"Cough cough" another heavy cough came from Mei, but this time it didn't stop until something spilled from her mouth.
Using her hand, she tried to catch what she thought was spit, but it felt warm, the texture strange.
"Blood..." she said, staring at the red stain on her palm.
That meant her internal organs were failing, and it was only a matter of time before the poison killed her.
"[Are you sure this is what you want, Mei? Why not ask Kiana to get out and find Reina?]" her other personality asked.
Her other self felt the same pain, sharing Mei's body and senses, knowing her suffering.
"Yes, if Kiana uses her energy to help me, this pocket dimension will vanish, wasting our efforts to save everyone" Mei said without hesitation.
"Also, I believe Reina will be here soon, and she'd never want me to suffer like this" she added, loosening her collar to touch her necklace.
It was a beautiful piece with a blue crystal ornament, a gift from Reina. She said it came from her world, called a Blue Sky Crystal.
Yuna had one too, but Kiana didn't, as Reina said hers wasn't ready yet.
"[Hahhh... She never shows up when we need her. Oh well, if we die, I'll make sure she gets it]" her other self grumbled.
"Haha..." Mei managed a weak laugh, then turned to Bronya.
Bronya kept firing her cannon, covering Kiana. The sounds of explosions and gunfire grew distant, meaning Kiana was pushing the beasts away.
Bronya was incredible, hitting targets accurately with Project Bunny even from afar.
"I'm gonna sleep for a moment..." Mei said, closing her eyes.
"[Heyy don't sleep! If you sleep, we're done, dead!]" her other self yelled in her head.
"Just... for... a minute" Mei mumbled.
"[MEEEIIIII!]" her other personality screamed, trying to wake her.
"My my, that's really bad, Mei. You can't sleep with poison filling your body" another voice cut in.
Beside the couch, cracks appeared in the air, spreading until they broke open, revealing a gap to the Zero Dimension.
Footsteps echoed from within, and Reina stepped out.
"[Finally, you took your time]" Mei's other self said, relieved she was here.
"Sorry it took me this long, but I'm here now, so it'll be fine" Reina said, looking no different from when she left.
Her outfit and appearance stayed the same, as always.
Hearing an unfamiliar voice, Bronya spun around, aiming her cannon at Reina.
"Identify yourself!" Bronya demanded.
Reina turned, eyes widening at Bronya. "Bronya? How is she here? This is Kiana's pocket dimension... Ohh, I see. So that's how it is. Heh, it seems the canon story persists even when I'm not around" she thought.
She hadn't expected Bronya, thinking Yuna replaced her, but the original trio was reuniting here.
That wasn't her focus now. She needed to help Mei.
"I'm Reina, pretty sure you know me, Bronya. Don't interrupt, I need to help Mei" Reina said, turning back to her.
Crouching, she checked Mei's condition. Mei's pale skin showed most of her insides had shut down. Without her other personality, she'd be dead.
"I'm sorry, Mei, for leaving too long" Reina said, caressing Mei's pale hand.
"But it's okay now" she added, moving her hand to Mei's chest, over her heart.
The poison had spread so far that 80% of Mei's insides were infected, except her brain, making healing complex.
"Gabriel" Reina murmured, accessing one of her Primarch powers.
In an instant, six wings sprouted from her back, startling Bronya.
"Wings?" Bronya muttered.
Beautiful blue wings, like the ocean and sky, shone brightly, lighting the room.
Gabriel, Primarch of Water, one of the four archangels in *Granblue Fantasy*, governed healing and was among the best in that world.
With her right hand on Mei's chest, Reina placed her left on Mei's forehead. "Kitrino Nima" she murmured, her right hand glowing bright yellow.
"Marturion" she added, now her left arm glowing blue.
"It's cold..." Mei murmured in her sleep, sensing the energy.
Reina focused on the poison, locking onto every trace in Mei's body, then cured it all.
"Tidal Erasure" she said.
Mei's body glowed blue, enveloping her completely hiding her entire body.
After five seconds the glow faded and Mei still looked the same, unchanged.
"Good, it's done. Now the next part" Reina said.
Though the poison was gone, Mei's organs were still failing. Reina had prepared for this with Kitrino Nima and Marturion, ensuring Mei's body stabilized and her soul wouldn't leave if she died.
It took Reina only a few seconds to complete the process, and soon Mei was fully cured of the poison, her body returning to its normal state.
Slowly, Mei's eyes fluttered open, though she remained weak even after the healing. "Reina...?" she murmured, recognizing the familiar face in front of her, though the blue wings behind Reina caught her off guard.
"Yes, I'm here, Mei. You did wonderfully with Kiana-just rest now. When you wake up, everything will be back to normal," Reina said gently, her hand caressing Mei's hair as she patted her head with care.
Mei didn't protest at those words. A soft smile spread across her face as she placed her trust in Reina, letting her eyes close once more.
Watching Mei slip into a deep sleep, Reina's lips curved into a tender smile. She leaned in closer, pressing a gentle kiss to Mei's forehead. "Blessing from Fair Maiden of Mercury," she whispered to herself.
This blessing, a power from Gabriel shielded her against illness, poison, mind control, illusions, and countless other.
She can only give this blessing to her because she can only use it if she unleashes her true form and uses all her power.
A faint kiss mark glowed blue on Mei's forehead, seeping into her skin until it faded away completely.
With her work on Mei done, Reina rose to her feet and turned toward the window.
Bronya remained on high alert, refusing to lower her guard. She know Reina was no ordinary being and definitely not not a Herrscher and her powers seemed to originate from another world entirely.
"It looks like you've been helping both Kiana and Mei, Bronya," Reina remarked, pausing at the ruined window as she gazed outside.
From here, she could see Kiana in the midst of battle and even heard her voice complaining about the absence of Bronya's earlier support.
"the Bronya is merely fulfilling Subject Mei's request to help Subject Kiana," Bronya replied.
"It seems she reminds you of Seele, doesn't she?" Reina asked, her tone casual yet probing.
Bronya's eyes widened in shock at the mention of that name.
"Does Subject Reina know Seele?" she asked, her voice tinged with curiosity.
"Not personally, but I know she's trapped within the Sea of Quanta. That's a discussion for another time, though. How much longer does this pocket dimension have?" Reina redirected, her focus shifting.
Bronya wanted to dig deeper because Seele had never spoken of Reina, and they'd never left the orphanage so how could she know? But it was clear Reina wouldn't elaborate. "653 seconds until this dimension collapses," she reported.
"That should suffice," Reina said. Raising her right arm, she created a crack in the air, the fabric of reality splintering as she reached inside, pulling something forth.
Meanwhile, Kiana was still puzzling over the loss of her backup. She held her own, thanks to Sora keeping watch guiding her body to dodge Honkai beasts that lunge from behind her.
Suddenly, a crack tore open behind her, moving too quickly for Kiana to react. Sora sees it but chooses not to do anything about it because she recognizes who's that.
A hand emerged and grabbed Kiana by the back. "Eh? Gyaaahhhh!" she cried out as she was yanked inside.
Because Reina pulled Kiana in so suddenly, when Kiana reappeared in the room she nearly fell backward. But Reina caught her just in time.
"Hello Kiana," Reina said with a smile.
"Eh?" Hearing that familiar voice, Kiana looked up and saw the one she'd been waiting for. "Reina! You're finally here! Why did you take so long?" Kiana yelled at her.
"I'm sorry it took me this long. You've been doing a great job, Kiana and Sora," Reina said kindly.
"Wait, Mei! Mei's been poisoned-you need to help her!" Kiana said, remembering Mei's state.
"I already cured her, don't worry. For now, leave everything to me. You stay here with Bronya and Mei," Reina reassured her.
"Really?" Hearing that, Kiana glanced at Mei sleeping and noticed her appearance had improved. She looked normal again.
"Thank you, Reina. I was so worried about Mei-she just didn't want to leave this pocket dimension to see you," Kiana said.
Reina understood why. Mei had always been like that, even in the original game story.
"Now go rest," Reina said, lifting Kiana in a princess carry and setting her on another couch in the room.
"But I need to help too. I can't just leave you alone-there's also that giant flower out there," Kiana protested.
"You've already helped me. You and Mei followed my instructions perfectly, and thanks to you both, the threat moved to this location," Reina explained.
Stepping closer to Kiana, she planted a kiss on her cheek, using the same blessing she gave Mei to ensure poison would never harm both of them again.
"Now be a good girl and stay here. You can chat with Bronya while waiting," Reina said, standing up and walking back to the window.
"Bronya, you stay here," she added, then jumped out the window, leaving them behind.
After Reina left, Bronya could finally relax her guard. She'd been cautious around Reina, but instead of going to Kiana, she chose to look outside to see what Reina was doing.
Bronya peered outside and saw Reina standing on the ground, surrounded by the corpses of Honkai beasts from Kiana's earlier fight. Still, many more beasts loomed ahead.
"Atheism," Reina said, and the same barrier from before appeared again, this time wrapping around the entire building where Kiana and the others were.
"What is this?" Bronya muttered, staring at the multicolored barrier in front of her.
With this shield in place, Reina no longer worried about the building collapsing or being hit by her attacks. She could focus fully on the Honkai beasts.
She also needed to deal with that giant flower, having a hunch about who was behind it, but she'd save that for last.
Now with the building safe and protected, she didn't need to hide her true form anymore.
First, her blue wings began to fade. A burst of purple aura erupted from the base of her wings, enveloping all six like flames dancing around them.
Her blue eyes shifted, the same fiery aura wrapping around them, turning into blue flames that flowed out from both.
Her whole body got covered in the same flame, hiding her appearance—even her long hair was wrapped in the same way.
Finally, her true form revealed itself, appearing without breaking the dimension. She had transformed into this form in her own dimension, only hiding it while tending to Mei and Kiana.
[IMAGE]
"Zero Form Unleashed…" Her voice echoed with a heavy pressure and energy, causing the Honkai beasts to freeze in their tracks.
The power radiating from Reina surpassed anyone in this world. If not for her current location, every organization here would hunt her down or try to eliminate her, seeing her as more dangerous than Honkai itself.
Sadly for them, if they tried, they'd be the ones wiped out.
"Sword of Repudiation," she said, summoning the golden sword she'd used only once before when fighting Sora during their first meeting.
This time, the sword evolved with Reina. The golden hue was gone, replaced by silver with a purple aura wrapping around it, adorned with black feathers dancing in the energy.
[IMAGE]
The moment she gripped the sword, the ground cracked under the pressure, and the wind tore apart every corpse around her.
Raising her right arm high, she pointed the sword upward, channeling the energy from her wings into it.
The aura around the sword erupted, flames raging and swirling around the blade.
"Phosphorus," she intoned.
The aura soared higher and higher into the sky, transforming into a towering pillar of energy.
"Die," she commanded.
Instead of a vertical strike, she shifted her sword after filling it with power, swinging it to her left with explosive force.
And then with a brutal horizontal slash from left to right, she unleashed a devastating wave that obliterated everything in front of her, leveling the building in a single, earth-shaking blow.
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A/N: There is actually a gif i want to use instead of image but unfortunately this website has a limit of 3mb for gif so i just put the link here if you want to see it properly. (Nevermind this website is so bad you can't even put link to wiki like what the hell)