The dust kicked up by the meteor's impact obscured the entire field of vision, limiting visibility to no more than ten meters.
Seele held a hand in front of her, braving the sandstorm as she searched and loudly called out for Dark Seele.
Gradually, Seele noticed a fiery red glow coming from the spot where the meteor had landed.
Maybe Dark Seele is there?
Seele ran towards the light.
And then she saw...
A white-haired puffball of a girl, covered in flames, was jumping up and down, panting heavily, and rapidly slapping herself all over, trying to put out the fire on her body.
The girl's skin, which should have been flawlessly white, was now glowing bright red like burning charcoal.
That's right... the meteor Seele and the others had seen was actually Kiana, who had accidentally fallen into the Bubble Universe...
Kiana had been trying to find traces of Ryn in the Sea of Quanta. After searching for a while without any clues, she decided to return to the prime world to wait.
But as she was opening the passage from the Sea of Quanta back to the prime world, she was ambushed by some monsters from the Sea of Quanta and fell into this unknown Bubble Universe.
Because Seele was the only living person in sight in the entire world, the meteor that Kiana had become flew towards their direction.
Halfway through putting out the fire, Kiana suddenly noticed Seele in the distance, staring at her in stunned amazement with her mouth covered.
Kiana froze for a moment, then quickly stopped her firefighting efforts. She casually picked up a flower stem that had been burnt to a crisp, put it in her mouth, struck a pose with one hand on her hip, leaning against empty air as if it were a wall, a pose she thought was very cool, and then looked at Seele with a deep and infatuated gaze.
"My cute and innocent young lady, from your expression, it seems you've encountered some difficulty. I wonder if a beautiful person like myself could offer you any assistance?"
Kiana's inner thoughts: [Wuhu! Aren't I super cool right now! I've always wanted to try hitting on girls like Dad!]
Kiana squinted her eyes, savoring the cool words she had just spoken and the incredibly handsome pose she was striking now.
Of course, if Kiana wasn't currently glowing red like burnt charcoal, with her clothes smoldering and tattered... perhaps she really would be a lady-killer right now?
Seele opened her mouth, a little hesitant. The Kiana in front of her looked very familiar, like the girl who was once unconscious in Brother Ryn's arms.
But Kiana's current state also made Seele a little scared, afraid that Kiana would burn to death in the next moment.
In the end, Seele still worriedly reminded Kiana:
"Um... your clothes are still on fire!"
Hearing Seele's reminder, Kiana looked a little confused, tilted her head, and then suddenly started jumping around frantically again.
"Ah! Oh shoot, I forgot!! So hot! So hot!"
Kiana shouted about the heat while rolling around on the ground.
Seele didn't just stand by and watch. She tore off a piece of her skirt to use as a dry cloth and ran over to help Kiana put out the fire.
After working for a while, the two of them finally extinguished the fire on Kiana.
During this time, the surrounding dust storm also gradually settled. Only then did Seele realize that she wasn't dead. But if she wasn't dead, then where did Dark Seele go?
Looking at Kiana, whose left and right pigtails were now uneven, she knelt on the ground in sorrow, tenderly rubbing her hair.
Her clothes being burned was one thing; she could just reconstruct a new set with Honkai energy. But losing a small lock of hair that she had for so long was truly heartbreaking.
Seele wiped the ash from her face that had gotten there while putting out the fire and looked at Kiana cautiously and timidly:
"Um... hello! My name is Seele Vollerei, you can just call me Seele... Could you... tell me your name?"
Kiana immediately perked up, jumped up from the ground, and proudly put her hands on her hips, shouting with a smile, "Sure, sure! My name is Kiana! Kiana Kaslana! Since we've exchanged names, we're good friends now!"
"Wait a minute..." Kiana suddenly realized something and exclaimed in surprise, "What did you just say your name was? Seele!!"
"Mm... is something wrong?" Seele tilted her head and blinked in confusion. "Does Kiana know me?"
"I didn't, but now I do!" Kiana grinned and put her arm around Seele's shoulders, buddying up with her.
"Seele, do you happen to know a little kid named Bronya Zaychik?"
Fearing that Seele wouldn't know which Bronya she was talking about, Kiana made a pinching gesture with two fingers.
"She's about this big, very small and cute."
"Uh... if the Thumbelina Kiana is talking about... also has a Project Bunny with her... then I think I know her."
A cold sweat dripped down Seele's face. She was now certain that the girl in Brother Ryn's arms when he brought Big Sis Bronya to find her was the one in front of her.
As expected of a friend of Brother Ryn and Big Sis Bronya... their personalities are all a bit quirky...
"Thumbelina? What a fitting nickname! It's decided, from now on I'll call Bronya Thumbelina!" Kiana clapped her hands together and jumped happily.
Seele tugged on the sleeve of the happily hopping Kiana and said softly, "Big Sis Kiana... Mama Cocolia said that it's wrong to give people nicknames..."
"It's fine, it's fine. Bronya and I are really good friends."
"Um... okay. Big Sis Kiana, when did you get here? Have you seen a girl who looks a lot like me, but with red eyes? She's very important to me, but she's gone now..."
"Hmm? A girl who looks like Seele?" Kiana tapped her lip, lost in thought.
Seele looked at Kiana with hope, desperate to hear news about Dark Seele from her.
"Nope! A girl as cute as Seele, if I had seen her, I definitely wouldn't have forgotten."
"Oh... okay then..." Seele's head drooped in disappointment, her eyes already welling up.
Just as Dark Seele had said, she was the only one who stayed with her. If Dark Seele was really gone, Seele suddenly didn't know what to do.
Just then, Kiana took Seele's hand and looked into her eyes seriously.
"Are you giving up already? Isn't she someone very important to you? Let's go find her together!"
Kiana's hand was warm and full of hope... Holding her hand, Seele wiped her tears and nodded forcefully.
"Mhm! My other self must be anxious and looking for me right now too! I shouldn't give up like this! I will definitely find her!"