In the tranquil hospital garden, moonlight filtered through the treetops, scattering onto the granite-paved path. The wheels of a wheelchair occasionally rolled over pebbles, emitting a crisp creaking sound.
The figures in the garden could be clearly identified as Ren and Kiana, though they appeared semi-transparent. After all, this was just Kiana's consciousness space, and everything happening before her eyes was merely a projection of past memories within this space.
But this insignificant trickle from the river of time soothed the impatience in Kiana's heart like a clear spring.
"So it was back then…"
The fingers of her clenched fist relaxed and unfurled. The girl stared blankly at the scene in the hospital, lost in brief recollection. The lake-like ripples in her eyes also returned to their usual azure in the memories of the past.
She remembered this was the most intense argument she had ever had with Ren. It was also at this time that she first saw tears in the eyes of that usually gentle and optimistic boy.
However, too many things had happened afterward, to the point that this memory seemed to have become blurred amidst the continuous battles.
She watched her illusionary self in the memory stop, her lips trembling, as if wanting to say something to Ren. However, perhaps the fragmented memory made the words indistinct. Kiana standing outside the hospital couldn't hear them clearly at all.
"What was I thinking back then?"
Gazing at herself and Ren not far away, Kiana subconsciously took a step forward.
She walked to the fence of the garden, wanting to listen to her own memories. But even at such close range, she still couldn't hear what she had said. Kiana reached out a fingertip, gently touching the edge of the fence. Just as her finger made contact with the structure, ripples spread through the surrounding space, and her hand passed straight through.
At the same time, the surrounding scenery instantly changed, shedding the false night and returning to that afternoon in her memory.
Gentle sunlight fell into the garden, divided by the leaves into dark and bright sections. Kiana stood in the darkness, walking into her past memories.
Just like night and day were reversed, in the memory scene, her past self and Ren were the real ones, while the current Kiana existed as a phantom.
"I won't leave. This is my mistake."
This time, Kiana finally heard her past self's words clearly. She stood quietly in the shade of a tree, watching the gray-haired boy in the wheelchair.
The past self standing behind Ren hadn't noticed it, but now looking at him from the front, she realized the impact her unintentional words had on Ren.
She gazed into Ren's eyes, noticing the sadness that flowed from those gray eyes, as still as stagnant water, after she finished speaking. However, this sadness was very well hidden when he raised his head to look at her, leaving only suppressed anger.
«Was he sad at that time?»
"The despair and struggle of ordinary people are meaningless in this world. No matter how hard they try, they can't defeat the manipulations of fate."
Ren's voice became clearer and clearer in her memory. Kiana gradually realized the origin of the sense of imperfection when using Flamescion.
"But you are different. You have the ability to change all of this. You can turn this world into the world you wish for. But I am just a moth born in the darkness…"
Kiana's listening abruptly stopped, because she had recalled the truth that had been blurred by her.
"The light you radiate is too intense, even just getting close will burn me."
…
«His sadness at that time was not because I had destroyed his life, but because at that moment, he had already foreseen the image of me holding up the flames.»
The surrounding phantoms faded and disappeared, eventually shrinking and transforming into a small blue grain of sand. Kiana walked forward and held the Grains of Time in her palm, letting out a deep breath.
She spread out her other hand, a small flame flickering in her palm. The light of Flamescion reflected in the girl's eyes. It was clearly not intense, but she seemed to feel a slight burning sensation.
«He foresaw the heat of the flames, and had already made preparations. He understood that he was just an ordinary person, unable to withstand the light of a Herrscher.»
«Therefore, he chose to pass this power on to me, naming it Flamescion.»
«He entrusted the light to me, but retreated into the darkness himself.»
Kiana had been chasing Ren's shadow, imitating his use of flames, but little did she know that when Ren used flames, he was constantly burning himself.
She recalled Ren's exhausted figure when he wielded flames against Schicksal in ARC City, and Ren's unnatural body temperature in Nagazora City. All of this was to pass on the flames, waiting for this moment to hand them over to Kiana.
And now, Kiana had already mastered the power of Flamescion. The power of flames was so strong that it was enough to give her the power to change the world. But obtaining such powerful strength made her feel lost and uneasy.
She didn't understand where this unease came from, but now, she seemed to finally understand.
«Light is too scorching, getting close will get you burned.»
The power of Flamescion was extremely powerful. Ren chose to entrust it to Kiana, a Herrscher, to let her, as the sole savior, pass the light of hope to the whole world.
But for Kiana, Ren was the one who first held up the torch, and also the companion who walked forward with her. The stronger the light, the harder it was for her to see Ren's shadow.
Too many experiences during this period had obscured her past memories, but Kiana's true self had firmly kept them in her heart. Therefore, she instinctively sensed the imperfection when using Flamescion, and subconsciously resisted using the power of Flamescion, essentially all out of concern for Ren.
What she was uneasy about was not the darkness ahead, but the fear that the light she radiated would burn Ren.
She was afraid that she would keep moving forward, holding up Flamescion, while Ren would drift further and further away from her.
As a part of Kiana's current power, Grains of Time sensed the wavering in her heart, and that's why it retrieved her dusty memories and transformed them into illusions to be displayed in her consciousness space.
«What an idiot.»
«Flamescion shouldn't belong to me alone. Being able to move forward together is the meaning of light's existence.»
…
The wavering in her heart vanished like smoke, and Kiana's pair of lake-blue eyes became extraordinarily clear. She clenched the flame in her hand, preparing to first break free from the shackles of the consciousness space, and then hand the other half of the Flamescion greatsword to Ren.
However, the surrounding space slowly became distorted. The towering buildings were like texture errors, undergoing strange distortions. Half a road passed through the ceiling and connected with an overpass, and flickering advertising lights were reflected in the sewers.
"Ugh."
At the same time, Kiana also felt a strong sense of discomfort. This was her consciousness world, and all the errors and distortions were a burden on her spirit.
Despair was the best nourishment for Honkai. Taking advantage of Kiana's wavering heart and the time she fell into a coma, Honkai immediately seized the opportunity.
Due to the existence of the Herrscher of the Void as a medium, Honkai was sufficient to interfere with Kiana's consciousness and attempt to erode her. And the current scene was obviously the result of Honkai erosion.
Fortunately, Kiana had already gotten rid of the wavering in her heart. Even if the consciousness space was completely distorted, it wouldn't erode her true self.
Of course, if the distortion continued like this, Kiana would also be trapped in the mental space.
However…
Kiana raised her head to look at the distorted sky. Golden tree branches slowly covered the eroded space, firmly fixing the unstable consciousness space.
"Awake now?"
"Yeah."