Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The morning sun peeked through the dormitory windows, casting a warm glow over the battlefield of blankets, leftover reports, and empty snack wrappers that littered the room. Birds chirped outside, their peaceful melody shattered by a loud crash.

Kiana groaned, her face buried in her pillow. "Mei…five more minutes…" She mumbled, her voice muffled by fabric.

"That wasn’t me."

The voice responding wasn’t Mei’s. It wasn’t Bronya’s monotone or Fu Hua’s calm reprimand either. No, this voice carried an unmistakable haughtiness that had no business being in her room at this hour.

Kiana bolted upright, sleep instantly forgotten. "Void?! What the hell are you doing in here?!"

Standing in the middle of the room, casually sipping what was definitely Kiana’s last carton of chocolate milk, was the Herrscher of the Void. Now that she had her own body, her presence had become more of an inconvenience than an existential crisis. Dressed in her usual regal attire-completely out of place in a mundane dormitory-Void raised an unimpressed brow. "Your so-called ‘door locks’ are a joke. I thought, why not help myself to your pitiful mortal offerings?" She swirled the carton dramatically before downing the rest in one go. "Hmm. Mediocre, but tolerable."

Kiana twitched. "That was my last one!"

"And now it is mine." Void smirked, wiping her lips with an elegance that didn’t suit someone who had just committed petty theft.

Before Kiana could pounce, the door slid open, revealing Mei, already dressed in her Battlesuit, a quiet reminder that even in peaceful times, the fight was never far away. She surveyed the scene-the tangled blankets, Kiana glaring daggers at Void, and the empty milk carton rolling onto the floor-and sighed.

"Another normal morning, I see." Mei remarked.

"Mei, Void stole my milk!" Kiana whined, pointing an accusatory finger at the unbothered Herrscher.

"I prefer the term ‘reclaimed as tribute.’" Void corrected.

Mei shook her head as she walked over to the mini-fridge, retrieving a fresh carton before handing it to Kiana. "I bought extras yesterday. Here."

Kiana’s eyes sparkled with gratitude. "Mei, you’re a lifesaver!"

Void scoffed. "Tch. How pathetic. Groveling over sustenance. How very human of you."

"You literally stole my milk five minutes ago!"

Bronya entered next, her usual calm demeanor unaffected by the scene before her. "Bronya advises against engaging in conflict with the Herrscher of the Void. It will further impact Kiana’s already lacking mission performance."

Kiana gasped. "Et tu, Bronya?!"

Void, satisfied with her morning chaos, gracefully seated herself on Kiana’s bed. "This has been entertaining. Alas, I must find new ways to amuse myself." She twirled her fingers, opening a rift in space before stepping through it as if she owned the place. "Try not to miss me too much, Kiana."

With that, she vanished, leaving only an empty milk carton and Kiana’s mounting frustration.

Mei patted Kiana’s shoulder. "Just another day in St. Freya."

Kiana groaned. "I need a vacation."

Bronya was already heading for the door. "We have a briefing in fifteen minutes. Kiana should consider preparing instead of complaining."

The realization hit Kiana like a truck. "FIFTEEN MINUTES?!"

And so began another perfectly normal day in Kiana’s life.

That morning disaster was only the beginning. After a frantic struggle to get dressed-one that involved nearly tripping over her own feet five times-she rushed out the door, toast in mouth, dashing through the corridors of St. Freya’s operations center like a soldier late for deployment.

"No time, no time, no time!" she chanted, dodging fellow Valkyries with near-superhuman agility. Her only goal was reaching the meeting on time-until she saw Void strolling leisurely down the hallway, completely unbothered.

Kiana skidded to a halt. "Wait a minute-you!"

Void smirked, barely sparing her a glance. "Ah, Kiana. Still running like a headless chicken, I see."

"Why aren’t you worried about being late?!"

"Why should I be? Time is irrelevant to one such as myself."

Kiana groaned. "I swear, one of these days-!"

"Kiana!" Mei’s voice snapped her back to reality. "Stop picking fights with Void and keep moving!"

"Right!" Kiana bolted again, leaving Void behind with a chuckle.

By the time she reached the meeting room, she was out of breath, barely managing to slide into her seat as the holo-screen activated. Bronya, seated next to her, blinked slowly. "Kiana has survived another morning catastrophe. Impressive."

"Barely!" Kiana wheezed, slumping over her desk.

From across the room, Void had somehow managed to claim a seat near the window, lounging as if the world were her stage.

The day, unfortunately, had only begun. By lunchtime, Kiana had already received two lectures about mission readiness, lost a confiscated snack to Bronya, and endured a surprise combat drill she absolutely wasn’t prepared for.

At least lunch would be peaceful. Or so she thought.

"Kiana, you are not eating that," Mei said firmly, watching as Kiana attempted to scarf down a tray of cafeteria food that looked…questionable at best.

"Mei, I’m starving!" Kiana whined, stuffing a spoonful of mystery stew into her mouth.

Bronya observed, unimpressed. "Bronya predicts Kiana will regret this decision in approximately twenty minutes."

Void, who had somehow claimed a seat at their table, smirked as she delicately picked at a piece of bread. "Oh, this is delightful. Do continue, Kiana."

Mei sighed. "Don’t encourage her."

"Too late!" Kiana grinned, already halfway through her plate.

As predicted, twenty minutes later, Kiana groaned in agony. "Ugh…Mei…help.”

Mei rubbed her temples. "I told you."

Void chuckled. "This has been an excellent show. I shall return for the next episode."

Kiana barely had the strength to glare. "You suck, Void."

"I know."

And so, with a full stomach and an aching regret, Kiana braced herself for whatever absurdity the rest of the day had in store.

Chapter Text

Kiana flopped onto the couch, arms stretched over her head as she let out a satisfied sigh. “Finally! A whole day off with nothing to do!”

Mei, sitting nearby with a cup of tea, raised an eyebrow. “Nothing to do? You could use this time to train, or at least review mission reports.”

Kiana waved a hand dismissively. “Nah, today’s for relaxation. No Honkai, no missions, no responsibilities! Just pure, blissful-”

The door burst open.

“-chaos.” Bronya finished for her, stepping inside with a stack of game cases in her arms.

Behind her, Seele peeked in. “Bronya said today was game night. I brought snacks!”

Kiana sat up immediately. “Game night? Why didn’t anyone tell me?! I would’ve been emotionally prepared for this!”

“Because if we did.” Bronya said, setting the games down. “You would have tried to turn it into a ‘Kiana-centric tournament of greatness.’”

Kiana gasped, placing a hand over her heart. “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

Void, who had suddenly materialized in the room without invitation, took a seat on the armrest of the couch. “Oh, this sounds amusing. I do enjoy a good competition.”

Kiana groaned. “No. No you don’t. You just enjoy watching me suffer.”

Void smirked. “Both things can be true.”

Mei sighed, sipping her tea. “Fine. Just...don’t break anything.”

The first game on the list? Kart racing.

Bronya, Seele, Void, Kiana, and Mei each grabbed a controller as the game loaded up.

“This will be a test of pure skill.” Bronya declared.

“Or a test of patience.” Mei muttered.

Kiana cracked her knuckles. “Alright, let’s do this!”

The race started.

The first lap was relatively normal. Kiana sped ahead with reckless abandon, Mei stayed steady in second place, Bronya and Seele were neck and neck, and Void…well, Void drove like she was testing how much damage she could inflict before losing.

Then lap two hit.

Kiana, moments from victory, was struck by not one, but three consecutive attacks.

“What - WHO DID THAT?!” Kiana yelled as her kart spun off the track.

Bronya barely glanced up from her controller. “Bronya advises against reckless driving.”

Void giggled. “Oh dear, was that your lead? Tragic.”

Kiana gritted her teeth and respawned, gunning for revenge. But before she could regain her spot, Seele casually tossed another obstacle in her path.

“Seele! I thought we were friends!” Kiana wailed.

“Sorry, Kiana.” Seele said sweetly. “But you’re too competitive. It’s for your own good!”

Kiana fumed as Mei crossed the finish line first, followed closely by Bronya, Seele, and finally Void, who somehow finished despite crashing into nearly everything.

And Kiana? Dead last.

She dropped her controller in defeat. “This is rigged.”

Mei patted her shoulder. “Maybe next time, don’t provoke everyone at once.”

Void laughed. “Oh no, let her. It’s much more entertaining this way.”

Kiana slumped back, groaning. “I need a rematch.”

Bronya selected the next game. “Too bad. We’re playing survival mode next.”

Kiana sat up immediately. “Wait - survival mode?”

Mei smirked. “The one where you have to last as long as possible without failing.”

Kiana paled as Bronya scrolled through the game menu, stopping at a mode labeled Survival Mode – Extreme Difficulty.

“Hold up, hold up.” Kiana said, waving her hands. “We just finished a racing game! Shouldn’t we do something relaxing? Like...I dunno, a fishing simulator or something?”

Mei smirked. “Oh? But weren’t you the one who demanded a rematch?”

“I take it back.” Kiana said quickly.

Void leaned forward, eyes glinting with amusement. “No no, I like this. Let’s see how long the mighty Kiana Kaslana can last.”

Bronya set the game up. A dark screen with ominous music loaded, revealing a desolate battlefield. The objective was simple: survive wave after wave of increasingly difficult enemies.

Seele tilted her head. “I’ve never played this mode before. Is it difficult?”

“Very.” Bronya replied. “Teamwork is required. One mistake, and everything crumbles.”

Kiana gulped. “That’s a lot of pressure, Bronya.”

“Good luck.” Bronya said flatly, clicking Start.

The screen darkened.

Wave 1: Start.

The group spawned in, weapons at the ready. The first wave of enemies was manageable; slow, predictable, easy to take down.

Kiana smirked, slicing through a group of monsters with ease. “Ha! This is nothing! I could do this all day.”

Then the second wave started.

Then the third.

Then the fourth.

By wave ten, the difficulty had skyrocketed. The enemies were faster, stronger, and swarmed in absurd numbers.

“HELP!” Kiana shrieked as she ran in circles, trying to avoid getting surrounded. “WHY ARE THERE SO MANY?!”

Mei, holding her ground, slashed through enemies with practiced ease. “Kiana, stop running around and help!”

“I AM HELPING!” Kiana yelled, still running.

Void, who had been watching from a distance, smirked. “This is the most entertainment I’ve had all week.”

Bronya was unfazed, landing precise shots. “If Kiana keeps running, she will lead the enemies directly to us.”

“Wait, what-”

Before Kiana could finish, she accidentally dragged the entire wave of enemies toward her teammates.

“KIANA!” Mei, Seele, and Bronya shouted in unison.

The screen flashed red.

Game Over.

The room was silent.

Kiana slowly turned to her friends, trying to look innocent. “Uh...Oops?”

Mei pinched the bridge of her nose. “That was the worst performance I’ve ever seen.”

Void chuckled, arms crossed. “Oh, I loved that. Let’s do it again.”

Kiana groaned, slumping against the couch. “I hate survival mode.”

Bronya, already resetting the game, deadpanned, “Good. Because we’re playing until we win.”

Kiana’s eyes widened in horror.

“Wait—NO! NOT AGAIN—”

Wave 1: Start.

Kiana gripped her controller like her life depended on it. In a way, it did - if she failed one more time, she was sure Mei would make her do push-ups until sunrise.

“Alright, new strategy,” Kiana declared, puffing out her chest. “I don’t run this time.”

“Good.” Mei said, sighing.

Bronya adjusted her headset. “Bronya will take point. Mei covers the left flank. Seele provides support from behind. Kiana…do not do anything reckless.”

Kiana pouted. “Do you guys not trust me?”

Void chuckled from her seat on the couch, sipping tea. “They shouldn’t.”

Kiana shot her a glare before turning back to the screen.

Wave 1: Start.

The first few waves went smoothly. Kiana, determined to redeem herself, actually listened to Mei’s orders. She covered her assigned area, dodged enemy attacks, and most importantly - did not run aimlessly in circles.

By wave 15, things started getting intense.

“I need backup on the right side!” Seele called out, dodging an incoming attack.

“I got you!” Kiana shouted, dashing over and striking down a monster before it could reach her.

Seele smiled. “Nice save!”

Mei glanced over. “She’s actually improving.”

Void smirked. “Oh? How long do you think it’ll last?”

As if on cue, wave 20 began.

A massive enemy twice the size of the others appeared on-screen, towering over the characters. The game flashed a warning:

BOSS WAVE: APPROACHING.

Kiana’s eyes widened. “Wait - WHAT?!”

The boss roared and charged straight at her.

“Kiana, MOVE!” Bronya shouted.

Kiana panicked and, once again, did the worst possible thing.

She ran.

Straight toward the boss.

“Not that way!” Mei grimaced.

It was too late. The boss swung its giant claw, hitting Kiana so hard her character was launched across the screen.

Bronya sighed. “She’s dead.”

Void burst into laughter.

Void wheezed, clutching her sides as the words “PLAYER DOWN” appeared on the screen.

Mei facepalmed. Seele giggled behind her hands. Bronya sighed like she had aged twenty years.

Kiana groaned, sinking into the couch. “I hate this game.”

“Correction.” Bronya said flatly. “This game hates you.”

Void wiped away a tear, smirking. “Oh, that was glorious. Worth every second.”

Mei exhaled deeply. “Alright. That’s enough survival mode for one day.”

Kiana perked up instantly. “You mean we’re done?!”

“Not quite.” Bronya said, clicking through the game’s menu. “Now we’re playing team battle mode.”

Kiana blinked. "Ain't that just us fighting each other?”

Mei cracked her knuckles. “Yes.”

Seele giggled. “This’ll be fun.”

Void grinned. “Oh, this is about to get interesting.”

Kiana paled.

The screen flashed.

MATCH START.

Chapter Text

The dormitory was unusually quiet that morning, an eerie contrast to the usual chaos that accompanied Kiana’s existence. Mei was in the kitchen preparing breakfast, Bronya was reading, and Kiana...well, she was still asleep or unconscious from exhaustion.

Void, on the other hand, sat elegantly on the couch, observing her surroundings with an air of superiority. This was her domain now.

“Void.” Mei called from the kitchen, barely sparing her a glance. “Don’t touch anything.”  

Void smirked, swirling the teacup she had conjured purely to look sophisticated. “Oh, Mei, you wound me. Do you truly believe I would sully my hands with mundane chores?”  

“Yes.” Mei and Bronya said in unison.  

Void rolled her eyes. “I am a being of higher purpose. You mortals should be grateful that I grace you with my presence.”  

Bronya didn’t even look up from her book. “Bronya disagrees.”  

Void huffed, tossing her hair over her shoulder. “Well, I don’t require your approval.”  

She leaned back on the couch, pondering what to do with her day. Annoying Kiana was always an option, but there was no fun in bullying someone who was still asleep. Mei was too sharp to fall for tricks, and Bronya...well, Bronya was immune to her antics at this point.  

A thought occurred to her.  

She had spent so much time reacting to the nonsense of this household, but today? Today was going to be different.  

Today, Void would be the agent of chaos. 

And she would do so completely undetected.

A smirk crept onto her lips.  

“Oh, this will be fun.”  

The first target: Mei’s Kitchen.  

Void casually strolled in, arms crossed behind her back. Mei was focused on her cooking, her precision flawless as she cut vegetables with machine-like efficiency.  

Void wasn’t reckless. She knew that outright sabotage would get her banned from the kitchen, so she opted for something more subtle.

With the tiniest flick of her fingers, a barely noticeable spatial distortion nudged the spice jars ever so slightly.  

Mei, completely unaware, reached for what she thought was salt - only to grab the jar of sugar instead.  

Void fought back a smirk as Mei sprinkled it into the pan.  

Then, without a sound, Void disappeared from the kitchen.  

She was so good at this.*

The second target: Bronya’s Tablet.

Bronya was still sitting at the table, flipping through a document on her tablet with quiet focus.  

Void teleported just out of sight, watching intently.  

This required finesse. With another subtle movement, she distorted the screen just enough to invert all the controls.  

Bronya reached out, tapped the screen - only for the document to scroll in the complete opposite direction.

She frowned. Tapped again.  

The pagezoomed in instead.

Void covered her mouth, stifling a laugh.  

Bronya narrowed her eyes. She knew.

Slowly, her head turned toward where Void was standing - except Void had already vanished.  

A Perfect execution.

  The final target: Kiana.

Ah, Kiana.  

Void had so many options. She could rearrange the furniture so Kiana walked into a table half-asleep, switch all the labels on her snack stash, or, her personal favorite, give Kiana the sensation that she was floating in zero gravity for a solid five seconds upon waking up.  

Yes. That last one sounded perfect. 

Void slipped into Kiana’s room like a shadow, finding her target still curled up under the covers, completely defenseless.  

With a flick of her wrist, the space beneath Kiana broke for just a second.  

The result?  

Kiana’s body suddenly lifted off the bed. 

She stayed suspended in the air for five full seconds, completely weightless, before -

THUMP! 

Gravity snapped back, and Kiana crashed onto the mattress.  

A confused, muffled groan came from under the blankets. “Huh?”  

Void grinned. Mission accomplished.

She teleported back to the living room, settling into her usual elegant pose just as Mei walked in with plates of breakfast.  

Bronya, frowning at her tablet, muttered, “Something is wrong.”  

Mei, sniffing the air, frowned. “Why does this smell...off?”  

And then, from Kiana’s room -

“WHY DOES IT FEEL LIKE I GOT DROPKICKED BY DURANDAL?!”  

Void sipped her tea, looking innocent.

“Oh, what a lovely morning.”  

Void sat on the couch, waiting for the reactions to roll in. It was a game of patience now. She had done her part, setting up just the right amount of small disturbances. Now all that was left was to sit back and enjoy the results.

Mei took a bite of her food first. She chewed for a few seconds before pausing, a frown settling on her face.

“This...tastes weird.”

Bronya, still distracted by her tablet, responded without looking up. “Mei’s food never tastes weird.”

Mei took another bite, slower this time. Then she looked down at the plate and back at the spice rack across the kitchen. Her eyes narrowed slightly.

Void sipped her tea, keeping her expression neutral.

“I could have sworn I used salt.” Mei muttered. She picked up the container she had grabbed earlier, turning it over in her hands before opening it and tasting a pinch.

Her eyes widened slightly.

“...This is sugar.”

Bronya finally glanced up. “Unfortunate. Kiana will still eat it.”

Void fought to keep the smirk off her face. Mei sighed, shaking her head before standing up and grabbing the correct seasoning. She wasn’t one to waste food, so she simply adjusted the meal to balance the flavors.

That was fine. Void wasn’t expecting a disaster, just an inconvenience.

She glanced over at Bronya next, who was still frowning at her tablet, tapping at the screen with increasing irritation.

Void leaned back slightly, watching.

Bronya’s eyes narrowed. “This is incorrect.”

Seele, who had just arrived, tilted her head. “What’s wrong?”

Bronya flipped the tablet around to show the screen. “The controls are reversed. Up is down. Down is up.”

Seele blinked. “That sounds...really annoying.”

Bronya exhaled through her nose, staring at the screen as if she could will it back to normal. After a few seconds, she placed it down and calmly took a sip of water.

“Bronya will solve this later.” she said.

Void mentally noted Bronya’s patience. It would take more than that to crack her.

But Kiana...Kiana would be the real entertainment.

As if on cue, Kiana’s door swung open with force. She stumbled out, hair a mess, looking like she had just woken up from the worst sleep of her life.

She pointed an accusing finger at nothing in particular. “Something weird happened.”

Mei glanced at her. “Define weird.”

Kiana looked around, squinting. “I dunno...I think I floated?”

Silence.

Bronya went back to her tablet. Mei continued fixing the food. Seele seemed unsure of how to respond.

Void stirred her tea slowly, keeping her expression as blank as possible.

Kiana frowned. “No, seriously! I woke up, and for like, five seconds, I swear I wasn’t on my bed anymore.”

Mei sighed. “Kiana, what did you eat before going to sleep?”

Kiana crossed her arms. “That’s not important. What matters is that -” She cut herself off, sniffing the air. Then, without hesitation, she walked straight to the table and sat down.

“This food smells weird.” She said.

Mei placed a plate in front of her. “It’s fine. Just eat it.”

Kiana, not one to question free food, immediately started digging in.

Void hid her smirk behind her teacup.

The day was already off to a great start.

Kiana was halfway through her meal when Bronya spoke up again.

“Something is happening.”

Kiana, mouth full, blinked. “Huh?”

Bronya turned her tablet around. “The furniture has moved.”

Mei looked over. “What?”

Bronya tapped the screen, displaying a layout of the dormitory from the security feed. “Look here. The table in the living room is slightly off-center. The couch has moved three centimeters to the left. Several objects on the shelves are not in their original place.”

Seele frowned. “That’s really specific.”

“Bronya memorized the layout of the dorm for efficiency.” Bronya replied.

Void mentally sighed. Of course Bronya would notice that.

Mei took another bite of her food, still suspicious of the sugar incident. Kiana, now finished eating, stretched her arms above her head.

“Man, today feels weird.” Kiana said. “Like, I can’t shake the feeling that something’s messing with me.”

Void was about to respond, but before she could, Kiana snapped her fingers.

“I got it!”

Everyone turned to her.

“Karma.”

Silence.

Mei rubbed her temples. “Kiana.”

“No, think about it!” Kiana said, getting into it now. “What if all the times I messed with people, all the pranks I pulled, all the times I ate food that wasn’t mine - what if all of that is coming back to me now?”

Seele seemed unsure. “That’s...one way to look at it?”

Void had to physically stop herself from laughing. This was better than she expected.

Void was thoroughly enjoying herself. Not only had she successfully gone undetected, but she had also made Kiana doubt her entire existence. There was something satisfying about making someone fall into paranoia without even lifting a finger.

Kiana, who normally wouldn’t hesitate to cause some kind of trouble, was sitting at the table looking uncharacteristically deep in thought. Every now and then, she would glance around the room, as if expecting some cosmic force to strike her down.

Void took a sip of tea. This is almost too easy.

Bronya, still scrolling through her tablet, suddenly spoke. “Bronya has finished recalibrating her controls. The tablet functions as normal.”

Void barely stopped herself from frowning. That was earlier than expected. Bronya was faster at troubleshooting than she had accounted for.

Mei finished washing the dishes and sat down, looking at Kiana. “So, you’re really going to try to be on your best behavior now?”

Kiana nodded. “I mean, yeah. If this is some kind of universal punishment, I gotta make things right before it gets worse.”

Void watched, entertained.

Kiana leaned forward. “You know what? I’m gonna make it up to everyone. I’ll be productive today. Mei, do you need help with anything?”

Mei raised an eyebrow. “Help? From you?”

“Yes! I can be helpful,” Kiana insisted. “What do you need?”

Mei thought about it for a second before sighing. “Fine. You can go organize the storage room.”

Void’s smirk grew. The storage room was going to be fun.

Kiana, determined, jumped to her feet. “Alright! I got this! No slacking, no fooling around. Just hard work.”

Mei handed her the keys. “Don’t break anything.”

Kiana saluted. “You can count on me!”

Bronya didn’t even look up. “Statistically, Kiana will break something.”

Kiana scowled. “Where’s the faith?”

Seele giggled. “Good luck, Kiana.”

Void watched Kiana leave, her smirk widening.

Now for the final part of today’s fun.

The storage room was quiet when Kiana stepped inside. Rows of shelves were stacked with training equipment, extra uniforms, and miscellaneous supplies.

She rolled up her sleeves. “Alright, Kiana. Time to be responsible.”

She started moving a few boxes around, putting things back into place. It was boring, but she wasn’t about to risk upsetting the mysterious force that had been messing with her all day.

That was when it began.

A faint noise. Almost like… a whisper.

Kiana froze. “Huh?”

She turned around. Nothing.

She shook her head. “Nah. Just my imagination.”

She kept working, but then, another noise. This time, a light tapping.

Kiana slowly turned again. The shelves were still. Nothing had moved.

“…Okay. Now I know I heard something.”

She took a step forward.

And then, a box tipped over by itself.

Kiana screamed.

She bolted out of the storage room so fast she nearly crashed into Mei.

“Kiana?” Mei frowned. “What-”

Kiana grabbed her shoulders. “Mei. Mei, listen to me. There is something in there.”

Mei sighed. “Kiana, what are you talking about?”

“The storage room is haunted.”

Void, sitting comfortably in the living room, sipped her tea.

Mei pinched the bridge of her nose. “Kiana.”

“No, I’m serious! There were noises! A box fell over! Something is in there!”

Bronya walked in. “Bronya suspects an overactive imagination.”

Kiana pointed dramatically at the room. “Then you go in there and see for yourself!”

Void nearly laughed.

Mei sighed. “Fine. Let’s check.”

Kiana hesitated but followed behind. The group entered the storage room, with Mei flipping the light switch.

Everything was still. The shelves were normal. No ghosts. No monsters. Just an open window, letting in a breeze.

Mei crossed her arms. “Kiana.”

Kiana blinked. “Wait hold on! I swear I heard something!”

Bronya gestured to the window. “Perhaps the wind caused the box to fall.”

Kiana looked between them and the window, panic fading into realization.

“Oh.”

Void finally allowed herself a tiny chuckle.

Kiana groaned. “Okay. Maybe I overreacted a little.”

Seele smiled. “It’s okay. You were just on edge from earlier.”

Kiana sighed, running a hand through her hair. “I guess today’s just been weird.”

Mei patted her shoulder. “Maybe next time, don’t assume the universe is punishing you.”

Kiana pouted. “I was just being cautious.”

Bronya turned back to her tablet. “Regardless, today’s events were entertaining.”

Void finally spoke, her tone casual. “Yes. Quite a fascinating day, wasn’t it?”

Kiana turned to look at her suspiciously.

Void smiled. “Something wrong?”

Kiana narrowed her eyes.

She stared at Void for a long moment.

Then she sighed. “No...never mind.”

Void leaned back, sipping her tea.

Perfect.

Kiana tapped her chin. “Yeah. Yeah, this all makes sense. The floating? The weird food? The off-kilter furniture? It’s the universe telling me to change my ways.”

Mei sighed, picking up the dishes. “I highly doubt that.”

Bronya closed her tablet. “If Kiana believes that, then she should reflect on her past behavior.”

Kiana nodded. “Yeah. Maybe today...I should just be on my best behavior. No stealing snacks. No skipping training.”

Mei raised an eyebrow. “No skipping training?”

Kiana winced. “Okay, maybe I’ll just start small.”

Void finally allowed herself the smallest smirk. This was turning out even better than she had hoped.

She had turned Kiana against herself.

And nobody suspected a thing.

Chapter Text

It started with a simple dream. A dream of freedom, of the open road, of roaring engines and the wind whipping through her hair. A dream of...well, actually, it started because Kiana saw an ad about a limited-time discount at a driving school and thought, Hey, wouldn't it be cool to have a license?

And so, the disaster began.

The moment she announced her plans, the reactions were immediate.

“You? Driving?” Bronya deadpanned, staring at Kiana like she had just declared her intent to build a rocket to the moon with duct tape and sheer determination. “Statistically speaking, your success rate in any controlled environment is 12%. And that includes cooking.”

“Oh, come on, Bronya!” Kiana puffed up her chest. “I’ll have you know that Kaslanas have incredible reflexes! It’s in my blood!”

Mei sighed, already rubbing her temples. “That didn’t stop you from tripping over your own feet this morning.”

Fu Hua, ever the wise one, simply looked skeptical. “Driving requires discipline, patience, and precision. Do you have any of those, Kiana?”

Kiana pouted. “Jeez, no faith in me at all! Look, I’ll prove you all wrong! Just wait and see—soon enough, I’ll be zooming down the streets in a sweet ride!”

That was how she ended up at St. Freya's Official Driving School, a small but reputable institution run by none other than Theresa Apocalypse herself.

Theresa, looking unusually smug about the situation, greeted Kiana with an enthusiastic pat on the back. “Good, good! I support your ambition, Kiana! In fact, I’ll personally oversee your driving lessons!”

“Oh?” Kiana blinked. “Wait, really? You’re a driving instructor?”

Theresa scoffed, puffing out her tiny chest. “Of course! As the principal of St. Freya, I am legally certified to drive! Just because I don’t often-”

“Because you’re too short to reach the pedals.” Veliona muttered from the sidelines, earning a sharp glare.

Theresa ignored her. “Anyway! Let’s get started with your first lesson!”

The group had gathered in the academy’s open training ground, where a pristine white sedan sat waiting for its new driver. A few other Valkyries, Seele, Bronya, and Senti, had shown up with popcorn in hand, clearly expecting a spectacle.

Kiana slid into the driver’s seat, her grin wide as she ran her hands over the wheel. “Oh yeah. This is it. I was born for this.”

Theresa took the passenger seat, clipboard in hand. “Alright, let’s start with the basics. Hands at 10 and 2, check your mirrors, adjust your seat-”

“Already did!” Kiana interrupted.

“No, you didn’t.”

“Details, details.”

Theresa sighed. “Fine. Press the brake and start the engine.”

Kiana did as she was told, the car roaring to life. She felt the power beneath her fingertips, the thrill of controlling a machine! This was gonna be easy.

“Alright, now gently release the brake and press the gas.”

Kiana grinned. “Got it.”

She pressed the gas.

Hard.

The car lurched forward with a screech, rocketing ahead as Theresa’s clipboard flew out of her hands.

“GENTLE, I SAID GENTLE!!”

The assembled audience immediately scattered as the car jumped the curb, plowed through a row of training cones, and swerved dangerously toward a light post.

“BRAKE, BRAKE, BRAKE!”

“I’M TRYING!!”

In her panic, Kiana pressed the accelerator instead of the brake.

The car skidded wildly, did a full 180° spin, and miraculously stopped just inches away from slamming into Bronya, who had remained perfectly still, unimpressed.

Kiana sat there, white-knuckled, heart pounding. The training ground was now a wreck; cones scattered everywhere, skid marks on the pavement, a piece of Theresa’s clipboard embedded in the windshield.

Theresa, gripping the door handle with all her might, finally managed to pry her fingers off and turn to glare at Kiana.

“You’re not allowed to touch the gas pedal anymore.”

Kiana swallowed. “Maybe just a little?”

“No.”

The peanut gallery burst into laughter.

Senti wiped a tear from her eye. “Oh man, I thought the Honkai was scary, but this? This is true terror!”

Veliona shook her head. “She’s gonna need a miracle to pass at this rate.”

Kiana groaned, slumping forward onto the wheel. “It’s just the first lesson! I’ll get better, I swear!”

Theresa sighed, rubbing her temples. “Fine. We’re going to slowly go over everything again. No sudden movements. No ‘Kaslana instincts.’ Just follow instructions and try not to kill anyone.”

Kiana straightened up, determination blazing in her eyes. “Right! I won’t mess up this time!”

She messed up.

Repeatedly.

Lesson one ended with Kiana being banned from using the gas pedal. Lesson two involved learning how to brake properly after nearly running over a training dummy. By lesson three, Theresa had resorted to remote-controlling the car with an override system to prevent further destruction.

But no matter how many times she failed, Kiana refused to give up.

“I will get this license.” The Herrscher of Finality declared, hands on her hips. “No matter what!”

Bronya deadpanned. “Statistically, this is the part where you either succeed through sheer stubbornness...or cause a nationwide driving ban.”

Kiana grinned. “Let’s find out together!”

The next day, Kiana arrived at the training ground bright and early, dressed in what she called her Serious Business Attire: a jacket, aviator sunglasses, and fingerless gloves.

Bronya stared at her. “What is this?”

“My official ‘Pro Driver’ outfit.” Kiana said proudly, adjusting her sunglasses. “Today, I conquer the road.”

Fu Hua sighed. “Kiana, looking the part doesn’t mean you suddenly gain the skill.”

Senti cackled. “Oh, let her dream! This is the most entertainment I’ve had in weeks.”

Theresa marched up with her clipboard, looking ten years older than she did yesterday. “Alright, Kiana. Today, we focus on turning, parking, and road safety. And by safety, I mean not treating the car like a missile.”

“Pfft. I wasn’t that bad.”

Veliona rolled her eyes. “The tire marks on the training ground beg to differ.”

Theresa didn’t waste time. She hopped into the passenger seat and tapped the dashboard. “Alright, start the engine. Gently. Gently.”

Kiana turned the key, the engine humming to life. So far, so good.

“Now, smoothly release the brake and-”

The car jerked forward suddenly, sending Theresa slamming into the seatbelt.

“Kiana!!”

Kiana laughed nervously. “Oops?”

Theresa groaned. “Okay, forget moving for now. Let’s start with turning. You see that orange cone? Drive around it in a smooth, controlled turn.”

Kiana nodded, gripping the wheel. “Smooth. Controlled. Got it.”

The car veered wildly, knocking over the cone with a pitiful plop.

Silence.

“Kiana.” Theresa said slowly. “Why did you aim for the cone?”

“I wasn’t aiming!”

Seele peered at the wrecked cone. “Are we sure about that?”

Theresa sighed. “Okay, okay. Let’s try parking. See that space? Slowly-”

Kiana swerved into the space at an angle so extreme that the entire car was sideways, two wheels up on the curb.

Veliona facepalmed. “She parked diagonally. In a straight parking spot.”

Senti burst out laughing. “I’m crying! This is art!”

Theresa inhaled deeply, muttering something about patience. “Alright. Reverse and try again.”

Kiana shifted into reverse.

The car lurched backward; directly toward Bronya.

Bronya, unfazed, took one step to the side, completely avoiding impact. The car slammed into a street lamp.

A tense silence fell over the training ground.

Theresa’s eye twitched. “That was reverse. Reverse is supposed to go slowly.”

Kiana chuckled nervously. “Would you believe me if I said I got confused?”

“No. Absolutely not.”

Bronya crossed her arms. “This is why the Bronya suggested an emergency brake system.”

Kiana threw her hands up. “Come on, it’s not that bad! At least I didn’t hit you!”

“That is because the Bronya moved.”

Fu Hua, ever the diplomat, stepped forward. “Maybe Kiana just needs a different teaching method. Let’s try a simulated driving experience first?”

Senti smirked. “What, like video games? Oh, please, if Kiana’s driving is anything like her gaming skills, we’re doomed.”

Still, they tried.

They set up a virtual driving simulator in the training room, and Kiana sat in front of the screen, gripping a steering wheel controller.

Theresa crossed her arms. “Alright, virtual test. Just follow the traffic laws, and we’ll-”

BAM!

Kiana immediately crashed into a digital pedestrian.

The training room fell into stunned silence.

Seele’s jaw dropped. “The simulation just started.”

Theresa rubbed her temples. “I don’t even know how to react anymore.”

Veliona grinned. “I do. Let’s double down!”

Kiana narrowed her eyes. “Oh, now it’s personal. One more round!”

The second attempt lasted longer. She managed to drive straight for a full minute before she clipped a curb and spiraled into five more virtual pedestrians.

Bronya slowly turned to Theresa. “Would you like to cancel the driving exam now, or shall we wait for the inevitable real-world disaster?”

Theresa buried her face in her hands. “Why. Why is this happening.”

Kiana groaned, slamming her hands on the desk. “This is rigged! I can totally drive in real life!”

Fu Hua hesitated before speaking. “Well...I wouldn’t say ‘totally.’”

Kiana crossed her arms. “You all just wait! I’ll pass the exam and prove you wrong!”

Senti smirked. “Oh, this I gotta see.”

Kiana pulled onto the main road, her grip on the steering wheel way too tight. The car wobbled slightly as she tried to maintain a straight path.

Theresa tried to keep calm. “Okay, just relax. Keep a steady speed and-”

A pedestrian started walking toward a crosswalk ahead.

Kiana froze. “Oh no.”

“Slow down!” Theresa barked.

Kiana slammed the brakes again.

The car came to a screeching halt - three meters before the crosswalk. The pedestrian, clearly traumatized, gave Kiana a wary glance before speed-walking across like their life depended on it.

Veliona exhaled. “At least you didn’t hit them.”

Senti snorted. “That guy just saw his life flash before his eyes, though.”

Seele, from the sidewalk, looked like she might pass out. “Kiana. Please be careful.”

Kiana groaned. “I am being careful! I didn’t hit anything this time!”

Theresa, rubbing her temples, muttered, “Fine. Let’s keep moving. Next, lane changing.”

Kiana gulped. “Uh...okay.”

She turned the wheel too fast.

The car swerved into the next lane at an angle so aggressive, a driver behind them honked like their life depended on it.

Bronya, watching from a distance, sighed audibly. “That was not a lane change. That was a tactical maneuver.”

Fu Hua visibly cringed. “Kiana, do you even know what turn signals are?”

Kiana blinked. “Uh, blinkers?”

Theresa buried her face in her hands. “I should’ve just failed you immediately.”

Kiana smiled sheepishly. “C’mon, at least I-”

A red light turned on ahead.

Theresa panicked. “STOP! THE LIGHT! RED LIGHT, KIANA!”

Kiana froze.

Her brain short-circuited. Was she supposed to stop immediately? Slowly?

The answer came in the form of her punching the brake again.

The car came to a violent stop, halfway into the intersection.

Silence.

Veliona whispered, “Oh my god, we’re gonna die.”

Senti screeched with laughter. “This is better than any movie I’ve ever seen!”

Theresa just gave up. She just sat there, in utter silence, re-evaluating every choice that led her to this moment.

Kiana cleared her throat. “…Sooo, do I pass?”

Theresa snapped.

“PASS?! PASS?!?!?!? YOU’VE BROKEN EVERY TRAFFIC LAW IN EXISTENCE! YOU PARKED DIAGONALLY, RAN OVER AN ENTIRE CONE COURSE, NEARLY GAVE A PEDESTRIAN A HEART ATTACK, SWERVED LIKE A MANIAC, AND JUST BLEW THROUGH A RED LIGHT!”

Kiana winced. “...is that a no?”

Theresa exploded. “IT’S A NO. IT’S A HELL NO. YOU ARE NEVER, EVER GETTING A LICENSE!!”

Senti lost it. “OH, I’M DYING! BEST DAY OF MY LIFE!”

Veliona sighed in relief. “Thank god. We’re safe.”

Seele just collapsed onto a bench. “I need… a moment.”

Bronya put her phone away. “The Bronya did not need to call emergency services. A miracle.”

Fu Hua patted Theresa’s shoulder. “You did your best.”

Theresa turned to Kiana, eyes blazing. “I am making a new rule. From this day forward, you are banned from driving. No exceptions. No retries. No loopholes. You. Are. Done.”

Kiana pouted. “Awww, c’mon, it wasn’t that bad.”

Veliona glared. “You almost turned the entire city into a disaster zone.”

Theresa crossed her arms. “This is final. End of discussion.”

Kiana slumped back into the seat. “Fine. But for the record, I totally would’ve nailed it on my next attempt.”

Theresa groaned. “Take me home. I need a drink.”

Bronya, reluctantly, handed Theresa a juice box.

Theresa sighed. “Close enough.”

Chapter Text

It all started with a hotdog.

Not even a special hotdog - just a regular, slightly overpriced one from a street vendor.

Kiana, ever the food enthusiast, had barely finished her first bite when the vendor suddenly pointed at her like she had just committed an unforgivable sin.

"That’s her! The food thief!"

Kiana froze mid-chew. “Huh?”

The people around her turned to stare.

Mei, standing beside her, let out a sigh so deep it could have powered an entire wind farm.

"Kiana."

“Wait, wait, wait,” Kiana held up her hands - still holding the hotdog like it was evidence in a courtroom. “What do you mean, ‘food thief’? I paid for this one!”

The vendor crossed his arms. “This time.”

Seele, standing off to the side, looked between Kiana and the vendor, half-amused, half-concerned. “Uh, what exactly is she being accused of?”

“Yesterday, she took three hotdogs and ran.”

Kiana’s mouth fell open. “I did not.”

The vendor narrowed his eyes. “White hair. Ponytail. White coat. Annoying voice. That was you!”

Veliona, arms crossed, snorted. “Yeah, that checks out.”

Kiana turned to Mei in desperation. “Babe. Babe, tell him I wouldn’t do that.”

Mei rubbed her temples. “Kiana, I would love to say that, but the problem is, I can’t confidently tell him you didn’t.”

“EXCUSE ME?!”

Bronya, watching the scene unfold with her usual deadpan stare, scrolled through her phone. “There is a 72% probability that Kiana accidentally stole something in the past week.”

Kiana whipped around. “Why would you even calculate that?!”

“Experience.”

The vendor huffed. “I should call the police on you.”

Mei, Seele, and Bronya immediately tensed.

Void, on the other hand, yawned.

"Oh please," she drawled, floating lazily behind Kiana like she had better things to do. "If you think Kiana is capable of successfully committing a crime, you clearly don’t know her."

Kiana whirled around. "You are NOT helping!"

Void smirked. "I wasn’t trying to."

Before Kiana could dig herself deeper, the vendor squinted.

“Wait...hold on. There were two of you.”

Kiana blinked. “Two of me?”

The vendor nodded. “Yeah! A second one! Looked just like you, but had a different vibe.”

The entire group turned, as one, to Void.

Void, grinning like she was above all of this, tilted her head. “Oh. Interesting.”

Kiana gasped. “Did YOU steal the hotdogs?!”

Void put a hand on her chest, feigning offense. "Me? A thief? That’s insulting."

Veliona, smirking, leaned against the vendor cart. “You totally did it, didn’t you?”

Void shrugged. “I have no memory of this event.”

Bronya deadpanned. “There is security footage.”

Void sighed. "Alright, fine. I may have borrowed a few."

Kiana nearly exploded. “THAT’S STEALING!”

Void floated away with an air of untouchable grace. "Tch. Details."

The vendor crossed his arms. “So are you paying for them or not?”

A beat of silence.

Then everyone looked at Kiana.

"WHAT?! WHY ME?!"

Mei rubbed her temples again. “Because I’m not covering for you this time.”

“I DIDN’T EVEN DO IT THIS TIME!”

Void grinned. "Consider it paying off the debt of your past crimes."

Kiana dramatically collapsed against Mei. “Babe, I’m being bullied.”

Mei did not react.

“Fine,” Kiana muttered, pulling out her wallet. “But I’m taking another hotdog for this emotional damage.”

Later That Day

“This is getting ridiculous.”

Kiana was once again standing in front of a very angry person.

This time, it was a bookstore owner.

“I swear I didn’t do anything this time,” Kiana insisted.

The old woman behind the counter gave her the biggest death glare in existence.

"You." She hissed, "Left this store with an entire bookbag of stolen novels."

Kiana’s jaw hit the floor. “WHY WOULD I EVEN DO THAT? I DON’T READ!”

Bronya nodded. “Confirmed.”

Mei, already mentally exhausted, sighed. “Okay, Kiana doesn’t even like studying. This one doesn’t make sense.”

Veliona, grinning, nudged Void. “Alright, fess up. Was this you again?”

Void pretended to look scandalized. “How dare you accuse me so freely.”

“Because you literally just stole hotdogs five hours ago.”

“Allegedly.”

Before the argument could escalate, the shop owner slammed a photo onto the counter.

In it was...Kiana.

Or rather, someone who looked exactly like Kiana.

But the smug, confident, arrogant expression?

That wasn’t Kiana.

That was Void.

Void grinned. “Ohhh. Would you look at that.”

Kiana lost it. "YOU STOLE BOOKS?! WHY?!"

Void shrugged. “Didn’t feel like paying.”

Kiana turned to Mei. “BABE. I AM BEING FRAMED.”

“You’re not being framed.” Mei muttered. “You just share a body with someone who is a criminal.”

Void waved a hand. “Oh, come on. You should be flattered.”

"FLATTERED?!"

The shop owner pointed accusingly. “You’re paying for this, or I’m calling the police.”

Void smirked. “Good luck with that. I don’t exist on paper.”

Veliona laughed. “You know, she’s got a point.”

Bronya sighed. “We exist, though, and I doubt anyone will buy ‘an alternate personality stole the books’ as an excuse.”

Void crossed her arms. "Tch. What a dull world we live in."

Kiana groaned. “Fine. FINE! How much is it?!”

The old woman eyed her suspiciously. "You have the money for it?"

Kiana pulled out her wallet. “Of course I do.”

She opened it.

Everyone leaned in.

Silence.

A single, lonely moth flew out.

Void laughed. “Hah! Classic.”

Kiana screamed internally.

Thirty Minutes Later…

Kiana, now wearing an oversized apron with ‘Happy Reads Bookstore’ printed on it, was currently sweeping the floor.

Her soul was leaving her body.

Veliona smirked. “You look good in an apron, Kiana. Maybe you should consider a career change.”

"Maybe you should consider shutting up."

Void lounged mid-air, unbothered. "You are learning an important lesson today, Kiana."

"Yeah? And what's that?"

"That when the world turns against you, blame someone else and float above it all."

Mei massaged her temples. "That is NOT the lesson here."

Veliona cackled. “This is the funniest thing I’ve seen in months.”

Kiana groaned dramatically. "This is the worst day of my life."

Veliona grinned. "That just makes it funnier."

Chapter Text

It started with a lightbulb.

Not a metaphorical one. An actual, literal lightbulb.

One moment, Kiana was just standing in the kitchen, debating whether or not eating cold leftovers counted as 'cooking'. The next, the ceiling light above her flickered, popped, and then promptly exploded into a shower of sparks.

Everyone turned to look at her.

"Kiana." Mei said slowly, already rubbing her temples. "What did you do?"

Kiana blinked. "Nothing! I was just standing here!"

Bronya, ever skeptical, scrolled through her phone without looking up. "Statistically, when unexplained disasters occur, Kiana is responsible approximately seventy-five percent of the time."

Seele raised an eyebrow. "That feels low."

"Adjusting calculation. Eighty-nine percent."

"That sounds right."

Kiana scowled. "Wow. Love the faith, guys."

Void, floating lazily above the group, let out an amused hum. "Interesting."

Kiana's eye twitched. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Oh, no reason. You just might want to check your hand."

Kiana frowned, glancing down - and nearly dropped the spoon she’d been holding.

Blue-white lightning crackled along her fingers, arcing up her wrist before fizzling out into nothing.

A beat of silence.

Then-

"Okay." Kiana said, shaking out her hand like that would somehow fix it. "That was weird."

Veliona leaned against the counter, smirking. "Oh, this is gonna be good."

Mei was already shifting into problem-solving mode. "Alright. When did this start? Did you notice anything strange before the light exploded?"

"No! I mean, I think I felt kinda tingly earlier, but I figured it was just because I had too much soda-"

Another spark jumped from Kiana's fingertips, zipping through the air before striking the refrigerator with a loud zap. The light on the control panel flickered, then promptly displayed an error message.

Bronya's stare was blank. "Kiana just broke the fridge with her existence."

"Okay, not my fault!" Kiana raised her hands, then yelped as another jolt of electricity shot out, narrowly missing Mei’s head.

Mei, now visibly concerned, took a step back. "Your Herrscher powers are malfunctioning."

Void grinned. "Oh, this is fun."

"It's not fun!" Kiana waved her arms frantically, only to send another arc of lightning straight into the microwave. The machine beeped weakly, then let out a sad little spark before dying completely.

Bronya sighed. "Correction. Kiana is now a walking, human EMP."

Veliona laughed. "This is the best thing that's happened all week."

Kiana looked between the sparking appliances and the increasingly worried expressions on everyone’s faces.

"Okay, so maybe this is a problem."

Seele deadpanned. "You don’t say."

Mei sighed. "We need to figure out what's causing this before she takes out the entire city’s power grid."

Void smirked. "Or, we could just sit back and enjoy the chaos."

Kiana groaned. "Why are you like this."

Void shrugged. "I like to keep things interesting."

Bronya pinched the bridge of her nose. "We should remove Kiana from any environment containing electronics until we understand what’s happening."

Kiana winced. "Do I at least get to finish my leftovers?"

The kitchen light flickered ominously.

Mei sighed. "No."

Kiana sat in the middle of the dorm’s common area, arms crossed, looking like she was being subjected to the worst punishment imaginable.

"This is stupid."

Mei, standing nearby with her arms crossed, exhaled slowly, clearly trying to be patient. "You nearly fried the entire kitchen. I’m not letting you touch anything until we figure out what’s going on."

Kiana huffed. "It’s not like I did it on purpose."

Bronya, sitting on the couch and scrolling through data on her tablet - because of course she had a contingency plan for 'Idiotka inexplicably turning into a human lightning rod' - spoke without looking up. "Intent is irrelevant. The outcome remains the same. Your Herrscher abilities are currently unstable. Until we diagnose the issue, limiting collateral damage is the priority."

Veliona leaned against the wall, watching with amusement. "You make it sound like she’s a natural disaster."

Bronya deadpanned. "She is a natural disaster."

Void floated nearby, grinning. "This is quite entertaining. I wonder what else she can break?"

Kiana shot her a glare. "Don’t encourage this."

Mei ran a hand through her hair, already exhausted. "Alright, let’s go through the possibilities. Kiana, have you been feeling strange lately? More exhausted than usual? Any weird fluctuations when using your abilities?"

Kiana frowned, considering. "Not really? I mean, I felt kinda off earlier, but I just thought it was hunger or something. And then boom, the lights went out and I started zapping stuff."

Seele, sitting next to Veliona, tapped her chin. "Maybe something overloaded her core?"

Bronya scrolled through her data. "The Herrscher Core’s energy signatures appear normal. However, there is an irregularity in its output."

Veliona smirked. "Translation?"

Bronya glanced up. "Kiana has too much power and nowhere to put it."

Kiana blinked. "Oh."

Void hummed in interest. "Well, that is a problem."

Mei frowned. "But why is this happening now? There was no sign of instability before."

Kiana shrugged. "I dunno. Maybe I just absorbed too much Honkai energy?"

Bronya’s fingers moved across her tablet screen. "Unlikely. If you had absorbed a dangerous amount, the Valkyrie monitoring systems would have flagged it. More probable causes include external interference or an internal imbalance."

"Great." Kiana deadpanned. "So I’m basically a bomb waiting to go off."

Veliona snickered. "You say that like it’s new."

Kiana groaned, flopping onto the floor dramatically. "Why me?"

Void smirked. "Because fate enjoys irony."

Mei exhaled sharply. "We need a solution before she actually does short-circuit the city."

Seele crossed her arms. "What if she just discharged all the excess energy at once? Like a reset?"

Kiana’s head shot up. "Oh! Like those static shock things where you touch a doorknob and zap!?"

Bronya nodded. "Theoretically, yes. Controlled discharge could stabilize her output levels."

Kiana perked up. "Great! Let’s do it!"

Veliona grinned. "Yeah, let’s just toss Kiana into a lightning rod and see what happens."

Mei frowned. "I don’t like this plan."

Void’s smirk widened. "Oh, I love this plan."

Mei sighed. "I hate my life."

Kiana stood in the middle of an empty training field, staring up at the dark clouds gathering above her. A light breeze ruffled her jacket, but the real problem was the faint electric buzz in the air—specifically, around her.

“This still feels like a terrible idea.” Mei muttered, standing a safe distance away with her arms crossed.

“You say that about all our ideas.” Veliona shot back, casually leaning against a railing.

“That’s because most of them are terrible.”

Bronya, adjusting the settings on her tablet, ignored the banter. “Readings are stable for now. Kiana, try channeling a small amount of Honkai energy into your hands.”

Kiana took a deep breath, rolling her shoulders before focusing. Normally, using her Herrscher abilities was second nature - like flexing a muscle. But today, the moment she tried, a sharp crackle shot through her fingers, and bright blue sparks arced between them.

“Whoa, okay, that’s new.”

Seele took a cautious step back. “Uh, maybe don’t aim that at anything important.”

Void, floating lazily nearby, grinned. “Too late for that. She’s already a walking hazard.”

Kiana scowled. “Not helping, Void.”

Void shrugged. “Wasn’t trying to.”

Mei sighed, rubbing her temples. “Alright, if we’re actually going through with this, what’s the plan?”

Bronya didn’t look up from her tablet. “Simple. Kiana discharges the excess energy into a grounded target. Preferably something durable.”

Kiana brightened. “Oh! What about that old training dummy? The one we accidentally ran over with a mech last month?”

Bronya tapped her chin. “Acceptable.”

Mei, still unconvinced, exhaled sharply. “Fine. But we’re doing this carefully. Kiana, no overcharging.”

“Got it, got it.” Kiana said, waving her off. She cracked her knuckles, stepping towards the designated dummy - a reinforced metal construct meant to withstand Valkyrie training sessions.

Veliona grinned. “Alright, let’s see some fireworks.”

Kiana smirked. “Watch and learn.”

She raised a hand, letting the energy gather at her fingertips. Immediately, crackling blue arcs surged up her arm, forming a swirling mass of lightning that made her hair stand on end. She focused, aiming at the dummy, and let the charge snap forward.

The result was a bit more intense than expected.

A massive bolt shot out, slamming into the dummy with a deafening crack. The ground shook. Sparks exploded outward. The dummy - designed to withstand Honkai-powered combat—convulsed violently before promptly disintegrating.

Silence.

Mei buried her face in her hands. “Unbelievable.”

Veliona let out a low whistle. “Damn.”

Seele blinked. “At least she got rid of the excess energy?”

Bronya checked her tablet, scrolling through the data. “Output levels are back to normal. But now we have another problem.”

Kiana dusted off her hands, looking very pleased with herself. “See? Told you it’d work.”

Bronya sighed. “Kiana, you just knocked out power to half the campus.”

Kiana blinked. “Oh.”

Void snickered. “Oh, that’s hilarious.”

Mei groaned. “This is your fault, Kiana.”

Kiana put a hand on her chest, feigning offense. “Hey, I was following instructions! Bronya told me to discharge the energy, and I did!”

Bronya deadpanned. “I did not say ‘reduce the campus to a blackout zone’.”

Veliona chuckled. “On the bright side, at least she didn’t fry herself.”

Seele, glancing at the now-smoldering dummy, muttered. “Barely.”

Kiana crossed her arms, clearly unbothered. “Okay, okay, so maybe I went a little overboard.”

Mei shot her a flat look. “A little?”

Void grinned. “Oh, don’t be so dramatic. The lights will come back eventually.”

As if on cue, the distant sound of an emergency generator kicking in rumbled through the air. A moment later, a campus-wide announcement echoed through the speakers.

“Attention: Power has been temporarily disrupted due to an unidentified energy surge. Backup systems are online. The cause is currently being investigated.”

Silence.

Then every single person in the group turned to look at Kiana.

She slowly raised her hands. “Okay. So, hear me out.”

Veliona cackled. “Oh, this is your problem now.”

Bronya tapped at her tablet, already preparing a damage report. “Kiana, I hope you enjoy paperwork.”

Kiana groaned. “Come on, can’t we just pretend this didn’t happen?”

Mei crossed her arms. “No.”

Void, still grinning, hovered beside Kiana. “Well, on the bright side, at least now you definitely won’t have energy issues anymore.”

Kiana scowled. “I hate you.”

Void chuckled. “The feeling is mutual.”

The emergency lights flickered on across the academy, casting an eerie glow over the training field. Somewhere in the distance, alarms blared. Probably from the power outage Kiana definitely didn’t mean to cause.

Veliona stretched, looking thoroughly entertained. “Sooo, do we bail before anyone shows up, or-”

“Absolutely not.” Mei cut in immediately, her patience hanging by a thread. “Kiana is facing the consequences of this one.”

Kiana groaned, running a hand through her white hair, which was still full of static. “Ugh, can’t we just, like, not?”

Bronya, ever the responsible one, tapped away at her tablet. “I have already filed an incident report.”

Kiana’s jaw dropped. “Already?!”

“Bronya is efficient.” Seele said, trying to stifle a chuckle.

Void, still floating above them like the smug menace she was, smirked. “Oh, I love this. Do go on.”

Mei turned back to Kiana, eyes narrowed. “You’re explaining this to Durandal when she gets here.”

Kiana tensed. “Wait, Durandal is coming?”

Bronya nodded. “It is standard procedure for major power failures.”

Kiana winced. “Okay, hold on, let’s think about this rationally. Technically, this was an experiment, right? So if you really think about it, this is all just research! Science! Trial and error!”

Seele sighed. “Kiana, that’s not how that works.”

Veliona grinned. “Oh no, let her cook. I wanna see how deep she digs this hole.”

Kiana pressed her hands together. “C’mon, Bronya, back me up! I was following your instructions!”

Bronya didn’t even look up from her tablet. “No.”

Kiana’s shoulders slumped. “Wow. Betrayed.”

Mei pinched the bridge of her nose. “This is exactly why I told you to be careful.”

Kiana huffed. “Hey, I was careful! The dummy wasn’t built to handle all of me.”

Void chuckled. “Oh, I bet that’s not the first time you’ve used that excuse.”

Kiana shot her a glare. “Shut up.”

Before the conversation could spiral further, the sound of boots approaching very quickly signaled that their time was up.

Bronya barely had time to mutter, “She’s here.” Before Durandal marched onto the training field, exuding her usual aura of authority. Rita trailed behind her, looking way too amused.

Durandal stopped, taking a slow look around - at the scorched ground, the remains of the training dummy, the lingering static in the air, and of course, Kiana, who was clearly the prime suspect.

She exhaled. “Kiana.”

Kiana tensed. “Yes, ma’am?”

Bianka crossed her arms. “Explain.”

Kiana hesitated. Her brain scrambled for the best possible excuse. Maybe if she worded this really well, she could walk away from this with minimal punishment.

She took a breath.

Then-

“She did it.” Kiana blurted, pointing directly at Void.

The entire group turned to stare at her.

Void blinked, then burst into laughter. “Oh, bold move, Kaslana.”

Mei facepalmed. “Oh my god.”

Durandal, unimpressed, raised an eyebrow. “Are you actually trying to blame your own Herrscher self?”

Kiana doubled down. “I would never cause unnecessary destruction on campus. But Void? She’s literally a walking disaster. It makes so much sense when you think about it!”

Void, grinning ear to ear, floated behind her and rested her chin on Kiana’s shoulder. “Oh, I love this game. Go on. Convince them.”

Durandal, unimpressed, looked to Bronya. “The truth.”

Bronya, without hesitation: “Kiana overloaded a training dummy and knocked out the power.”

Kiana gasped. “TRAITOR.”

Bronya ignored her. “She will be filing the incident report herself.”

Kiana turned to Mei in desperation. “Babe. Help.”

Mei sighed. “No. You deserve this.”

Veliona smirked. “Oh yeah, this is so your problem now.”

Kiana slumped in defeat as Durandal rubbed her temples, already tired. “Kiana, you are personally handling the cleanup. Report to maintenance first thing tomorrow.”

Rita, still looking entertained, added, “Oh, and don’t forget - power restoration isn’t instant. Some dorms are still affected. They’ll really appreciate knowing whose fault it is.”

Kiana groaned. “Ugh, everyone’s gonna hate me.”

Void, smug as ever, patted her on the head. “They already do, darling.”

Kiana shoved her away.

Durandal sighed. “Dismissed.”

As the group started to disperse, Seele nudged Bronya. “Did you really have to sell her out so fast?”

Bronya shrugged. “It was the logical course of action.”

Kiana, still sulking, mumbled, “I hate all of you.”

Veliona grinned. “Nah, you love us.”

Void chuckled. “And I had a wonderful time.”

Kiana shot her a glare. “You’re literally the worst part of my life.”

Void smiled. “You’re stuck with me.”

Mei, too tired to argue, just shook her head. “Let’s just go.”

And with that, another very Kiana disaster came to an end.

For now.

Later That Evening – Back at the Apartment

Kiana lay sprawled on the couch, face down, radiating pure exhaustion.

"I hate everything."

Mei, sitting at the table with a cup of tea, flipped through her phone. "You’re trending again."

Kiana groaned. "Don’t tell me."

Mei read aloud. "'The Honkai War Criminal Strikes Again; Legendary Valkyrie Caught Running From Local Law Enforcement Over a Sandwich.'"

Kiana let out a muffled scream into the pillow.

Bronya, barely looking up from her laptop, added, "There’s already fanart."

Veliona snickered, showing her screen. "Here’s one of you mid-parkour with the sandwich in your mouth. Impressive form, really."

Kiana rolled onto her back, dead inside. "I hope the Honkai takes me."

Void, floating above them, smirked. "Oh please, this is nothing. In my day, we caused destruction on a global scale. You’re upset over a meme."

Kiana glared. "You’re literally the reason this happened."

Void shrugged. "Tch. Details."

Seele, clearly trying to be the reasonable one, gave her a small smile. "On the bright side, at least you didn’t get arrested."

Kiana scoffed. "Yeah. Because big sis decided forcing me into community service was more 'humiliating' than just throwing me in a cell."

Bronya, still typing, added, "Objectively correct decision."

Mei took a slow sip of her tea. "It was also very funny."

Kiana groaned dramatically. "I have the worst girlfriend in the world."

Mei didn’t even look up. "You love me."

Kiana grumbled something incomprehensible, rolling over again.

Void smirked. "Well, since you're already the city’s biggest meme, I say we embrace it. You should commit more crimes. Make it a full-on legend."

Veliona laughed. "Now that’s an idea."

Kiana sat up, pointing accusingly. "No! No more crimes! I’m retiring! From life! From everything!"

Void stretched. "Boring."

Mei finally put her phone down. "Well, you better get some rest, because you still have two more weeks of community service left."

Kiana froze.

Her soul left her body.

Veliona smirked. "See you bright and early tomorrow, sandwich bandit."

Kiana fell back onto the couch in complete defeat.

"I’m never eating a sandwich again."

Void grinned. "Oh, you will. The question is will you pay for it this time?"

Kiana grabbed a pillow and threw it at her.

Void dodged.

Laughter filled the apartment as Kiana suffered the consequences of yet another completely avoidable disaster.

Chapter Text

It all started with a simple, innocent comment.

Kiana had been lounging on the dorm couch, flipping through a snack catalog like it was the most important document in existence. Across from her, Bronya was idly scrolling through her phone, Seele and Veliona playing some kind of competitive card game at the table, and Mei was just enjoying a cup of tea. Everything was peaceful.

Then Kiana, in her infinite wisdom, muttered. "Man, Schicksal’s got the best Valkyries, huh?"

The room went silent.

Bronya lowered her phone just enough to peer over it. “That is an incorrect statement.”

Kiana blinked. “Huh?”

Seele glanced up, sensing danger. “Uh-oh.”

Veliona smirked. “Oh, this is about to get good.”

Bronya set her phone down. “Anti-Entropy is objectively superior to Schicksal in technological advancements, ethical standards, and overall efficiency.”

Kiana scoffed. “Yeah, maybe if you like a bunch of nerds pushing buttons. Schicksal’s Valkyries actually get things done.”

Mei groaned, already regretting where this was going.

Bronya narrowed her eyes. “Incorrect. Anti-Entropy do not rely on outdated, inefficient methods like Schicksal’s mass-produced combat units. Our tactics are calculated and minimize unnecessary sacrifices.”

“Oh, come on, you just don’t have enough people to field an army, so you act like you’re better for it.”

“Schicksal throws bodies at problems until they go away.”

“Schicksal’s trained some of the strongest warriors in history! You don’t see Anti-Entropy producing legends like the Immortal Phoenix!”

Bronya deadpanned. “Fu Hua was manipulated and exploited by Otto Apocalypse for centuries.”

Kiana hesitated. "Okay, fair. But what about Durandal?! She’s an absolute beast.”

“Durandal is strong, but she is a product of Schicksal’s unethical human experimentation.”

“Ugh, you make everything sound awful. Schicksal’s literally the reason humanity still has a fighting chance against the Honkai.”

“And Anti-Entropy is the reason you don’t have to fight in rags with rusted weapons.”

Void, who had been silent up until now, casually floated by and smirked. “Oh, please, you’re both arguing over a mess that neither side handled well. Schicksal has a history of being catastrophically reckless, and Anti-Entropy has accomplished what, exactly? A couple of impressive weapons and a habit of pretending they’re better than they are?”

Seele sighed. “Now she’s involved.”

Veliona leaned forward, grinning. “This is the best argument I’ve heard all week.”

Mei pinched the bridge of her nose. “Why are we doing this?”

Kiana huffed. “Alright, fine, let’s settle it. If Schicksal and Anti-Entropy had a contest, who do you think would win?”

Bronya folded her arms. “In what field?”

“Anything! Fighting, smarts, cool factor, whatever!”

Void grinned. “Now that’s an idea. A little competition.”

Bronya and Kiana locked eyes.

Seele muttered, “Oh no.”

Veliona chuckled. “Oh yes.”

Mei groaned. “This is going to end in disaster.”

Kiana smirked. “Alright. We’re doing this. Schicksal versus Anti-Entropy. No holding back.”

Bronya nodded. “Agreed.”

Void cackled. “Oh, this will be glorious.”

And so, the worst decision of the day was made.

It didn’t take long for word to spread. What had started as a petty argument between Kiana and Bronya had quickly escalated into something far more ridiculous: an official competition between Schicksal and Anti-Entropy.

By the time the next afternoon rolled around, the battlefield - also known as the St. Freya courtyard - was already filled with onlookers. Everyone who had nothing better to do had shown up to watch.

Durandal, standing off to the side with Rita, looked like she was already tired of everything. “Should we be allowing this?”

“Hmm.” Rita rested a gloved hand on her chin, smiling in that unreadable way she always did. “Well, it is rather entertaining, and no one is actively attempting to destroy the city this time.”

Durandal sighed. “That’s not a high bar.”

Back in the middle of the courtyard, Kiana stretched her arms, grinning. “Alright, let’s set some ground rules.”

Bronya, standing across from her with arms folded, gave a slow nod. “Agreed. First, no destruction of public or private property.”

Void, lazily floating above the group, chuckled. “A shame. I do my best work when chaos is involved.”

Mei shot her a look. “You’re banned from interfering.”

Void smirked but said nothing.

Kiana continued, “Second, no life-threatening violence. This is a friendly competition.”

Veliona snorted. “Friendly my ass.”

“Third.” Bronya added, ignoring her. “We will settle this through a series of challenges, each one testing a different aspect of Schicksal and Anti-Entropy’s strengths.”

Seele, standing next to her, tilted her head. “So what kinda challenges?”

Kiana grinned. “Oh, don’t worry about that. We’ve got a very balanced set of tests planned.”

Bronya’s stare was completely unimpressed. “I do not trust you.”

Mei sighed, already holding a clipboard. “I wrote them down to make sure she didn’t try anything stupid.”

“Babe.” Kiana gasped, clutching her chest. “You wound me.”

Mei ignored her and started reading. “First, a combat trial. One Schicksal representative, one Anti-Entropy representative. First to land a decisive blow wins.”

Kiana smirked. “Easy. We’ve got this.”

Bronya simply adjusted her gloves. “We shall see.”

“Second.” Mei continued, “a strategy-based challenge. Teams will be given an identical problem to solve using the resources available to their faction.”

Seele gave a thumbs-up. “That one’s ours.”

Kiana waved her off. “Whatever, nerds. Next?”

Mei exhaled. “Third, a field survival test. Competitors will be placed in an isolated environment and must last as long as possible using their training.”

Durandal raised a brow. “And who is overseeing that?”

Rita smiled. “Why, I believe I would be the perfect judge.”

Kiana hesitated. “Great.”

Bronya, meanwhile, remained completely unfazed.

Mei flipped to the next page. “Final event; an engineering challenge. Build something useful with limited materials.”

Kiana groaned. “Ugh. So boring.”

Bronya simply smirked. “I look forward to it.”

Veliona leaned over to Seele. “I feel like this was rigged for them to win.”

Seele coughed. “I don’t know what you mean.”

Void, still watching from above, chuckled. “Oh, this is going to be fantastic.”

And so, with rules set and stakes high, the battle for superiority began.

The first challenge was simple: one-on-one combat. No lethal force, no overwhelming powers, just pure skill and technique.

It was the kind of fight Kiana lived for.

The courtyard had been hastily transformed into a makeshift arena, with a drawn boundary line and a crowd of excited spectators. At the center stood Kiana, rolling her shoulders, and Bronya, standing with her usual unreadable expression.

Durandal, acting as referee, raised a hand. “Rules are simple: land a decisive hit, and you win. No Herrscher abilities.”

Void, hovering nearby, scoffed. “No fun, you mean.”

Durandal shot her a look. “No interference from you, either.”

Void placed a hand on her chest, feigning offense. “Oh, please, I would never ruin such an exciting battle.”

Kiana adjusted her gloves, grinning. “Alright, let’s do this, Bratnya.”

Bronya didn’t react to the nickname. “Try not to embarrass yourself, Idiotka.”

“Oh, you are so getting kicked.”

Mei sighed from the sidelines. “Can we start before this turns into another argument?”

Durandal nodded, lowering her arm. “Begin.”

Kiana moved first, lunging with speed that would have caught most opponents off guard. Bronya, however, had been expecting it. She sidestepped at the last second, barely avoiding Kiana’s strike as she pivoted into a low kick aimed at her opponent’s legs.

Kiana leapt over it, twisting mid-air, and retaliated with a quick spin kick. Bronya ducked, shifting her stance, and lashed out with a precise palm strike.

Kiana blocked, grinning. “Nice try.”

Bronya’s expression remained unreadable. “I was not trying yet.”

The fight escalated.

Kiana pressed the offensive, launching a flurry of rapid strikes, each one aimed at testing Bronya’s defense. But the Anti-Entropy repesenter was absurdly efficient, deflecting every blow with the precision of someone who had spent years mastering combat tactics.

Bronya wasn’t just fighting. She was analyzing, calculating every movement, waiting for an opening.

Kiana could feel it.

Which meant she had to change the rhythm.

She feinted a right hook, baiting Bronya into a block - then abruptly shifted her momentum, twisting into a low sweep.

Bronya reacted fast, but not fast enough.

Her balance wavered, just slightly.

Kiana grinned. “Gotcha.”

She surged forward, aiming for the finishing blow-

Only for Bronya to catch her wrist mid-strike.

Kiana’s eyes widened. “What-”

Bronya’s foot slammed into her stomach.

Kiana flew.

She crashed into the dirt just outside the marked boundary.

Silence.

Bronya calmly dusted off her gloves. “First point goes to Anti-Entropy.”

The crowd erupted.

Kiana groaned, lying flat on the ground. “Ow.”

Veliona, laughing, leaned over the boundary. “Damn, Kiana. That was embarrassing.”

Seele clapped. “Great job, Bronya!”

Void smirked. “Hah. That was pathetic, Kaslana.”

Kiana, still on the ground, flipped her off.

Durandal crossed her arms. “Round one goes to Bronya.”

Kiana groaned again. “This isn’t over.”

Bronya glanced at her, expression as flat as ever. “I look forward to your next failure.”

Kiana sat up, pointing. “You are so smug right now.”

Mei, pinching the bridge of her nose, muttered, “Only four more rounds to go...”

Kiana dusted herself off, rolling her shoulders as she got back on her feet. Alright, maybe she had underestimated Bronya just a little. Not that she’d admit it out loud.

Bronya, as calm as ever, simply waited, giving Kiana a nod as Durandal reset the match.

“Round two.” Durandal called. “Begin.”

This time, Kiana didn’t charge in blindly. Lesson learned.

She circled Bronya instead, keeping her movements unpredictable, testing for openings. Bronya’s stance was frustratingly solid, her center of gravity low and stable. There were no wasted movements.

Void, watching from the sidelines, smirked. “Trying to use strategy, Kiana? That’s adorable.”

Kiana ignored her, focusing.

Bronya wasn’t just defending - she was reading her. Looking for the exact moment to counter.

So Kiana did something unexpected.

She pretended to lunge - then stopped herself just short of Bronya’s range.

Bronya reacted, her body moving to intercept-

And that was exactly what Kiana wanted.

She pivoted sharply, closing the distance after Bronya had already committed to a block.

Her fist connected.

Bronya staggered back.

The crowd gasped.

Kiana grinned. “Boom. Gotcha.”

Bronya steadied herself, her red eyes narrowing ever so slightly. “Improvement noted.”

Mei exhaled, relieved. “Alright, at least she’s thinking now.”

Veliona snorted. “That’s a first.”

Void lazily clapped. “Mediocre at best, but I’ll allow it.”

Durandal nodded. “Point goes to Kiana Kaslana. Score is one to one.”

Bronya flexed her fingers, tilting her head slightly. “I see. You adjusted.”

Kiana smirked. “I can learn, you know.”

Bronya didn’t look impressed. “Then learn faster.”

Durandal gestured for them to reset. “Round three. Begin.”

Kiana braced herself. She had momentum now, but Bronya had seen her adaptability. That meant this round was going to be even harder.

The moment Durandal gave the signal, Bronya moved.

Kiana barely had time to react before Bronya was on her, shifting from passive defense to aggressive offense.

Kiana blocked, ducked, parried - every impact sending vibrations up her arms. She had sparred with Mei plenty of times, had fought Herrschers, trained under Fu Hua, but Bronya’s precision was something else entirely.

There was no wasted motion. No unnecessary power behind her strikes. Every move was designed to control the flow of the fight, forcing Kiana onto the defensive.

Kiana gritted her teeth. “Okay. Ow. I get it, you’re good-”

Bronya swept her legs out from under her.

Kiana hit the ground.

Bronya immediately followed, aiming to pin her.

Kiana twisted at the last second, rolling out of the way.

She caught Bronya’s arm, using her own momentum to flip her over.

Bronya landed hard, but recovered instantly, springing back up-

Too late.

Kiana was already on her feet, stance steady, fist aimed right at Bronya’s face.

A clean, decisive hit-

But she stopped.

Barely an inch away.

Bronya blinked.

Kiana smirked. “Guess that’s my point.”

Bronya, unfazed, gave a small nod. “Acknowledged.”

Durandal raised her hand. “Point to Kiana Kaslana. Two to one.”

The crowd reacted instantly, cheering and laughing at the reversal.

Seele was practically bouncing. “Bronya, you can still do it!”

Veliona grinned. “Damn, Kiana actually looks competent for once.”

Void sighed. “I suppose I’m mildly impressed.”

Kiana wiped sweat from her forehead. This was actually fun.

Bronya adjusted her gloves. “Final round. No more holding back.”

Kiana grinned, heart pounding. “Wouldn’t want it any other way.”

The air felt heavier now, the atmosphere shifting. The crowd had settled down, their excitement turning into quiet anticipation. This was it - the final round.

Kiana shook out her hands, rolling her shoulders. “Alright, no more messing around.”

Bronya simply nodded. “Understood.”

Durandal raised her hand. “Final round. Begin.”

This time, neither of them rushed in.

Kiana had learned her lesson about reckless aggression. Bronya had recognized Kiana’s ability to adapt.

It was a waiting game now.

Mei held her breath.

Void hummed, amused. “Oh, this is getting interesting.”

Kiana moved first - quick, deliberate steps. Not attacking outright, but testing the waters. She threw a feint, then another, but Bronya didn’t take the bait.

Bronya responded with a sharp jab - fast and controlled. Kiana dodged, barely, but it forced her to adjust her stance.

That was all the opening Bronya needed.

She closed the distance in an instant, aiming low. Kiana caught her movement and countered, swinging a knee to disrupt the attack-

But Bronya was already a step ahead.

She twisted, using Kiana’s own movement against her, throwing off her balance just enough-

Kiana stumbled.

Bronya went in for the finishing blow-

But Kiana refused to go down that easily.

At the last second, she pivoted, using her fall to drop into a low sweep.

Bronya barely avoided it, but it was enough to force her back.

They reset, circling each other again.

Kiana grinned. “Not bad.”

Bronya’s expression didn’t change. “Likewise.”

Another clash - this time faster, more precise.

Kiana attacked first, a barrage of punches - each one narrowly dodged or deflected. Bronya countered with brutal efficiency, forcing Kiana on the defensive again.

She was faster. More experienced. More disciplined.

But Kiana had instinct.

She read Bronya’s movements - saw the exact moment her weight shifted, just slightly too much to one side.

That was her chance.

Kiana lunged.

Bronya reacted immediately, bringing up her guard-

But Kiana wasn’t aiming for a strike.

She faked high, then slipped low - grabbing Bronya’s wrist and using her own momentum to flip her.

Bronya hit the ground.

Kiana moved fast, pinning her before she could recover.

Durandal stepped forward.

“Winner: Kiana Kaslana.”

Silence.

Then the crowd erupted.

Seele clapped excitedly. “She actually won!”

Veliona whistled. “Damn, didn’t think she had it in her.”

Mei smiled. “That was impressive, Kiana.”

Void scoffed. “It was acceptable.”

Kiana, still slightly winded, grinned. “Hah! Told you I could do it.”

Bronya exhaled, unfazed. “It was a good match.”

She accepted Kiana’s hand, letting her help her up.

Durandal nodded approvingly. “You’ve improved.”

Kiana stretched, feeling the soreness in her muscles. “I better have. Otherwise, that would’ve been embarrassing.”

Bronya dusted herself off. “I expect a rematch.”

Kiana smirked. “Anytime.”

As the crowd began to disperse, Durandal clapped her hands together. “Alright. That concludes today’s training. Dismissed.”

The group started to head out, chatting amongst themselves.

Mei nudged Kiana. “You should be proud of yourself.”

Kiana grinned. “I am.”

Then her stomach growled loudly.

Veliona snickered. “Classic.”

Kiana groaned. “Ugh, winning makes me hungry.”

Void smirked. “Then perhaps next time, you should train on an empty stomach. It might improve your motivation.”

Kiana rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah. Let’s just get food before I collapse.”

With that, they left the training grounds, the sound of laughter following them into the evening.

Later that night, after the chaos of the match had settled and they had done the rest of the competition, everyone had gone their separate ways, Kiana sat on the rooftop of St. Freya, lazily kicking her legs over the edge. The cool night breeze ruffled her hair as she leaned back on her palms, staring up at the sky.

Void materialized beside her, arms crossed, floating just enough to look down on her. "Still brooding over your loss?"

Kiana snorted. "Brooding? Please, I let them win. Gotta keep morale up, you know?"

Void rolled her eyes. "Ah, yes, the classic Kaslana excuse - being too skilled for your own good. Must be such a burden."

Kiana smirked but didn’t argue. She tilted her head back, watching the stars. "It was fun, though. Haven’t had that kinda match in a while. No end-of-the-world stakes, no giant monsters, just us messing around."

Void huffed, looking unimpressed. "Speak for yourself. I was robbed. I demand a rematch."

"You literally got disqualified for trying to throw Seele into the sun."

"Tch. Details."

For a few moments, neither of them spoke. The night was quiet, peaceful in a way that felt rare. After everything they had been through - Finality, the battles, the losses - it was nice to just exist. No fighting, no crisis, just some dumb sparring matches that got out of hand.

Then, without looking away from the sky, Kiana spoke again. "Hey, Void?"

Void raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Do you ever think about what comes next?"

Void floated in silence for a second before scoffing. "Ugh, don’t get all sentimental on me, Kaslana. This is why I don’t let you monologue."

Kiana snickered. "I’m serious. We’ve been fighting for so long...now we’re here. No wars, no apocalypses waiting around the corner. It’s weird."

Void sighed, resting her chin on her hand. "If you're asking if I have some grand plan for the future, I don’t. But I suppose." She hesitated. "I don’t hate this."

Kiana turned to look at her, surprised.

Void quickly rolled her eyes. "Don’t get the wrong idea. I’m still superior to all of you, obviously. But I guess if I have to exist somewhere, here isn’t the worst place."

Kiana grinned. "Aww, Void, that was almost sweet."

Void narrowed her eyes. "Forget I said anything."

Kiana laughed, leaning back again. "Nope, too late. I’m holding onto this forever."

Void groaned in annoyance, but didn’t leave. The two of them sat in silence for a little longer, watching the stars, listening to the distant sounds of life continuing on.

For the first time in a long time, there was no looming disaster, no urgent battle waiting.

Just them, under the night sky, figuring out what came next.

Chapter Text

It started with what should have been a simple task.

Kiana needed to renew her ID card. That was it. Nothing crazy, no high-stakes battle, no Honkai-related crisis - just standard paperwork. But, as it turned out, even basic bureaucracy could become an absolute nightmare when you were Kiana Kaslana.

“Alright, what’s the big deal?” Kiana muttered as she stood outside the Nagazora Public Services Office, a non-threatening, totally normal government building. “I go in, I give them my old ID, they print me a new one. Easy.”

Mei, who had come along to make sure Kiana didn’t mess anything up, gave her a deeply skeptical look. “Kiana, please, for once in your life, don’t do anything ridiculous. Just answer their questions normally, give them the documents, and don’t try to ‘speed up the process’ with your powers.”

Kiana scoffed. “Come on, babe. It’s me. When have I ever caused trouble at a government office?”

Mei didn’t even dignify that with a response.

With Bronya, Fu Hua, and Seele also in tow (because no one trusted Kiana to do this alone), they stepped inside the building.

The place was as dull as expected - rows of uncomfortable plastic chairs, long lines, and government employees who all looked like they’d been dead inside for years. A big LED screen displayed queue numbers, and there was a faint hum of people complaining about the wait time.

Kiana groaned. “Ugh. This is worse than fighting a Herrscher.”

Bronya, scrolling through her phone, didn’t look up. “Your chances of failure are high.”

Seele nudged Kiana. “It’s fine, just follow the steps, and you’ll be out of here in no time.”

Kiana strode up to the front desk, slamming her old ID down with confidence. “Yo, I need a new one of these. Let’s make it happen.”

The lady at the counter, an older woman with glasses and an expression that suggested she had seen it all, stared at Kiana for a moment before sighing. “Alright. Name?”

“Kiana Kaslana.”

The woman typed it in. Then she frowned. Then she typed again. Then she frowned harder.

Kiana blinked. “Uh, problem?”

The woman adjusted her glasses and slowly turned the screen toward Kiana.

The words “ERROR: UNIDENTIFIED ENTITY” were flashing in bright red across the database.

“Huh.”

Mei let out a long, pained sigh. “Oh no.”

The woman at the counter leaned forward. “Miss Kaslana. Our system doesn’t seem to recognize you as, um, a person.”

Kiana’s eye twitched. “Excuse me”

Fu Hua pinched the bridge of her nose. “This is already going off the rails.”

The woman turned the monitor back to herself. “It seems your identification records don’t exist. There’s a note here that says ‘Classification: Unknown Lifeform.’”

Bronya raised an eyebrow. “Interesting. Does this mean Kiana is now a cryptid?”

“What, no!” Kiana smacked the desk. “I'm literally standing right here.”

Mei buried her face in her hands. “This is going to be a long day.”

Seele whispered, “Maybe it’s an easy fix?”

“Yeah, sure.” Kiana grumbled. “Easy fix. Like everything else in my life.”

Void, appearing out of thin air just to add fuel to the fire, smirked. “Oh, this is gonna be good.”

And just like that, a simple task had spiraled into bureaucratic madness.

Kiana leaned against the counter, staring at the words “Unidentified Entity” on the screen like they had personally insulted her existence.

Mei was already massaging her temples. Seele and Bronya looked concerned. Fu Hua had her arms crossed, clearly calculating whether she could legally intervene in whatever nightmare this was about to become.

The woman at the desk adjusted her glasses. “Okay, let’s try again. Maybe there’s a glitch.” She typed faster this time, her fingers clacking against the keyboard. Then she frowned. Then the computer crashed.

The entire office froze. The fluorescent lights flickered, the queue screen flashed ERROR 404, and somewhere in the back, someone screamed in frustration about their work being deleted.

Kiana blinked. “Did I do that?”

Void, floating lazily behind her, smirked. “Oh, I like this. Even technology acknowledges you as an anomaly.”

The lady at the counter was done. She slammed a button on her desk, and within seconds, a tired-looking manager in an ill-fitting suit shuffled over. He had that aura of someone who had long ago given up on life.

“What’s the issue?” He asked, already dead inside.

The lady gestured to Kiana. “Her ID doesn’t exist in our system.”

The manager squinted at Kiana. “You don’t exist?”

Kiana groaned. “I obviously exist!”

Bronya nodded. “Debatable.”

Kiana glared at her.

The manager sighed and typed something into his own computer. “Alright, let’s check-”

His computer also crashed.

Someone in the back yelled. “The printer just caught fire!”

Fu Hua’s arms tightened over her chest. “This is absurd.”

Mei turned to Kiana, exasperated. “What is wrong with you? How do you manage to break a government database just by existing?”

“How would I know?” Kiana gestured wildly. “I came here to do a normlal thing for once!”

Veliona, who had been quietly enjoying the chaos, finally chimed in. “This is amazing. You’re so cursed.”

The manager muttered something under his breath, took a deep breath, and reset his computer manually. “Alright. New approach. Miss… Kaslana, do you have any alternative documentation?”

Kiana huffed and dug into her pocket. “Yeah, yeah, hold on.” She pulled out a crumpled stack of papers - some old Academy records, a St. Freya student ID, and a questionable piece of paper that said ‘Totally Legit License’ in scribbled handwriting.

The manager picked it up. “...This is a McDonald’s coupon.”

Kiana snatched it back. “Yo, that's still valid!”

Fu Hua sighed so deeply that it sounded spiritually painful. “Kiana, please.”

The manager rubbed his temples. “Alright. Maybe we can pull your records manually. Have you ever legally registered yourself under any official government service?”

Kiana tilted her head. “Uh...define ‘legally.’”

Mei looked at the ceiling like she was praying for patience.

Bronya shook her head. “Bronya sees no outcome where this ends well.”

Void grinned. “Oh, I definitely want to see where this goes.”

The manager sighed again, this time heavier, already regretting his life choices. “Let’s try one last thing.”

He reached for his phone and dialed a number. “Yeah, hi, this is the Public Services Office. We have a case here that requires special verification. I need records on a Kiana Kaslana.”

There was a pause. Then, over the speakerphone-

“Oh, that one? Yeah, good luck with that. Even our highest clearance records have her listed as ‘Existence Pending.’”

Kiana deadpanned. “What.”

Veliona nearly fell over laughing.

The manager slowly turned off the phone, stared at the mess unfolding in front of him, and then stood up.

“Miss Kaslana.” He said. “I am going on my break.”

Then he walked out.

Kiana slammed her head against the counter. “I hate everything.”

Void, still way too amused, patted her shoulder. “Congrats, you have officially transcended paperwork.”

Fu Hua sighed. “This is going to take all day.”

And just like that, a simple errand had escalated into bureaucratic disaster.

The tension in the office had settled into something that wasn’t quite panic, but it was definitely unease. Employees whispered among themselves while subtly glancing at Kiana, as if she was some cryptid whose existence had just been brought into question by government records. One poor intern looked like he was considering quitting his job entirely.

Kiana, meanwhile, slumped against the counter, staring blankly at the ceiling. “I don’t understand how this is even possible. I’ve been through so much nonsense, but I never thought I’d get hit with ‘Sorry, you don’t actually exist.’”

Mei let out a slow breath, visibly restraining herself from delivering another lecture. “Theoretically, it makes sense. Your records were altered so many times - first by Schicksal, then Anti Entropy, then with whatever Otto pulled before he died - it’s honestly a miracle they didn’t just wipe you out of existence entirely.”

Fu Hua, who had remained silent up until now, finally spoke up. “It’s more than that.” Her arms were still crossed, and there was a sharpness in her gaze that suggested she was already piecing together something none of them had considered. “Kiana, you’re not just a person who’s had their records tampered with. You’re a Herrscher - Finality itself. If even high-clearance government files can’t track you, it’s likely that your very presence isn’t compatible with their system.”

Kiana frowned. “Okay, but why would Finality mess with something as basic as a driver’s license?”

Void, lounging mid-air as always, lazily turned her head toward them. “You underestimate how much reality struggles to define you.”

Seele, who had been quietly observing, hesitated before speaking. “If that’s true, then does that mean...Kiana’s technically outside of normal human records?”

Bronya tapped her chin thoughtfully. “Not just that. If her presence isn’t registered within ordinary databases, that means it’s not just government systems rejecting her - it’s everything.”

Kiana groaned. “Oh, great. So what, I’m just walking around breaking reality because I wanna do normal things?”

Veliona snorted. “Honestly? That’s kind of funny.”

The office woman, who had been typing furiously in an attempt to find anything that could verify Kiana’s identity, finally gave up and pushed her keyboard away. “Alright, Miss Kaslana, at this point, I don’t think any of our regular methods are going to work. We’re going to have to escalate this.”

Mei’s eye twitched. “Escalate?”

The woman sighed, clearly regretting all of her life choices leading up to this moment. “I have to contact the central system. That means getting approval from higher-ups, having them manually pull classified data, and making sure we don’t accidentally crash the entire city’s registry in the process.”

Kiana’s face dropped. “Wait, hold up. Classified? Why is my name classified?”

The woman gave her a flat look. “You tell me.”

Kiana opened her mouth. Then she closed it. Then she just groaned again and rubbed her face. “I don’t even know anymore. I just wanted a license.”

Void smirked. “And instead, you’re about to make some government official’s day very complicated.”

The woman at the desk picked up her phone, dialed an internal line, and waited. When someone finally picked up, she leaned forward and spoke in a hushed tone. “Yeah, I need emergency clearance to retrieve classified records on a Kiana Kaslana. No, it’s not a joke. Yes, I already tried manually entering her information - the system rejected her.” She listened for a moment, then her expression became even more strained. “Yes, I’m aware of what that means. No, I don’t know how she’s standing right in front of me if the system says she shouldn’t exist. Look, just pull the records. I need verification before she breaks something else.”

Kiana groaned louder. “I hate this.”

The woman hung up, exhaled sharply, and turned back to them. “Alright. This is going to take a while. Go sit down or something.”

Kiana dragged herself toward the waiting area, flopping onto a chair with all the grace of someone who had completely given up. Mei sat beside her, arms crossed, while Fu Hua remained standing, deep in thought.

Bronya and Seele sat across from them, both clearly trying to process how this had become their afternoon. Veliona leaned back, looking amused, while Void hovered just above Kiana, smirking as if she was enjoying every second of this disaster.

A few tense minutes passed before an entirely new voice came from behind them.

“Alright. Who’s the existential anomaly?”

They all turned toward the source of the voice, only to find a well-dressed woman in a government badge standing there, holding a file that looked significantly thicker than it should have been.

Kiana groaned. “That’s me.”

The woman gave her a look. Then she opened the file, flipped through a few pages, and sighed. “Yeah. This is gonna be a problem.”

Mei buried her face in her hands. “Of course it is.”

And just like that, the situation had escalated again.

The government official flipped through the ridiculously thick file, occasionally pausing to skim over a section before sighing and turning to the next. Kiana, still slumped in her chair, felt like she was watching someone read a horror novel about her own existence.

“This is the most redacted document I’ve ever seen,” the woman muttered, adjusting her glasses as she stared at an entire page covered in black bars. “And I’ve handled some deep classified cases before.”

Mei leaned forward, her patience thinning. “What exactly does it say?”

The woman closed the file with an audible thud and gave Kiana a long, tired look. “Miss Kaslana, I don’t know what you did to deserve this, but according to government records, your entire existence is complicated.”

Kiana grinned. “Oh, I bet.”

The woman continued. “Your birth records are technically there, but they don’t line up with any known hospital logs. Your school records exist, but they’ve been flagged for ‘inconsistencies.’ You don’t have any medical history that wasn’t filed directly by Schicksal, which, by the way, is a whole separate mess because half of their database was erased after Otto Apocalypse died.”

Mei looked over at Kiana, who looked like she was seconds away from throwing herself out of the nearest window.

Fu Hua exhaled slowly. “To be fair, that makes sense. Kiana was created in a lab, trained as a Valkyrie, and then spent most of her life dealing with organizations that don’t use normal civilian documentation.”

Void smirked. “She’s a walking bureaucratic nightmare.”

Kiana groaned. “I didn’t ask to be.”

The woman set the file down on the desk. “Here’s the real issue. Because none of your records properly sync with the government system, you technically don’t meet the requirements to be issued a driver’s license.”

Bronya, deadpan as ever, tilted her head. “That seems like something that can be worked around.”

The woman frowned. “Normally? Sure. But there’s another problem.” She tapped the file. “Your current status.”

Kiana squinted at her. “What do you mean?”

The woman hesitated, clearly trying to figure out how to phrase it. “Well after reviewing your records, I checked your latest classification in the global security database.”

Kiana blinked. “I have a classification?”

The woman’s eye twitched. “You are listed as an ‘unregistered anomalous entity of existential concern.’”

Silence.

Veliona burst out laughing. “Oh my god, they made her a SCP.”

Void cackled. “That is incredible.”

Mei buried her face in her hands. “I knew something like this would happen.”

Kiana’s brain, meanwhile, completely short-circuited.

The woman continued, flipping through the file. “There’s also a warning label that says, and I quote, ‘Do not attempt to forcibly detain, contain, or register in standard databases without specialized clearance, as subject’s presence has been recorded to destabilize localized reality systems in unpredictable ways.’”

Kiana shot up in her seat. “What the fuck does that even mean?”

Void smirked. “It means you broke reality again.”

Fu Hua sighed. “To be honest, I’m not even surprised.”

Seele, trying to be helpful, leaned forward. “So does this mean Kiana can’t get a license?”

The woman pinched the bridge of her nose. “If I process this application through normal channels, the system will automatically flag it as an error and likely shut down the entire registry for this district.”

Bronya scrolled through her phone. “That sounds like a you problem.”

Veliona nodded. “Yeah, I think that’s a government failure, not a Kiana problem.”

Kiana waved her arms wildly. “It feels like a me problem!”

The woman groaned. “Okay. Look. There is a way to fix this.”

Kiana practically leaned over the desk. “Please tell me it doesn’t involve me getting arrested or experimented on.”

“That depends.”

Kiana immediately recoiled. “Nope. Never mind. Forget I asked.”

Mei glared at the woman. “What do you mean by ‘depends?’”

The woman sighed. “Because of the anomalies in her record, the only way to legally issue her a license is to have her undergo a specialized identity verification process.”

Fu Hua narrowed her eyes. “What kind of process?”

“…An in-person interview. With a classified government department.”

Silence again.

Void grinned. “Oh, this just keeps getting better.”

Kiana dramatically slumped against Mei. “Babe. I am so tired.”

Mei patted her head. “I know.”

Veliona smirked. “At least we’re getting entertainment out of it.”

Bronya nodded. “Agreed.”

Seele, still concerned, sighed. “So when is this interview supposed to happen?”

The woman checked her computer. “Tomorrow morning. First thing.”

Kiana groaned. “I hate this. I hate all of this.”

Void patted her on the shoulder. “Cheer up. At least you’re a documented existential anomaly now.”

In a dimly lit office deep within a classified government facility, two exhausted officials sat at a desk cluttered with documents, security footage, and an overworked coffee machine that had been running on fumes for hours.

One of them, a woman with short black hair and permanent dark circles under her eyes, tapped her pen against the desk as she scrolled through Kiana’s file. The sheer number of redactions, overridden security clearances, and emergency system failures made her want to slam her head into the keyboard.

“Every time I think I’ve seen it all.” She muttered, rubbing her temples. “What even is this girl?”

Her partner, a redhead wearing glasses and a government-issue blazer that barely hid her growing existential crisis, took a slow sip from a coffee mug labeled ‘I Survived The 5th Herrscher Incident’ before responding.

“Apparently? Some kind of divine entity with a shopping addiction.”

The black-haired woman squinted at the screen. “And she just...exists among normal people?”

“Yep.”

“She eats junk food?”

“Constantly.”

“She wants a driver’s license?”

“Uh-huh.”

The black-haired woman leaned back in her chair and exhaled slowly. “And in the past 24 hours this single application request has already triggered three system failures, two high-priority alerts, and an automatic review by the anomalous entity oversight division?”

The redhead scrolled through her own files and nodded. “Mhm. And, oh, bonus headache, her last known movement pattern broke two surveillance networks trying to track her.”

“Because she can teleport?”

“Because she can teleport.”

Silence.

The black-haired woman pinched the bridge of her nose. “This is a nightmare.”

The redhead flipped through another file, then suddenly froze. “Oh.”

The black-haired woman looked up. “What?”

The redhead turned the monitor around, pointing at a flagged incident report. “Uh, remember that traffic cam alert from last week?”

The black-haired woman frowned. “Which one?”

“The one where a white-haired girl matching her description was caught riding a stolen bicycle through downtown...while eating a sandwich?”

The black-haired woman’s eye twitched. “That was her?”

“Yep.”

Silence.

The black-haired woman stood up, smoothed out her blazer, and calmly walked to the window.

Then, in the most monotone voice possible, she said, “I’m quitting.”

The redhead snorted. “No, you’re not.”

“I’m quitting.”

“You literally just bought a house.”

“Damn it.” She trudged back to her chair, slumped into it, and took the coffee mug straight out of her partner’s hands.

The redhead sighed. “So what’s the plan?”

The black-haired woman took a long sip of stolen caffeine, then muttered, “We schedule the interview and pray to every divine force in existence that she doesn’t accidentally rewrite reality while she’s here.”

The redhead cracked her knuckles. “Already done. First thing tomorrow.”

The black-haired woman groaned. “I hate this job.”

Kiana lay sprawled on the couch, face buried in a pillow. “I don’t wanna do the interview.”

Mei, sitting beside her, scrolled through her phone. “You don’t have a choice.”

Void floated lazily nearby, smirking. “On the bright side, you’ll probably go down in history as the first person to break the Department of Anomalous Affairs with a basic ID request.”

Kiana groaned louder. “That is not a bright side.”

Veliona tossed a popcorn kernel into her mouth. “Sounds like a you problem.”

Bronya, not looking up from her book, said, “There is an 85% chance something will explode before the interview is over.”

Seele, looking genuinely concerned, glanced at the others. “We’ll be there to help right?”

Void grinned. “Oh, absolutely. I wouldn’t miss this for the world.”

Kiana groaned into her pillow again. With friends like these, who needs enemies? Not that she'd ever change any of them for the world.

Chapter Text

Kiana sat stiffly in the interview chair, hands clasped together in a way that was supposed to look professional but instead made her seem like she was about to be interrogated. Across from her, the two officials who had spent the past few days trying to make sense of her existence shuffled through their papers, the weight of bureaucracy pressing heavily in the air.

Mei sat off to the side, arms crossed, exuding the air of someone who was about five seconds away from regretting her life choices. Bronya was also present, mostly because she had been called in as a 'reliable source' and had immediately decided that this was too amusing to pass up.

The taller official, a woman with sleek black hair pulled into a tight bun, adjusted her glasses and cleared her throat. “Kiana Kaslana, age 24, former Valkyrie of Schicksal, current resident of [Redacted], and...Herrscher of Finality.” She paused, staring down at the file like she was making sure she hadn’t misread anything. “Is that correct?”

Kiana nodded. “Uh, yeah. That’s me.”

The other official, a woman with sharp green eyes and a no-nonsense expression, tapped her pen against the desk. “And what exactly is a Herrscher of Finality?”

There it was.

Kiana had been hoping to ease into the weird parts, maybe talk about her previous job experience as a Valkyrie or her surprisingly decent cooking skills before dropping the ‘I have godlike powers’ bomb. But no, they went straight for it.

She hesitated. “Well, um it’s kind of a title. But also a power thing. And also-” She waved vaguely. “A whole responsibility deal.”

Bronya leaned forward slightly. “To clarify, Kiana possesses the final authority over the Honkai, an interdimensional force of destruction. She has absorbed multiple Herrscher abilities, allowing her to manipulate time, space, and other fundamental aspects of existence.”

Mei visibly tensed. “Bronya.”

“What?”

“You could have worded that in a way that didn’t make her sound like an eldritch horror.”

The green-eyed official scribbled something down. “Noted. And you claim to use these powers for?”

Kiana gave them a thumbs-up. “Good! Totally for good.”

The two officials exchanged looks.

The one with glasses adjusted them again. “Miss Kaslana, to put it bluntly, we have numerous reports-" She picked up a file and skimmed through it. “-of you causing property damage, ignoring traffic laws, and engaging in combat in public spaces.”

“That was self-defense.”

“You broke a tree.”

Kiana frowned. “In my defense, that tree was really rude.”

Mei put her face in her hands.

The green-eyed woman raised an eyebrow. “And the recent incident regarding a city-wide lockdown due to-" She squinted at the report. “-an ‘unstable spatial disturbance’?”

Kiana coughed. “Okay, so that was actually not my fault.”

Bronya, still scrolling through her phone, glanced up. “The footage suggests otherwise.”

Kiana slumped in her seat. This was going to be a long interview.

The green-eyed official flipped to another page in the ever-growing stack of reports. “Let’s talk about the ‘incident’ involving the shopping district last month.”

Kiana sat up straighter. “Oh! That one actually wasn’t my fault.”

Mei and Bronya both turned to look at her.

She cleared her throat. “Okay, it was technically my fault, but in my defense, I didn’t start it!”

The official exhaled through her nose. “According to the reports, you were seen fighting what appeared to be a ‘massive humanoid anomaly capable of summoning gravitational distortions.’”

Kiana nodded. “Yep. Big guy. Real angry. Threw a car at me.”

The woman’s grip on her pen tightened. “You caught it.”

“Well, yeah. Would you have preferred I let it hit someone?”

The other official - the one with glasses - gave her a long, unreadable stare. “And the part where you proceeded to throw the car back?”

Kiana winced. "Look, I miscalculated the trajectory a little, okay?”

Bronya, not looking up from her phone, added, “The car landed in a bakery.”

Mei sighed. “Kiana.”

“I PAID FOR IT.”

“That does not make it better.”

The green-eyed woman pinched the bridge of her nose. “Miss Kaslana, do you understand why we are concerned?”

Kiana shifted uncomfortably. “I mean kind of? But also, like what do you want me to do? Not stop rampaging Honkai manifestations?”

“We are not saying that.” The official with glasses said, her voice measured. “However, we do need to assess whether you are -” She hesitated, clearly choosing her words carefully. “-capable of using your abilities responsibly in public spaces.”

Kiana frowned. “You make it sound like I’m some kind of loose cannon.”

Bronya muttered. “Because you are.”

Kiana deadpanned. “Bratnya.”

The green-eyed official took out another sheet. “Let’s move on to another concern.” She paused, then looked up. “How do you decide when to use your abilities?”

Kiana blinked. “What do you mean?”

“In the past week, you have not used them during various minor altercations—"

“Because I don’t need to vaporize someone over a parking dispute.”

“-but you have used them for...unnecessary reasons.”

Kiana raised an eyebrow. “Define unnecessary.”

The woman flipped to the next page. “Teleporting across the street to avoid waiting for the crosswalk.”

“That’s efficiency.”

“Altering time to rewind a spilled drink.”

“That was a disaster prevention.”

“Materializing a sandwich out of thin air because you were ‘too lazy to go buy one.’”

Kiana crossed her arms. “Okay, that one is just practical use of resources.”

Mei closed her eyes. “You literally rewrote reality for a sandwich.”

Kiana shrugged. “I was hungry.”

The official with glasses took a deep, steady breath. “Miss Kaslana. Do you understand the sheer magnitude of the power you wield?”

Kiana paused. “Yes?”

Silence.

The green-eyed woman leaned forward slightly. “And do you understand why people might be concerned about the casual way you use it?”

Kiana glanced at Mei, who was massaging her temples, then at Bronya, who had now started recording the conversation, likely for blackmail purposes.

“A lil'?”

The two officials exchanged looks again.

This wasn’t going to be easy.

The green-eyed official exhaled, clearly debating whether or not to continue down this path. The woman with glasses, however, pressed on.

“Miss Kaslana.” She said, adjusting her frames. “Let’s be clear about this. You possess powers capable of reshaping reality itself.”

Kiana nodded. “Mhm.”

“You are, by all definitions, one of the most powerful beings to have ever existed.”

Kiana grinned. “Heh. Yeah, that sounds about right.”

Mei elbowed her in the ribs.

“Ow - I mean, yes, I am aware of that responsibility.” Kiana corrected quickly.

The official did not seem convinced. “And yet, you use these powers irresponsibly.”

Kiana frowned. “That’s not fair! I do use them responsibly!”

The green-eyed woman flipped another page. “Teleporting away from an argument instead of resolving it?”

Kiana crossed her arms. “Look, if someone’s being annoying, I think it’s completely valid to remove myself from the situation.”

Mei sighed. “That is not what self-discipline looks like.”

The official continued. “Altering gravity because you ‘didn’t feel like taking the stairs’?”

Kiana scoffed. “Oh, come on. You expect me to walk down thirty flights like some kind of medieval peasant?”

The woman with glasses rubbed her temples. “And then there’s the train incident.”

Mei, Seele, Bronya, and Veliona all turned to Kiana at once.

Kiana blinked. “Uh. What train incident?”

The green-eyed woman narrowed her eyes. “You were seen stopping a train with your bare hands.”

“Ohhhh, that train incident.” Kiana rubbed the back of her neck. “Yeah, okay, but listen, that wasn’t my fault! The brakes were failing, and I had to stop it.”

The official’s eyes twitched slightly. “You stopped a two-hundred-ton locomotive. In broad daylight. In the middle of the city.”

“Would you prefer if I let it crash?”

“No! But-” She stopped, taking a deep breath. “Miss Kaslana. The issue isn’t that you helped. The issue is that you do not seem to consider the ramifications of your actions.”

Kiana rolled her eyes. “Oh, come on. What ramifications? That train was going to crash. I stopped it. Nobody got hurt. What’s the problem?”

The official massaged her forehead like she was fighting a migraine. “The problem is that it caused mass panic. People thought it was some kind of disaster or that you were attacking the city.”

Kiana winced. “...Oh.”

The woman with glasses nodded. “Oh.”

There was a brief silence.

Bronya, still recording, muttered. “I will be reviewing this footage for entertainment later.”

Mei shook her head. “Kiana, I’ve told you before - people don’t think like you do. When they see something impossible happening, their first instinct isn’t to assume everything is fine.”

Kiana slumped. “Okay, okay. I get it. Maybe I could have handled that better.”

The officials exchanged another look.

The green-eyed one crossed her arms. “Miss Kaslana. I believe what we’re trying to determine is, do you actually take your responsibilities seriously?”

Kiana’s expression changed. Just slightly.

“Of course I do.” She said, quieter this time.

The room went silent.

The woman with glasses tapped her pen against the desk. “Then prove it.”

Kiana sat up straighter. “Huh?”

“Prove to us that you understand what it means to be the Herrscher of Finality." She said simply. “Not just in combat. Not just in power. But in responsibility.”

Kiana stared.

For once, she didn’t have a quick, snappy comeback.

This was going to take some actual thought.

Kiana tapped her fingers against the armrest of her chair, her usual confidence momentarily shaken. The officials weren’t asking her to throw around her powers or fight some big enemy. They wanted her to explain herself, to justify why she - someone who had a history of causing chaos, intentional or not - deserved the kind of power she had.

And honestly? She wasn’t sure how to put that into words.

Mei must have sensed her hesitation because she nudged Kiana’s foot under the table.

Kiana inhaled, straightening up. “Alright. You wanna know if I take my responsibilities seriously? Fine.”

The two officials sat up slightly, watching.

Kiana leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table. “I could sit here and tell you that I think about my choices, that I try to be careful, that I consider every consequence. But I’d be lying if I said I always got it right. Sometimes, I screw up. Sometimes, I don’t think far enough ahead. Sometimes, I make choices that seem like the best ones in the moment, but they end up having side effects I didn’t plan for.”

The woman with glasses raised an eyebrow. “You admit to being reckless?”

“I admit to not being perfect.” Kiana glared. “Look, I didn’t ask to be the Herrscher of Finality. But it’s my responsibility now, and yeah, I mess up. But you know what? I fix my mistakes. Every time.”

The green-eyed official folded her arms. “That’s a nice sentiment. But how do we know you’re not just saying what we want to hear?”

Kiana scoffed. “You think I’m good at saying what people wanna hear? You should ask my teachers back at St. Freya how my essays went.”

Veliona coughed. “Terribly.”

Kiana shot her a glare. “Not the point!” She turned back to the officials. “The point is, I don’t just sit around pretending I have all the answers. But I try. I listen to the people around me. I ask for help when I need it. And yeah, sometimes I use my powers in ways that look dumb, but you know what? I learn from those moments.”

She exhaled, shaking her head. “You think I don’t take this seriously? I fought for this. I nearly died for this. I watched people I loved give everything just so I could have the chance to try and make the world better.” Her hands clenched into fists. “I’m not perfect. I never will be. But I don’t need to be. I just need to be good enough to protect the people who still believe in me.”

Silence.

The woman with glasses glanced at her colleague, who gave a slight nod.

The green-eyed official leaned back in her chair. “Alright.”

Kiana blinked. “Huh?”

The woman with glasses jotted something down. “You’ve given us an answer. That’s what we needed.”

Kiana hesitated. “Sooo...does that mean I passed?”

The green-eyed woman exhaled. “You didn’t fail. That’s the best answer I can give.”

Mei squeezed Kiana’s hand under the table. Seele and Bronya exchanged glances, and even Veliona looked slightly impressed.

Void, meanwhile, floated behind them all, smirking. “Not bad, Kiana. Not bad at all.”

Kiana let out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding.

“Alright then.” She said, sitting back. “Guess I’ll take it.”

The tension in the room started to ease - at least a little. The two officials exchanged another glance, clearly having some silent discussion. Meanwhile, Kiana sat back in her chair, arms crossed, still processing what had just happened.

She had expected more pushback. More skepticism. Maybe even another round of testing to make sure she wouldn’t accidentally warp reality by sneezing too hard. But instead, they had accepted her answer.

It was weird.

Mei, ever the tactician, spoke first. “So, what happens now?”

The woman with glasses adjusted her notes before looking up. “There will be additional monitoring. We’re not saying you’re free to do as you please without oversight, but we are acknowledging that you have a certain...leeway in how you operate.”

The green-eyed woman nodded. “You’ve proven, at least for now, that your intentions are aligned with keeping the world stable. But given your history, and the nature of your power, we can’t ignore the risks.”

The room stayed silent after the officials spoke, the weight of their decision settling over the table. Kiana didn’t say anything at first, but the way her fingers tapped rhythmically against the surface made it obvious she wasn’t as okay with this as she pretended to be.

Mei noticed immediately. “Kiana?”

Kiana let out a sharp breath through her nose. “So, what, you’re just gonna keep watching me forever?”

The woman with glasses adjusted her notes. “It’s a necessary precaution. You yourself acknowledged that-”

“No, see, I get it. I really do.” Kiana leaned forward, elbows on the table. “You’re worried because I’ve got enough power to warp reality if I really felt like it. And you don’t trust me. That’s fine. I wouldn’t trust me either if I were in your shoes.”

The officials remained quiet, letting her talk.

“But I never asked for this. I didn’t choose to be the Herrscher of Finality.” Kiana gestured vaguely. “I just did what needed to be done at the time. And now you want to stick me under surveillance like some unpredictable bomb waiting to go off?”

Mei tensed slightly. “Kiana-”

“No, Mei, come on.” Kiana glanced at her, expression caught between frustration and exhaustion. “I get why they’re concerned. I really do. But I don’t think I owe them this. I’ve already done my part. I fought. I bled. I gave up everything to make sure this world didn’t collapse under its own mistakes.”

She turned back to the officials. “So if you’re gonna sit here and tell me that my reward for all of that is indefinite monitoring - nah. That’s not happening.”

The woman with glasses frowned. “It’s not a punishment, Kiana.”

Kiana scoffed. “Tsk, sure feels like one.”

The green-eyed official crossed her arms. “You’re expecting us to just let you walk out of here with the most dangerous power on the planet, completely unchecked?”

Kiana met her gaze without hesitation. “Yes.”

That answer actually made both officials pause.

Bronya, who had been quiet until now, finally spoke. “To be fair, Kiana has spent the last few years proving she isn’t the type to go on a power trip.”

Veliona smirked. “Yeah, she’s more of an impulsive dumbass than an evil overlord.”

Seele nudged her with an unimpressed look.

Void chuckled, floating lazily above them. “I mean, personally, I’d love to see how they plan to monitor Finality. What are they gonna do, put a tracker on her? Have a ‘No Universe Warping’ contract she has to sign?”

The official with glasses sighed. “It’s not about controlling her. It’s about being prepared for the worst.”

Mei exhaled, rubbing her temples. “I don’t think this is something we’re going to agree on easily.”

Kiana clicked her tongue. “Look. I’m not saying you don’t have a reason to be worried. But I don’t need your approval to live my life. If you think I’m a danger, just say it outright. If not, then back off.”

The green-eyed woman studied her for a long moment before sighing. “This is complicated.”

Kiana leaned back in her chair. “Yeah, well, welcome to my life.”

The official with glasses closed her notes. “We’ll...discuss this further.”

Kiana rolled her eyes. “Yeah yeah, you do that.”

The meeting officially ended, but the tension lingered.

The meeting ended with a vague promise of 'further discussions', but Kiana wasn’t holding her breath. The officials left the room, their expressions unreadable, but it was obvious they weren’t satisfied with how things had turned out.

Kiana stretched her arms behind her head as soon as they were gone. “Well, that was fun.”

Mei sighed. “Kiana.”

“What? I was polite.”

Bronya gave her a flat stare. “You were about as polite as a bomb threat.”

Veliona snickered. “Honestly, kinda impressive you didn’t just tell them to shove it.”

Void smirked from where she was still lazily floating above them. “Oh, she wanted to. I could feel it.”

Kiana shot her a glare. “Shut up, Void.”

Void made a vague what-can-you-do gesture.

Seele glanced between them. “So, what happens now?”

Bronya shut her laptop. “Nothing, for now. They’ll ‘discuss’ things and eventually try to make some kind of official ruling.”

Mei frowned. “And if they decide they do want to monitor you?”

Kiana leaned back against her chair, arms crossed. “Then I say no again.”

Mei looked unconvinced. “And if they push harder?”

Kiana gave her a lopsided grin. “Then I push back.”

Mei pinched the bridge of her nose. “Kiana, that’s not how diplomacy works.”

“It is how I work.”

Void chuckled. “She’s got a point. It’s hard to monitor someone when they can warp reality on a whim.”

Seele shifted uncomfortably. “I don’t like the idea of this turning into a fight.”

Bronya nodded. “Neither do I. We should prepare in case things escalate.”

Veliona smirked. “Or, y’know, we could just ignore them until they get tired of trying.”

Kiana laughed. “I like that plan.”

Mei groaned. “You would.”

Bronya stood up, smoothing out her skirt. “Regardless, we should be cautious. For now, let’s go home and rest.”

“Finally, something smart.” Veliona said, already stretching as if she’d been forced to sit still for way too long.

As they left the meeting room, Kiana glanced at her friends. “Hey.”

Mei turned, so did Bronya and the rest “What?”

Kiana grinned, nudging her side. “Thanks for backing me up.”

Mei sighed. “Of course. But try not to get yourself arrested for telling government officials to ‘back off,’ okay?”

“No promises.”

Mei shook her head but didn’t argue.

As they walked out of the building, Void drifted alongside Kiana with a smug expression. “So, what’s the plan now?”

Kiana shrugged. “Same as always. Live my life. Eat good food. Maybe annoy Bronya a little.”

Bronya rolled her eyes. “You always annoy me.”

“See? Consistency!”

Mei let out a long-suffering sigh. “Kiana, please.”

Veliona chuckled. “I don’t know. I think this is gonna be very fun to watch.”

Seele smiled slightly. “Just don’t cause another incident.”

Kiana huffed. “I never cause incidents.”

The entire group stopped and turned to stare at her.

Void snorted. “Do I even need to say anything?”

Kiana crossed her arms. “Fine. Rarely.”

Veliona laughed. “Yeah, sure.”

They walked out into the afternoon sun, knowing full well that this wasn’t really over, but that wasn't her problem anymore.

Kiana was free and that was enough. Now and forever.