"It's great to see you," she says, in Kiana's voice, and if there's a slight resonance to it, you might be imagining it. "And this is?"
She motions to Vel.
That's right. She's never seen Velonia before-- well, not directly. Not as a person. As a part of you, while you were fighting, yes-- that's how you met-- but but you've never been eager to introduce anyone to your other half, and Vel's never pushed.
"Hi," you say. "Do you know where everyone else is? I was just helping Tesla repair the generators."
And... maybe it's time to change that. You're not sure how you feel about Vel. Sure, she's great. She's the other part of you. She trusts you and helps you and is your best friend. But...
You look at Vel, unsure what to do. She's happy to see Kiana, that's the biggest surprise. Normally, she's... no, she's never even hinted at wanting to stick around outside of your head.
('That's not quite true,' a voice whispers. It just wasn't an option. You only had the one body to share, forcing yourself into reality was exhausting at best.)
Who is Vel to you? What is she? Why is she here? What does she want? What do you want?
It's your turn to talk.
Maybe a bridge above an infinite abyss isn't the best place for this, but it's what you've got.
"Kiana, this is Veliona," you say, and you step up and put an arm around her. Vel's role, usually. Kiana's eyes widen slightly, as she sees how similar you really look-- at least, that's what you hope she sees.
You continue. "She's, uh. You've met, but I don't think you know. She's a tsundere, but she's always been there to help when I needed her. Even if she was a little rough about it."
Vel smirks. Kiana nods.
"Pleasure to meet you," Kiana says, extending a hand, which Vel shakes. "I trust you've been keeping my friend safe for me?"
"Hah..." Vel grins. "That's an interesting way to put it."
"So I'm not wrong, then."
"No, not wrong. Just... you're right, it's not quite how I'd describe it." Vel smiles at her and gives your hand a squeeze. "But you're close, at least."
Kiana nods, and the resonance in her voice fades slightly. You're not sure what that's about. "Well, I'd love to chat and catch up, but we should get going. We've got important things to do."
"Saving the world?" You grimace, and Kiana falters.
"It's a little late for that. Seele, I..." She sighs, and puts a hand to her head, rubbing her temples. "This is going to be harder than I thought." She closes her eyes, draws a deep breath and continues, more calm and in control of herself.
She starts walking across the bridge. You follow, stepping carefully. You don't think the infinite abyss is infinite except abstractly, but you still don't want to fall in.
"How much do you remember?" Kiana asks. "I mean, what's the last thing you remember before this?"
"Um..." You're not sure how much you should say. It's the question you've been dreading. Should you keep your mouth shut, or tell the truth?
You... You don't want to lie to Kiana.
"I sort of..." You look down. "When I woke up, I'd been shattered. I mean that... about as literally as possible. Veliona helped put me back together, but what happened beforehand... glimpses, really. Dreams. I don't remember anything concrete."
You keep walking. There's a strange, scared feeling in your chest.
"It's... there's a very recent dream. One I think I had a few times. I'm..." You bite your lip. "You're crying. Someone... died. I think. A black-haired woman, and I kept mixing up Mei and Ai-chan in my head, and... Is she okay?" You ask. "I mean... I'm worried about her."
Kiana stops and turns to look at you. She opens her mouth, pauses, then closes it again. After a moment of silence, she turns and continues walking.
"Sometimes... there are sacrifices that need to be made."
Her voice is cold, flat. Emotionless.
"Sometimes, you need to give up something for the greater good."
She turns to look at you, and her eyes are cold, unforgiving. She stares at you like a man might stare at a hated enemy, or someone they're disappointed in. Her voice is almost inhuman, now. There's a buzz to it. An echo.
"Sometimes the sacrifice is meaningless."
She turns away.
"Sometimes the price is too much to pay."
She stops, and turns to look at you with an almost... broken expression on her face. There's something not-quite-right about her eyes, or her face. Almost like a computer trying to emulate human expressions.
"I saw her," you say, your voice quavering. "I don't think she's all the way dead."
Kiana stares at you, her eyes full of a mixture of emotions. Sorrow, fear... hopelessness. She looks away, and sighs, her voice once more back to normal.
"You didn't dream about her," she says quietly. "Or, if you did, it wasn't her. I'm not that lucky. Come on, I'll take you to Theresa."
You follow her, still shaken from the experience. When you get past the bridge, to the... what *should* be the bridge, you see a beautiful vista. An island, with a mountain in the middle, covered in trees. The island stretches out into a large lake, the water a sparkling blue. The island itself seems almost magical.
"I had a lot of free time," Kiana says, the ghost of a smile on her face. "So I experimented."
She turns to look at you, staring into your eyes for a moment. Then, she hugs you. You squeak in surprise, blushing. She pulls away, smiling.
"I'm glad you're here, Seele."
"Y-you are?"
She nods, smiling more confidently now.
"Yeah," she says. "Yeah, I really am. We had a lot of good times, didn't we? The four of us?"
She gestures to a flat rock, and the two of you sit down on it. The sun shines warmly down on you both, and the mountain is easily visible from here.
"How is Tesla?" She asks, changing the subject. "Alive, I guess. I knew she would be, or none of us would be, but comms have been broken for days."
"She's in rough shape," you say. "She's asleep, last I saw her. I helped her get the reactors running, though a few of them are..." You're not sure how to put it. "Broken."
"It's good to see you're taking your job seriously."
You smile weakly, not knowing how to respond. Kiana continues staring out at the landscape, before sighing.
"I'm sorry," she says. "It's been all I can do to keep it together. I've made a few mistakes, and people have died. I couldn't even save them. I was useless, Seele."
"It's OK," you say softly. "I know how much pressure you're under."
"No, it's not OK. It'll never be OK. Have you ever gotten everything you ever wanted, then found it tastes like ash? Rhetorical question."
You glance worriedly at her. In some ways, this barely seems like Kiana at all. In others, this is still your friend. Bronya liked her, so you will too, even if Bronya's not here right now. But this isn't the idiot she told you stories about, forcing a rare smile on her lips. You feel like you don't know what to say.
"Try not to answer that?" She says, looking over at you. "I'm having an internal monologue."
You nod, and decide to remain silent.
= = =
I think that came out reasonably. I'm not entirely sure what happened here, but I have some ideas. A lot of ideas. ...let's put it another way, it's still not too late to derail my ideas.
[ ] Wait for Kiana to balance herself, then go see Theresa.
[ ] Say something.
- [ ] What?
