An ignorant consciousness awakened deep within the body.
'This is... what...'
'The feeling...'
'I...'
'What am I?'
She opened her eyes.
What met her sight was a succession of colorful scenes.
A girl, growing up under a father's care, cherished since childhood, surrounded by followers at school.
They called her the Queen.
The girl was so proud, confident, and carefree, enjoying what should have been the most beautiful time of her life.
Then, the colorful and warm memories suddenly flickered. Silent black-and-white images began to corrode everything in sight until they saturated every memory.
The consciousness disliked this tone. She tried to reach out and do something, but the flow of memory would not change because of her actions.
The fragments of memory continued to advance.
On that day, for the girl, her sky collapsed.
When she learned the news, she was still at school, enjoying the treatment of being the center of attention. Then, the latest news popped up on her phone.
The president of ME Corp, Raiden Ryoma—her father—had been imprisoned for embezzlement.
At that moment, the girl's heart was filled with disbelief. She was terrified and uneasy. She looked around, seeking comfort from her friends.
But as far as her gaze could reach, no one met her eyes.
Everyone tacitly looked down at their phones, tacitly began other topics, they collectively... ignored her.
The girl was confused. She tried every means to see her father, pleading with every adult she knew, only to be kept outside or brushed off.
The black-and-white images continued.
During that time, the girl lived like a walking corpse, going to school and returning home in a daze. On countless dark nights, she woke up from unappeasable anxiety and wept silently alone in the pitch black... She became like an invisible person at school; no one talked to her, no one comforted her, and no one was willing to look her in the eye.
But this was not yet the limit of human malice.
Her heart was full of grievances, yet she endured in silence. Just as she was about to get used to the feeling of being ignored, the true nightmare arrived.
They threw away her shoes, poured water or even more disgusting things into her shoe locker, hid her textbooks, and wrote all kinds of vicious words on her desk...
On and on it went, and the girl endured in silence.
Even as a person from the Far East, she knew this was only the beginning.
Next, after she failed to show resistance, there would be even more excessive actions.
The girl still endured in silence.
But that ignorant consciousness could no longer bear it.
She reached out maniacally, wanting to tear the images before her to shreds and attack every single person who had committed evil against her... But those were just memories; like a movie on a screen, how could they change because of one viewer's dissatisfaction?
No matter how angry she was, the images persisted.
The bullying continued.
Every moment, the mania in her heart increased. She had memorized the faces of everyone in the images. She... she...
She saw a girl.
Azure eyes, with two long braids bouncing lively behind her back with every step. As soon as that girl entered the school, her gaze was glued to the maiden.
The maiden's wounded soul was already rejecting contact with anyone, yet the girl remained persistent.
Until that day.
Those people habitually covered her desk with insulting words. Her bag and textbooks had vanished, and everyone sat in their seats, staring fixedly at her.
It was as if they were letting out silent laughter.
She carved every single face deeply into her mind.
The maiden still did not resist. She silently pulled prepared tissues from her pocket, wanting to reach out and wipe it clean.
But there was no water.
Her water bottle had long since vanished along with her books.
The maiden's eyes could not help but blur. She reached out futilely to wipe up and down... Perhaps only when her tears fell would the tissue be of any use.
Furthermore, after seeing her cry, the subsequent bullying would only intensify.
She knew all of it.
So she forced back her tears and comforted herself, thinking that once class started, everything would be fine.
Even though, in the past, those teachers had never helped her.
Her rage was about to break through the sky. She began to look left and right, wanting to leave this place.
She wanted to go out.
She also... wanted to...
She... saw a beam of light.
Or rather, a girl radiating brilliance.
Those azure eyes were so dazzling amidst the black-and-white images. After scanning the classroom once, she came to her side and stood in front of her...
Shielding her from the malice that seemed to come from the entire world.
She discovered that, at some point, her own figure had overlapped with the girl's.
She just stared blankly at the two glowing braids in front of her.
The surroundings remained black and white, but the brilliance on that person became increasingly dazzling against the dark backdrop.
In this desperate black-and-white world, she radiated a color that one could not refuse.
The maiden just watched blankly as she pulled a bat from the desk, watched as she upheld justice for her, and watched as she smashed the instigator's desk with a single swing... Then, that colorful girl reached out and took her hand, leading her into a run. She was pulled along silently by the girl, as if breaking free from all shackles, running freely under the sunlight.
Setting off on a grand escape.
That girl's appearance was like a sharp sword, shattering all the black-and-white images around her and dyeing everything in color once more.
She stared unblinkingly at the girl, following her through streets and alleys, returning to her slightly cluttered little nest, and listening to her talk about things she had never understood before.
Kiana—she carved this name firmly into the depths of her heart.
Then, she saw another person who looked just like herself. The hem of her clothes still bore bloodstains. She went to find the parents of those bullies and made them pay the price...
She said she was her Aunt.
She said she was there for everything.
Next, life returned to color. Kiana, Aunt, and herself, plus the later-arrived Bronya—we lived happily together.
Yes, we were very happy.
Before, she had watched the maiden's warm daily life merely as a spectator, but now, she was experiencing it all personally... Without a doubt, she had fallen for it.
But memories eventually reach an end.
On a very ordinary morning, she and the maid prepared food. Just then, someone rang the doorbell.
An annoying adult came. He said the culprit who caused all this was waiting for her.
Waiting for me?
Yes, waiting for me.
That's right, I am Raiden Mei.
Kiana and Aunt, and Bronya—they are still outside waiting for me.
The memories reached their end.
"Raiden Mei" opened her eyes.
"Sister Acheron, Mei is okay, right?" Just upon awakening, she heard Kiana's voice.
"Don't worry, she will be fine," Aunt reached out and rubbed her head.
"Kiana..." "Raiden Mei" looked up and squeezed her hand. "Kiana!"
"Mei? Mei is awake!" Kiana leaned in excitedly.
"Aunt..." "Mei" turned and looked at the Aunt who was holding her from behind.
"Yes, I'm here," Xia Yu looked at the "Mei" in front of her, a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth as she nodded.
"Sister Mei," Bronya leaned in tentatively.
"Yes, Bronya," "Mei" accurately called out each of their names.
"Mei, are you okay?" Kiana keenly sensed something.
"Me? I'm fine," "Mei" stood up and stretched her limbs, feeling the abundant power within her body. "I have never been better."
Boom!
As soon as she finished speaking, as if ten thousand thunderbolts had fallen, the cloud-covered Nagazora City was instantaneously plunged into a sea of lightning!
"Ultra-high Honkai energy fluctuations detected. The Herrscher of Thunder is confirmed to have descended!" In the Schicksal headquarters, everyone was busy and frantic.
On the Anti-Entropy side, a sharp alarm sounded, and the speed of troop deployment increased several-fold.
"This feeling... this feeling..." Over in Nagazora City, "Mei's" eyes brightened. "It's truly wonderful!"
Her form began to change. The school uniform on her body gradually dissipated, and an outfit composed of red, black, and white began to spread across her body.
"I am the Thunder's—"
"Alright, enough with the chunibyo," just then, a terrifying surge of energy came from behind.
"Mei" felt herself fall into a warm embrace. Aunt had forcibly interrupted her transformation.
"Why, Aunt?" "Mei" was somewhat at a loss. "I've gained power. I can protect you all now!"
"Sister Acheron!" Seeing this, Kiana frowned. "Why do I feel... Mei's state is a bit..."
It wasn't quite right, but she wasn't so stupid as to say it directly.
"It's no problem. This child was just born; it's normal for her to be unfamiliar with this world," Xia Yu comforted her softly.
"What do you mean 'just born'?!" Hearing this, Kiana and Bronya looked at each other in bewilderment.
As for "Mei," she fell into a daze.
Finally, within her own vast power, she sensed that firm consciousness.
"Mei" looked down. That was the other herself.
The face still bore traces of weakness, yet she was striving for control over the body every second.
Looking at this, "Mei" recalled everything she had experienced in those memories.
So... so...
I am not her.
But... but... I...
No, I am Raiden Mei!
"Aunt..." Her voice trembled. She only dared to ask the Aunt behind her, completely afraid to look into Kiana's eyes in front of her.
She didn't know what she was afraid of.
"I am Mei, right?"
"Yes, you are Mei," Xia Yu gently stroked her head. "She is also Mei."
"But... but... how can that be..."
"Hey, isn't it just one body with two consciousnesses?" Hearing this, Xia Yu winked and comforted her softly, "I've seen plenty of it. If nothing else, look at Bronya."
"Huh? Me?" Bronya pointed to herself in confusion.
"Yes, her sister, Seele, is in the same situation. Stigmata awakeners are like this. It's perfectly normal; relax."
"You were always one."
★ ★ ★
T/N: Here's the surprise chapter that ends on a mild cliffhanger.