"Of course!" Theresa nodded earnestly, her expression betraying a hint of restless excitent.
"Co on, the Principal herself is going to give you the grand tour of St. Freya Academy!"
"Sounds great. Let's get going then!"
Seele was already buzzing with anticipation.
"Let's move!" Theresa turned on her heel with a puff of her chest, leading Seele outside with a swaggering, high-spirited stride. She looked for all the world like a little neighborhood ringleader.
To be fair, that was exactly what Theresa was.
As they stepped out, Seele's eyes remained glued to the greenery lining the path. Her intense focus caught Theresa's attention, sparking a bit of curiosity.
"Those are cherry blossoms," Theresa explained gently, noticing Seele's wonder. "Though it's not the season right now, so they're just covered in green leaves."
"When spring rolls around, though, the blooms are absolutely breathtaking!"
"I see," Seele murmured softly.
Theresa glanced at her. "Seele, did you have cherry blossoms back in your world?"
Seele paused for a mont as if digging through her mories, then shook her head.
"There aren't any cherry blossoms underground. Down there, it's just ore, jagged rocks, and... monsters. So looked like people, others were just twisted things."
She let out a soft, wistful sigh. "To be honest, I've never seen this much green in my entire life."
As she spoke, she drifted toward a cluster of small pink flowers blooming by the roadside. She crouched down, reaching out a trembling hand to brush against the petals with the utmost care.
She treated them as if they were the most fragile treasures in existence.
"So soft..."
Watching her from the side, Theresa felt a sudden, sharp pang in her heart. This poor girl... raised in the dark, never having seen a flower, a blade of grass, or even the true sky.
"Seele."
She couldn't help but call out to her.
"Yes?"
"If you like them, you can look and touch as much as you want," Theresa said, her voice full of resolve. "These were all planted by the Academy. You can stay here as long as you like!"
"Thank you."
Seele looked up, the corners of her mouth curling into a faint, genuine smile. She couldn't wait to use this body to fully take in the scent of these flowers.
"Mm-hmm!" Theresa smiled back happily, but the mont was shattered by the sudden, frantic blaring of her phone.
"What?! An abnormal Honkai energy surge in Nagazora? Another Herrscher is manifesting?!!"
"Wait, what?"
Seele's expression clouded with confusion as she overheard.
That can't be right... she thought. This isn't how the story goes.
"Theresa, do you need my help?" Seele stood up, her gaze sharpening instantly.
"No, no!" Theresa waved her off, though her face was grim. "Seele, stay here for now. You can head back to the dorms if you like!"
"There's a fountain square just ahead, it's quite beautiful! If you want to check it out... I'll have i co find you in a bit to show you around."
Without waiting for a reply, she hurriedly dialed another number.
"Hiko! New Honkai signatures in Nagazora. The Hyperion is fully repaired—get ready to deploy!"
As she spoke, she spun around and sprinted off in the opposite direction, her small silhouette quickly vanishing at the end of the road.
Seele stood rooted to the spot, watching her go, her brow furrowed. Sothing felt off. Deeply off.
I have to follow her to Nagazora. It can't be that Natasha got caught up in the Honkai energy and turned into a Herrscher, right?
Lost in thought, Seele prepared to give chase. But just as she was about to bolt, a sudden chill crept down her spine, and her feet ground to a halt.
"Seele..."
A voice rang out—shrill, mocking, and laced with a jagged edge of malice.
Seele shifted her weight, casting a cold, sideways glance toward the shadows of the nearby trees.
Erging from the shade was a girl dressed in the ornate, frilly style of a Victorian doll. She had short purple hair and a piercing gaze, but her entire aura scread instability.
"It really is you." Sin Mal stared at Seele, her voice a cocktail of twisted joy and simring resentnt.
"And here I thought the intel those guys gave was a load of junk!"
Seele frowned, her mind racing as she looked at Sin. What is she doing here? Has the Anti-Entropy invasion arc started already? No, the tiline is all wrong.
"Who are you?" Seele asked, her voice flat.
Sin froze for a heartbeat before bursting into a sharp, grating laugh. It was the kind of ear-piercing sound that was annoying yet strangely rhythmic—the girl had the lungs of a professional hype-man.
"Who am I? Ha! You're actually asking who I am?"
Sin took a few steps forward, glaring up at Seele. When she realized Seele was nearly half a head taller than her, her eyes flared with even more spite.
"I'm Sin Mal! Don't you dare tell you've actually forgotten!"
Seele's frown deepened as she tried to puzzle out why Sin had infiltrated St. Freya.
"I don't know you. You've got the wrong person."
"The wrong person?" Sin's eyes turned predatory, as if she wanted to tear Seele apart.
"Do you think I'm blind? I'd know that face of yours even if it was burned to ash!"
She jabbed a finger at Seele. "Seele Vollerei! You're that pathetic little coward who was always hiding behind Bronya's back!"
However, as she spoke, Sin seed to trip over a bad mory. She shot a wary, flickering glance at Seele's eyes before regaining her bravado and shouting again:
"Back at the orphanage! You were always cowering. You managed to be brave exactly once during the experints, and look where that got you—tumbled right into the Sea of Quanta. And now you're back? And you ran off to this dump with Bronya?!"
A cruel smirk spread across Sin's face. "But now that you're here, Bronya must be thrilled, right? Heh. You two were always joined at the hip."
Listening to the rant, the pieces began to click into place for Seele.
Cocolia must have found so way to confirm she was at St. Freya. She had likely staged a distraction in Nagazora to lure Theresa and the others away, leaving Sin to swoop in and kidnap her.
Still, she had to play dumb for now.
Looking at Sin's malice-filled face, Seele felt a sudden spark of playfulness.
What if I just... kept her here?
The Selene incident was still a year or two away. Keeping Sin around as a "guest" sounded like it could be a lot of fun.
Cocolia would absolutely lose her mind.
"Like I said, you have the wrong person," Seele said coldly. "I'm not the Seele you're looking for."
"Ha! Keep acting!" Sin sneered, not believing a word of it. "You think putting on a cold attitude is going to fool ?!"
She lunged forward, reaching out to grab Seele. "You're coming with . Mommy Cocolia wants to see you! Hmph… Once I've hauled you back, that brat Bronya will co crawling back all on her own."
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