Chapter 12
Date: 10/09/2014
Location: Ulan-Ude
Hua could practically see the Privati when she heard Kiana’s scream
Her eyes widened when she heard it as she instinctively let out a primal power within her forming a red feather with a white ethereal aura around them
Within an instant, one turned into many
and many turn into a hundreds
And a hundred to thousands
And just as instantly the feathers turned into swords
Swords that just as quickly as they were formed sprung into action
Becoming a tornado, nay, a hurricane of devastation on the Honkai Beast
Which in turn gave her the perfect opportunity to land a devastating blow on its “stomach” from the side which caused spiderweb cracks to form on its body
The Beast roars before it stands up on its hind legs in order to body slam and crush the one that dared to cause it harm
However, as soon as it stood up on its hind legs Ana, with a yell of rage, slams her lance into one of the cracks on its “stomach”
The force of which caused it to fall on its back
Ana used her lance to pry open a chunk of its “stomach” and dives in to get Kiana out
If Hua wasn't for some reason worried, she would be now
She just went from needing to save one of her squadmates to needing to save both of them
Date: 10/09/2014
Location: St. Freya Academy
Hua is pacing back and forth in front of the operation room in the Medbay, Principle Theresa and Major Himeko were inside making sure both Kiana and Ana are ok, currently only Major Himeko is there
From what she’s heard from methods that she shouldn't be using to eavesdrop Ana is ok, albeit colder than normal which is understandable since the Privati is an Ice type Honkai beast
Kiana on the other hand is in a questionable situation, according to the doctors both her and Ana’s abnormally high Honkai resistance made it so that they didn't suffer any damage through corrosion and Ana was pulled out fast enough that she doesn't need to be strapped down like Kiana is currently being
It does make her feel better that despite the fact that its for Kiana’s as well as everyone else’s safety neither Himeko nor Theresa like the fact that Kiana is being strapped down
Hua hears footsteps making their way over to where she is currently pacing
Looking over she see Kaine, Mei and Bronya making their over to her
Kaine, she doesn't have anything against, if anything the boy is pleasant to be around especially considering who his great grandfather is
Bronya is neutral ground at this point in time, she neither likes nor dislikes the gray haired girl
And finally Raiden Mei whom she's come to feel an utter disdain for, between what she’s seen of the ravenette and what she’s learnt from Kiana when the snow haired girl was venting to her
according to Kiana the Herrscher of thunder is the type to actively fight and protect anyone that matters to her while Raiden Mei is the type to hurt and abandon someone under the guise and delusion of saving them, a would be traitor
And Hua distains traitors with a passion, something that she’s carried with her since her own students had betrayed her so so many years ago
Oddly enough, it seems like the Herrscher gained most of the empathy and kindness
“And what do you want?” her voice cold and her ruby red eyes glowing with impatience
Himeko always knew since the day that they met that there was a distance between her and Kiana
Not because the snow haired girl lacked respect for her elders or a number of other things that Himeko could note down
Although she finds herself questioning what she thought she knew was the mask Kiana had crafted for herself and what was her actual self
She didn't show it much but It was jarring to see the bright, bubbly, often cocky and at times airheaded girl become so different after she voluntarily became mute for the bet
Kiana wasn't bubbly anymore, she was bright, sure, but that was only visible when she was genuinely happy
Gone was the cockiness and the airheadedness, replaced with a cold calculativeness with a tendency to disappear at a moments notice
Himeko sighs softly as she looks over the pair of cousins in her care
Himeko damn near lost it when she heard what happened to Kiana what Ana had chosen to do afterwards to get Kiana
According to the doctors Ana would be fine, her Shariac blood has prevented the corrosion that she would otherwise suffer through
But that doesn't change the anxiety the woman felt, let alone the fear and worry that Fu Hua herself felt when she saw Ana dive into the beast’s stomach to save Kiana
Himeko has long since decided to give the pair of girls the mother of all reprimandations
*thud*
HImeko’s musings were brought to a halt by the sound of a loud thud right outside the room
She goes out of the room to see what the commotion is about, she sees Fu Hua holding Mei by the neck against the wall with a glare on her face with Mei struggling against the other girls hold with pain clear on her face
“That's enough!” Himeko says with authority, “Fu Hua, Put her down”
Hua glances over to Himeko before she chucked Mei at Kaine
“Oof” the boy lets out as he struggled to keep his footing while he caught Mei
Himeko looks to the boy, “take her to be checked out by one of the doctors”
Kaine nods and carries her with him, Bronya give one last glance before she joins her big brother figure
Himeko looks over Hua, “come with me” she says as she goes back into the room
Looks like she has one more girl that she has to reprimand…
“You should have listened to him” the Herrscher says in her head
‘How was I supposed to know she would attack me’ Mei retorts to the Herrscher
“How about the part where the woman was glaring at you the moment she heard you walking towards her?” the Herrscher says dryly “and you had to go and demand to see her”
‘I didn't demand to see Kiana-chan’ Mei defended herself, ‘I just said I wanted to see her’
“mm-hmm, and I'm the Easter bunny” the Herrscher says “you should have just let the kid do the talking like he told you to do”
The Herrscher suddenly chuckles, much to Mei’s confusion “unless you're a masochist and you're into being put into a choke hold”
‘Wha!? I'm not!’ Mei retorts, though it does nothing to help as the Herrscher has already cut the connection between them
Bronya was contemplating a lot of things
Specifically she's thinking of the advice given to her by her Kaine-nii-sama
‘Is the Bronya too late? Will subject Kiana even accept the Bronya’s apology’ Her thoughts have been spiraling in this fashion since she heard Kiana scream as she was swallowed by the Privati
She, like Kaine and Mei had wanted to see how Kiana was, but seeing Class monitor’s ruby eyed glare made her freeze in place
She couldn't move, she couldn't even speak and Project Bunny remained hidden
Even when her Mei-nee-sama was slammed into the wall in a chokehold she couldn't do anything
It was only after Himeko-sensei told them to take Mei-nee-sama to see a doctor for whatever damage that she might have received from Class monitor was she able to move, and it was not to see Kiana in the room but to leave
But Bronya didn't go with Kaine-nii-sama to the doctor, Bronya had branched off somewhere along the way
Her thoughts spiraling out but weirdly enough all of it is going back to when the stupid bet between them was made
But why? Why are her thoughts going there specifically?
She vaguely recognized that she has made her way to St.Freya’s center fountain
She was wondering what happened at that time period that was so important that her mind is relentlessly trying to make her remember
And then it hit her like a ton of bricks
“You don't even know me! You don't know anything about me!” Kiana yells at them before she stormed off
…so that's what it comes down to isn't it? The argument that happened between them shortly after Kaine-nii-sama joined
The bet wasn't Kiana proving that she could shut up, it was Kiana proving that they didn't know her at all, and Kiana was right they didn't know about her and what they did know was put into question very quickly
“The Bronya loses, the Bronya wants to hear subject Kiana talking again” she declares out loud as a single lone tear escapes her eye
Bronya didn't hear the gasps and the like that followed her statement nor did she care about what the busybodies were up to as her mind is once again preoccupied by what she will say to subject Kiana when she apologizes to her
Date: 11/09/2014
Location: St. Freya Academy
Fu Hua would normally be ashamed of the fact that she is being reprimanded but right now she was drowning in her worries over Kiana and Ana for any reprimandation Himeko sent her way to affect her
And it seems like Himeko has noticed it because she has stopped reprimanding her
Or maybe it's because of the doctor that arrived to check on the pair of cousins, probably the latter
From what she can see and feel, Ana is fine although she now has a core that wasn't there before , and that in and of itself is concerning
The fact that the medical team hasn't noticed in and of itself is a miracle
But Kiana’s condition however is more problematic
The Void core within her is pulsing with power, although subdued, is more than a little concerning
And then Kiana had a full blown panic attack and the void core started pulsing erratically, almost as though the core is going through the panic attack with Kiana
Both she and Himeko had tried to get the snow haired girl to calm down but to no avail, she even managed to break one of her hands free of the restraint placed on it
Hua had pinned the, now free, arm down on the bed while Himeko held down her legs
Thankfully, the panic attack didn't last long due to the fact that the doctor managed to injected anesthesia in order to knock her out
Hopefully things will get better soon without getting even worse
Kaine is finally able to go visit his cousins in the med bay
To his surprise, Class Monitor Fu Hua wasn't there in the room like he was expecting her to be
Miss Himeko was there though
“I sent her back to get some rest” she says seeing his surprised look
“I see” he says, ”how're they?”
“Their both stable but we won't be able to know the true extent of the damage they've received until they’re up and about”
“When are they expected to wake up then?”
“Doctors estimate Ana will be up in 12 days or so, even more so for Kiana, they mentioned something along the lines of a month” Himeko says with a soft sigh
The pair of them spent the rest of the time that the boy stayed at the room in silence
Date: 12/09/2014
Location: St. Freya Academy
The platinum blond haired girl let out a groan as she woke up
She was feeling groggy as she was awakening, in fact she didn't remember going to sleep last night
The last thing she remembered was
…
“KIANA!” She yells as she sits up suddenly with her eyes wide open
She feels someone grab her arm and her head snaps to the direction of person who grabbed her arm
She sees Hua there next to her looking concerned
“Breathe, Kiana’s alive and ok, so are you and i need you to keep calm” she says in soothing tone of voice, it was a few octaves deeper than she used to hearing
But it does help her calm down so there's that
“W-what hap-p-p-pened? W-w-where’s-s-s-s K-Kia? W-w-w-why i-i-is ever-r-rithing s-s-so c-c-c-old?” Ana stuttered out, her body shivering
Hua sits on the bed next to her and pulls her into a hug, Ana’s head pressed against Hua’s chest
“Shhhh, don't worry about that right now, just breathe with me alright” Hua says gently and Ana nods, trusting the gray haired girl
It took a few moments for the Platinum Blond to properly calm down, as she calms down, the cold that she's feeling diminishes
“Better?” Hua asks and Ana nods her head, “good”
“Now for your questions, Kiana got swallowed by that Privati and you jumped in after her to save her leaving me to save the both of you” Hua says looking at her sharply before letting out a sigh
“as for Kiana, she's over there” Hua points to the other bed in the room, “she is for all intents and purposes, fine”
“Why is she…?”
“She was worse off than you were” Hua says, “others that were in her position reacted… extremely badly…when they woke up”
‘If I hadn't been so rash in trying to save Kia, maybe we could have saved her fast enough’ Ana thinks to herself as tears welled up in her eyes
Date: 13/09/2014
Location: St. Freya Academy
“Cousin Ana! You're awake!” came the surprised exclamation from her little cousin (more little brother really)
“Hey little cousin” Ana says with a smile on her face in order to hide the inner turmoil that she’s feeling
“What's wrong?” But that was unsuccessful, seems like her little cousin knows how to read her a little more than she had anticipated
Ana just gave him a look that basically said ‘what makes you think something’s wrong’
He replied with a deadpan look of his own ‘because its written all over your face’
She deflates “Hua’s mad at me”
“I don't think that Class Monitor is mad at you”
“What makes you so sure?”
“Well, i think her on her way to put a hole on the floor outside the door with her pacing is a good enough indication” He says with a grin, “anyways, I need to go before I get into trouble, Major Himeko assigned me to babysit”
“Yeah, have fun with that” Ana says with a snicker
“I won't!” he said as he closed the door
“I know!” she rebuked immediately after
Ana was once again left with her thoughts, she sighs softly and looks over to Kiana whos still asleep
A few moments later there's a soft knock on the door before Hua lets herself in
The pair of them sit in silence for a few moment
“I’m sorry” ”I apologize” the both of them speak at the same time
“Ah, you go first” Hua says with a soft smile
“I shouldn't have done what i did, im sorry” Ana apologizes to her
“No, i was too harsh when i said that” Hua sighs before continuing “I knew how much you love her, so I should have expected for you to pull something dangerous to save her”
Ana looks down sadly, Hua seeing how her words are effecting Ana continues quickly
“I'm not sure if you've noticed but I, myself, wasn't in the best state of mind at the time” Hua slumps and Ana looks up to her companion “I was far too worried out of my mind about Kiana’s well-being that I couldn't consider anything else, and you paid the price for it… I’m sorry”
The two stayed silent for a few moment before softly laughing together
Date: 14/09/2014
Location: St. Freya Academy
Kiana is right there, right on the other side of this door
As things stand Kaine-Nii-Sama is allowed in whenever he wants due to being family
while Mei-Nee-Sama is banned from the room, partly due to Subject Ana not wanting her vicinity of her and Subject Kiana and partly because Class Monitor would throw her out the window… again
So, why couldn't she bring herself to open the door
Or even knock, since she's fairly certain that Class Monitor or Himeko-sensei would let her in
So why? Why was she unable to do anything but stand here
“You don't even know me! You don't know anything about me!” Kiana’s voice echoes in her head once again
…
‘Does the Bronya even have the right to even go see her?’ she thinks to herself, if she was capable of crying then she would have tears flowing down her face righ now
she feels guilty, she can understand that much
Bronya sighs softly to herself ‘maybe the Bronya should wait for subject Kiana to wake up first’, she thinks to herself and walks away with her head down
Date: ??/??/????
Location: ??????????
Mei find herself on the rooftop of Chiba academy
Dark clouds overhead obscuring the sky with low rumbles of thunder and the occasional strike of bright purple lighting
“Well, well, well, look what the honkai dragged in” an echoed imitation of her voice spoke from behind her
Mei quickly turns around to see the Herrscher within her seated on what was once a rooftop bench, now warped with into a throne with the metal from the railings and communication tower
“What do you want” Mei says with a glare on her face
“Ohh, looks like someone grew a spine” said the Herrscher with clear amusement in her voice which only caused Mei to glare at her harder
“But, that's not what I've brought you here for, coward. I've called you here to collect of our little bet, the brat lost after all” the Herrscher says so casually as though she's speaking of the weather
“No” Mei says resolutely
“No?” the Herrscher questions with mild amusement
“No, i wont remove the bomb and let you cause harm to everyone”
“Look at you sounding self righteous, unfortunately, you don't have a choice”
Mei felt dread when she heard the Herrscher say that, “What does that supposed to mean?” she asked hoping that the dread she feels isn't leaking into her voice
“What that means, little coward, is that I don't care what happens to you” a dark, sinister smirk that befits a Herrscher forms on her face, “i know of another that is a far more accepting of me and would be better host than you are”
“W-who would accept a monster like you!”
“Why should I tell you, coward? Whatever you say to whatever authority wont change the outcome” her tone drops a couple of octaves which only adds to the sinister aura she is exuding, ”what you can control in this situation, little coward, is weather you live or die”
Mei, feeling nothing but fear in this moment turns around and runs, she runs as far away from the Herrscher that she can
The Herrscher lets out a dark chuckle “run, little coward, run, there's nothing that you can do to stop this storm that's approaching”