Chapter 84: Chapter 84: Dream, Confused Kiana, and the Anxious Queen
(TN: We're already 50% done and reaching the latest chaps, and I noticed that there's no Chap 85... wait no, it's just missing text from raw)
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The girl had heard people say that when one is on the verge of death, their past experiences flash before their eyes like a revolving lantern.
However, now, all that lay before her eyes was pitch black.
"Shouldn't I have been pierced by the lance of the Honkai beast already?" —chaos filled the girl's heart.
Shouldn't she be like those victims who can do nothing but run and scream, helplessly watching the Honkai beast descend from the sky, being pierced, trampled, and slaughtered?
The girl questioned in her heart, "Why am I still alive?"
But she quickly found the answer.
—Because she had committed too many sins and needed to live on to face the punishment of fate.
—Because she thought she could resist the identity of the Herrscher, thinking she still had a chance to save everything?
—Or perhaps, a last strand of illusion still lingered in her heart, hoping that all of this was just a nightmare, and after the school bell rang, everything would return to normal?
She didn't know.
There was only darkness before her, an endless darkness...
Her consciousness seemed to be pulled by something unknown, as if an invisible hand reached out from the dark depths below her, pulling and dragging her, trying to plunge her into it, to make her sink.
Kiana gritted her teeth, trying hard to control her slipping sanity, recalling the worth-remembering moments from the past...
In the end, memories became fragmented and rushed toward her like a tide...
Kiana felt like she had a distant dream. In the dream, she was lying in an unfamiliar yet familiar small house, her consciousness somewhat blurry. Kiana blinked, examining everything around her.
The room was not large, but it was delicate. A small teddy bear placed by the bedside, the blossoming flowers in the potted plant on the windowsill, light purple curtains, clean but slightly yellowed white walls... and a simple sketch hanging on the wall. It depicted a woman with open arms embracing a purple-haired girl and a black-haired boy, all wearing big smiles. Though crude, it radiated warmth.
Suddenly, Kiana remembered her days in St. Freya. There were the stern yet gentle teacher Himeko, the old-fashioned but very good class monitor Fu Hua, Mei who knew how to cook, the poker-faced but emotionally rich Bronya, and the short academy principal.
Unfortunately, everything was gone. Kiana couldn't help feeling a sense of loss.
She used to have such a life, but...
"What's wrong, Sirin? Are you not feeling well?" A familiar voice interrupted Kiana's melancholy. She turned to look, realizing there was someone in the room.
A black-haired young man sat by the bedside, holding a fairy tale book, looking at Kiana with genuinely concerned eyes.
Kiana did not speak for a while. She looked at the simple sketch on the wall, and the appearance of the young man coincided with the figures in the drawing.
Although one was in high definition and the other had simple lines, Kiana recognized them both.
"Brother." Almost instinctively, Kiana called out the name of the young man at the first sight.
Kiana's pupils shrank. The call just now was not her intention at all; she didn't even know the young man in front of her. However, her body seemed to be more honest than herself. At the first glance, her mouth uttered the word "Brother."
"Is Sirin not feeling well?" The black-haired young man continued to ask with concern. He reached out and shook the book he was reading in front of Kiana's eyes, "Come on, Sirin, snap out of it!"
Kiana startled, a little shocked, but quickly recovered. She smiled at the young man, "Brother, I'm here."
The young man's name was Chase. This name suddenly appeared in Kiana's mind.
Is this Kiana's memory?
Although she didn't know what was going on, this was an opportunity.
Maybe she could use this to find a way to suppress the identity of the Herrscher. Kiana thought to herself.
"Is it because you're not feeling well?" Chase, seeing that Kiana was fine, also breathed a sigh of relief and asked with a smile.
"No, I was just lost in thought." Kiana shook her head. She unconsciously flicked a strand of her hair with her right hand and pretended not to care, but when she looked, she found that her hair was indeed purple.
This made Kiana more certain of her guess.
"Brother, I'm a bit hungry..." Kiana suddenly said.
"Didn't we just have dinner?" Chase frowned slightly. In Kiana's uneasy eyes, he sighed in the end, reached into his bag, and fumbled for something. He took out something wrapped in newspaper.
In Kiana's slightly curious eyes, Chase slowly unwrapped the newspaper, revealing a dumpling inside.
"I didn't expect the supper that brother worked so hard to save would be gone so soon." He said with a tinge of regret, but without hesitation, he fed the dumpling to Kiana.
"Come on, Kiana." He smiled, the clear gaze in his eyes revealing a positive emotion that was not at all unpleasant.
Kiana's eating mood was no longer as joyful as before. She was only eating to fill her stomach, replenish energy, and then go kill more Honkai beasts, save more people. That was all.
"It's too dry. I'll get you some water later." Chase stood up with a smile, and without waiting for the girl's feedback, he took the cup on the table and walked outside, looking cheerful and light on his feet.
Kiana listened carefully to Chase's footsteps. When his footsteps faded away, she began to analyze the current situation.
She stood up, put on the slippers by the bedside, and walked to the mirror not far away. Although Kiana had mentally prepared herself, she was still shocked when she saw her own face in the mirror.
Purple long hair, golden pupils...
This was not unrelated to the Kiana remembered in her memory; it was exactly the same.
"Kiana..." She couldn't help muttering in her mouth, feeling strange.
Logically speaking, when she was knocked unconscious by the Honkai beast, it was the best time for the Herrscher to take advantage of the opening. Even with Fu Hua's help, the Herrscher should have no trouble seizing control of her body.
And with her consciousness taken away, the consciousness of K423, the clone named Kiana Kaslana, should have perished, leaving no fake Kiana Kaslana in the world, only the Herrscher.
That should have been the case.
Perhaps this was the end of K423. She ultimately couldn't resist the erosion of the Honkai's power, and her body was taken over by the consciousness of the Herrscher.
Just like what the Herrscher's consciousness said, she was just a vessel used to resurrect the opponent.
But why...
Kiana looked at herself in the mirror, and the purple-haired girl with golden eyes also showed an expression of incomprehension.
Shouldn't she be here to welcome the defeated her with a cold, lifeless, infinite darkness without temperature, time, or space?
But why was she here? Was this another trick of the Herrscher?
But why did the Herrscher of the Void show this to her?
Kiana had heard that prisoners facing execution could choose their last meal before their departure, considered a form of humane care.
But would the Herrscher do the same?
Did the Herrscher want the defeated her to experience the last warmth before leaving? Kiana was puzzled.
"Hehehe, admiring yourself again?" A light laughter from the doorway interrupted Kiana's increasingly confused thoughts. She turned her head and found Chase holding a cup, leaning against the door, looking at her with a hint of teasing in his eyes. "Should I try asking the magic mirror, 'Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the cutest girl in the world?'"
Kiana felt a bit embarrassed and didn't know what to do for a while.
"Then I guess the magic mirror will say, of course, it's you, Sirin~" Chase chuckled, walked to Sirin's side, handed her the water, and continued chattering, "Really, your beloved brother went through so much trouble to bring you water, but you've finished the dumpling so fast, looks like my worries were not needed."
As he spoke, Chase's face showed a look of disappointment, as if seeking comfort.
Kiana was even more embarrassed; she didn't know how Sirin and Chase interacted.
With her hands in an awkward position, clutching her clothes, Kiana's eyes dodged, unsure of what to do.
"Hey? Doesn't Sirin want to drink? If she doesn't, then I'll drink it." Chase held the water out for a long time, and Sirin did not reach out to take it, looking confused.
Kiana quickly took the water handed over by Chase, drank it in small sips, and glanced at Chase's expression. She found that he was not angry, so she felt relieved.
It seems that Sirin's brother is an easy-going person. Kiana couldn't help but think in her heart.
Seeing Sirin obediently drinking, Chase nodded in satisfaction, pointed to the bed, and said, "Sirin, go to sleep, and I'll tell you a story."
Sirin nodded in a daze, climbed onto the bed, obediently covered herself with the quilt, revealing a head staring at Chase sitting on the bedside.
Chase took out the unfinished fairy tale book again, turned to the page where he left off, looked at Sirin's curious eyes, smiled slightly, and reached out to touch her head before starting, "Where were we just now?"
Sirin, who had not recovered from the touch on her head by Chase, slightly stunned at the question. With a clear and silly look in her eyes, she said, "We were talking about Hansel and Gretel in the forest, who were starving and about to faint. They found a candy house made entirely of candy in the forest."
Chase's voice was calm and gentle. After all, he told the story to put Sirin to sleep. He naturally had the purpose of coaxing her to sleep.
Sirin blinked. This story... she seemed to have heard it before, but also seemed not to have heard it... anyway, she couldn't remember.
After all, there was no way to find a way out of here for the time being. It wasn't a bad idea to listen to a story and relieve boredom. After Chase finished the story and left, she could sneak out and see what was going on outside.
"Due to the coercion of the wicked witch, Gretel had to help her feed her brother..." Chase narrated softly, "Clever Gretel came up with a solution..."
"The wicked witch couldn't wait to eat Hansel finally. She asked Gretel to boil water..."
"In the end, Gretel came up with a solution. She pretended not to see if the water had boiled and led the wicked witch over, while the wicked witch was looking at the pot, Gretel pushed her into it!"
"Unloved by her stepmother and abandoned by her father, Gretel finally saved herself and her brother..."
Sirin initially thought of listening to the story as a pastime. However, not long after, she became fascinated and attracted by the brave Gretel in the story.
Similarly abandoned, misunderstood, and oppressed by the powerful, what was the difference between her and the current Sirin?
But Gretel managed to save herself and her brother with her strong heart and brave actions. What couldn't she do?
Just as Sirin was thinking this, a familiar voice sounded in her ears.
"Get out of here!" It was the Queen of the Void, angry.
Sirin: ? ? ?
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