"Acheron?" The sound of an aged man, one that sounded wise, tempered by time itself, a tall man with brown hair and eyes, a pair of glasses, wearing a dark trench coat, holding a cane his voice sounded mature and composed.
[Welt?] Raiden Bosenmori Mei's voice had a slight change of tone
[Welt?!?!] Raiden Mei's voice contrasted with Raiden Bosenmori Mei's, shock
"Who is it Old Man**—**Mei?!?!?" A Haughty voice, loud and in it's own way unhinged, her grey hair and crimson eyes full of expression, an asymmetrical black robe
[Senti???] again Raiden Mei's voice echoed as she couldn't hide her shock, though I wasn't exactly a huge gamer, I do at least know who Welt Yang is, in the popular game Honkai Star Rail, he was one of the senior members of the 'Astral Express'
"It's been a while. Welt, Senti."
—
"So, how have you been? I haven't seen you in a long time~ " Senti started the conversation her tone and actions like that of an excited teenager, I could hear Raiden Mei saying something, [She hasn't change]
"I woke up one day, and I've been travelling since. What of the 2 of you?"
"Me and The Old Timer were exploring China as we usually do when suddenly Poof, I was here, and for some reason, the Old Timer went silent."
"I was. travelling, with my colleagues, then—during one of our travels, things happened and here I am, Pardon me for asking Mei, but how much do you remember?"
"I remember you being the Sovereign of Anti-Entropy, after sealing The Honkai, you married with—"
"Ahem."
Now, truth to be told I myself am not that deep with the Honkai lore, but the reason I know so much is…
[You should ask Welt about what happened after he disappeared, Tesla and the others were very worried for him, also did you know tha—] That's right, Raiden Mei was giving me a very detailed lecture of her past.
"I see, so you're more of an Amalgam?" Right on the spot, His brown aged eyes looked directly at me as if piercing through my mind,
"I suppose."
"I remember, meeting you as Raiden Mei, The Herrscher of Origin and as Acheron, Emanator of IX."
"… I see"
"What? What? I can't understand what the 2 of you are talking about???" Senti said with annoyed expression almost pouting,
"So, the 2 of you are travelling together now?"
"For now. Yes"
"Why?"
"I have colleagues I must return to" he said with a solemn tone, like it was his sole purpose in this world.
[I see.] Raiden Bosenmori Mei spoke once more, out of curiosity I ask her 'What do you mean?'
[…] refusing to elaborate further, she returns to silence once more, was it out of respect or something else, I don't know, she always went silent on certain topics after all.
"Mei?"
"Ah—I apologize, I dozed off, and you Senti?"
"I'm just sticking around with a familiar face that's all" Senti said as she gave a haughty laugh, at least, that's what I could see, indeed, her smile, her laugh, her body gestures all showed that way.
"If you don't mind, why don't we stick along? It has been a long time after all" Welt said as he gave me a gentlemanly smile, of course without much thought, I merely nodded, and at the same time. Raiden Mei was completely silent
—
"So, how long have you guys been in this world?" I asked, trying to start a conversation, it was quite akward in a way since they know 'me' but I don't really know them, I only knew of the protagonist trio being Kiana Kaslana, Raiden Mei and Bronya Zaychik.
"1 year, 3 months and 23 days" with pinpoint of accuracy, being the former Herrscher of Reason, one could say his mind is still quite sharp, as I turned my head to Senti she just gave a shrug and said
"Eh I don't really remember, but it wasn't that long, 6-7 months probably?"
"And you Mei? what's your purpose to travel around?"
"…" I didn't answer, I wanted to answer, yet I didn't know how to answer, did I want to find my memories? yes, what of the others Raiden's? what do they want? Silence
"I don't know."
"I see."
"…" Silence again as we walked through the frozen landscape, bare of any signs of life visible to the naked eye
—
"Mei." Out of no where Welt started another conversation after what felt like an eternity of silence
"Yes?"
"I know this isn't exactly the earth I remembered but, how did we go from Germany to Jilin City in China???"
"Ah?"
"Yeah yeah, I thought something was playing with our minds so I used my authority of 'Sentience' but there was no interference?!?!?"
[My apologies,] Raiden Bosenmori Mei said with a guilty tone
'Nah it's fine, it's not something you can control right?'
"Would you believe me if I said I have no clue? Also pardon me asking, but how do you know we were 'teleported'?"
"It's not something I can explain" Welt said refusing the elaborate, of course, I asked the Mei's
[I don't know, he was the former Herrscher of Reason back then, so perhaps he created something to track his location?] with a curious tone Raiden Mei answered my question
[His cane still feels the same, Dangerous, more then my blade.] Raiden Bosenmori spoke, her voice slightly fluctuating
Dangerous huh… The fact that someone like her calls it dangerous even when holding the power of Nihility tells something (For those who don't know in HSR 2.X story quest Acheron tells us that welt's staff contains a blackhole stronger then her Odachi)
"Very well." and again we walked in complete silence until…
[Hey, Acheron can you ask Welt what he feels about leaving his wife and son?]
"Welt-San, do you cherish them? The Astral Express?"
"Of course, you've met them to have you not? in Penacony?"
[Yes.] Raiden Bosenmori urged me to answer
"Then what of those you left behind? what do they feel of your choice?"
"[Once you told me of a hero, Kevin, the 13th flamechaser, The Deliverance, I remembered even with Finality, Origin and Truth, it was difficult, he was weakened by Finality itself yet he persevered. I knew him, I was there at the Elysian Realm.]"
"[I saw him change, to become someone who would never waver. I was your enemy and ally once, I knew what you were, what you could do, Himeko, The Traiblazer, Dan heng, March 7th, Sunday and many others. but what of us? Theresa, Fu Hua, Einstein?]"
Silence, both of them were absolutely silent, if one were to look carefully Senti had a what??? expression as she gave Welt a stern look, meanwhile Welt himself had an unexplainable look
"[That is self is an answer.]" "I", "Raiden Mei" and "Raiden Bosenmori Mei" answered simultaneously, and then once again, we walked in silence.
—
"A settlement?" Senti said as she looked at the distance one could see a few igloos,
"Something smells wrong." Welt said as he covered his nose
Sniff Sniff
I couldn't exactly smell anything, in the canon lore, Acheron's 5 senses had been dulled by the influence of Nihility, so it felt like nothing changed
"What smell?"
"The smell of decaying flesh." his gripped on his cane had changed, tightened at the same time…
BzzZZzT
Blue energy like particles were created as small drones could be seen before they flew closer to the settlement
"You're still the Herrscher of Reason?"
"You can think of it that way"
"So? are there people? there?
"No, all of them are undeads, I'll show the footage taken by the drone."
Whoosh
A holographic blue screen appeared infront of our our eyes, we could see the 'zombies' their eyes hollow, some had green flesh, others just looked like decaying meat and many others, it was a combination of what we'd consider zombies from multiple fiction
"So? what should we do? Kill them?" Senti said with a playful grin, like killing them was just another tuesday, I looked at her then at Welt, he only shrugged as if letting me be the one who makes the choice.
[For as long as you do not regret your decision. I don't mind] Raiden Bosenmori Mei said with a solemn tone
[If we let them loose, they could hurt other people, I say we should kill them] Raiden Mei with a resolute tone.
[Hmph. Do what you wish.] Raiden Ei, still grumpy before going silent once more, of course the 2 of them were right, zombies if left unattended could grow until it threatens people,
Then humanity would have to build walls like the walls in the film World War Z and the anime Attack on Titan, definitely not a pleasant experience,
"I will follow your choice, Welt."
"… Let's destroy it."
A choice has been made, thus the ending was clear.
I shall destroy these zombies. [Eternity is to uphold your principle against change.] Raiden Ei's voice echoed. Electro was now for me to use.
To ensure the world stays safe. [There is no price to high to save your loved ones.] Raiden Mei's voice echoed, Origin was now mine to use
I will not regret this choice. [When you make a choice, make one that you won't regret] Raiden Bosenmori Mei's voice echoed, Nihility had been opened
Snap
Senti's Domain of Sentience was opened, it had transformed into a huge blade with a Yin and Yang symbol in the middle glowing with an ominous red
VHOOOOMMMM
Welt's cane had opened up, revealing a miniaturized blackhole could be seen along with countless railguns being made from thin air, Overkill? Perhaps—but one can never be to careful,
"Better to be safe then sorry"
"Let's go." Welt said as he tapped his cane to the floor, I stepped closer, the snow crunched beneath my feet as my hands rested on 'Naught''s hilt,
Growlllllll
My ears could hear the muffled growling in the distance now, it sounded wrong, but there was no need to hesitate, by killing them, we could prevent the possibility of a zombie apocalypse, and thus**—We Strike**
—???
One could say life goes in a confusing way, My name is Min Seok, once I regressed 100 times to save my daughter from the zombie apocalypse, and on the 100th regression, I had turned into a sentient zombie.
Things happened here and there and one day I found myself transported into a frozen tundra, and there I found others, other zombies. some were complete mindless ones, others also had sentience like me
Our leader, he was a bald zombie, yet he was strong, stronger then ever, I couldn't win against him, and in the end we made a small village in this frozen lake, of course I had never given up on returning home, to return to my daughter.
"But it truly is peaceful here." There were no humans, no zombies going mindless trying to slaughter any living being, a peace I had wanted for a long time, Ah… if only my daughter was here, with his help we could live a peaceful life*—!!!!!!*
The air changed, I could feel it, though my body no longer breathes, even it could feel the changed in the air,
BZZZZZTTTT
Purple lighting crackled in the air, the mindless zombies only growled back in response, as all of our eyes were fixed into the distance, I could see 3 figures, one was a tall man, he with a long grey outercoat.
The other was a girl, crimson eyes and grey hair, behind her what seemed to be a gigantic sword along with a spear and countless chains could be seen, with countless drones and what seemed to be high tech mechs.
And the last one*—*She looked the calmest, her purple hair covering one of her eyes, her outfit was… unique to say the least, for a moment I thought she was a cosplayer, yet her her was glowing purple, her hand holding the handle of what seemed to be an extremely long Katana.
SWISH
And suddenly. The world went bright.