Chapter Text
Kiana would have lost to the Herrscher of Sentience long ago if Fu Hua wasn’t there to help her defend against her devastating attacks. The class monitor could finally come back home with them, right? Perhaps they could finally have a happy conclusion to a big fight. They have defeated the herrscher, after all.
However, what Fu Hua said proved otherwise, “What did you just say, class monitor?!” Kiana shouted at her and hoped she heard her wrong. “We should say goodbye to each other,” She repeated while holding the consciousness of the herrscher in her hands. Kiana could already guess what she was going to do. Fu Hua was going to seal the herrscher with herself.
“Wait, there got to be another way!” The herrscher does have good intentions to protect humanity. Fu Hua doesn’t have to take such an extreme measure, so why…
“Perhaps, but this is my mission.” Fu Hua automatically responded, and those words struck Kiana. They were the same words Kiana had told Mei back in Nagazora. She was beginning to understand Mei’s devastation. What is the point of victory if you exchange your life in return…
Without letting Kiana further object to the idea, Fu Hua was gone. “Fu Hua!” Kiana shouted. She couldn’t let her sacrifice herself like that! No matter how many times she had called for the class monitor’s name, there was no response, except a feather was left behind. Kiana cupped it gently in her hand as the familiar warmth from the feather slowly fading away along with the illusional world. The feather was almost like a parting gift.
Enough.
She would no longer let herself or others sacrifice themselves to win a battle. No one should be chained to their mission. She is going to bring back Fu Hua. The class monitor is more than a friend to her. Fu Hua had always been there for her whenever Kiana needed someone most. This time Kiana would do her best to be there for her. Concentrating on her void power, she opened a portal where she felt the presence of Fu Hua and the other herrscher. She is going to reach her and bring her back home…
Kiana woke up to find herself in a bedroom with the feather still in her hand. Where is she? She was supposed to break Fu Hua out of the seal, so why would she be here… Kiana sat up to see if she could find Fu Hua.. “Hello! Wakey, wakey!” A feline girl with cat ears and a tail entered the room. What- What is going on? Kiana quickly put the feather in her pocket.
“Who are you?” Kiana asked, confused why she was dreaming about a cat girl.
“I’m Pardofelis! I came to fetch you!”
“What?”
“You’re part of our squad from this day on!”
Kiana only got more confused, but perhaps this was the cause of the herrscher of sentience’s core, and she was living through the memories. She needed to get out of here, but she decided to play along for now. Maybe there would be clues on how to get out. Fortunately, Kiana had some knowledge of the previous era thanks to the herrscher’s setup of making her and Bronya see Fu Hua’s memories.
“Right…” Kiana nodded and stood up from her bed to follow the girl named Pardofelis.
“That would be 20 coins for me coming to wake you up personally!”
“Wait, what?!” She had no money, and what kind of person would ask someone to pay for that?!
“Hehehe, I’m kidding! Our squad captain is punctual and strict, so you would get yelled at if you’re even a minute late!” Pardofelis shivered a little at the thought of it. “But what is your name? I have never seen you around.”
She was thankful she came to get her then. “I am Kiana, and yeah, I’m new here!” Kiana glanced at herself in the mirror, and she was wearing a uniform that this organization must have issued. It seemed she had a role to play in this world.
The two of them arrived at the meetup place, and Kiana was finally able to find Fu Hua. Well, not the Fu Hua she knows. She looked much younger and less sure of herself, but it was still her. “Hey, Fu Hua!” Kiana waved at her and realized it was a mistake on her part to do so.
“Fu Hua?” The soldier tilted her head to the side. “I’m Hua,” She corrected her.
“Oh, sorry- I guess I remembered your name wrong….” Kiana laughed awkwardly and forgot she went by another name in this time period.
“Wow, Hua! You’re getting famous around here!” Pardofelis wrapped an arm around her.
“I’m not… and it is probably because of Captain Himeko,” Hua responded. Right, Fu Hua did have a mentor in the past that went by the name of Himeko.
Kiana found it strange that the two mentors looked and had the same name. Maybe it is like reincarnation. Kiana didn’t dwell on that for too long because it was making her head for coming up with an explanation.
“Yeah, still sorry for remembering your name wrong, but I’m Kiana!” She offered her a handshake. Hua reluctantly accepted her handshake, “Nice to meet you.” She said quietly, and Kiana found the shy Hua adorable.
“Where’s Kosma and captain?” Pardo asked as she looked around for the other two individuals.
“I’m right here.” A teenage boy walked up to the trio. Kiana noticed the traits of the honkai beast on him that were more apparent than the rest. He had horns and scale-like arms.
“You had been here all along?! We need to put a bell on you! You walk so quietly!” Pardofelis suggested.
“No,” He replied simply.
Pardo sighed, “But where is the captain? Usually, she is here first.”
“Today, I am your captain!” A cheerful voice entered the room, and there was only one word Kiana could describe her: pink. She was a young woman with elf ears, and Kiana got to admit she did find her beautiful. Elysia also looked at her, “Oh my, we have a handsome one that joined us!” The elf walked over to give her a hug which caught Kiana off guard by her straightforwardness, even though the elf was anything but straight.
“Ugh, nice to meet you too! You look pretty too!” Kiana wrapped her arms around her awkwardly and was blushing slightly from embarrassment.
“Hehehe, I like you here already. I am Elysia. Remember my name, okay?”
“I will- I’m Kiana!”
Elysia opened her mouth to flirt with her more, but Pardo quickly interrupted, “As much as I enjoy standing here and doing nothing, we are not paid by the hours but by the missions we do!”
“Oh, right! My apologies. I got too excited meeting our new member!” Elysia chuckled and looked at the papers she had in her hand. “Today, our mission is to retrieve some of the keys of dominations taken by a group of people.”
“Wait, we are dealing with people? But I thought our job is to fight Honkai, not people!” Pardo pointed out that Kiana agreed and found it strange.
“We are not going to fight them but investigate why they did so, which is where you come in, Pardo. You’re excellent at collecting information for us,” Elysia clarified. “I am certain the people only took the weapons because honkai had been messing with them. Any more questions?” The other three shook their head.
As for now, the mission sounded simple enough for Kiana, but she still had to focus on her main objective to break Fu Hua out of the seal. She could only hope the mission would help her.