Chapter 14
“Ki… na… Kian…”
She wakes up for the second time to the distant sound of someone calling out to her
Her mind is clearer than earlier and with each moment she understood her situation better than before
It also helps that this time “Kiana” and “Sirin” aren't melding into one singular entity in her head
This time she was 1000% sure that she isn't in Babylon labs
Sure, she was immobilized, bound and gagged, BUT, she wasn't in danger
She wasn't in this situation because someone wanted to make her suffer for their amusement
She knew this because the person calling out to her is in fact Himeko
“Kiana, Sugar, can you hear me?” Himeko asks in a surprisingly cautiously, “i need you to stay calm and nod if you can”
Kiana nods her head which gave way for Himeko to release a relieved sigh
“Listen to me, ok? You're alright, ok? You're perfectly safe” Himeko says to her with a very soothing tone of voice
If she’s being honest, Kiana liked it, she liked it a lot even though she couldn't quite put her finger on why
“You're only like this to stop you from hurting yourself” she explains with the same voice, “i was told that other valkyries in similar situations reacted… extremely badly after waking up”
So not too dissimilar to her, she meant
As much as she didn't want to admit it, chances are she would have seriously hurt someone had she not been tied down
As such she didn't have the right to complain about the prisoner treatment regardless of how much she wanted to
“Do you want me to remove your mouth guard now?” Himeko asks her
So not a gag, that's good to know, Kiana nods her head
Himeko removes the mouth guard and she tries to talk only for her to start coughing
“I have some water here, mind the straw”
When the straw touched her lips she immediately took a few mouthfuls of water to get her throat to feel less like a dessert
How long was she out for? How did she survive? And what is going on with her?, these were some of the questions fleeting around in her head
And that dream that she had, it felt far too real to be “just a dream”
There was so much bloodshed and she’s sure that she's gained a bit of fear for Hua, Theresa and her own father
Despite the fact that she’s awake, she’s still reeling from the fast-forward live-through of the Herrscher of the void’s life, only to realize that she can feel the Void core within her, pulsing softly with power
She couldn't deal with this, not right now, so she shoves the information to the dark corners of her mind and she’ll revisit them later, probably
Preferably when she has Hua and Ana there to shower her with hugs for comfort
When she was done drinking she let go of the straw and let out a sigh
“I'm not dead…?” her voice is very soft as she speaks for the first time in months
Himeko gasps softly as she is undoing the bindings on Kiana
“W-what's wrong?” Kiana asks, worried about why Himeko is gasping
“There’s nothing wrong, sugar, it's simply…” Himeko takes a moment to think about how she will word it “it's been so long since i've heard you speak, i almost forgot what your voice sounded like”
Himeko shakes her head, “as for how you aren't dead, Hua managed to deal with the Privati in under a minute and get you out, that along with your extremely high Honkai resistance due to your heritage to thank for”
“Oh…that's…good” Kiana laments as she rubs her wrists, making sure to be careful and not displace the needle that is still in her (much to her displeasure and discomfort), and sitting up “I forgot that it's been almost a year since that stupid bet started…”
“Well, if it makes you feel any better Bronya conceded the win to you” Himeko says
Kiana couldn't help the small smile that briefly graced her lips, “a little bit, what about the blindfold?” she asks Himeko
“Sensitive from the large dose of Honkai energy” Himeko explains, “according to the doctors you'll need to keep the blindfold on for a few more days, and switch to shades when they aren't hurting too much”
“Oh…ok” Her eyes weren't hurting at all, she's already questioning so much, what’s one more thing to add to that list, there’s no need to make the others do the same
Kiana’s eyes widen behind the blindfold as a thought occurs to her and she quickly turns her head towards where she's been hearing Himeko’s voice throughout the conversation, “how long have I been out?”
“it's been something along the lines of 8 days or so” Himeko answered her gently
Meaning its over a week since she was swallowed by the Privati, it partly explains why she isn't all that tired but not why isn't she hungry…?
wait…
“How… how long have you been here?” she had to ask
“almost…all of the time” Himeko answered with a surprisingly uncharacteristic, sheepish tone of voice
Kiana’s pretty sure that if she listened close enough she could hear Himeko’s sweatdrop with how sheepish she sounds
“Principal let me take the week off, since i couldn't focus on the lessons I’m supposed to be giving” Himeko says, “thankfully everythings worked out in the end”
Kiana was silent for a moment, “so, what happens now?”
“I was planning on giving you the longest lecture of your life for worrying us so much, but, with how you're behaving it's clear that I don't need to, almost dying is quite the experience isn't it”
Kiana hums softly as she nods her head
“As it stands, you're off of the active roster until we're absolutely certain that there's no lasting effects, but for the most part you're body is fine”
“So… no punishment..?*
“Sugar, being swallowed by the privati was punishment enough, unless of course you want more” Himeko said teasingly
However, “No, No, please, please no” Kiana says almost desperately as she brings her legs close and curls up into a ball
Deep down Kiana knew Himeko didn't mean anything bad by what she said and if anything Himeko was teasing her
but her currently very unstable mindset she couldn't stop the very vehement reaction that she gave
It's almost like “Kiana” and “Sirin” are two extremes of a pendulum and her mind is swinging that pendulum as it reacts to different stimulus
“I'll take your word for it sugar, so please calm down” Himeko says with that soothing voice that she really likes, it helps her relax out of the fetal position
She hears Himeko let out a soft sigh, “sorry Sugar, sometimes I forget that all of you are still kids” She says softly as she pulls the snow haired girl into a hug
“I'm not a kid” came Kiana’s knee jerk response to what Himeko said, only to realize just how childish it sounds
Himeko just hums softly and says nothing
Its weird, she's hugged Hua and Ana plenty of times before, heck she's hugged Mei when they were kinda close (eons ago it seems despite the fact that it's been less than an year) even Rei when she was actively in control during Nagazora, yet she never felt like this
Its… warm, its… safe
Half of her is eerily familiar with the feeling yet it's so absolutely foreign for the other Half of her but she couldn't quite put her finger on why
“My poor little girl”
Kiana’s breath hitches as it hits her like truck
"I saw your loneliness and pain in the illusion that you created… So I actually did try to be your mother and make it up to you. But I couldn't do much at that time."
Why she was feeling that odd duality of feelings
"Here we are, at the last moments of our lives. At least you won’t be lonely now."
Because Sirin is intimately familiar with this warmth while Kiana has never felt this warmth before today
"See? I’m here with you, sharing a moment of warmth together."
Kiana started crying into Himeko and Himeko simply rubs small circles into her back as she holds her close
Kiana didn't know if it was ‘Kiana” or “Sirin” yearned for this more, what she did know is that all of her was starved of it
It took some time for Kiana to stop crying
And throughout the entire time Himeko was holding her close whilst humming softly
Even after she had calmed down Kiana continued to hold on to Himeko’s blouse
Something that Himeko notes is that Kiana looks so small and fragile in her arms right now
It is a gut wrenching sight to see, to see this strong young girl be reduced to such a vulnerable state
When she had completely calmed down Himeko had asked her if she wanted to go back to the Dorm house or if she wanted to stay here in the med bay
Admittedly it was all too easy to choose to go back home to the dorm house
Kianan was all too happy to be as far away from the medical facility, although she didn't show it outwardly
Within thirty minutes she was in some casual clothes walking back to the dorm house with Himeko
Well technically Himeko is walking back while Kiana is being wheeled back on a wheelchair, which is better than the alternative of wandering around blindfolded and Himeko was really insistent that she let the woman wheel her home
Along the way Himeko started humming a familiar tune of the early morning HOMU cartoon that Kiana’s fairly sure Bronya watches
Kiana is fairly sure that Bronya watches it because she tends to sleep in quite often, and even if she makes it to class on time, she would have slept through whatever episode of the cartoon that was on the day and she knows the tune from the cartoon because she is secretly the ever so elusive “Neko-Chan” of HOMU LAND
Regardless, Kiana finds herself humming along with her teacher/ assigned caretaker/ taller auntie (surrogate mother?)
Kiana doesn't remember the last time she felt this safe since her father left, the closest she has to feeling this safe was after she ran into Ana all those years ago and she took her in and kept her hidden for the duration of the time that they were living together
But recently Kiana has been feeling very safe and secure around Himeko everything from the woman’s presence to the warm feelings of her stigmata’s Honkai energy, just calms her to her very core
Only to realize that she can sense Honkai energy, another thing to add to the increasing number of questions that she needs answers to that she once again buries in the back of her mind
Eventually they stop much to Kiana’s confusion, at least for a little bit as she very quickly sensed Hua’s own warm Honkai energy along with Ana’s weirdly cold yet calming Honkai energy
“Alright, we’re here, i know you're girlfriends are waiting anxiously for you to wake up, so expect a lot of hugs and kisses and a lot of hovering” Himeko says with a teasing tone
Kiana for her part wanted to deny the girlfriends allegation but thinking about it she realizes that her relationship with both Hua and Ana are a lot closer to what she has with Rei rather than what she's had with the friends she's made along the way
So she just hums and affirmative rather than say anything, it's just another thing to think about after all
Almost as soon as the door closed there were two pairs of footsteps coming over to them
“Kiana!” came the voices of Hua and Ana and very much like Himeko had said, Kiana was showered with hugs and kisses
For the moment Kiana was too stunned to give any form of reaction
“Girls, girls, calm down, Kiana’s fine and expected to make a complete recovery” Himeko says tenderly
“Umm, so…” Kiana speaks softly, “how’s dinner coming along? Cause i can't smell any food and if there's something wrong with my nose, i'd like to know”
“I knew i forgot something” Ana gasped softly before Kiana hears the sound of footsteps going away from her, Likely Ana going to get a simple dinner on the table
Kiana could hear the sound of Hua facepalming before muttering to herself “we shouldn't have been brooding so much”
“Fu Hua, where are the others?”
“Madam Theresa took them out to eat, mostly due to Raiden being a paranoid mess”
Meaning that Kiana had some time before she needed to interact with anyone that she doesn't want to
After the quick meal Kiana is once again alone, this time in her room at her request
While Himeko had told her to feel free to fall asleep and both Hua and Ana giving her their well wishes and reassurance that they are only a yell away if she needed either of them
As she lay there in bed, her eyes still covered by the blindfold, her thoughts began to rage like a maelstrom without anything else to distract her
Even so she handled this like she would as though she was meditating after a sparring session with Hua, by going through every thought that she had, one by one, to the end of each and every thought that she had
And it all comes back down to the Void Core within her
It’s the most likely cause for the visions/memories of the Herrscher of the void, Sirin. It was her core after all
It’s also the most likely cause for her newly gained ability to sense Honkai energy, even now as she laid there she could tell that Himeko is in the living room downstairs while Hua and Ana in Ana’s room? What’re they both doing there? Nevermind, she’ll ask them later
And to top it off Hua is way older than she thought she was and she has a connection to the Overseer, and this caused an odd dual reaction from her as part of her feels betrayed by Hua despite not knowing the circumstances behind her involvement with the Overseer while the other part of her wants to know the circumstances that made someone as nice as Hua have an involvement with the Overseer
Throughout her meditation she learnt another two things about herself
The first being that she now has a deep seeded disdain for the Overseer
And the second thing is that her thoughts seem to be swinging on a pendulum, with one side being “Kiana” and the other side being “Sirin”
She also had big questions like how did the Void core end up inside her, she knows for a fact that the second eruption and the war that happened, happened while she was a baby, a toddler at most
Then again… she doesn't remember anything from before she was nine…
And her father was also very distant back then…
Was she kidnapped and experimented on like Sirin and the children from Babylon labs? And did she just forget everything
…if her memory of history is correct, which is doubtful that it isn't as Hua and Ana would have her doing remedial study sessions if it wasn't, then Schicksal had gotten the Void Core after the end of the second eruption
Does that mean that Schicksal were the ones that put the Void Core within her? And she just came back to them, like a little puppy, to be a Valkyrie?
Her fist closed in anger at the thought and her mind quickly flashed through the horrors inflicted upon the children, Sirin included, and a desire to just destroy Schicksal manifested within her
Kiana closed her eyes, grit her teeth and shook her head to get rid of it
Things aren't that simple afterall, removing one of the only two anti-Honkai organizations would only end in disaster
Besides, those not involved in such disregard to human life, like Theresa and Himeko amongst others, don't deserve to die for something that their Overseer had allowed “for the sake of humanity”
It’s one thing to do inhumane experiments on people after they agreed to it with knowledge of what could happen to them and it's another thing entirely to do inhumane experiments on people without their consent
And the Overseer allowed it, he allowed inhumane experiments on children who just lost their homes and families
Even if Kiana wouldn't destroy Schicksal, she wanted Otto Apocalypse deader than a hammer
But she isn't disciplined enough with her power for her to try anything that wouldn't end in her failure
That going to be a goal for a later date
She groaned, as the revelations meant very little by themselves without context, she's a key piece in it, sure, but that's as far as she could get as things stood
She sat up and chose to focus on something else, namely the complete lack of side effects from being a Privati snack, she shudders at that thought
Her eyes are supposed to be stinging according to Himeko but they weren't as such she removed her blindfold to see if opening her eyes now will cause a burst of pain
…
Nope, it's fine, like opening her eyes any other night…
Maybe turning on the lights?
She got up, walked over to the light switch and turned it on
Only to be met the discomfort of turning on the lights in a dark room after you're eyes have adjusted to the darkness, meaning her eyes are functioning as they are supposed to
Had the Void Core protected her by absorbing the Honkai energy that would have otherwise corrupted her or even crippled her
Was having a Herrscher core actually a good thing?
She scoffed
There was something else that she wanted to check and made her way to the mirror
“I’m a mess” Ana says to Hua
“You say that like the rest of us aren't” Hua says with a slight amount of amusement in her voice
“I know, but Herrscher…” Ana starts
“Half-Herrscher” only for Hua to correct her much to the annoyance of the Platinum blond
“Whatever, i've basically become part of the thing that i trained to destroy and it's just” Ana says before screaming into a pillow
When she pulls the pillow away from her face there's a layer of frost forming on the area that she screamed into
Hua just wraps an arm around the girl to give her some comfort
The Peaceful moment was broken by the sound of Kiana screaming
Which prompted the pair to jump into action and run to Kiana’s room
Himeko is in the living room seated on the Sofa, just lost in her thoughts
It really wasn't that hard as the thoughts in question revolve around Kiana
After all the girl has changed, or she supposed the girl has dropped her mask completely during the time within her bet with Bronya
Even now after the bet it over the snow haired girl is showing no signs of the bubbly personality that she had before the bet
Of course, this only proved to Himeko that the Kiana that's been around since the bet started is the real Kiana
The girl is calm, collected and, according to a number of gushing of the fangirls that kiana has gotten over the months, cool
Kiana’s horrible grades have long since been rectified by Hua and later on Ana
It is not surprising in the slightest that she didn't know what she didn't know as they weren't required for her survival out there on her own
Himeko does wonder when did she get so attached to the snow haired girl, considering that she was almost maternal towards her earlier was… she didn't even know what to think
What she did know is that somewhere along the way she has, at some point, adopted Kiana as her own, at least in her own mind
In Himeko’s mind she knew very early on that Kiana has everything that Himeko believes is needed to be a Valkyrie and anything that the girl didn't have could easily be rectified either in the classroom or in the training area
Then there was Bronya and Mei
Bronya, she could tell, was a girl with a problematic past, if her monotonous voice, incapability to show emotions outwardly were anything to go by
And normally she's a good girl, smart, quick witted and capable of handling whatever situations she would find herself in
And now after what they all have been referring to as the incident Bronya has been either scared or shy, Himeko couldn't tell which
As she has noticed the multiple times throughout the week that Bronya would come to the room tha Kiana was being kept in, only for her to stand there for a while before leaving almost as though she couldn't bring herself to take that step forward
But she was sure that Bronya will take that step forward soon enough
And finally Raiden Mei
HImeko honestly didn't realize just how big of a mess that Raiden Mei is until recently
In the middle of the bet, after the team changes were made, it suddenly became far more apparent
While Kiana was thriving with her new team, Mei was bringing hers down quite a bit
Unlike popular belief Mei was not the one keeping that team together and functioning, it was Kiana
And unsurprisingly it was also Kiana who is the main reason why they couldn't tell just how much of a mess Mei really was
Himeko sighs softly
Suddenly she has a pair of girls that are more than likely to have PTSD about what they went through along with another girl that is paranoid about something bad that is going to happen
Which admittedly is a good reason to be paranoid
Everything was calm until now, only for Kiana to scream
And Himeko was up and running upstairs to see whats wrong
When she got there Himeko noticed that the lights were on and on the floor was a terrified Kiana who has Golden eyes staring at herself in the mirror
With Hua and Ana on either side of her helping her to calm down