Theresa Apocalypse was not happy.
Her fingers drummed irritably against the edge of her desk in the St. Freya command room, the sound sharp and fast enough to keep pace with her thoughts.
First, the Second Eruption had occurred in Nagazora, her jurisdiction, her branch, had happened under her nose. Schicksal HQ had known before she did. She'd learned about it not from her own intel division, but from Otto's smug "status update" message that was sent the moment the eruption happened.
Second, Himeko. Of course. Himeko had been off on another date in Hong Kong when it started. The Hyperion had to reroute halfway across the continent to pick her up, costing hours that could have made the difference between "containment" and "catastrophe."
Third, by the time they finally reached Nagazora, the Herrscher had vanished. Oh and Siegfried was there. The man had practically torn the city apart, killing all the Honkai Beasts in the entire city. His combat data made his performance during the Second Eruption look like a practice drill.
Fourth, her grandfather. Otto Apocalypse, Overseer of Schicksal, master manipulator, and professional ruiner of her week. He had gone completely over her head, issuing a kill order for Siegfried directly to her Valkyries without so much as a courtesy call. When she'd demanded an explanation, Otto had brushed her off with his usual blend of flattery and bribery.
"It's necessary for Schicksal's reputation, dear Theresa. You understand how politics work. Oh, and by the way—your next month's budget will be doubled. Also, I happen to have located a pristine copy of Homu Issue #4, Limited Charity Edition. Signed by the author, of course."
She'd tried to stay angry. She really had. But Homu #4 was a legendary collector's item, only five known copies in existence, and she was, regrettably, only human. Or mostly human.
So yes, she had reluctantly approved the operation. Not that she had forgiven Otto for dangling it like bait on a fishing line.
Siegfried was fine. Probably.
Fifth, Himeko had finally called in, calm as ever, to report that she'd identified the Herrscher.
Theresa had expected a containment order, maybe even an execution request. Instead, Himeko had said:
"She's on the Hyperion. A survivor. Says she was willing to kill herself. I told her no."
Theresa had nearly dropped her communicator.
And sixth, because the universe clearly wanted her dead by stress, Himeko's follow-up report revealed that not only had she recruited the Herrscher to join St. Freya Academy as a student, but the girl was apparently romantically involved with her niece!
Theresa buried her face in her hands. "Himeko, I swear, one of these days you're going to give me an aneurysm."
She glanced at the monitor showing the Hyperion's status feed, scrolling with recent logs. Mei Raiden. Herrscher of Thunder, now listed under "prospective transfer student, pending clearance."
"Oh, sure," Theresa muttered, "let's just put a Herrscher in the classroom. Maybe next the First Herrscher will end up applying as a teacher."
Apparently, Himeko had also decided to inject the Herrscher with a microbomb implant, something that Theresa hadn't even known Schicksal had. The revelation had left her sitting in stunned silence for a full minute, debating whether to send Himeko a commendation or a psychiatric evaluation.
She had been dreading the idea of negotiating with Otto for the girl's enrollment. If she didn't at least try, Himeko would hold it against her for months, and that woman could outlast a siege when she was being stubborn. Besides, from the initial interviews, the Herrscher didn't seem… too unusual.
It was definitely not because of her romantic involvement with Kiana.
But the expected argument never came. Before she could even bring it up, Otto had texted her directly, cheerful as ever.
"Cultivating a Herrscher on the side of humanity is a wonderful thing."
He had conveniently left out the part where there was already another Herrscher fighting for humanity.
At first, Theresa had worried about Anti-Entropy's response. After all, the girl, Raiden Mei, was the heiress of ME Corp, one of Anti-Entropy's most prominent front companies in the Far East. Recruiting her could easily be seen as provocation.
Then she learned that Raiden Ryoma, CEO of ME Corp and father of said Herrscher, had been arrested by a civilian agency. Not even Anti-Entropy's own people had intervened.
That was telling. It probably meant they'd disavowed him, and by extension, his daughter. So long as she stayed quiet, Anti-Entropy would likely look the other way.
Theresa leaned back in her chair, letting out a long sigh as she flipped through the rest of the survivor files. There were two more of note, aside from Kiana and the Herrscher girl: Lee and Bronya.
Bronya's interview had been brief and awkward to the point of painful. Every question from Himeko had earned a curt, single-word answer. Her record identified her as an orphan, raised under the guardianship of one Cocolia Rand. When asked about her, Bronya's response had been flat.
"We have no relationship anymore. I do not want to go back."
That had been that. Himeko had floated the idea of enrolling her at St. Freya, and the girl had agreed with quiet indifference.
Then there was the last one, Lee.
The one who had reported the Herrscher to Himeko in the first place.
Theresa frowned as she scrolled through the digital file again. It was easily one of the thinnest dossiers she'd ever seen. No family. No permanent address, almost no financial history, almost no medical records beyond vaccinations from Nagazora.
Orphaned. Previously attended Chiba Academy. Both Parents listed as unknown.
Her birthplace? Earth.
Theresa had stared at that field for a solid thirty seconds the first time she saw it, certain it had to be an error. But no, according to the official records, that was the listed entry, and the Japanese government had somehow accepted it without question. When asked about it in her interview, Lee had simply said,
"I didn't know where I was born, so I just wrote 'Earth.' It's technically true."
Technically.
The whole file screamed suspicious, yet when she had asked Schicksal Intelligence, the record came back with a green clearance rating. This didn't mean that the documents were genuine, but it did mean that nether Schicksal or Anti Entropy (Which was so full of spies from so many factions that the spies had started spying on each other rather than Anti Entropy) had a hand in Lee's documentation.
Theresa did not believe that for a second.
Still, St. Freya was built to give second chances, to train girls who had nowhere else to go. And, truthfully, she'd seen stranger things in her career.
She closed the file and leaned back, eyes drifting toward the ceiling.
Herrschers, fugitives, orphans with missing records. All under one roof.
Somewhere, Otto was probably laughing himself sick.
When she had first come to Otto with her goal of creating a new way of training Valkyries that allowed them to have more of a childhood, Otto had told her that he would support her, but had said that it would be much tougher than she thought it would be.
"Great," she muttered. "Just great. I'm now running a daycare for an emotionally unstable superweapon."
She paused, rubbing her temples. "And the Herrscher is dating my niece."
The worst part was, this wasn't even the strangest week she'd ever had!
Theresa walked out of the command room and down to the dock where the Hyperion had just landed.
The ship loomed large and gleamed. Himeko stood on the gangway in her uniform. Theresa registered the wrong thing first. Himeko filled the uniform in a way that made Theresa feel extremely annoyed.
Himeko started toward her, four survivors trailing behind like a small, disorganized parade. Theresa laughed a bit to herself. It looks like Little ducks following mama duck, she thought. A mean idea crossed her mind. She imagined shoving all four into Himeko's apartment, which had plenty of extra rooms. That would teach her for the detour.
Kiana walked first. She bobbed her head, eyes darting, peppering Himeko with questions like a hummingbird. "What's that room? Where are we now? Can I see a Valkyrie suit?" Her voice was bright and loud in the dock air. Her arm was trailing behind her.
Mei followed close behind, holding Kiana's hand in both of hers following Kiana from behind. She kept her gaze down. Her fingers tightened around Kiana's like a small anchor. Theresa noticed the tension in her shoulders. The girl looked very, very nervous.
Lee came next. Calm. Unblinking. There was something about her face that made Theresa think of Otto, only smaller, and female. The resemblance was uncanny. Lee watched everything with a small smile with nothing seeming to surprise her.
Bronya brought up the rear. Her expression was blank and focused entirely on Himeko. She moved like machinery following a command. No questions. No hesitation. Just a steady, quiet pull toward the woman in front of them.
Theresa stared at the group and then at Himeko. Before starting to approach.
Theresa started forward just as Kiana pointed straight at her.
"Who's that little brat?"
Theresa froze.
Little brat…
The air in the dock seemed to drop ten degrees. Without a word, she unfolded the Oath of Judah. The massive cross slammed into the floor with a metallic echo that made the four girls flinch. Golden tendrils snaked outward, wrapping around Kiana's arms and legs before anyone could react.
"You need to learn some manners, young lady! You can't just go around insulting people at random!"
"Hey! You look even younger than me! Why should I have to listen to you?!" Kiana shouted, twisting against the glowing bindings.
Theresa's voice snapped back, "My name is Theresa Apocalypse, and I am in charge of the Far East Branch of Schicksal! I'm also your aunt, oh daughter of Siegfried!"
That stopped Kiana for half a heartbeat. "Wait, what?! You know the old man?"
"'Know' is putting it lightly." Theresa folded her arms. "We're old friends."
Kiana's face lit up. "Then do you know where he is!? I need to go after him!"
"In fact, I do," Theresa said evenly. "But I won't tell you. You've inherited your father's temper and his rude attitude, and you're nowhere near ready to help him."
She didn't add that Siegfried's "danger" was partly her fault. That detail could stay buried.
"Hey, who are you to decide that?! I'm in perfect condition! Tell me where he is!"
Theresa sighed. "I'm not talking about your injuries. I'm talking about your combat skills. Your reaction to me taking you down was so poor that any first-year student here could've flattened you."
She eyed Kiana more closely. The interviews hadn't exaggerated, scatterbrained, impulsive, unfocused. Siegfried, what did you teach her?
"Well, lucky for you," Theresa said, tone softening slightly, "I have a better idea."
Kiana blinked. "...What?"
"You'll enroll at my academy, the only school on the planet dedicated to training Anti-Honkai warriors. You'll learn discipline, teamwork, and everything you need to know to fight the Honkai. And your friends," she gestured toward the others, "have already agreed to join."
Kiana stopped struggling. "Can you let me go, then? While this school thing sounds interesting, I'm not a fan of people who go straight to bondage play on the first date."
Theresa froze. What exactly had Kiana been reading… She shook her head, cheeks twitching. "For your information, I once held you when you were a baby. I would never do something improper."
With a thought, she retracted Oath of Judah. The tendrils vanished, dropping Kiana back to her feet.
Kiana brushed herself off and muttered under her breath, "No way that little girl's my aunt. She looks younger than me."
Theresa's hand twitched toward her weapon again, but Himeko stepped between them with a weary look.
"Theresa. Don't."
Behind her, Lee tilted her head slightly, watching the exchange with detached amusement.
"Just say yes already," she said to Kiana.
The dock fell silent for a moment, then Kiana threw her hands up.
"Fine! I'll join your weird school, Aunt Brat!"
Theresa inhaled through her nose and counted to five.
A.N. 50,000 words! Yippe!