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Raiden Mei is tired. Not just tired, she’s exhausted, frustrated, and frankly, a little annoyed. It's been days of battle after battle, signet after signet, failure after failure, and she feels as if she’s swimming in circles. Kevin sent her here to get answers, but what she’s getting is a headache. If she’s going to spend her time demolishing simulated honkai beasts, she might as well destroy the real thing outside.
Is she supposed to hone her skills here, as the blade of World Serpent? Uncover some kind of valuable secret from the Previous Era that would turn the tide of this never ending war against the destruction of humanity? Gain some kind of higher epiphany from this glorified history lesson?
While fascinating individuals, the Flame Chasers were ultimately a fragmented group of soldiers marching towards an inevitable end and less a band of legendary heroes. Sure, she’s tried to learn their past and understand the method to their madness, but all she’s received are broken wisdom and warnings. None of it would be of use to protect Kiana.
Kiana. The silver-haired source of her joy and anguish. The most important person in her life.
Not a moment goes by where she doesn’t miss her boundless smile, endless appetite, and idiotic determination to save everyone around her but herself. Yes, Mei misses her dearly, but she doesn’t regret her decision.
For without it, there wouldn’t be a Kiana to miss.
She closes her eyes with a sigh, tired of the sight of the dazzling gold and opulent splendor of the Elysian Realm, leaning her head back on the plush cushion of the sofa that probably would’ve cost more than the average person could earn in a lifetime.
She gets a few minutes of respite, drifting into something just shy of a nap. She cannot let her guard truly down in the serpent's nest, not even for a second.
“Mei~” comes the sweet call of her name, voice belonging to a certain pink haired MANTIS that constantly sought her out. Another headache, really. She opens her eyes and fixes her posture, from a battle-worn soldier to a presence befitting the title as Herrscher of Thunder.
Not a moment later and the said elf pops into the Lounge, happily gliding over to her. “Ah, there you are, Mei!” She tilts her head, quickly assessing the girl’s body language (crossed arms, stiff posture and reticent expression). “Sitting here all alone? How would you like a cute girl like me to keep you company, hmm~? I’ve cleared my afternoon just for you!” She doesn't wait for a reply and plops herself down next to the herrscher, crossing her legs and throwing her arms over the back of the sofa.
She bounces a foot along to the tune of the song she hums, posture easy and languid as the namesake and host of the Elysian Realm.
Mei regards her with a disinterested side glance, resisting the urge to pinch the bridge of her nose with another pound of the headache she can’t seem to escape. “I’m the only successor here and it’s been hours since my last run in the battleground. You can’t possibly be as busy as you always claim to be.”
Elysia brings a hand to her chest, face contorting into an expression of mock pain. “Oh Mei, you wound me! I’ll have you know that managing this realm is a LOT of work. But I do it without complaint because someone as talented and beautiful as you deserves the absolute best~!” She dishes out honeyed words as easily as candy on a Halloween night.
The flattery only serves to strengthen the guard Mei keeps around the pink haired enigma. “Hmm,” she offers in response, already dropping the subject.
There are a blissful few moments of silence, until Elysia breaks it again.
“So, what’s on your pretty mind? These lovely ears are mine aren’t just for show, they’re great at listening too! Don’t be shy, you can tell me anything~” the elf coos. Leave it to Elysia to make just about anything sound suggestive.
A shame that mouth of yours isn't good at keeping shut , she thinks, but doesn’t say. Perhaps that’s a little too harsh. “Just thinking,” she mutters, the last thing she wants to divulge is any true inner thoughts she has to the pink haired woman.
“About~?” Elysia presses, leaning a bit closer, resting her chin on one hand and drumming her fingertips on her thigh to some unknown rhythm.
The herrscher lets out a sigh, like the low rumble of thunder from a faraway storm. “The Realm... What answers Kevin wants me to find. I’ve met some of the other Flame Chasers and they’re... cryptic, at best,” She grumbles, giving Elysia this little truth. Might as well, right? She is supposed to be her guide to the past and so far this place has felt like a maze, turning her in this direction and that. Sometimes it’s contradictory, and more often than not, only creates more questions. The group itself doesn’t even act like a cohesive unit, and more so a collection of puzzle pieces that don’t fit together, but are forced onto the same board.
The MANTIS merely hums, smoothing some nondescript wrinkle out of her jacket. “My dear, sweet, Mei, you try to bury your heart, but deep down, you really do care~. You have someone you love, don’t you?” The question is shot like an arrow through her back, piercing her chest.
Unsubtly, Mei whips her head to stare at the woman. She’s not sure why she’s treating an innocent question like an accusation, like an invite to battle. Perhaps it hits a little too close to home, and she’s not sure if the person holding the bow is friend or foe. Within her, lightning pulses, her skin a little too thin to contain it all, but she does. She does, because despite the violent and chaotic nature of her element, Mei is controlled. She is precise. Lightning strikes because she deems it necessary, not out of untamed emotions.
Regardless of a verbal reply or not, her prickly reaction is answer enough for Elysia, who merely offers a sweet smile, a little too smug for Mei’s liking. “It’s why we fight, isn’t it? The strongest of us love the hardest. And you must love very deeply.” She says so as if she wants Mei to know she can see through her and understand , like staring at a thunderstorm through the glass and knowing why the sky darkens and rain falls.
“Get to the point,” she growls, voice low and sharpened like her blade, glowering at the elf.
Elysia’s smile shifts into something different, to something akin to sympathy and the color in her eyes deepens. “I’ll let you in on a secret – Kevin loved someone once. He gave her his strength, his loyalty, and his entire future. He may have lost her, but he’s never lost what he gave. The real Kevin is as icy and unmoving as ever, am I right?”
Mei nods. They may not see eye to eye, but this , this she understands all too well. Strange, to think she has any common ground with the man that should be her enemy, a herrscher slayer from a previous era. She’ll never venerate him, as some others of the organization do, but this insight paints him just a tad more human.
She also chooses to ignore the unspoken parallel that Elysia has drawn between her and the Serpent.
Seeing that the aura of ozone has calmed somewhat, Elysia continues. “Sakura loved her sister, she wanted to keep all the scary and ugly truths of the world from her, so she gets her hands dirty and washes them clean whenever they speak.” The elf then pauses, gathering her words. “And then there’s Hua. Sweet little Hua, who has wiped her own memories.” There is an underlying tenderness in her voice, sincere and protective. “She might have even forgotten the faces of those dear to her, but she will never forget her mission. Hua loves to feel needed – loves to have a purpose.” Then she’s back to her usual pep. “You get the point I’m trying to make! We’re not so different, are we?”
"I suppose."
Mei softens at the mention of the familiar names, especially at the grey haired martial artist. Fu Hua has given more than anyone she knows, likely more than any human that’s existed. It makes sense. How else could one individual carry such a burden, sacrifice themselves again and again and again, for over millennia and still remain so gentle, without an unwavering conviction? Hua, who here in the realm, has no idea of the pain and losses she will need to endure, who has yet to see her own era destroyed and raise a new one. Hua, who is still out there, protecting Kiana and their friends, even at this very moment.
“And what of you?" She regards the elf with genuine curiosity. "You created the Flame Chasers to be the last line of defense for humanity. Why? Why did you join the MOTHs to begin with?”
Out of all the MANTISes she’s met, she knows Elysia the least. She could talk endlessly of just about everything but herself on a level deeper than shallow narcissism; the elf never mentions her past and what little Mei does know is pieced together from the archives. (Elysia once mentioned that her name meant “paradise” in Mu, and Mei can only wonder if this woman truly is from the lost continent.) Why would someone like her become a soldier? With her charm and personality, she belonged more on a stage or on a screen, not the battlefield. And yet, here she is. Second in command of the Flame Chasers, rumored to be on par or even stronger than Kevin.
Elysia’s eyes shine and her face lights up with glee, the way a predator grins at prey walking into an ambush. “Me? Well, I love people.”
“...That’s it?” Mei raises an eyebrow, prompting her to continue. Elysia is usually not known for such brevity.
“Mhm!” She nods matter-of-factly, pink bangs and ears bobbing along with the motion. “Good or bad, young or old – people are amazing, don’t you think? Our lives are so short but we still find a way to give it meaning. We dance and sing and make beautiful things. We chase the unknown and make stories to pass on. Even faced with extinction, we still hold onto hope. If humans weren’t so special, why else would the honkai exist? Why would they want to wipe us out?”
Mei furrows her brows. “That… is an interesting perspective.”
“But it’s sincere, I promise!” Elysia giggles, like she just made a silly joke. “You know, the real me died for that, for the love of humanity,” she sighs, almost wistfully. “Eden described it like the petals of a falling flower, beautiful and graceful~ Ah, I wish I could have seen it.”
The real Elysia is dead? She scoffs. “You can dress it up in poetry all you want, but in the end you still died.” The news about her death and the odd circumstances surrounding it... She’ll have to ask the others about that later.
“Yes, but humanity still goes on, doesn’t it? And we now have strong, beautiful herrschers like you fighting for us. Isn’t that something worth dying for?”
Mei shakes her head. “I can’t judge you for determining what your life is worth or last-ditch measures. Your efforts are what lead to the continuation of humanity.”
Elysia clasps her hands together, swooning at the violet haired woman. “Ahh, you’re such a smart, considerate girl, Mei!” She recomposes herself, casually brushing a hand through her hair. “As for your purpose in the Realm…If you want answers, you need to ask the right questions first.”
“...The right questions, huh?”
“Yup! What do you want from our memories? Secret, super powerful weapons? Fighting expertise? Our arts and literature?" Elysia’s smile curves into something flirtatious again. "My skincare routine to stay perfect and supple-”
Mei rolls her eyes at the last option, waving her hand dismissively. “I get it. Knowing what the previous herrschers were capable of is a start. We can’t afford to repeat the same mistakes.”
Elysia giggles again, carefree as a schoolgirl on a summer break. “Then keep going. You’ve barely scratched the surface. You have to dig deep, Mei. What you find here might even change you forever.”
“...”
Silence hangs, loose in the way the air feels after a heavy storm.
Truthfully, the sheer easy tone during the topic of Elysia’s death was unnerving. ‘ Isn’t that worth dying for?’ Hmph. It reminds her of that fateful day on the rooftop of Nagazora, of the determination in Kiana’s eyes, of her stupid suicidal idealism for a world that could not, would not , repay her sacrifices. For her sake, Mei shed her skin and walks down this path in the darkness.
Elysia bounces a foot along to the tune of the song she hums, posture easy and languid as the namesake and host of the Elysian Realm.
Before long, the pink haired elf gets up, the motion swift and elegant. “Well! I promised Eden I’d share a drink with her! It was nice chatting with you, Mei, we should do it more often~” she throws a wink and a kiss and drifts out of the lounge as quickly as she came, leaving the herrscher to her rumbling thoughts.
Mei closes her eyes once more.
World Serpent, an organization that rose from the ashes of the Flame-Chasers; full of people that loved a little too hard and threw away everything – their humanity and their lives – for that love. They burned, like wood for a pyre.
This truly is my flock, she thinks, with only a hint of bitterness.
Perhaps she should thank them. Without their sacrifices humanity would not have begun again, would not have this second chance against annihilation, and Mei would not have met Kiana.
Why am I here? Because the world means nothing to me without her. She repeats that phrase, again and again, turning it over like one would appraise a fine jewel, now branded as the conviction she lives by.
She never did bury her heart. No, she wrapped it in an armor of thorns, adorned it with the lightning she embodies, and it thunders in her chest still, where it can beat safely against the sin that now coats her hands. It beats, on and on, for the one that is worth throwing everything away for.
She chose to be reborn as thunder incarnate.
She chose Kiana over the world, because saving her is saving the world.
One day their paths will cross again.
She opens her eyes, glowing and steeled with further resolve, bottled lightning flowing in her veins.
Whatever challenge or shadow this realm of memories has to throw at her, she will overcome it.
Kiana…I’ll make a future where we can both exist. A future where you don't need to hide your pain behind a smile.
Raiden Mei rises and heads for the battleground once more, hand resting on her sword, the electric crackle around each click of her heels like a hound jumping for their master.