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Honkai was gone.
Well, not really, but it was about as gone as it was gonna be, only found nowadays as something akin to subatomic radiation. It’d been a little over a decade since it had all ended, since the final conflict was had on the moon, and, in truth, it was a time of change. The world was evolving, and those who still had cores now found them useless, no longer able to bend the natural forces of the world to their will. Mei no longer held the authority of thunder, or origin, Bronya lost the power to create, and the consciousness that was once called the Herrscher of Sentience had, unfortunately, entirely disappeared. Kiana, too, had felt these effects—no more void, no more flamescion, or finality.
It was startling at first. It took a while to get used to.
Schicksal still existed, bringing its valkyries with it into the new era. In a sense, at least. Some could still tap into the overflowing energy from before, though it was a seemingly select group. Durandal, Rita, Theresa, just to name a few. They still operated in the same way they had before, an independent organization keeping the peace and conducting research, and many of these studies still involved what was called Honkai, and the mysteries of the Imaginary Tree and the Sea of Quanta.
The main difference now was, of course, with Honkai no longer posing a threat, nothing felt as urgent anymore. Divine Key usage decreased, dangerous experiments were conducted less and less, and, as Overseer, Theresa poured an increasing amount of funds into medical research. They also opened more schools; Valkyrie Institutions, they still called them, though they were no longer training the next generation of warriors.
Anti Entropy still persisted, too. Once Welt had retired, Bronya started splitting her time between the organization and her newly formed tech company, as Sovereign, and CEO, respectively. It had gone on to become a government subsidized research institute, specializing in studies pertaining to advanced mechanical weaponry, and often collaborating with Schicksal on the many mysterious experiments they still performed. The one thing that hadn’t changed, though, was the bickering between Einstein and Tesla that could still be heard throughout any compound the two inhabited.
The one known as Kevin Kaslana, the final warrior stuck in an era that no longer belonged to him, had passed during the final conflict on the moon. Those who knew him didn’t mourn for him, though; they knew he was content with his fate, and content to leave humanity in the hands of its new leaders, in an era free of honkai.
In that new era, however, the shady organization he led, known as World Serpent, had crumbled without a Flame Chaser to lead it, though that didn’t mean all of its members had simply vanished. A number of them had been incorporated into Schicksal, actually—the likes of Raven, and Hare, and a few other notable members—and, once Theresa thought that squad three could stand on its own two feet without her, Mei was put in charge of the new branch thanks to her experience with the former organization.
As far as Kiana goes, well, as strange as it might sound, Kiana wasn’t doing much of anything these days. He’d pop into Schicksal, and help his aunt, and his sister, or bother Hua while she was reading, or doing what little work retirement had left for her. He’d duck his head into an Anti Entropy compound whenever he was abroad, and reminisce with Bronya and Seele, who had married a few years back. He’d spend time kicking around the different repurposed World Serpent bases, quickly becoming quite familiar with many of its officers, and, of course, he’d bother Mei at work.
The thing is, though, for as fast and free as he had lived his life when he was younger, for as much as he had accomplished in pursuit of defeating the honkai, the measure of his life now was no longer in the work he did. No, it was in something else entirely.
He was a parent now. After things had settled down, he became a husband to both Mei, and Hua, and, once he was able to return from the moon, they had adopted a one, and then two children in need of a home. The oldest, a girl with strikingly black hair named Himeko, was already halfway through elementary school, and the youngest, a small boy named Sora, with blue hair that reminded Hua of Lixue, was close behind.
Kiana was, for all intents and purposes, a stay at home dad now. And he loved it. He loves every bit of it; the calm, the domesticity—it suited him well. He was safe, his friends were safe, his loves were married, he had everything he never dreamed he could have, back when he was younger.
It was hard to imagine a future like this would ever come, way back when. He might’ve seemed easygoing, and carefree during his days at St. Freya, but he knew, even then, that those peaceful days wouldn’t last. Then Otto activated the herrscher core inside of him, he spent months alone in Arc City with only the ghost of Fu Hua as company, he had fought with Mei before they went their separate ways; that one had hurt the most.
But he had grown. He had made peace with the world, and, finally, after everything it put him through, the world made peace with her.
Mei’s story was slightly different.
She was at peace; this much was true. She loved her wives with everything she had, and the happiest day of her life was when they brought home Sora and Himeko. She loved her family, her friends, her future, all of it. She, too, was happier than she ever thought possible.
No, what differed for her was the what, rather than the why.
In a surprise she didn’t completely expect, the end of honkai had somehow brought about even more work for her. Running the World Serpent branch of Schicksal proved a particularly herculean task, it seemed, especially since she had been given the wonderful task of repurposing the shady organization. The inhumane experiments, labs full of screaming patients and half human, half robot husks, were quickly demolished, stricken down in her first wave of reforms. Taking advantage of the poor, too; no longer did the welfare houses like those in Arc City serve any double standards.
There were certainly still a few parts of the organization that were, to be vague, slightly less than to code, but, from the time she had spent with them when she was younger, she knew sometimes it was necessary. None of the current exceptions, however, came at the cost of unnecessary life, or unwilling participants.
It’d be a lie, if she said it wasn’t hectic. Kevin’s legacy left some awfully big shoes to fill, and, anytime mention of the Flamechasers came up, she couldn’t help but think back to Elysia. Even now, years and years later, she still missed her; the giggly, teasing, bright pink aura of the woman had been one of her only comforts when she had first set out after Nagazora. She took solace in the fact that, even now, she was still watching over her, and she hoped her actions made the ghost of her smile.
Natasha had stuck around; Raven, as she still liked to be called. She was one of her closest advisors, and, in truth, became an even closer friend. Hare, and Jackal, too, were still present, though Hare spent most of her time bothering Bronya, and Mei made it a point to see Jackal as little as she possibly could. She might claim not to, but, really, who could blame her if she still held a grudge after what she did in Arc City?
Hua’s story, comparatively, was calm.
She was retired now—a lifestyle she didn’t quite think would suit her at first, but it shocked everyone just how quickly she adapted. She took to reading, now that she had the time to, she helped with the kids, she had a garden in the backyard that she poured hours into in order to get it to bear fruit. She still worked, technically—she did some consulting here and there for Schicksal, and Anti Entropy—but, compared to the previous fifty thousand years of her life, it was calm. And she liked it that way.
In truth, it didn’t feel like it had been that long; not to Mei, or Kiana, or Hua. Whether it was days feeling like minutes before they reached the new era, or years becoming memories as they watched their kids grow, time seemed to always be moving too fast for their taste.
They were at peace, though. They had each other, and their family, and, for possibly the first time in their lives, they were happy, fully and completely, without any reservations. So, in truth, time could do whatever it wanted; they didn’t mind.