***
In a meeting room that held a circle of chairs, the group had been called to gather by Mei.
On one of these chairs sat Thor, who looked around before resting his hand on the table as it shimmered to life and the voice of Prometheus was heard.
[FlameChaser meeting #365 - Now Recording]
"Mei." Thor gestured to her.
"Ahem. I know I called for this earlier than normal, but recently I came up with a new project that might help us with the later Herrschers." Brows were raised as the table's projection changed and began showing multiple plans and blueprints.
"A moon base? Really Mei, and who will staff it?" Su asked with scepticism.
Mei smiled and showed another projection. "Prometheus will, using similar technology to the ELFs I've devised a model that should be able to harbour a partition of Prometheus."
"A partition?" The hologram of Eden flickered. Vill waved her hand and a projection of this model but with more detail appeared in front of her, and she started to study it. It resembled a human, just a little shorter than average.
"Mei. This wouldn't happen to have anything to do with Project Stigma, would it?" Thor asked after looking through the plans. It seemed like a good point of origin to begin the project, there were even plans for a space battleship code-named SELENE.
Mei quickly raised her hands. "No. You said the project will only be a last resort if all else fails, this is something I devised to deal with the massive reserves of Honkai that have been increasing exponentially with each Herrscher.
Now from what Aurora told us, Herrschers have access to the imaginary space through their cores and gain Honkai energy through that, yet she can only wield a limited amount before she runs–" While Mei was speaking, Himeko and Sakura raised their hands and asked in sync.
""What is Project Stigma?""
"..."
"...You didn't tell them?" Mei asked while looking at Thor, who shrugged.
She facepalmed and moved her fingers along the projected keyboard a few times, and soon detailed reports of Project Stigma appeared before everyone.
While they studied the reports Mei continued to explain her theory on why the more recent Herrschers can use an exponentially larger amount of Honkai energy compared to Aurora, a Herrscher who is in their second stage.
In the end, once most of them had read the report, they were glaring at Mei, and Kalpas had even slammed his fist onto the table, cracking the projector underneath. "You didn't think we should know this?" Su asked through gritted teeth.
The rest who didn't know about the project shared his sentiment, except Aponia, who just remained still with her eyes closed.
"Su, that's why I said as a last resort. It's part of what Mei labelled Project S.A.V.E. Combining the already existing Ark, Valuka and Ember with Stigma, only in the event that we will fall and need a way to give the next era a fighting chance." Mei reasoned.
"But–" Su tried to argue, but Thor raised his hand, cutting him off.
"Leave it, Su. I already went through this with her when I was presented with it." His eyes gleamed as the room shook for a moment. Thor hated the plan himself, but he saw the logic and good behind it.
'I won't sacrifice the survival of the human race because of my morals.' That was his mindset when it came to Stigma. If it went into effect he would not stop it, that's why they gave the role to Kevin. Other than him or Mei, Kevin was the only person to know about the project, so Mei designated Kevin to it.
No one liked it, but considering Thor had already made his stance on the matter clear, they all decided to side with him. Trusting his judgement, he had clearly struggled over the decision.
"Fine." Aurora spoke up, but since her eyes were now red and her hair now pure black, clearly it was Alter in control. "But no more of this crap, don't hide these things from us, Mei, it's your worst habit." Alter finished with a glare that sent a bolt of lightning towards Mei, but it fizzled out just before reaching her.
The meeting continued and plans were discussed for combating the Herrschers. With there still being no signs of the 7th, all they could do was prepare, but none of them could prepare for what would happen.
***
The day that followed was a truly tense day at Moth. Most of the group avoided Mei like the plague. Kalpas dragged Su away from his post for a few rounds to vent his anger, Kosma spent time with Griseo to keep himself calm. Stigma heavily conflicted with his hero of justice personality, so hearing that it was not only real, but an actual plan was a shock.
Everyone else? Not much, just doing their own thing and ignoring Mei at meal times.
In the courtyard of Moth's headquarters, Sakura was training her sword style, as well as a couple of different movements and techniques Thor taught her while Rin watched her.
As Rin hugged her legs close to her while gazing at her sister with envy, she wanted to do cool stuff too! Even that meanie Hua got superpowers, and yet Rin got nothing but a pat on the head trying to placate her.
She wanted to give a ninja kick to the face of some Honkai beast, maybe throw lightning around like Thor and Aurora, or maybe even just be like her sister, an ice demon on the battlefield. She'd seen the footage, how her sister cuts up the landscape like making an ice sculpture.
"Unfair…" She mumbled, but then a thought came to her. "Hehehe…" She got up from the bench and left the courtyard, a girl on a mission, a mission to get superpowers!
***
"You ready Ely?" Thor asked, watching as Elysia was all hooked up and ready for the MANTIS procedure. They'd held off on it because of recent events, but since Mahesvara, Elysia had a 98% compatibility with it, but due to the nature of such a strong Honkai gene, they held off until they developed a safer and more reliable procedure.
"Mou~ Is Thor worried about little old me~? Just you wait, I'll have some cute Elf ears and be the prettiest girl to exist!" If there was one thing that baffled Thor, it would be how confident Elysia always was when it came to what her mutation would be, she always insisted it would be elf ears.
"Haha, I sure am, but I'll be the judge when you're done, okay?" They shared a kiss before Mobius sealed the chamber.
"MANTIS procedure… 831, begin!" Mobius licked her lips, curious to see what kind of evolution Elysia would undergo in this surgery.
***
With Eden's string of concerts coming to a close, with just a performance outside the Sydney Opera House left, she was checking herself in the mirror for the nth time, despite knowing that she always looked good, even after sleeping all night.
"Come on 'Angel of Strings', it's time, the quicker you do this, the quicker I can get Thor all to myself!" Himeko cheered as she dragged Eden out of the room, the songstress smiling wryly at Himeko's openness, 'What happened to the reserved woman?'
Hua was already in the crowd, at the perfect spot, a slightly elevated platform, just halfway up the concert hall.
She, along with the rest of the crowd, were cheering eagerly for Eden's appearance on stage.
And when she did, the crowd erupted, applause, cheers, photos, the usual for her.
Eden just gave them a smile and took the mic. "I'll skip the pleasantries, and get right into singing for you all!" Her words caused another round of cheers.
"Now this is a song that is not my own, someone very special to me made this, and today, I'll share it with you all!"
Lights dimmed and only one remained on her. A piano played softly in the back, and she soon started to sing the lyrics, a language unknown to all, completely made up, but the emotion Eden sang them with made her voice resound in the entire venue.
Himeko stood at the back of the crowd, a gentle smile as she listened.
Next to her people spat and tried to mock Eden's performance, but a group of guards "peacefully escorted" them out.
*Ungrateful, deceitful, nothing but obstacles.*
Himeko's head throbbed in pain as she stumbled. *Why do humans do this, why must our efforts, HIS efforts, be trampled upon by these lesser beings? Do we deserve this? NO! THEY deserve this, the same humans we protect, demean and mock HIM*
Himeko fell to her knees as the headache intensified, Eden's song was also coming to an end.
*But WE can stop this, WE can end it. Shape the world in our image, burn it all. Burn everything to the ground and leave nothing behind but us! SET THE WORLD ABLAZE!!*
The mark on her back that was dormant until now glowed, a vibrant red hue. It burned through her clothing, but new pieces took its place. "Haha, that's right. Why must we protect them?! They don't deserve our efforts! I'll burn it all down, create a world where only we exist!"
And just as Eden's song ended, the venue erupted into flames, with Himeko at its centre, everything burned. The air itself was like a flame, burning absolutely everything.
The 7th Honkai eruption had started.
***