The Kiana of the past didn't feel lonely because she was strong.
She didn't feel lonely because she had never had anything to begin with, so she didn't know what losing something felt like.
But at St. Freya Academy, she gained Mei.
She gained Bronya, gained Teacher Himeko.
She gained Fu Hua.
She gained Theresa, who loved to tease her but cared for her more than anyone else.
And now, she had a family.
So now, standing alone on this snowfield once more, she felt loneliness for the very first time.
"Ah, I really, really want to eat one of Mei's home-cooked meals again."
Kiana murmured to herself as she walked.
"And I want to play games with Bronya one more time..."
"Mm, and Theresa's hellish training regimen too."
Kiana paused, as though she was replaying memories of those days spent running from Theresa.
"Theresa's training was brutal in name, but it was actually kind of fun."
"And there was Himeko, who'd always crawl into my bed when she'd had too much to drink, sobbing about how she was getting old."
Kiana shuddered from head to toe, her face twisting into an expression that defied description.
"Wait, why did that image just pop into my head?"
The comment section absolutely lost it: "Kiana getting PTSD in real time."
"The PTSD comment killed me."
Elysia couldn't hold back a laugh either. The faint sheen of tears in her eyes vanished as they curved into happy crescents.
"Pfft, that pivot was too adorable!" She laughed, dabbing the corner of her eye.
"I was literally about to cry, and then suddenly..."
The comments piled on in agreement: "Kiana's comedy talent is something else."
"Is this just what it means to be a Kaslana?"
On screen, Kiana kept walking through the snow.
But her footsteps seemed a little lighter now.
Those memories wrapped around her, chasing away the chill that the blizzard carried.
She didn't know where she was going. She didn't know what this virtual space was.
She didn't know what kind of truth was waiting for her ahead.
But at least, in this moment, she wasn't alone.
Somewhere in the flood of comments, someone wrote: "Keep going, Kiana. We're all here."
And then the screen filled with it: "We're all here! We're all here! We're all here!"
Elysia watched those words scroll past, watched that small, solitary figure pressing forward through the storm.
Her eyes stung again.
She sniffled quietly, then turned to the camera with a bright, beaming smile.
"Alright, that's all for today's stream!" she said.
Comments: "Elysia, when's the next stream?! I need it NOW!"
"Nooo, I'm not ready for it to end..."
Elysia laughed and waved, then ended the broadcast.
The moment the screen went dark, her smile softened.
She gazed at the frozen frame, that vast and endless snowfield, that lone, towering spire.
That small figure, moving forward with quiet, unshakeable resolve.
"Keep going, Kiana," she murmured, her voice barely above a whisper, addressed to the figure on the screen and somewhere beyond it all at once.
"Everyone is waiting for you."
After the stream ended, the studio fell into an unusual stillness.
Kiana was slumped facedown on the desk, her face buried in the crook of her arm, only a pair of blue eyes peeking out, fixed on the replay of the just-ended stream playing on her phone.
"Ugh."
A muffled groan. "How is this Kiana's childhood so miserable?"
Mei sat beside her and let out a soft laugh. "What's the matter? Watching Elysia's stream replay again?"
"Yeah."
Kiana flipped over and lifted her face from her arm, hair a complete disaster.
"That Kiana in the game, she lost her mom when she was little, then her dad disappeared too.
She wandered alone for years, and people kept trying to kill her on top of everything else. Every possible tragedy, she got hit with it. Even I can barely stand to watch."
As she spoke, she glanced over at Durandal, who was quietly sorting through documents nearby.
Then she flicked her eyes to her phone screen, where a comment under the "Sirin" username was still drifting through the stream replay.
"Tch. That Kiana's way worse off than the real one. At least the real one has a big sister who spoils her."
Kiana's mouth twitched. "Sirin's doing that sarcastic thing again."
Durandal didn't look up. "Sirin is stating facts. You, in reality, are considerably luckier than your in-game counterpart."
"I know that!"
Kiana puffed out her cheeks, then sank back down, muttering under her breath.
"It's just... a little strange. The Kiana in the game, she's had it so hard, pushed through so much, stayed so strong."
Her voice trailed off until the last few words were nearly inaudible.
Mei reached over and gently ruffled her hair.
"Whether it's the Kiana in the game or the Kiana right here, both of them are strong," she said.
Kiana looked up. "Really?"
"Really."
Mei smiled. "The Kiana in the game walks alone through the snow, but what's she thinking about? Eating my cooking. Playing games with Bronya. And the Kiana in real life?"
She paused, her gaze drifting to the night sky outside the window.
"The real Kiana had everything she could ever need growing up. And yet she still chose to come to this little studio, one that could fold at any moment, to take a chance on something that might not work out with all of us."
She turned back and looked Kiana in the eye.
"Isn't that its own kind of strength?"
Kiana froze. Her mouth opened, then closed. She wanted to say something, but the words wouldn't come.
From nearby, a calm voice cut through the quiet: "Mei is right."
Durandal. She had set down her documents at some point and was looking over at them now. Those eyes, so similar to Kiana's, held an uncharacteristic warmth.
"Kiana, you are far stronger than you give yourself credit for."
Kiana's face went red in an instant.
"W-what are you both saying all of a sudden?!" She bolted upright and fanned her face furiously. "That's so embarrassing! I'm not used to this!"
Mei and Durandal looked at each other, and both of them laughed.
In the corner, Bronya and Seele were huddled over a screen, murmuring about something. Seele glanced over occasionally, then quickly looked back down, a faint smile on her face.
Dan Heng was still typing, but the rhythm was slower than it had been during the day, clearly unwinding.
Stelle and March 7th were squashed into a single chair sharing one pair of earbuds, watching something that made them periodically dissolve into barely-suppressed laughter.
Arthur sat at his own desk, cradling a cup of coffee that had long gone cold, not drinking it.
He was watching Mei.
Watching this gentle, purple-haired girl who always seemed to be taking care of everyone around her, now gazing out at the night sky with an expression he had never seen on her before, carrying some kind of unspoken weight.
"Mei," Arthur said.
Mei turned back. Her familiar smile slipped back into place. "Yes? What is it, Arthur?"
Arthur hesitated, then asked anyway.
"Just now, you said the characters in the game are identical in personality to the people here in real life. It sounded like you had something on your mind."
Mei stilled slightly. Then she looked down at her hands and was quiet for a few seconds.
"Arthur..."
Her voice was soft, almost like she was talking to herself.
"I've been thinking about Raiden Mei, the one in the game. How she always worries about hurting others, yet tries so hard to protect the people she loves."
She lifted her eyes to meet his.
"I keep wondering if she might be... another version of me. From another world."
Every sound in the office stopped.
Kiana's breathing. Bronya's fingers on the keyboard. The faint laughter leaking from the earbuds that Stelle and March 7th were sharing. Everything went still in that single moment.
Mei didn't seem to notice. She kept speaking, quietly. "That Mei can cook, just like I can. She treasures the people close to her, just like I do."
"But the Mei in the game is so much braver than I am. She was willing to stand against the entire world for Kiana's sake."
Her voice trembled the faintest bit.
Kiana was the first to snap out of it.
She launched herself out of her seat, crossed the room in seconds, and threw her arms around Mei.
"You absolute idiot, what are you even saying?!"
Mei blinked, caught completely off guard.
Kiana pressed her face into Mei's shoulder, voice muffled and fierce.
"That Mei in the game, she's just as gentle, she cooks just as well, she cares about us just as much! She was able to do all of those things because she knew there were people worth doing them for!"
She pulled back and stared straight at Mei.
"Do you get that?! You absolute idiot!"
Mei's eyes went wide. Then, slowly, the rims of her eyes turned red.
"Kiana..."
"And another thing!"
Kiana kept going, her voice climbing louder and louder. "That Kiana in the game, she's had it so rough, fought so hard, stayed so strong, but you know what? I don't envy her one single bit!"
She stopped. Her voice dropped, suddenly quieter, but steadier than ever.
"Because the real me has Sirin, who's a complete handful. I have Durandal, who acts like a block of ice. I have you, Mei. I have Bronya. I have Arthur."
She turned to look at everyone in the studio.
"I have all of you."
Her voice fell to barely above a whisper. "So the me right now... is really happy."
A few seconds of silence settled over the office.
Then Seele began to clap, soft and gentle.
"Kiana is amazing."
Stelle and March 7th pulled out their earbuds and clapped with full enthusiasm. Dan Heng pushed up his glasses. Behind the lenses, his gaze was warm.
Durandal gave a small, quiet nod. Her expression said, without a word: that's the Kaslana spirit.
Mei looked at Kiana, at that flushed, glowing face, and she broke into a smile.
A smile identical to the one worn by that other Mei, the one who had drawn her blade to protect everything she held dear.
"Thank you, Kiana," she said softly.
Kiana's face went even redder. She released Mei, stumbled back two steps, and spun away.
"D-don't thank me! I was just saying what's true!" she declared, already marching back toward her seat, muttering under her breath as she went.
"So embarrassing. If you ever say something like that again, I'm not talking to you."
Mei watched her scramble away, and her smile softened into something deeper.