genetic cloning and a simp for Kallen, enough that he had embarked on a 500-year quest to revive her.
Ah, of course. Kahana didn’t know how she had missed it before. The wielder of the Oath of Judah was obviously - “Oh hey, looks like Theresa finally got out from behind her desk! Kind of surprised, honestly, but I should probably sit out for this one. Reunions aren’t my thing anyway.” Siegfried interrupted her train of thought just as she was about to reach its conclusion, causing her headache to flare up as she unintentionally ground her teeth.
She calmed her head. It wouldn’t do to retaliate for such a trivial mistake . But she needed more information. “Who’s Theresa?”
Siegfried’s eyebrow rose. “What, she doesn’t exist in your world? Theresa’s the granddaughter of Otto, but more importantly, she’s an S-Ranked Valkyrie, the Principal of St. Freya High, and one of the kindest people I know. That enough?”
Kahana let a gentle smile across her face. “Yes, I think your recommendations paint a good enough picture of who I will be dealing with.”
Suppressing a stumble as she got out of the car, she nodded to her father. “I suppose we will part ways here for now, then. Got anything to ask me?”
Siegfried made to shake his head, then aborted midway through. “Yeah actually, just one question.”
“Oh? Go ahead then.” Kahana leaned against the side of the car.
“From what you’ve told me, you’re on a mission to save this world from the Honkai. That’s… kind of a big deal. A REALLY big deal. Your Shicksal has all of these Previous Era warriors, friendly Herrschers, hell, from what you’ve told me this isn’t the first time other universes have been visited. Yet you’re manning a solo mission here. Why?”
Now, that was a good question. Kahana paused for a moment to gather her thoughts. After a moment or two of silence, she spoke up. “Doors open from both sides. Every time Schicksal peeks into another bubble universe, there is the slightest chance of something staring back. This is why observation of other realities is strictly, strictly regulated, and only done with the most advanced Honkai-powered technology, along with a Herrscher or two nearby in order to make sure things stay… discrete. ”
She took a deep breath and continued to explain. “Alternate reality observation is usually done for information gathering, threat assessment, and looking for root realities. Root realities are what theorists refer to as the main timeline, since, as the name suggests, all other versions of that reality originated from the root reality.”
“For example, because of my appearance from another universe, this reality can no longer be considered the root reality, because there is another reality where I did not arrive, and events played out as they would have without interference from variables outside the system, so to speak. So really, we’re in an alternate timeline. Anyway, whenever a root reality is observed, further assessment is taken to decide whether that root reality is a reality that would be worth interfering in, for the benefit of our universe and that universe.”
“This is where that part about doors comes in. Because we are actively interfering in alternate universes, there is a high likelihood that while we are traveling throughout the multiverse, my universe is noticed and attacked. One such attack occurred during the duration of my Seal, and the only reason that my world didn’t get another Will of Honkai to replace the previous one was that I created an impenetrable barrier to keep them out.”
Siegfried whistled, clearly impressed. “So what, you just keep up the shield all the time?”
Kahana shrugged. “Not exactly. Rather, I used a fuel source, or a couple of fuel sources, to act as batteries. As the new Goddess of the Honkai of my universe, I didn’t need any of the power that came along with it. Plus, I couldn’t exactly kill the previous Will of Honkai, even with help. So I just repurposed it.”
“You turned God into a glorified barrier.” Siegfried deadpanned.
“A bit of an understatement. I drained the previous Will of Honkai and a good amount more Honkai energy from the Imaginary Plane to create it, and even now I imagine that infinite energy is being put into the barrier. Needless to say, it’s not getting broken anytime soon. Unfortunately, I am the only one capable of creating exit points and entrances through the universal barrier. Which is why I am always the first person out and into another universe, and only with my approval can the next person exit my universe.”
Kahana let out a deep breath, winded from her long explanation. She looked expectantly at her father. “And that's why I’m soloing right now. Later on, I am planning to bring along some friends, but I don’t think the state of this universe sucks that much right now.”
Siegfried’s smile was warm, loving, and proud. “Glad to see that even in another reality, my baby girl kicks ass. But I’m sorry to say that I’ll have to leave you on your own now.”
She frowned in dismay; it had been less than a week since she had met the alternate version of her father. “You’re going already?”
Wide eyes, puffed cheeks, pouting lips. Kahana even added an anime-esque twinkle in her eyes, all to increase the effects of the Kaslana Pout ™. All to no avail, as Siegfried merely laughed, and waved her off. “Reunions really aren’t my thing, sadly.”
“Hmph, fine. Where are you going afterward?” Kahana propped herself against the side of the car, absentmindedly changing her facial structure back to its original as well as adopting the signature Kaslana pigments again.
“Eh, I’ll probably try and meet up with Ryoma, maybe try and see what’s up in America. What about you?” Kahana didn’t press her father further.
“Many plans, Dad. Many plans. See ya later!” A mischievous smile graced her face as she closed the car door and started strolling down the street, feeling pain flare-up in her legs every half-step. Not much she could do about her condition for now, since circulating more Honkai energy to heal herself would only introduce more Honkai to her nervous system. Best to let it dissipate naturally. Hopefully, Kahana wouldn’t see any combat for the few days that it would take for the aches to pass.
Hearing the sputter of the car engine as her father took off, she let her posture droop and stumbled up the stairs to her apartment, wincing every other step. Bracing herself against the door, she couldn’t help a whimper when she looked at the Oath of Judah, which she knew weighed a whopping 152 kilograms. Whoever this Theresa was, she would be owing Kahana one for this if she had anything to say about it.
“Ughhhhh…” Kahana groaned with effort as she dragged the Divine Key through the doorway, ruining said doorway in the process. Splinters flew as a deep furrow was gouged into the floor, sparks flying up as the Oath of Judah ground against the apartment floor in protest.
“Hello there Kahana. What brings you here again?” Kahana yelped as she lost her grip on the 11th Divine Key at the sound of the female voice, barely getting out a shocked gasp as the behemoth of a weapon landed on her quite painfully, driving her to the ground.
And then through the ground and into the underground garage as the weight of the Divine Key proved too much for the floor to handle. All the air in her lungs was driven out as the golden cross hit her body, concrete cracking beneath her due to the impact, clouds of dust covering her vision.
“Sakura whyyyyyy…” Kahana’s cries were met by a sheepish shrug from the aforementioned rabbit-eared woman, who peered down the cross-shaped hole present in the apartment floor at the goddess-in-disguise, who was also the goddess-with-a-sore-Damn Kahana was really starting to feel the weight of the Oath of Judah.
Tightening her core, she placed all her limbs on the underside of the Divine Key, and with a shout of effort, launched the 300-pound hunk of metal straight up, nearly hitting Sakura despite her superhuman reflexes, and with the absolute perfect amount of force, embedding it into the ceiling of Kahana’s apartment just enough so that it wouldn’t pierce through, but also preventing it from crashing back on down.
Letting one arm swing up in a facsimile of a thumbs-up, a dazed and tired grin crossed her face, before Kahana’s head fell back down and her eyes closed, a headache truly making itself known at that moment.
“Hey, Sakura, what’s with all the noise out here? You have a guest over - OH NO, JUDAH! BABY WHO DID THIS TO YOU?!” A surprisingly childish voice that wasn’t Rin-chan rang out faintly to Kahana’s ears.
Her headache flared once more.
The human soul was a common subject for philosophers and thinkers, and Kahana liked to think that her long existence, even if most of it had passed by in a blur, gave her plenty of wisdom. As well as foolishness, according to Sirin, which could be true. But she ignored those remarks with grace and serenity.
In her opinion, souls were the culmination of the individual and even more, but for a soul to not be a pale facsimile of the real deal, nothing less would be required. Every experience, every year of their life, their personality and memories, as well as that additional spark of true uniqueness, of originality was required to make a soul a soul.
This was why Kahana looked at the face of Theresa Apocalypse and knew at once the depth of Otto’s denial and obsession. Kallen Kaslana’s revival, a quest that he would sacrifice everything for, to bring both himself and the target of his obsession to bliss. To walk the path of shadows and demons, to drip blood with every step, Kahana truly wondered if Otto had any semblance of humanity left in him.
‘Granddaughter of Otto Apocalypse,’ Just another way to distance himself from a painful fantasy, Kahana knew. ‘The nun outfit, the Oath of Judah… How pitiful, to both reach to grasp and push away.’
‘Will I fall to such depths, in the face of my undying life? To lose them one after another, until none remain beside me?’ The devotion of love could easily turn into an obsession. Who knew if the death of Sirin, her beloved, could drive her to such lengths?
Kahana consoled herself with the fact that Sirin was immortal, had the power of several Herrscher cores, and that both her and Sirin could regenerate, and in her case, perform a true revival, either by reversing time in a localized bubble or pulling what some would consider her soul back from death.
“Hey Kahana, what’s your last name again?” The white-haired diminutive woman questioned her, blue eyes peering at Kahana. The nun outfit draped over the edge of the armchair she was in, but the woman’s child-like height prevented the dress from reaching the floor.
“Kaslana, and before you say anything, I’m older than you.” She dryly replied, enjoying the momentary look of shock that occupied Theresa’s face.
“It is indeed true. Though Rin did not mention this earlier, in private, she observed how familiar you were with her as a person, leading her to the conclusion that she had met you before.” Sakura piped in, holding her cup of tea at the far end of the table.
Kahana nodded toward her, and registering Theresa’s curiosity, explained further. “Sakura, and Rin by further extension, are somewhat correct. It would be inaccurate to say that Rin had met me, however, but more fitting to say that I had met Rin instead.”
Theresa sported a confused frown. “What, you met Rin, but Rin never met you? How does that work?”
“Simple. I can view time in a non-linear manner.” Kahana smirked, fully anticipating the shock that would come with her declaration.
“Whazzat mean again?” Theresa questioned.
Despair washed over Kahana. This was the principal of St. Freya High, a facility for training Valkyries? She sighed, mourning her brain cells. “I can see the future and the past.”
Sakura’s reaction was subdued, as she merely raised an eyebrow at her, knowing full well of her abilities from her previous demonstrations. Theresa’s eyes, however, nearly popped out of her head and her jaw reached the ground.
She continued. “By manipulating Honkai energy into creating quantum wormholes, then feeding the incoming information into my core, I can process incoming photons from a different instance of spacetime. Of course, another way would be to calculate past and future events with the proposal of Laplace’s Demon, but the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle makes that portion of my powers a bit finicky-”
Clank, clank, jingle.
Cut off by the rattling of metal chains, Kahana contemplated the several golden spears posed to stake her in the heart and other rather vital areas. Theresa’s eyes were hard as diamond and cold as ice, her childish demeanor all but vanished. The Oath of Judah was posed behind her, no doubt ready to flare with the power of the Herrscher of Binding.
Golden loops of Soulinium whipped forward. A burning around her wrists. Kahana was careful to keep her expression composed, even as her power threatened to flare at being constrained and the smell of seared flesh filled the air.
“You’re a Herrscher.” The Valkyrie stated.
“I am indeed. To be more specific, I can manipulate the fourth dimension most scientists categorize as the flow of time. There is a reason that there are no known records of the 13th Herrscher of the Previous Era.”
“So what, you time traveled or something?” A disbelieving retort, with a hint of humor. Kahana considered her chances of negotiating a peaceful resolution to be increasing.
“Not an inaccurate statement. Rather, I tried to force my body, which is bound and operates by the rules of three-dimensional space, outside of that and into the several more dimensions that time can flow in, then use that to calculate how to open a breach that would bring me to a more favorable time in humanity’s battle against the Honkai.”
The amount of absolute bull that she was spewing out was frankly flabbergasting. Oh sure, it was all possible if she gave it enough effort and a bunch of coffee, but the only reason manipulating that many dimensions of reality to perform feats like that would be worthwhile would be if she wanted to generate a technically infinite amount of energy, but she could already do that by deriving Honkai energy from the Imaginary Plane.
“And so, I arrived just before the partial Awakening of the Herrscher of Thunder, subdued her, and then with my comrade here, directed them into your reach.”
Getting tired of the Mark of Judah that was currently wrapped around her wrists, she decided to give a demonstration of the powers of the ‘Herrscher of Time.’ Flexing imaginary muscles in her mind, she mentally stretched and prepared to call upon one of the more finicky aspects of the powers of the Final Herrscher.
A ring of yellow light manifested itself into reality, hissing and sparking. One ring became, two, then four, and finally eight, all spinning around to form a floating sphere of energy. She took a breath, let the powers of the Herrscher of Time fill her body, then, unheeding of the metal chains that dragged down her hands shoved both of them into the sphere of golden light.
TICK.
She grit her teeth, even as the damning click of a nonexistent clock’s hands rang out in her ears. Honkai energy poured from the core of her being and into the golden sphere between her hands. Golden light flickered at the edge of her vision, taking the form of clock hands and hourglasses.
What is time? The movement of the hands of the clock? The countdown before the end of the race? Time is every second, every minute, every hour that has passed, is passing, will ever pass.
TOCK.
That damnable robot, Chrono, had been so very dramatic at the end but strangely accepting. Accepting the fact that it was its fate to be destroyed, Kahana and Kevin to wrench its chassis apart and shove its core inside the Void Armor. She supposed that was the curse of foreknowledge, to know what would happen but still dread the moment it occurred. In the end, Kahana could respect that.
Where time is the script of the play, space is the theater upon which it is acted. Space and time are two concepts, different, similar, but intertwined in a way that can mistake one for the other.
TICK.
You would mess with time? Manipulate one of the very aspects of existence? Risk the unending oblivion that is a time-loop, freeze all of existence forever, or leave yourself at the mercy of the universe by moving out of the timestream? I may be a Herrscher, a Servant of God, but you are an insect, a bug beneath my foot, a fool! You are a fool! A fool. A fool…
TOCK.
Long gone memories of an encounter that never happened were shaken off, like old, dusty spiderwebs on her mind. Kahana clasped her hands together inside the sphere, then flung them outwards, tearing apart the globe and sending a wave of golden light-diffusing across the room, a metallic screech accompanying its destruction.
Her only warning was the whistle of sharp metal cutting through the air, but when she glanced up, Judah’s Spears were trembling, stuck midair, as if they had been told to stop by the world itself. Theresa’s eyes were widened, hand flung out and grasping at thin air. Kahana raised an eyebrow at her as if saying What, you thought that would work?
Paying no mind to her shocked audience, Kahana focused on the object left behind. A rather unassuming necklace, except for the hourglass made of glowing yellow crystal on the end. She spun it once, twice, three times, and then the chains encircling her wrists simply unraveled.
Her audience watched with fascination and a bit of disgust as the Mark of Judah vanished, burnt flesh returning to pale and smooth skin second by second. Kahana stretched out in the chair, yawning as her tired body melted into the armchair, drained.
One eye opened, watching as Theresa retracted the Spears of Judah and sat back down on her couch with a hmph, crossing her arms and gazing at Kahana. Sakura also relaxed, once more picking up her cup of tea and sipping.
Silence filled the room, its occupants processing what they had seen and the revelations brought along with them. Until it was shoved aside by a question from the young Apocalypse. “What did you do?”
Kahana idly played with the shrunken form of Apotheosis on her bracelet, even if ‘shrunken’ wasn’t the most accurate term. Most of the weapon was currently in a quantum state, intangible and invisible. The bracelet charm was an internal feature that was simply designed to look like a shrunken version. Batting it around, she replied without looking away.
“I am the Herrscher of Time, you know? If I wanted to, I could technically become an omnipresent entity, existing at every moment in the past, the present, and the future, even if it would be boring. At the same time, I’m not going to shirk my powers because of possibilities like that. This,” Kahana held up the necklace. “Is what you would consider my Herrscher core.”
“That’s… unusual. All known records have shown Herrscher cores to be contained inside the host’s body.” Theresa frowned, clearly disbelieving but unwilling to press any further.
Kahana smirked. “For the most part, you would be correct. However, as you’ve already seen, I am a rather special case. With my powers, I can pluck objects and people out of the timeline, dropping them back where I please. This crystal hourglass is my Herrscher core from exactly one hundred thirty-seven i’s of a second ago.”
“Wh-buh?” TeriTeri’s eyes bore into Kahana’s soul - Wait what? She shook her head, and this time Theresa merely sported a confused look. Knowing that any further discussion of the intricacies of Kahana’s powers would most likely melt the principal’s brain, she moved on to another topic discussion.
“So, I think that’s enough about me. What are you doing in the ruins of Nagazora?” She questioned, smiling welcomely and warmly.
“I’m afraid that’s classified, Kahana.” Theresa’s demeanor suddenly became quite serious, befitting of an S-Rank Valkyrie in charge of a training school.
Oh? Kahana felt her smile sharpen to an extreme degree, and her gaze took on a dangerous glint. “Understandable. I can hardly expect the granddaughter of the Schicksal Overseer to give away confidential information on a whim.”
“Uh, yeah, right? Right!” Theresa agreed after a moment of hesitation. Sakura cast a knowing gaze at Kahana, only making her grin wider. It shrunk a bit when she realized that Sakura was currently on her 13th cup of tea, but semantics!
“Theresa Apocalypse, granddaughter of Otto Apocalypse, S-Rank Valkyrie, and Principal of St. Freya High. Why would a warrior of your caliber be out in the ruins of Nagazora? Honkai beasts? Too weak. Anti-Entropy activity? Too weak. Another Herrscher?” Kahana delightfully took note of how Theresa blinked at that one. “Perhaps, but too soon. Most of the Honkai energy has coalesced into the Herrscher of Thunder, but there could be enough left to fuel another… ”
Silence filled the room, as the Valkyrie’s jaw dropped wide open. Kahana knew at that moment Theresa’s mission was most likely a mission to track down the source of the Honkai energy and neutralize it. Then, inspiration struck her.
“Say, I have an idea. You know about ‘Nagazora’s White Flowers,’ correct? Considering that they hold Honkai energy residue, they would make excellent bait for whatever poor soul responsible for your mission here.” Kahana suggested, already making her way out of the chair and out to the balcony.
“I suppose that isn’t the worst idea.” Theresa reluctantly agreed.
She hummed and slid the balcony glass door open, peering across at the street, which was currently not filled with white flowers, but instead filled with thorny vines. And that was a Pseudo-Herrscher currently absorbing a huge pile of the residue leftover from the Key of Heaven.
“That is unfortunate timing,” Sakura noted from where she was peering over Kahana’s shoulder. Somehow hearing her, the plant-girl turned towards them, a predatory smile creeping across her face. Then came the wave of vines.