Approaching noon, the group left the mainline terminal of the 23rd District International Airport and headed toward the 7th District.
Inside a luxurious stretch limousine, Sebas kept watch while Ferdinand and Alyssa clambered together to one side, playfully tussling. Katie sat beside Selene.
"What! Companion Honkai Beast? You mean little Alyssa was created by you?" Katie looked shocked as she glanced at the adorable gray-haired girl playing with her son.
"Mm."
Selene nodded. "It was a small accident." She held up her thumb and forefinger to indicate a sliver of distance, then subtly exchanged a glance with Sebas. "An experimental product born out of coincidence."
"Much like the Druids in Celtic mythology, Alyssa is a companion spirit dwelling within my Imaginary Authority—she's always been there. Until now, she was in a dormant state. Only when I developed my abilities to a certain level did she awaken."
Selene gestured as she explained.
This statement was half true and half false—the concept was accurate.
She couldn't exactly tell Katie that Alyssa had been born from Selene plundering the essence and life source of an entire world (both black and positive energy) and was a Judgment-Class Honkai Beast conceived at the cost of destroying the Jackie Chan Adventures world.
Sebas quietly rested his eyes.
"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" Katie frowned. "If I hadn't come to Academy City, were you planning to keep Alyssa hidden from me?"
She didn't doubt Selene's explanation, nor did she need to.
In this world, supernatural powers existed openly. Given her family background, there was no way she wouldn't have some level of understanding of both the magic and science sides.
"Uh, Mom, I told you—it was an accident."
"Mhmhm~ Little Selene, let's not dwell on that. What I want to ask is: since Alyssa is your own companion spirit... have you still not made a close friend?"
"Maybe... probably..."
"Hmm?"
"I have. Let me make a call. I'll notify them right now. We're not all from the same school, but we can still do things together during the Daihasei Festival."
"Alright, you said it yourself, Selene. You better keep your word. Don't you dare hire actresses just to fool your mother."
"Come on, they're real friends."
Seeing Selene's helpless expression, Katie's lips curled into a gentle smile. In truth, even if Selene hadn't changed, she wouldn't blame her—Selene was already more than exceptional.
But the selfish wish of a mother wasn't about power or accomplishments. She simply wanted her child to grow up healthy and happy.
Always walking this solitary, proud path—bottling everything up inside with no outlet—one day it would take a toll.
Leaning her chin on her hand, Katie gazed out the car window at the modern city where her daughter now lived alone.
This city was just as Katie had imagined: completely different from Vienna, which was full of historical landmarks.
Vienna had once been the capital of the Holy Roman Empire, later becoming the Austro-Hungarian Empire's center. Even in the 21st century, it retained a highly developed court culture. The city was dotted with Roman, Gothic, and Baroque-style palaces. Former royal and religious buildings, as exquisitely crafted as works of art, were everywhere.
Mention Vienna, and people think of art and music: Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Haydn, Johann Strauss... countless world-class artists had shone there.
But that also meant it was far removed from modern metropolises—some even saw it as a bit "backward."
In contrast, Academy City and Vienna were polar opposites. Here, there were no ancient monuments—only modern recreations. Skyscrapers rose one after another. It was a city of colossal towers, resembling a forest of stone spires—a structured labyrinth brimming with order.
Wide roads filled with neon lights and holographic signage, streets lined with lush greenery, robots, and holographic projections—even in broad daylight, the blue glow of digital displays made the entire city feel like it was constructed from countless integrated circuits.
As the vehicle advanced and the airport buildings faded from view, suddenly, amidst the surrounding skyscrapers, a towering structure came into sight. Like a silver needle piercing the sky, it stood in the middle of the steel-and-concrete jungle.
It was a colossal structure with a sky-blue main body—wide at the base and narrow at the top. It looked like a giant twisted spiral cone. That 'silver needle' was the elongated tip of the cone, stretching beyond the visible atmosphere. From a distance, it resembled a silver line descending from the heavens—a heavenly bridge linking earth and sky.
With a kind of awe-inspiring monumental beauty, this structure's extremely disproportionate length-to-thickness ratio had somehow been made reality. To Katie, it was an eye-catching marvel beyond belief.
"Ase, what's that?"
Calling Selene by her personal nickname, Katie's eyes sparkled as she quickly flipped through the Daihasei Festival Guidebook in her hands, comparing the sights one by one.
"Oh, that? It's the work of the Starway Gate Company in the 23rd District. The space elevator 'Endymion.'"
Selene turned her head, narrowing her eyes slightly as she gazed at the distant tower that seemed to pierce the heavens.
"Space elevator?" Katie blinked in surprise, then asked with growing excitement, "You mean like in sci-fi films, an elevator that lets you travel into space?"
"You can experience life on a low-earth-orbit space station, more or less. But..."
Noticing Katie's interest, Selene added a dash of reality to temper her expectations. "My advice is not to go. It's not yet open to the public. Calibration and safety checks haven't passed."
"Eh? That's such a tease. And I was getting excited," Katie said regretfully. Still, she knew her daughter only said this for her safety, and being reasonable, she didn't insist.
Besides, in Academy City—a place said to be thirty years ahead of the world in technology—there were bound to be enough novelties to entertain her throughout the entire Daihasei Festival. As a still-youthful mom, she was full of energy.
"It really is spectacular."
Pointing at the guidebook's introduction to the space elevator, Katie narrowed her eyes and smiled playfully at Selene. "But... the name 'Endymion' reminds me of a tragic love story. It has quite a connection to little Selene."
"To me? Oh, you mean that Greek mythological love story? Just a fanciful romantic fabrication."
Selene handed Katie a cup of red tea, propping up her chin, clearly uninterested.
"Honestly, you're so realistic... It's all Karl's fault," Katie grumbled, using her nickname for Brauchitsch. "Letting you get involved with adult matters too early. You've got no romantic soul at all."
Clearly unsatisfied with her daughter's reaction, the youthful mother pouted and began chattering animatedly. "Endymion is a story from Greek mythology. The full moon goddess Selene fell in love with a shepherd named Endymion who lived in the valleys."
"Legend has it, Endymion often slept on the grasslands at night, and the goddess Selene would sneak in to kiss him. Eventually, her behavior was discovered by Zeus. To prevent the goddess from falling further, Zeus gave Endymion a choice: either die or fall into eternal sleep, remaining forever youthful."
"Endymion chose the latter—another version says it was Selene who begged Zeus to grant him eternal youth so they could be together. Zeus agreed, but put him into eternal slumber. From then on, Selene would visit him each night and kiss him."
"A farewell love between a god and a mortal... Isn't it so tragic, so beautiful?" Katie's eyes shimmered with moisture as she spoke, dabbing at her eyes while glancing hopefully at Selene.
Honestly, standing side by side, Selene and Katie looked more like sisters than mother and daughter. Partly because Selene matured too fast, and partly due to Katie's youthful spirit, which made her look and feel younger than her actual age.
In daily life, outside of academics or matters of principle, Katie's relationship with Selene had always been a little skewed. More often than not, you could see Katie playfully whining to little Selene.
Such active tear glands... Selene had no emotional reaction to the story at all. On the contrary, she wanted to laugh.
"Maybe. But compared to the two leads, I think Zeus was the real jerk. Double standards much? Lighting fires while banning others from using candles? His behavior in myths is probably the lowest of all gods."
Sighing, Selene rubbed her temples. "Mom, just ask. No need to go in circles."
In an instant, Katie's expression shifted. She sat upright. "Ase, answer honestly. Do you have any male friends in Academy City?"
There it was—the dagger in the map.
"Yes," Selene replied bluntly.
"Really?!"
Katie's voice jumped several pitches. Eyes shining, she seized Selene's hands. "Tell me! Who is he? Whose family is he from? Mommy wants to meet him!"
She even wiped her eyes as she muttered, "Mmm... she's growing up."
"Quite a few."
"Huh? What do you mean, 'quite a few'?" Katie blinked, clearly stunned.
Was her daughter some kind of playgirl?
"There's my executive subordinates, my friend from the dark side Kihara Amata... or the Board Chairman Aleister Crowley, and my fellow directors Shiokishi and Nakimoto Rizou..."
"Stop, stop!"
Katie quickly cut her off and pulled Selene into a hug, mock-pulling her ear. "I meant male friends your age! Not business partners!"
"Oh."
...
Tokiwadai Middle School, Student Dormitory, Seventh District.
"Mhmhmhm~"
From an open window of one dorm room came the sound of a girl lightly humming. In room 208, seated before the vanity in the bathroom, wrapped in a towel, a girl carefully touched up her appearance. Her mood was clearly quite good.
Her chestnut mid-length hair hung down her shoulders. Compared to her usual twin-tail Judgment look, this side of her was more serene.
"Honestly, where has Onee-sama gone? Selene-senpai's mother is coming to visit the school, and she specifically asked us, along with Uiharu and Saten, to join in welcoming her. But we can't get hold of her at all."
At the moment, Shirai Kuroko was applying moisturizer and lip gloss, gently drying her damp post-shower hair with a towel, grumbling as she went.
What she didn't know was that in the original timeline, she'd been severely injured by Musujime Awaki, crushed by heavy objects and shot through the waist—nearly dying.
Only thanks to the doctor known as "Heaven Canceller" was she saved from long-term damage. Even so, she'd spent the Daihasei Festival bedridden or in a wheelchair—reduced to a pitiful "empty nest Kuroko."
"Sigh... she said she was going to some concert by that singer, Meigo..."
Thinking about her Onee-sama's inexplicable feelings for that spiky-haired boy, Shirai sighed deeply.
Then she abruptly stood, violently tugging her freshly brushed hair. "Ah! So frustrating! I'm so frustrated! My Onee-sama... has she really fallen?! Ughhh—! Kuroko, what am I going to do~"
But she had responsibilities. She couldn't just drop everything to chase down Misaka Mikoto. As a member of Judgment and uninjured, she had work to do—events at school and Selene-senpai's summons.
Truly, she was swamped.
Beep beep beep~
Her phone on the vanity drawer lit up. She slumped into the chair and reached out. "Hello, this is Shirai Kuroko."
"Ah, Uiharu... you and Saten are already there? Okay, I'll be right down. Selene-senpai is arriving too."
...
"So this is the School Garden. It feels like stepping into Florence, Italy."
In a city of towering modern skyscrapers, entering a Western-style zone that resembled a Mediterranean town gave off a striking sense of dislocation.
As the car parked at the School Garden's entrance, Katie looked out the window. All around was tranquil and refined—stone-paved paths, narrow old-world alleys, and students chatting and laughing after school.
"My lady, the School Garden is a female-only district. Forgive me, but I cannot accompany you inside."
Sebas stood by the car door, hand to chest, then turned to say, "Milady, your friends have arrived."
"Senpai!"
Turning to the voice, Selene saw the small figure with a flower on her head tiptoeing to wave.
"Hey, Uiharu." Selene waved from beside Katie.
As she approached, Selene looked to Shirai Kuroko and asked, "Where's Misaka?"
"Not sure... last time I heard from Onee-sama, she mentioned attending some Meigo concert..." she said gloomily.
"Meigo Arisa?"
"Yes, that's the name."
"Oh, then don't worry about her. She's probably busy."
Off saving someone with Kamijou Touma again, huh? How nice.
Selene glanced toward the space elevator 'Endymion,' then shook her head and let the thought pass. She turned and opened the car door for Katie.
Let the world burn—I'm here for the festival.
"The first stop on our Daihasei Festival journey begins here, in the School Garden."
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