Chapter 16 Act 1

North Africa, Maghreb. Outside of Vimur Laboratory. Raven is watching Kiana leave and
asks Gray Serpent if it's okay to just let her leave. It's Kevin's orders. Raven didn't like it but
she let her go. Raven used the Divine Key to look at Kevin and Otto's location, Otto put up a
golden barrier so no one would interfere with them. Raven still can't believe Kevin is going
to... ally with Destiny. Gray Serpent understands where her doubt is coming from, Otto is a
selfish man who knows well how to toy with the hearts of the people and use everything for
his own goals. However Gray Serpent is confident this will go well, that selfishness of his is
going to be of immeasurable value to the bargaining chips Kevin has, and soon after Destiny
will be gone from his path. It's Kevin's wish so Raven will obey, but there are still many other
people in the organization who don't like Destiny at all. A lot of Jormungand's executives are
here, making Raven wonder if they're here to fight Destiny if the negotiation fails. Gray
Serpent just laughed creepily

The barrier came down. Gray Serpent tells Raven to put down her weapon. The negotiation
is over.
Next day. Helios, conference room. Tesla sighed. She dismantled Raikiri to inspect it, it's
broken all over the place. Mei is silent, thinking of Kiana. For months they've been looking
for Kiana and Himeko's location, and this room served as their base of operation. Tesla is
glad at least Kiana didn't fall into Destiny or Jormungand's hands. They got info Jormungand
attacked a Destiny laboratory in North Africa a few hours ago. They don't know exactly what
they were doing, but they got word the Herrscher of the Void escaped amid the confusion.

Mei opens up to Tesla. Kiana has changed a lot, though she doesn't know how to put it into
words well. Grown up? Mature? She always used to be the noisy one, and now she's acting
more calm and getting involved in things that had nothing to do with her. She's quiet, which
isn't like her. Mei wonders what kind of experiences, what kind of pain she went through to
make her change so much in just 4 months. And right now she's again all alone, enduring a
pain no one else can imagine. She wants to find her again. Tesla tells her to not blame
herself, she did her best.

Tesla ordered her to clean up the table and left. Mei couldn't concentrate, Kiana was all she
had in her head. It's been 4 months since that battle at HQ. Through how many cities
devastated by the Houkai has she been to? How many people who lost everything to the
Houkai has she seen? Mei can't stop trembling. Her physical injuries have healed already,
but the pain in her chest doesn't go away. She remembers what Kiana told her when they
hugged in Arc City, that she couldn't go back with her, that it was too risky. Mei feels like
she's sinking to the bottom of an ice lake, and for the first time since they've met she feels
Kiana is more of a stranger than a friend.
Tesla comes running, she tells Mei to get ready to leave. She found Kiana. Shortly after the
Helios lands on Nagazora. Tesla recaps quickly what she knows. A Destiny base was
attacked by Jormungand, Kiana fled, Negentropy detected abnormal energy levels in
Nagazora, which are consistent with the readings from Arc City. Mei guesses Kiana must
have done a long distance jump using her powers. Tesla agrees, however after that she
couldn't be found anywhere, but at the very least she's sure Kiana was here. At the moment
Destiny is not making any move, this is the perfect chance to look for her. Tesla will build a
Houkai detector and Mei will find a place to put it.

The whole place is flooded, the old maps are completely useless now. After the 3rd Houkai
Impact the city was damaged and water started to flood, and said water was polluted by
Houkai energy too. Hard to believe this was once a very populated city. Tesla tells Mei it
wasn't her fault, but Mei feels like regardless of who's fault it is what was lost won't come
back. Mei often wonders if she hadn't been so weak and fell to the Houkai, maybe that
tragedy wouldn't had happened. Mei feels responsible, and thinks the same goes for Kiana.

The device is ready. Due to the huge amount of Houkai water they need to filter out regular
energy to find a Herrscher. This device only has a 3-5km range so they might not get a result
right away. They did. It's weak but it's a Herrscher signature. Looking closely, Tesla noticed
it's next to her. It's just Mei. She totally forgot, Mei doesn't have the conquest gem anymore
but she still has a Herrscher signature. Einstein once told Mei she's not special in that
regard, the same thing happened to the 1st Herrscher but they haven't figured out the
reason yet. Mei can exert some Herrscher power but it's not much. Tesla suggests she
shouldn't, forcibly trying to use an unstable power will only make her hurt herself. To the next
location.
Mei sees a big building with a hole on it. She did that. 3 years ago she fought Himeko here.
Tesla guesses she must have caused her quite the headache. Himeko did everything she
could to suppress Mei that day. HQ wanted to deal with Mei but Himeko and Theresa
stepped in. When Mei woke up she was lying in a warm bed, and Himeko was by her side.
Himeko didn't care what she was, and asked Mei to let her teach her how to get a hold on
her powers. That's why Mei became a Valkyrie.

Next location. Nothing. Mei found a robot on the ground. Tesla tweaked with the device and
detected something but it wasn't zombie or Houkai, it was a humanoid signature. There
shouldn't be anyone around these parts. They find a girl collapsed on the ground not far
away from them.

Helios, a few minutes later. Mei couldn't leave her alone and carried her to the ship. Tesla
examined her and talked to her. She's a refugee from Nagazora. Her name is Sora. She
grew up in Nagazora and fled to a camp they call "Nest" after the city went to shit. There are
more people with her, children who lost their homes. Mei can't believe it, Destiny was
supposed to dispatch rescue aid. The girl seems to have amnesia, she doesn't remember
what happened right after the Impact. Right now they get by thanks to the help of a woman
who they call "sensei". She comes to give them supplies every now and then. Tesla wonders
why, if she can freely enter and leave the city, doesn't take the children with her? Mei went
to talk with her. Sora introduced herself and thanked Mei for saving her. She kept looking
around looking for her robot companion.

It was the robot Mei found earlier, she went to pick it up and brought it back to her. Sora has
a bad memory, she doesn't remember much. The robot helps her remember things if she
forgets something. The robot was damaged but Tesla managed to fix it. They decide to drop
Sora in the Nest and take the opportunity to see if anyone has seen Kiana.
Mei noted there was no such place in Nagazora before the Impact, the refugees must have
built it from scratch with the help of their "sensei". Mei asked Sora about that woman. She's
their savior, 3 years ago she helped them build this place when they had nowhere else to go.
She's often outside the city but when she comes back she brings them gifts and supplies. If
they have to, the children go the city to scavenge. The city is dangerous but the woman
marked safe spots on the map, as long as they don't leave them they'll be okay. The only
rule they have is to live a good life. Every one of them has experienced tragedy so they must
help and support each other. Sora doesn't know when she will be back, though looking at
the date she should have been here yesterday already. Sora went out of the safe zone to
find her and that's when she was attacked by Houkai beasts and collapsed after she ran
away.

Mei asked Sora about Kiana. She's not sure, maybe the sensei can help her. Mei went
around asking the kids and one of them saw Kiana, she was heading to another district in
the opposite direction. The kid also asked Mei to find some items she lost. Mei brought them
back and the kid also told her Kiana looked very sad. Mei wanted to go look for her already
but it was getting late so they decided to stay the night in the Nest. Mei goes to explore
before it gets too dark, Tesla will stay with the kids. After some exploring Mei saw her old
school in the distance.
She starts to remember everything that happened. His father raised her alone, but then he
was framed and arrested. He's out of prison already, but she can't see him. He's doing
important work somewhere safe. They still talk on the phone occasionally, he always tells
her he's fine and that she shouldn't worry about him. That said the time he was in prison was
hard for her. The reputation of her family went down the toilet, and when people turned her
back on her Mei realized they didn't care about her, they only cared that she was a Raiden.

Mei distanced herself from everyone until the day of the Houkai attack. That was the day
when Mei met "her", the person who changed her. Kiana Kaslana. Kiana extended her hand
to Mei when no one else did. She's so slender yet she had so much force. As if it was
gravity, Mei could no longer escape from her. With strong and sincere eyes, Kiana told Mei "I
won't let you die!" despite not knowing anything about her. In that moment Mei's heart, that
withdrew itself from the rest of the world, decided it wanted to believe in someone. After that,
they left Nagazora and joined St. Freya, and since then they've done a lot and met tons of
people. She gained companions, a family, a future, and little by little she lost every one of
those things. The more she thinks about her the most she wants to find her. Kiana protected
her once, and now it's her turn to protect her.
Helios, 1 hour later. Mei made food for Sora. Tesla took this chance to ask Sora about the
woman, why doesn't she take the kids with her? Life in the Nest is lonely so she always tells
the kids stories about herself. She wasn't born with money, she had nothing and worked
hard from the bottom for over 10 years until she was in a good position. She bought a private
island in some distant country, and planned to build a house and take everyone there. It
wasn't going to take long until the house was finished when tragedy struck. 4 months ago
when the Houkai attack happened the island was sunk due to the shock wave. The sensei
was speechless, everything she worked for was gone. Eventually she cracked and started
crying uncontrollably. She put herself together after some time and vowed "No matter the
cost, humanity will defeat the Houkai!".

Mei finished making food for everyone and goes to defend the Nest from a bunch of Houkai
beast. Mei assured Sora they will meet again after she goes to search for Kiana. Tesla will
make sure Negentropy helps the kids and they still want to know more about that sensei.
Sora doesn't remember anything prior the Impact, her first memory is being hugged by that
woman in Nagazora's ruins. The sensei felt like a light shining upon her. She gathered
children, taught them how to survive and together they built the Nest. On the day of her
birthday the sensei gave Sora that helper robot. She did what she could to find information
about Sora and put it inside it. Sora knows about her pre-amnesia life from it, she was a
regular girl loved by others. The data tells her what her life was like, but she can't really feel
it as she has no memories, but the life she has now isn't so bad. It's getting dark. They go
inside. Tomorrow the search for Kiana continues.
Night. Mei is dreaming. A dream of what happened 3 years ago. After Kiana saved Mei they
ran away from danger together. Kiana couldn't believe the zombies are so different
compared to the dumb ones from the movies. Mei is worried about what will happen next,
the city is in chaos and rescue may not come. Kiana comes up with many silly plans to
escape to cheer her up. Mei is still worried, she felt like she was surrounded by darkness
before Kiana helped her. That mysterious voice isn't there anymore, but she knows it's still
inside her. Wherever she goes the Houkai will follow, and she's going to lose control. Kiana
tells her to not worry about that, if that happens all she has to do is help her again. Become
a Herrscher again and a hit from her bat will fix it. One time, ten times, it doesn't matter.
She'll always be there to protect her. Mei understood what Kiana is in that moment. She's a
fool, but a trusty one.

Mei woke up and noticed the water levels of Nagazora are rising. She went to wake up
Tesla.

End.