Three women flew above the clouds, gently jostled by each flap of the Dragon's great wings. Mei sat in the middle of the trio and held Kiana close. Her friend had eventually fallen asleep. The white Honkai burns on her body hadn't faded. On and on into the brightening sky they rode. The final ashes of Mei's strength were beginning to cool. She clenched her teeth and focused on the slowly rising sun. It felt like an eternity since Mei had last seen the orange dawn. Her head fell forward before Mei shocked into wakefulness. Again and again Mei's head fell forward. Each time she pulled herself back from the brink. It was all she could do as the Dragon carried them through the dawn.

The smell of food tickled Mei's nose. A low, steady hiss filled her ears. Mei lay on something quite soft, a warm blanket drawn over her body and a pillow tucked under her head. The dozy woman lazily pulled one eye open, then the other. She pushed herself up onto elbows and scanned the area. A gas stove hissed, a pot of rice bubbling as a shadow busied itself cutting seaweed on a chopping board atop of fold-out table. The camp lay on a tile floor, small LED lamps scattered around the perimeter of the unfamiliar room. Mei was bundled up in a camping sleeping bag. Nearby Kiana lay in her own one. The slow, steady shift of her chest as she slept was a reassurance.

'What the hell happened?'

"So…. Uh… just where the hell are we?" Mei muttered.

Amarant looked up from her food prep.

" An old shopping mall in Nagazora that I remembered. Place isn't a complete wreck. Weather's broken some of the walls and part of the ceiling. Lucky for us people left plenty behind. I raided a camping store and then a grocer. I figured the two of you needed somewhere comfy to sleep and a good meal."

Amarant went back to her cooking. Mei sleepily crawled out of the sleeping bag and made to stand up. The wave of dizziness sent her crashing down on all fours. Frustration thick, Mei crawled over and sat before the gas heater. She stretched her hands out and enjoyed the pleasant warmth.

"Your clothes should dry out shortly. Might be better to stay in the sleeping bag until then."

Mei's befuddled mind finally woke up. Her head slowly looked down. She wore a camisole, undergarments and nothing else. Nearby two sets of clothes hung on several wooden clothes racks beneath another gently hissing gas stove.

"Get a good peak?" Mei quipped.

"You're decently stacked. The arch of your spine is gorgeous too. Kiana needs to use less padding. Girl's got great collarbones and legs to eleven though."

Amarant looked up and smirked. Her earlier fear seemed to have faded.

"What happened?" Mei asked.

"You kept dozing off. I tell you, holding the pair of you upright whilst riding on a Dragon isn't easy. We eventually made it to the city. The Honkai Beast seemed to have an idea of where it was going. It landed out on a large park. I hopped off and told it to guard the pair of you whilst I went scouting. Took a little while but I found the mall. The Dragon is smart enough to follow basic instructions. She used a wing as a bed and carried the two of you over. I brought you inside, found some supplies, stripped you down and here we are."

"The Dragon?"

"She's guarding the entrance. Some Honkai beasts tried to approach. I've never seen a beast wrecked so quickly. Really glad she's on our side."

Amarant gingerly stood up and began searching through a pile of random boxes and whatnot. Mei caught the blanket tossed in her direction.

"Don't get me wrong," Amarant explained, "You are easy on the eye. But I don't need you catching a cold."

Mei pulled the blanket about her shoulders and glared at the gas fire. She started to arrange her thoughts. They needed time to recover. They needed information. And they needed to be one step of World Serpent, Schicksal, AE or anyone else. By now Mei considered anyone bar Kiana an enemy. Amarant was working her way up to useful resource.

"Your injury?" Mei asked.

Amarant had replaced her destroyed jacket and top. She very carefully tapped where the energy beam had gone through her.

"I must be incredibly lucky. I found a medical kit then cleaned and dressed the wound as best I could. It hurts like hell but the painkillers help. I might die in the next week or I might survive. Beyond caring at this point."

"You've calmed down," Mei noted.

"Don't really have a choice. Our little ride on supersized Haku gave me a chance to think. I'm really caught up in a mess, aren't I? The onsen was scary enough. But that could have been some weird Valkyrja related ability or maybe some advanced technology. Then I recognised Durandal. The super-famous Valkyrja of Schicksal. I almost wanted to ask for a signature. If you're fighting Durandal that means it is serious. You were throwing around lightning and Kiana started opening some weird portal before she collapsed. Seeing what you could do up close… you aren't human are you?"

"Ever heard the term Herrscher?"

Mei watched Amarant's reaction. The woman held back. Knew more than she let on. She could be a plant. Someone with far too much information. You didn't become a guide for all sorts of people without picking some things up.

"Avatars for the Honkai," Amarant finally answered.

"And you know how?"

"I help all sorts of people. Not everything Schicksal does is above board. They needed people like me. The same of Anti-Entropy. I know of other organisations etc. You listen long enough, you start to pick things up. When I started work in Arc City I wanted to learn about Herrschers. Ironic we're in Nagazora. Bit of homecoming, huh?"

Mei sat up straighter. The woman knew of her. She clenched a hand and started to focus Honkai energy around it. If needed she could throw a lightning bolt out.

"Crap! That's not good."

Amarant was up and walking quickly past Mei. Mei looked over her shoulder. Kiana was tossing and turning. Moans of pain filled the air. The Honkai burns shimmered milky white and scarlet in the dim shadows of the mall. Amarant used a damp cloth to wipe the sweat from Kiana's face.

"She keeps doing this. Yoyoing between settled and mild convulsions."

The cautious edge bled away from the Herrscher. The concern in Amarant's eyes couldn't be faked. Mei knew that look. It was the same she saw in the mirror in the months after the Honkai Eruption. The fear of not knowing what had happened to Kiana.

"I didn't think I'd return home with two Herrscher," Amarant continued. "Kinda ironic."

"Home?"

"I lived here for a time with a friend. We worked in the same field. The Third Honkai Impact changed everything. We managed to get out with some other survivors. Some Schicksal Valkyrja weren't careful enough and name dropped that a Herrscher was behind everything. First time I heard about them. My friend and I took the offer to move far off. Who'd want to live near all those bad memories? I Started fishing my clients for info on Herrschers after that."

Amarant finished her fussing and returned to the meal. She sat down with a visible wince.

"Onigiri and miso soup. Best I could manage. Rice didn't spoil, seaweed was plastic sealed, the miso too."

"Has Kiana woken up?"

Silence was the answer.

"I'll carefully feed the soup to her," Mei offered. "We'll need to keep her fluids up too."

Amarant finished the meal. Mei used a cup to slowly feed Kiana. Her skin was uncomfortable hot. Honkai energy radiated off it.

'Idiot girl. What have you done this time?'

Nobody said anything as they ate. They were too busy with their own thoughts. Feeling better after the meal, Mei checked her clothes and pulled on the dry garments. Amarant hadn't done anything after eating. Her eyes were fixed on the gas stove and the hissing blue fire.

'She's not nearly as calm as she pretends to be.'

"I need you to guard Kiana" Mei ordered.

It took a moment. Amarant finally realised she'd been addressed.

"Sure thing. But where are you going?"

"Scouting. Dr Tesla communicated with me last night. I think with the right equipment I can talk back to her. Get the Helios to come pick us up."

Amarant's eyes returned to the fire.

"Then what?"

"That's the damned hard question I'm struggling with."

Mei crouched before the gas stove and warmed her hands. The hissing matched the white noise in her head. She wasn't quite sure of what to do. Thoughts teased the edge of consciousness. Old dreams and memories that tried to bubble up from the mud at the bottom of her mind. With perfect clarity she could recall the loop of memories she had passed through. The loose fragments and shards of memory traversed in search of an answer. Mirror shards reflecting her mind, her failings sharp edges drawing blood whenever she touched them. Yet she had come to terms with her own weaknesses. Raiden Mei, yin, had died. The Herrscher, yang, had died. The two halves were finally whole. Mei now existed, built upon their corpses and fuelled by their will.

'I had that dream. That very brief dream. I saw her. I saw my Twin.'

"What happened to Kiana?" Mei inquired. "After I drew Durandal away."

"She started doing her portal thing right after you left. The air was shimmering and took on a strange orangey-black hue. Then she collapsed and all those Honkai burns appeared. She kept slipping in and out of consciousness. Finally you appeared and here we are."

'She's been fine until this point. Something's changed. I don't have the skills to determine what. But I might have a way to keep her power in check.'

"You said you worked here. I'm looking for somewhere."

"Really depends on just what you're looking for. The cities up to its knees in seawater. It could be lost beneath the waves."

Mei shook her head.

"No. No Oto-sama wouldn't hide beneath the earth. He'd be up high and in plain sight."

"I don't follow."

The Herrscher stared down at her hands. Once she had destroyed this city. The ruins they now hid within were a testament to her destructive power. A thunderous apocalypse. Now she would pick through the bones of this city for her Father's legacy. A slow smile spread on Mei's lips. That old vicious smile.

"Change of plans. You're coming with me. I need to find an ME-Corp building. It wouldn't have been on any public register. It would have been incredibly well resourced and with top-level security."

"It's been a while. I might be able to point you in—"

"You're leading me."

The guide wasn't enthused.

"It's dangerous out there and I'm not—"

"You underwent some of the treatment provided by Heliopolis. Right?"

"Arc City was offering—"

"Then you'll be fine. Ironically you might be one of the few that would have actually survived the disaster."

"Will you stop interrupting me!"

"Nope."

Amarant snorted.

"I liked you better half-naked and asleep."

Mei shrugged.

"We can save that for the celebration party."

Amarant let out surprised choke. She quickly found her composure.

"I thought you and her were… you know."

Mei shook her head.

"No. The idiot means everything to me. But not romantically. Besides, I get the feeling that Kiana has her eyes on someone else."

The Herrscher scanned the camp and changed topics.

"Weapon?"

Amarant pulled the 12th Divine Key from a crate and tossed it over. Mei drew the blade partway to examine the edge before sheathing it. Right now, she wasn't sure just how reliable her Herrscher powers really were. It was better to rely on physical weapons and wits.

"Are we playing 20 questions or are you going to tell me what's going on?" Amarant grizzled.

"Firstly, Kiana is radiating Honkai and Herrscher energy at a dangerous level. You should be ill or dead by now. World Serpent were going to nuke Arc City using a Honkai Reactor. The people that had received those treatment were test cases. They wanted to activate Stigma on people. I suspect you're one of the lucky few that would survive. Maybe. I don't have enough information. You could be something else entirely. I don't have time. Right now, you're perfect for searching Nagazora."

Those fragments of memory returned. The shards cut deeper than before. Glimmers of skyscrapers and trees. The smell of spring. It was an itch on Mei's skin that refused to settle.

"Secondly, When I was a child I was kidnapped by some people. They did horrific things to me before I was rescued. Everything between ages seven to ten is dim blur. But I do have very loose fragments of memory. I can recall fleeting images of Nagazora city in those missing years. I went to grade and middle school here after my memories start again. I didn't think much of my missing memories at the time. I had too much else to do. Too many responsibilities to dwell upon the past.

Oto-sama did something to me. I need to find the lab where he would have done it. That lab might have what I need to save Kiana."

"That's pretty flimsy reasoning."

"I'm the one responsible for Nagazora," Mei admitted.

The Herrscher watched Amarant's reaction. This was the critical juncture. She wasn't going to hide from her past any longer. Which meant she needed to be honest with the guide. She was a valuable resource. Which meant she needed the truth. Otherwise it could surprise her later. Mei didn't need surprises. She needed stability and reliability.

"That…" Amarant's voice, thick with emotion, trailed off. "The Valkyrja had said the Herrscher was dead. You're the Herrscher that destroyed Nagazora?"

"Yes. All those millions dead. All that destruction. I'll never be able to undo it. Don't know if I even feel guilty anymore. But I want to protect things now. I won't scourge Humanity. Just don't get in my way."

Amarant swallowed slowly.

"What changed? I mean back then."

"My Herrscher half gave me back control. For her own reasons. From there we had this uneasy stalemate. Two halves of the same person. Two minds. Recently I nearly died. In that final second my Herrscher half went through my mind trying to find a way for both of us to survive. The answer was simple. We finally settled things and I became a complete Herrscher.

Then I saw her again in my mind. Durandal wiped the floor with me. I was unconscious and I saw her again. It was a new memory. An old memory I had forgotten. I was in a lab and my father was talking with some people. I saw my Herrscher half. How the hell could I have seen my Herrscher half when I was eight years old? I became a Herrscher in 2014. Then she started talking to me directly. I'm no longer two halves yet my Twin addressed me directly in the present. It's my Twin. But also, not. Something strange is going on."

Mei walked over to the gas fire. The Herrscher didn't say anything. Merely cocked her head to one side. An unspoken question. The blue-haired woman looked uncomfortable. Finally she nodded. Mei got behind Amarant. She tucked her hands beneath the woman's underarms and carefully hauled the woman to her feet. The pair walked over to Kiana. Mei dropped to one knee and pressed her hand against the silver-haired girl's forehead. She could feel the Honkai energy. It bubbled within. Enough to burn even Mei to ash. Somehow her companion held on. Even in those brief seconds of contact she felt the energy grow. Amarant broke the silence.

"Your Herrscher half shouldn't have existed at 8."

"Exactly. Schicksal, Anti-Entropy, nobody could sense what I was becoming. Oto-sama knew. He sealed it. He found a way to completely seal away my power. This lab contains information on how. Something is going on with Kiana. I can feel the Honkai power slowly building up within her. She's got maybe days right now. Possibly weeks with the right anti-Honkai energy treatments. I want something reliable. Sustainable. I need to find the lab and the knowledge it contains."

Mei gave Amarant a side-long glance.

"You're going to help me find the lab. The Dragon can watch Kiana. We do this or you die trying."

Amarant's face paled.

"I'm going to work you to death," Mei said with a toothy grind. "Let's dig up Oto-sama's legacy and save this idiot girl."