Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Mhm.”

Kiana is lying in bed, but it feels like she’s being watched…

“…”

Kiana looks to the big bird standing on top of her, staring right in front of her face.

The Phoenix remains silent as well…

“Did you really have do it like that, Hua?”

“… I’d like to go to the beach.”

“It’s six in the morning.”

“Exactly.”

The Kaslana and a Phoenix are waiting for the first tram to arrive at the stop.

The eye-catching bird would have garnered the attention of every passer-by if it weren’t for the choice of time and her Herrscher powers. So it’s very calm for the time being.

“So…” Kiana initialises a conversation.

“Why I woke you up for the beach.”

“Yeah.”

“No one at World Serpent: Natasha is busy with personal matters, Mobius is busy refreshing her knowledge in colleges, Pardofelis is busy with the upcoming Valkyrie exams, and Kevin is dead…”

After saying that, she looks up to the sky, which seems to have gotten a very faint ring…

“…”

“It’s alright, I didn’t know how it could be solved either.” Hua adds.

“Sorry, I’ve been busy revalidating Project Save with Theresa.”

“Of course. You’re saying that in front to the one who did Ember.”

“Right.” Kiana sighs. “Really tiring to rebuild civilisation after saving the world a couple of times, don’t you think?”

“Naturally, I’ve been with you the entire time.”

“Yeah.” Kiana nods. “Wow… We’ve been through so much together…”

The bird looks at the incoming tram. “It’s been quite the journey. And I don’t think we’re stopping anytime soon.”

The Herrscher of Finality hums. “I see. Rin is briefing me about future threats for some time already. I guess we better make the best of the peace we have.”

“That’s exactly why we’re here. Though it’s a bit sad we couldn’t invite the others; like that one time we held a beach barbecue with everyone involved. Oh man, that was so fun!”

“Well, I look forward to the next beach activity!”

The tram stops in front of the duo.

“… Even if it’s in winter?” Hua comments.

“Especially if it’s in winter.” Says Kiana as she steps inside the tram. “Makes it even funnier.”

“I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to ask.” The bird is following right behind the Kaslana inside the tram.

Kiana holds the Schicksal issued public transit pass in front of the ticket scanner. It beeps once.

The Herrscher and the Phoenix promptly take a seat as the tram’s doors close. The tram swiftly departs on time, no delays.

Hua the Phoenix picks up the talk. “It’s not like the cold is of any concern. Almost everyone is either a Mantis or a Herrscher.”

“Or multi-Herrscher. And I or Himeko can always put a bonfire somewhere.”

“Or… we can pass the bird around. Heh.”

“Pfft. Oh man, it’s going to be hilarious if we really do that.”

“It’s always good to have options.”

“Rin tells me about how she can take over some functions at Schicksal at the cost of introducing additional attack vectors.”

“Hmm. It’s a though choice I have to say. With Rin relieving the load on staff allows us to focus our attention elsewhere, but being over-reliant on her means that if she is compromised, it’s going to be a hell of a mess to contain.”

“Yep. It’s one of many things that keep Theresa awake. Time will tell what decisions she’ll make. I’m sure she’ll do what’s best for everyone involved.”

“Mhm.” Garuda glances at the screen near the tram doors. “Our stop is after this one.”

Kiana takes a look at the beach. “No one’s there.”

“More space for us!”

Here they are.

At the beach.

Very nice.

“Hmm…” Kiana glances at Hua. “What now?”

“We can swim, or walk along the shore.”

The waves seem to be calm. Even if they weren’t, Kiana and Hua can just fly out of it.

“We could have a swim.”

“Then let’s do that.”

The duo are some distance away from the shore. Roughly 30 metres away. Kiana is floating on her back while Garuda is floating next to the Kaslana. The bird is naturally buoyant.

“We could do this more often…” Kiana tells the bird next to her.

“Hmm… As the Herrscher of Finality, can you ‘make’ more time?”

“Global time fractures? Sure. I hope there aren’t any lasting effects on space and time, even though I use it very often myself.”

“And practically every Valkyrie wearing a battlesuit.”

“Yep. So I guess it wouldn’t hurt?”

“Perhaps.”

The effects on excessive time fracture usage remains a mystery to the Herrscher and Bird. Something to think about for another time.

For now, the two enjoying each others presence in the sunrise, while floating on the sea. Even though they remain mostly silent throughout the morning, it’s still worth cherishing over it.

Besides, it’s just funny to see a Phoenix, a bird known for (being on) fire, vibing on the sea.

Chapter Text

It’s currently calm in the court of Saint Freya. Only the Herrscher of the Void, Sirin, is sitting on a bench near the centre fountain.

There also happens to be a Garuda on top of said fountain.

“What’s up.” Hua talks to the Herrscher below.

“You.” The purple haired Herrscher smiles.

“Heh.” The Phoenix nods. “Nothing to do this week?”

“Indeed, no assignments this week.” Sirin replies. “I see you’re taking the form of a bird more often. May I know the reason behind it?”

“Because it’s funny, I can let go of some responsibilities for some time, and free transit!”

“Fair.” The Herrscher remembers that time when Bella made herself ELF sized, and was able to get discounts for pretty much everywhere.

“Of course, I can change back into my human form no problem when it is needed. But for now, I’ll be a bird.”

Sirin nods. “That’s good to know.” As she glances at the bird again, something enters her thought. “… Do you mind if a carry you around?”

The Phoenix glides down from the fountain and lands in front of Sirin.

“Feel free to pick me up.” Says the bird who is about half the size of Sirin.

Thanks to being the Herrscher of the Void, Sirin effortlessly lifts the sizeable bird.

“So, where to next?” Sirin inquires.

“Schicksal HQ. There’s the highest ice cream stand.”

Hua the bird is standing on top of a table.

“…”

And also staring at Sirin, seated at said table.

“Something the matter?”

“I don’t have hands…”

“You only realised that now?”

“… Yes.”

“Hold on. Don’t Honkai beasts have some latent telekinesis when they rise in the ranks?”

“…”

Hua attempts to levitate the wooden spoon with her mind.

Despite having lived inside the body of Kiana and Sirin for half a year, she still hasn’t grasped spatial manipulation. Perhaps it’s because she isn’t a multi-Herrscher like Pardofelis. Or because she’s merely a ‘bird’ contrary to a meta-morph form of Kevin, who is able to lift massive blocks of ice, though Kevin can only do ice related things.

However, it must be mentioned that he is dead! So, clearly the Phoenix is superior!

“Oh.” Sirin witnesses the wooden spoon go up in flames. “Sorry, I can’t easily make a Herrscher core for you right now. But, you can use your Sentience powers on me and indirectly become telekinetic!”

“Oh right. I can do that.”

Sirin relaxes, which easily allows the Garuda to take over the controls of the Void.

At last, the bird can now eat ice cream with a spoon!

Well, the wooden spoon is still burning because Hua hasn’t bothered to extinguish it. As the bird is enjoying eating ice cream, eventually, the spoon burns up.

No more spoon.

:(

Even Sirin could feel Hua become saddened, even though she made no effort to extinguish the fire while she easily could.

“Just pick up the entire ice scoop and send it to your mouth.” Sirin notes.

Hua takes her advice, but the Mantis accidentally launches the ice cream to her face and subsequently creates a mess covering the bird and Sirin.

“Sorry.”

The Herrscher seems to be unfazed at the scene she’s in. “… At least ice cream is free for S-rankers and Herrschers.”

Chapter Text

A Phoenix is sitting in the sink. The bird fits exactly in the basin of the kitchen.

Oh right. She has reduced her size to be able to fit in the sink. It’s a thing that all powerful Honkai beasts are able to do, and thus Mantises.

Right now, the water is almost about to spill over, for the hefty bird is blocking the overflow plate.

Good thing that the other Herrscher of Sentience just so happens to pass by and close the tap.

“Oh. Hi, Senti” The bird speaks.

“What?” The Herrscher looks surprised at the bird. “You can turn into a bird?! You never told me about your secret form!”

“I thought you have my memories.”

“Not entirely, more like your other half of your memories. But anyway, you’re a Phoenix.”

“You want to be a Phoenix too?”

“Well…” Senti reaches out to pet the bird. “I will certainly consider it. Though, why were you overflowing the sink just now?”

“… Mischief.”

“Nah, no way! Isn’t that more my kind of job?!”

“As a bird, I can blame it on Mantis genes. They won’t mind, hopefully.”

“Man… Now I actually want to join you with your Phoenix adventure!”

Kiana is sitting on the edge of the central water fountain. The Herrscher of Finality is eating a chicken sandwich.

Two interesting fowl run towards the Kaslana. One is a typical bright red bird, while the other is black and white with shades in between.

“Chirp chirp.”

“Hua and Senti. A surprise to see you here!”

“We are here to beg for your food.” Senti comes up with a demand. “Kindly feed us your meal.”

“But, it’s chicken. Isn’t that a bit… strange?”

“We’ve seen Bella eat Honkai beasts no problem, so what’s stopping us from doing the same?”

“Okay, fair point.” Kiana splits the remaining sandwich in half and begins hand feeding the Phoenixes. “Have at it.”

“Thank you for your donation, Kiana.” Hua shows her appreciation by practically inhaling the sandwich.

This surprises Kiana. “Oh wow. I didn’t know you could do that.”

Senti voices her judgement. “I hope it didn’t cost a fortune, because it tastes like the one’s at the cafeteria in Anti Entropy’s Salt Lake base. Man, anything they sall at military bases far away costs a fortune! And yet, I can walk to the nearest supermarket within the base and it suddenly becomes several dollars or euros cheaper!”

“No worries. I got one of the last sandwiches before they closed! So they put a large discount on them.”

“Oh.” Hua tilts her head. “It’s getting late already?”

“We’re still in the afternoon, Hua!” Senti honks. “We can still surprise the cadets leaving classes!”

“Well then.” Kiana stretches her arms. “It sounds like you two have more important matter to attend to. So…”

Both birds reply: “See you next time, Kiana!”

“See you tomorrow, Senti and Hua!”