Acheron did not find Ruan Mei's arrival in Izumo surprising. If anything, she felt that Ruan Mei had arrived a bit late.
After all, several months had already passed since the incident.
Ruan Mei briefly checked Kiana's current condition, then turned back to glance at Acheron. "She only left behind this one sentence?"
"She only had time to say this much."
Acheron watched from the side. She had to admit that faced with Kiana's condition, there was nothing she could do. But Ruan Mei was different.
Ruan Mei silently looked at Kiana lying on the bed, her gaze deep as she withdrew her hand. "This is not good. What's lying here now is only a shell. Her consciousness is not in her body."
Acheron, who had been relatively calm, changed expression instantly. She stared hard at Ruan Mei. "What do you mean by that?"
"It's completely different from the first time I met her. Her consciousness is no longer within her body."
Ruan Mei looked at Acheron. "Can you tell me what exactly happened that day?"
"...That day, after we found Welt, we..."
Acheron's mind was entirely affected by Ruan Mei's words from earlier. She told her everything that had happened that day, without omitting a single detail.
After listening to Acheron's account, Ruan Mei immediately understood what the current situation was.
"Ascension..."
It had come so quickly.
And without her noticing it at all.
Having missed such a major event left Ruan Mei feeling somewhat frustrated. If she had known this would happen, she should have insisted on coming along that day.
"What are you talking about?"
Acheron hadn't clearly heard what she had just muttered.
"I've always believed that Kiana is walking a path toward becoming an existence like an Aeon."
Acheron fell silent. She knew of Ruan Mei's way of thinking. Back on the planet Jarilo-VI, Ruan Mei had made no attempt to hide it.
But Honkai Energy...
No, it was Kiana's choice that came first. Only after that did Honkai Energy appear in this world.
Thinking of this, Acheron, who had not really agreed with Ruan Mei's idea before, found her conviction wavering.
"If my guess is correct, she has now formally stepped onto that path."
"...In other words, when she wakes up, she will be... an Aeon? How is that possible?"
"No. I think you've misunderstood me. It's an existence similar to an Aeon, not necessarily one of the Aeons we are familiar with."
Ruan Mei corrected her misunderstanding and continued, "Additionally, I believe this process cannot possibly be completed in a single step."
With that explanation, Acheron understood.
"Then where did Kiana's consciousness go? And when will she wake up?"
"I don't know."
Ruan Mei shook her head. "It could be decades, or it could be hundreds of years. If my guess is correct, her consciousness should now be in an extremely special state, unable to perceive the passage of time, just like when I found her back then."
"Hundreds of years?"
"I can't be certain. If her consciousness were still within her body, I would have a way to wake her."
Ruan Mei sighed. "Unfortunately..."
She didn't know where Kiana's consciousness had gone. What lay here now was only her body.
Without even knowing where the consciousness was.
How could one talk about waking her?
"Mr. Welt once said that in his world, all Herrscher powers originate from an existence called the Cocoon of Finality."
Acheron suddenly recalled the information Welt had shared earlier and said, "You believe Kiana has an extremely strong connection to Honkai. Then tracing it back to the source, is that something you can do?"
"...I can try."
Ruan Mei fell silent for a moment. She actually had no certainty. This kind of situation was also the first time she had encountered it.
But she could try the conventional methods first.
There would always be a way.
"After the final trial of the Stigmata, I obtained a Herrscher Core. I can feel that this core is different from other Herrscher cores."
Acheron closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them again, the dullness brought by the influence of Nihility vanished from her. In an instant, the power of Nihility around her was replaced by another sharp, overwhelming force.
It was as if she had suddenly become a different person.
She had switched her own state.
Seeing this, Ruan Mei's eyes lit up. With keen interest, she asked, "Is this a state similar to Kiana's? In this state, can you use the Path power of Nihility?"
"No."
Acheron shook her head and explained, "The power of a Path cannot be stacked with a Herrscher state, but the powers can be converted into one another."
"Interesting."
Hearing this, Ruan Mei's interest grew greatly. This was different from what she had previously observed.
Even Kiana had once been eroded by Nihility, resulting in a long period of memory loss.
"In this state, I believe I am closer to Kiana. The Stigmata was a gift from Kiana. If we use this Herrscher of Thunder core as a link, can we trace it back to the source?"
"We can try."
"Good."
Ruan Mei's voice carried more confidence than before. Acheron had no other options. No matter the consideration, she believed that Ruan Mei's desire to find Kiana was just as strong as her own.
...
Ruan Mei moved her laboratory here.
With Acheron's cooperation, and after a period of unremitting effort, several months later she successfully guided Kiana's consciousness back into her body.
After guiding the consciousness back, waking Kiana was no longer a problem.
She did not need Acheron's help. She could accomplish it alone. She had done this once before in the past.
"It's time to wake up."
Holding a golden gemstone in her hands, Kiana, whose eyes were devoid of color, vaguely seemed to hear a familiar voice.
Originally without conscious reaction and immersed in the world before her, a ripple appeared in her vacant eyes.
Whose... voice was it?
The sound that suddenly intruded into her inner world was like a key. The various colors scattered throughout the pure white space began to gather toward her.
As these colors poured in, her vacant eyes gained a bit of light, and emotion returned to her body.
"It's Ruan's voice."
Realizing the source of the voice after the fact, everything that had happened earlier returned to her mind.
"Why did Ruan come to Izumo..."
The gemstone had no physical form. Kiana closed her hand that was holding the gem, and the golden light was grasped by her and then vanished.
At the same time, at the position of her chest, an extremely faint trace of gold flashed and disappeared.
Having heard Ruan Mei's voice and come back to her senses, Kiana no longer had any desire to remain here. With a single thought, she withdrew from her inner world.
She wanted to return to reality and see what had happened. It should have only been a few days. Why would Ruan have come to Izumo?
Carrying her doubts,
Kiana opened her eyes.
Clearly she had returned to her own body, yet there was a feeling of being bound, somewhat uncomfortable.
That was how Kiana felt when she woke up.
"How do you feel?"
"Ruan? Is it really you?"
Kiana came back to her senses a moment later, propping herself up and seeing both Ruan Mei and Acheron. Surprise showed on her face. "Mei..."
It wasn't an illusion. The voice she had heard earlier really had been Ruan Mei's, pulling her back from that state.
"Are you alright?"
Acheron sat beside her, looking at her with concern as she had just awakened, her face still carrying a trace of confusion.
"I'm fine."
Kiana shook her head lightly, then looked toward Ruan Mei, who she did not know why had appeared in Izumo, and asked with concern, "When did Ruan come over?"
"It's been a while, because I couldn't get in touch with you at all."
Ruan Mei reached out and touched her face. Beneath the soft, warm sensation, the emotions she could perceive were rather faint. She frowned. "Your body is a bit uncoordinated."
"Uncoordinated?"
"There is a little."
Kiana sighed, then smiled. "But it's not a big problem."
Ruan Mei didn't speak. She simply placed her hand on Kiana's forehead. In no time at all, Kiana felt much better.
"I can only manage this much."
Withdrawing her hand, Ruan Mei was somewhat dissatisfied with the result.
"That's already really good!"
Kiana did not hold back her praise. "I feel a lot better. Good thing Ruan is here!"
"And Mei too!"
Kiana made sure to be fair and didn't neglect Acheron sitting beside her. She reached out, took Acheron's hand, and smiled. "Mei stayed with me the whole time. You must have been really worried, right?"
"Ruan Mei said that something went wrong with your consciousness, that it left your body."
Acheron hadn't been too worried at first. Kiana had explained things fairly clearly. She only needed to wait for Kiana to wake up.
Just waiting wasn't too hard to endure.
But then Ruan Mei came.
She examined Kiana's condition and gave her bad news. Kiana wasn't simply asleep. Her soul had left her body, and no one knew where it had gone.
Acheron could hardly describe the emotions hidden beneath her calm exterior. Fortunately, they had still found Kiana and successfully awakened her.
"Left my body?"
Kiana scratched her head. "I didn't really feel anything. It was just like sleeping for a bit."
"In the dream I didn't go anywhere either. I was just staying in my own inner world."
"...It's good that you're back."
As long as she confirmed Kiana was fine, Acheron was already satisfied.
In her heart, nothing was more important right now than Kiana's safety.
"It seems you still remember what happened while you were unconscious."
Ruan Mei spoke up.
"I remember some of it."
Kiana recalled that indescribable sensation from back then. She fell silent for a moment and lowered her hand.
"It's hard to describe that feeling. If I had to say, I should count as having completed one stage now."
Hearing this, Ruan Mei's eyes lit up slightly. If she could carry out a detailed examination on Kiana now, she might discover some new and interesting things.
"Do you need me to cooperate with a full-body examination?"
Noticing her curiosity, Kiana offered proactively.
Unexpectedly, although Ruan Mei was tempted, she shook her head. "There's no rush for that. You just woke up. You should rest properly."
She was being put first?
Kiana was slightly stunned, then pressed her lips together and smiled. "Alright. If Ruan wants me to cooperate with an examination, I can do so anytime."
"Relax and get some good rest."
Now that Kiana had awakened, Ruan Mei felt she should stay with her for a while. But Acheron was currently occupying the spot by Kiana's side.
After thinking it over, she decided to take care of what she had on hand first, then come back to keep Kiana company.
Ruan Mei turned and went to attend to other matters.
Acheron, however, had no intention of leaving even half a step. She stayed there the entire time, never once departing.
With one person gone, the pressure on Kiana lessened quite a bit. She looked at Acheron and wanted to apologize. "Mei..."
The moment her name left her lips, a soft, warm touch blocked whatever she wanted to say next.
Each unspoken word was chewed over and swallowed.
Not spoken aloud, yet conveyed straight into her heart.
Her body was tightly embraced by Acheron. She used this way to pass on the feelings she hadn't managed to say.
After quite a while, Kiana felt her tongue had gone a bit numb before Acheron finally stopped, pausing her actions for the moment.
"Kiana."
Acheron gently stroked her white hair. The emotions in her heart were laid bare through the windows of the soul, visible at a glance in her eyes.
Being looked at so directly made Kiana feel the heat rush to her face. "I made Mei worry again, didn't I?"
She wasn't afraid of waiting.
What she feared was waiting only to receive nothing in return.
"We agreed, didn't we? Kiana will always stay with me and won't leave me, right?"
Those deep violet eyes gazed intently at Kiana, Acheron's voice sounding heavy.
"Of course!"
There was no way Kiana could give any other answer to that. She excitedly reached out and hugged Acheron.
"I like Mei. Mei is a very, very important person to me. As long as I'm still alive, there's no way I'd ever let Mei be left alone!"
Acheron heard what she wanted to hear. The emotions in her heart were soothed for the moment. Looking at Kiana, she leaned in and kissed her again.
Any words were far too pale.
Right now, she only wanted to feel Kiana's presence, and even more, let Kiana feel how deeply she had missed her.
"Mm... Mei, don't..."
"Wait, this isn't okay here. Ruan, she..."
There seemed to be no need to think of explanations or words of comfort. Acheron also didn't seem inclined to listen to them.
Compared to listening to pale explanations and reassurances,
Acheron preferred using a simple and direct method to soothe the unease in her heart.
"What are you doing?"
Hearing another familiar voice at a moment when her mind was already overheating, Kiana opened her mouth but couldn't say a single word. Her mind went completely blank.
This was exactly what she had been worried about.
That was why she had wanted to refuse.
Why did Ruan come back so quickly?
The door wasn't even closed. How could Mei do this at a time like this...
"Isn't it obvious?"
Even Acheron's voice carried a hint of warmth at this moment. "Or are you trying to say... you've never done this kind of thing before?"
"No, that's not it. I have."
It was a perfectly normal exchange, if one could ignore what Acheron was doing right now, as well as Ruan Mei's gaze resting on her, a gaze impossible to ignore.
Kiana felt like her whole body was about to catch fire. She really wished she hadn't woken up right now.
"Want to go together?"
Kiana, who had shut her eyes trying to escape reality, snapped them open wide and stared at Acheron. "!!!"
Mei, Mei just now said what?!
Hearing something like that come out of Mei's mouth, was that even reasonable? Their relationship had been so cold before. During the time she was unconscious, what on earth had happened between them?
What kind of stimulation did Mei go through?!
Ruan would definitely refuse, right?
She would definitely refuse, right?
Seeing the look Kiana cast her way, Ruan Mei's lips curved into a faint smile. "Alright."