"Hey, hey, this is absolutely a trap!" Tesla shouted irritably, her voice echoing through the Hyperion.
Welt pushed up his glasses, keeping a calm expression. "Like I said before, if we don't investigate it, we might be susceptible to hidden threats."
"You were led straight into a trap by Lee and ended up stuck in the Sea of Quanta for months! She's doing the exact same thing again. And this time Otto, who intentionally provoked us, is now telling us to go to this location!" Tesla paced in a tight circle, boots tapping sharply on the floor.
Kiana finally spoke up. "Even if it is a trap, I still want to go. If things go wrong, I can always use the power of the Herrscher of the Void to escape and return here."
Einstein shook her head. "Remember that Lee has the ability to remove your Honkai Energy. If she intends to, she could make sure it becomes impossible for you to use the Void's power."
"Bronya would also like to see Lee if possible, to continue our conversation from last time," Bronya added.
That conversation… Lee talked to Bronya while she was in the Sea of Quanta… about the true nature of the Honkai.
Tesla crossed her arms with a huff. "That guy was only there to let out Kevin Kaslana, which is another reason she isn't a good person. I doubt anything she said was correct. If she really knew how to defeat the Honkai she would have told us, or at least Schicksal."
Fu Hua frowned. "I do not believe that Lee would lie about that. She has always been extremely mysterious in origin, and she knows a great deal of information that nobody else is aware of. As for her claims of being from a cosmic civilisation… Otto seemed to believe it."
Welt looked over sharply. "Lee claimed to come from a cosmic civilisation?"
Theresa raised her hand weakly. "Well, yes, but given Lee's personality… we assumed it was a joke."
"I have encountered survivors from another civilisation ravaged by the Honkai before," Welt said. "Her claim shouldn't be dismissed immediately."
While the others continued discussing, Kiana drifted into her own thoughts.
Lee's final lesson… she wants to teach us something?
"What if Lee wants to tell us something?" Kiana said aloud. "If Otto is nearing the end of his journey… maybe Lee is too. Maybe that's why this is her 'Final Lesson.' She did say that she wanted to return home."
Theresa coughed twice before speaking. "Lee did say the only reason she was working with Otto was because he was the only one who could help her 'get home.' But I still don't see how her goals and Otto's plans are related."
Einstein rested her chin on her hand. "Why invite Kiana, Bronya, and Fu Hua specifically? Kiana and Bronya make sense, but Fu Hua… you didn't exactly know each other."
Fu Hua lowered her head in thought. Before she could answer, Bronya spoke.
"While Lee was in the Bubble World, she claimed to be an expert in the Previous Era… maybe she wants to tell us something about the Previous Era?"
Tesla threw up her hands. "Her abilities are unbelievable. If she wanted to, she could take out all three of you, and we'd lose our strongest fighters!"
Theresa raised her voice. "How about a compromise? We send Kiana and Bronya, and Fu Hua can follow secretly."
After much discussion, that was the plan they agreed on. Which was how Kiana and Bronya, with Fu Hua watching remotely, ended up standing before the tall building with the crude banner.
Kiana went in first, pushing open the heavy wooden doors. Beyond them, a concrete ramp led down into the ground, completely out of place compared to the ancient exterior.
"The Bronya thinks this might be a problem…" Bronya murmured.
She didn't say, but Kiana knew that she was worried that Fu Hua wouldn't be able to follow them underground without being discovered.
Suddenly, a hologram flickered to life in front of them. "Hi~, thanks so much for showing up. As for Fu Hua, she can join us on the public comm if you're so worried. I have no intention of harming you, quite the opposite in fact. I'm here to tell you an intriguing story, along with how to defeat the Honkai."
"Lee," Bronya said softly. The hologram looked exactly as she had two years ago, down to her original uniform.
After a moment, Fu Hua abandoned stealth and stepped up beside them at the tunnel entrance.
"So you do know how to defeat the Honkai after all," Bronya said.
"Oh, sorry I didn't tell you earlier. I needed to make sure everything ended up exactly the way it is now. Now that I plan on leaving, I don't need to keep everything going perfectly as planned." Lee gave a small shrug.
"So you plan on leaving?" Kiana asked.
"Yes. Quite soon. This is my last chance for a long while. I don't want to wait another ten years for a tiny shot at returning home."
Kiana's chest tightened.
I know that you wanted to leave all this time… but…
"Is this world really not worth saying on?" Kiana asked.
Lee placed a hand on her hip. "Ha, do you even need to ask? Honestly this place sucks. And the Honkai is only one of its problems. Compared to all the worlds in the starry sky, which do you think is more appealing?"
Fu Hua stepped forward. "What guarantee do we have that this isn't a trap? Like what you did to Welt?"
"Guess you will just have to trust me. Don't worry, after all, Theresa is now the rightful leader of Schicksal, the responsibility for defeating the Honkai falls to you."
Without warning, the hologram cut off. Kiana, Bronya, and Fu Hua exchanged glances.
Kiana was the first to speak, "I think we can trust Lee."
Bronya said nothing. Fu Hua remained silent as well.
"I will go," Kiana said at last.
"Then I will go as well," Fu Hua said.
Bronya simply nodded.
Kiana ventured into the tunnel first, with Bronya and Fu Hua following. Bronya's eyes lit up with golden gears as she started to analyze the structure around them.
"This place… it is very similar to the Memorial Arena at St. Freya," she said.
A Lee hologram appeared a few steps ahead just as they reached a flatter section of the tunnel.
"Quite perceptive. Although I suppose you're cheating. This is the best medium for me to tell my story." Lee stepped aside and gestured down the passage.
As they walked past, the hologram followed them from behind.
The tunnel stretched on for quite some time. Then Bronya suddenly stopped.
"We are no longer underground. We are now at what would be the center of the Arena."
Lee clapped twice, and the walls dissolved. The ceiling vanished into a vast starry sky.
Kiana recognised this familiar place. Looking around, she realised that Hologram Lee was gone.
"The roof of Chiba Academy."
Where she had once fought Mei.
Mei… I hope you are doing okay…
Two figures faded into view, along with several scattered objects.
Someone looking like a slightly younger version of Kevin Kaslana, and Mei.
Huh? Mei? Wait… she looks slightly different…
"Kevin Kaslana and Dr. Mei." Fu Hua said.
Huh? So that guy really is Kevin Kaslana? His demeanor looks completely different! And Dr. Mei?
Suddenly the figures moved, accompanied by ambient sound: a gentle breeze passing through leaves, insects trilling softly in the distance.
"Hey, are you sure about this?" Said the younger Kevin.
"Don't worry, nobody will check up here. It's a weekend anyway." Said MEI
"That's why it's so scary! Being here on a weekend just feels wrong! There's nobody here!"
Kevin and Mei were sitting down on the rooftop, with a padded blanket spread out on the hard concrete.
"Don't be such a baby, there aren't exactly any hills in Nagazora City, this is the best spot for observing the sky." said MEI.
"What exactly am I supposed to be looking for, anyway." Kevin complained.
MEI lifted her arm and traced a small arc through the sky.
"See that little knot of lights over there? A tight bunch, almost like someone sprinkled a handful of glitter in one spot." She leaned a bit closer to Kevin so he could follow her finger. "That's the Pleiades. You can spot them even with Nagazora's light pollution."
Kevin squinted. "They really are packed together. I thought those were just random stars."
"No. It's an actual cluster. Seven of the brightest ones are easy to see with the naked eye, and the whole group is about four hundred and forty light years away." She shifted her finger slightly. "Alcyone is the brightest one in that patch. Around four hundred and ten light years. Atlas and Pleione are nearby in the same group. The entire cluster is drifting through space together."
Kevin raised an eyebrow. "All of those are the same distance?"
"Close enough. They're neighbors. Real neighbors, not just stars that look close from our angle. They formed from the same cloud long ago." She let her hand fall back into her lap. "If you had a telescope, you'd see dozens more hidden behind the bright ones."
A quiet voice rose in the stillness of the rooftop.
"It's strange, whenever I am looking at the stars. I feel like it is the other way around. The stars are looking down at us."
MEI sighed, "When compared to the universe, I'm small. Humanity is small. Everything felt so small and insignificant. That's when I suddenly came up with an idea…"
"What is it?" Kevin spoke up.
"I now believe that every star in the sky is an enemy."