As Eden drove off into the horizon, the wind and night's breeze gently caressed her skin through the side windows of the armored jeep. Though the chill permeated, it hardly bothered her, for her DNA had been altered by Dr. Mei some time ago, a modification intended to aid her in protecting humanity and staving off the world's inevitable doom. Yet, despite her collective efforts and those of her comrades in MANTIS, they had failed. Eden glanced at the wasteland stretching out before her as she continued driving, searching for a suitable place to meet her end, perhaps to bear witness to the judgment of the slumbering or incapacitated Last Herrscher on the Moon, courtesy to none other than Dr. Mei's superweapon, Selene.
Selene had been a collaborative effort between Dr. Mei and Mobius, the latter's fate uncertain—presumed dead, perhaps, or biding and shedding her time for a return in the future. Though not particularly close to Mobius as she is more of friend of a friend, Eden still respected her just like she will always respect her fellow MANTIS for their bravery and heroism. And also her and Mobius did not really able to hang out that much cause Mobius is always in her own Lab doing her own stuff with her assistant Klein who died when the 10th Herrscher seized control of the collective consciousness of humanity and used the humans to attack their fellow human and some of killed their target or vice versa killing the attacker.
Eden sighed tiredly before saying in a helpless manner, "Maybe if, maybe if I was able to awaken my MANTIS form just like the Leader maybe I could have prevented and stopped all of this..." She said in a hopeful tone as she looked at fallen and destroyed buildings already covered with dust and sand, but she shook her head as she smiled helplessly before saying this, "No, it would be the same even with the MANTIS form as the Last Herrscher could destroy us easily because it can use all of the previous Herrschers' abilities." She looked up to the Moon trying to see the stunned enemy.
Eden continued to drive and steer the wheel of the armored jeep to this desolate and empty wasteland. Well, not so desolate after all, there are some mutated rats, cockroaches, and lizards from afar lurking. Luckily, there are no mutated humans as she really can't stomach killing or destroying them, even though they are already dead and the reason for this mutation is the radioactive Honkai in this wasteland. But thanks to her altered DNA, her mutation to become a mutated human or let's just call it Zombie is slow but after maybe three to four hours she will be just like them wandering in this land. However, that will not happen because of the Last Herrscher's punishment or judgment.
"Sending the Angels to punish and judge in the name of God because we advance our technology," she said venomously, gritting her teeth in anger, and it seems she still can't get over and move on from what happened to this world even though she already gave up on fighting. She calmed herself down. "If there's a God, there has to be a Devil, a Devil willing to save this world from God's wrath," she said in a casual tone with a helpless smile on her face before "As If!" she laughed helplessly after saying that.
Eden looked straight ahead and avoided a mutated lizard instead of hitting it with the jeep. "However, if there's really a Devil during that time, then I would have sold my soul... no, it's not just me, even the other MANTIS would sell their soul just to save this world." She whispered under her breath as she looked around for a proper place to drink the wine given to her by Fu Hua. And when she remembered Fu Hua, she remembered Fu Hua's captain or former captain did, or to be exact, unintentionally did during her last and final concert. Yes, unintentional as the captain was the vessel for the Herrscher of Fire at the time when she burned the people of Australia. Luckily and thankfully, those people did not suffer much because instead of burning to a crisp, they burned to ashes in an instant. No screaming and no pain.
"Instead of protecting everything that is beautiful, you ended up destroying everything, ironic isn't it, Himiko?" Eden said to Himiko who is not even here at this very moment but she still kept on talking to her. "Well, you are not the only one who had become a Herrscher because Elysia and Sakura's little sister Rin became one too, but unlike both of you and Rin, Elysia was able to control the Herrscher within her." She said this while chuckling lightly but tears started coming down from her eyes. She stopped the armored jeep as she cried lightly inside for a while before saying, "I miss all you guys and may we meet again in the afterlife." She then got out of the armored jeep as she already found the right place to drink the wine and die.
As Eden stood there, she took in the vast emptiness around her, a fitting stage for her final performance. The moonlight bathed the landscape in a ghostly glow, casting long shadows over the cracked earth. She retrieved the wine and glass from the basket and poured herself a drink, savoring the rich, velvety taste. Each sip was a toast to her fallen comrades, to the memories they shared, and to the hope that somewhere, somehow, their sacrifices had not been in vain.
Eden walked slowly towards a boulder with a flat surface, holding both the wine and the glass. As she walked barefooted through the wasteland she once called home, now a desolate sea of sand, she began singing with a warm smile on her face.
"Some deserts on this planet were oceans once,
Somewhere shrouded by the night, the sun will shine.
Sometimes I see a dying bird fall to the ground,
But it used to fly so high."
Despite her smile and seemingly happy singing, her emotions welled up again. Without even trying to hold them back, tears started streaming down her face.
"Thought I were no more than a bystander,
Till I felt a touch so real,
I will no longer be a transient,
When I see smiles with tears."
Eden's voice cracked, a sob escaped, and tears streamed down her face.
"If I have never known the sore of farewell and pain of sacrifices,
What else should I engrave on my mind?"
Eden's shoulders shook, and she struggled to continue, the emotion palpable in every word. Even though she was crying, she continued singing.
"Frozen into icy rocks, that's how it starts (That's how it starts),
Crumbled like the sands of time, that's how it ends (That's how it ends),
Every page of tragedy is thrown away (Is thrown away),
Burned out in the flame."
Even with the lack of any instrument and sobbing between her singing, Eden's voice was still as beautiful as always, despite the lack of practice. She remembered that during her last concert, she was going to debut this song in Australia, but as if fate had intervened, that tragedy happened, preventing her from singing it to them.
"A shoulder for the past,
Let out the cries imprisoned for so long.
A pair of wings for me at this moment
To soar above this world.
Turn into a shooting star that briefly shines but warms up every heart,
May all the beauty be blessed,
May all the beauty be blessed."
As Eden reached the boulder with the flat surface, she climbed up onto it. She stood on it and spread her arms to the side as she sang the last two lines of the chorus, full of emotion. Just as she was about to start singing the bridge of the song in her mind, her ears perked up at the sound of a piano, seemingly coming out of nowhere and playing the bridge for her. She looked around the vicinity of the wasteland and, from afar, saw someone playing the piano. She couldn't help but smile, feeling a surge of hope and warmth at the sight of another human sharing in her moment of song.