Is someone there?
Raiden Mei paused in front of her residence.
Fixing her amethyst eyes on the front door, she tilted her head in confusion.
She had noticed that someone seemed to be inside her home.
Was it Miss Fu Hua?
Mei felt a little puzzled. A few days ago, she had reunited with Miss Fu Hua and received guidance from her.
Miss Fu Hua had tutored Mei both in the ways of a Valkyrie and in culinary skills.
And today, Mei had invited Miss Fu Hua over to her house for the evening, hoping the latter would teach her how to cook.
Even though... he was gone, Mei still wanted to perfect her culinary skills, because this was something he had expected of her.
However, she felt she was imposing a bit too much on Miss Fu Hua.
Mei had noticed that Miss Fu Hua's large belly was gone, clearly indicating she had already given birth. Was it really appropriate to trouble a mother who had just delivered a baby for help?
But, a child...?
Mei touched her own stomach. Years of rigorous kendo training had left her abdomen with a firm, toned texture.
A flash of loneliness crossed her eyes. Mei looked back at the front door. It wasn't closed properly; a small crack was left open, which was how Mei discovered someone had entered her house.
Who was it?
Someone as meticulous as Miss Fu Hua would definitely let her know before entering her home.
Her right hand subconsciously reached for her waist, but there was no weapon there. She had just finished training, and all her practice weapons had been left in the training room.
Despite being inside the highly secure Schicksal Headquarters, Mei remained on high alert, as she had yet to develop a sufficient sense of belonging to this place.
The only person she cared about in Schicksal HQ...
Was someone she had been eternally parted from.
Mei cautiously approached the door, placed her hand on the surface, and gave it a gentle push, swinging it wide open.
The house was pitch black; the intruder hadn't turned on the lights.
Stepping into the foyer, Mei didn't take off her shoes. Instead, she walked straight into the house with them still on. Shoes offered protection for her feet, which would be advantageous if a situation suddenly broke out.
Groping through the darkness, Mei's hand found the living room light switch, and she pressed it.
In an instant, the room was brightly lit.
Then, Mei heard faint rustling sounds coming from the mourning hall she had meticulously arranged in the living room.
Mei's expression drastically changed. Was someone disturbing "his" peace?
Walking briskly into the house, Mei barged into the sanctuary of her home, stepping into the mourning hall she had set up for Otto.
Suddenly, a bright flash of light erupted.
Click.
Instinctively, Mei raised a hand to block the intense glare. The flash lasted only for a split second. Quickly lowering her hand, Mei peered deep into the mourning hall.
There, sitting right on top of the sacrificial altar where the portrait of the deceased was supposed to be, was a figure. The incense burner had been carelessly shoved onto the floor.
The figure held the funeral portrait in his left hand, positioning it right in front of his face, while his right hand held up a smartphone, snapping a selfie.
The intense flash just now had been the camera's flash.
Mei stood frozen in place. Staring at the man committing such a profound act of disrespect by sitting on a mourning altar, she opened her mouth, her eyes brimming with sheer disbelief.
Otto lowered the portrait. The best way to overcome fear was to face fear head-on, so he had decided to take a commemorative selfie in his own mourning hall.
It truly was an incredibly bizarre experience.
But those were just minor details.
Otto hopped down from the altar and carefully placed his black-and-white portrait back in its rightful position. He then patted his butt to dust off any lingering incense ash from his clothes.
He gazed at the stunned Raiden Mei, his emerald eyes overflowing with tenderness, a gentle smile curling on his lips.
Truthfully, from his perspective, it had been thousands of years since he last saw Mei.
"Mei."
"I'm back."
His voice was slightly hoarse.
Like an evil spirit that had just crawled out of hell.
Otto looked at Mei. She wasn't wearing the standard high school uniform he was so used to seeing her in back in Nagazora. Instead, she wore a personalized, modified white Valkyrie uniform.
Somehow, it looked a bit like mourning clothes.
Yet, it also resembled a shiromuku.
The clothing was slightly tight, leaving the curves of her hips and thighs completely unobstructed. The mature charm exuding from her waist and hips was exceptionally alluring.
The holiness and solemnity brought by the uniform formed a stark, striking contrast with those seductive curves.
This faint sense of the forbidden made Otto's heartbeat quicken by a few beats.
Otto gazed tenderly at Mei. He noticed that between her brows, there was a deeply melancholic, captivating charm, much like a young widow secluded in her boudoir. In these years where her beauty bloomed the brightest, she could hardly conceal her soul-stirring allure.
A change in temperament truly nourished a person.
Otto realized that the originally slender Mei was gradually plumping up and maturing, transforming toward the "Auntie Mei" of A Post-Honkai Odyssey.
A traditional young lady transforming into a widow.
Was Auntie Mei created because she lost the Paramecium, whereas this Mei was created because she lost Otto?
"Mei."
His voice was gentle.
"I'm back."
Otto repeated himself. Yet Mei continued to stare at him blankly, not even blinking, as if terrified that a single blink would shatter the hallucination before her.
"Ot... to?"
Finally, Mei called out the name of the man standing before her.
And Otto slowly nodded his head.
"Mhm. It's me," he said.
"Ot... to..."
Her voice was laced with utter disbelief. Mei stared blankly at Otto, unable to tear her eyes away. Her legs bumped against a chair, causing her to stumble, but she continued walking toward him anyway.
[Silly girl...]
A faint voice echoed in Mei's mind. The Herrscher of Thunder felt incredibly helpless, but at the same time, she felt a surge of joy.
He was back, so Mei wouldn't be sad anymore.
It was good that he was alive, and it was good that he had returned.
Mei, however, was completely oblivious to the Herrscher's voice. She walked right up to Otto, raising both hands to cup his face, stroking his cheeks as if trying to confirm something.
"I'm back."
For the third time, Otto repeated those words.
"Is this... a dream?" Mei looked at Otto in disbelief. But the tactile sensation transmitting through her hands was undoubtedly real.
"Why would you think this is a dream?"
Otto answered her question with a question. But Mei replied:
"Because... Otto died a long time ago."
He had died right in front of her, leaving not even ashes behind.
In Nagazora, she could only cradle Otto's severed head and watch as it crumbled into dust.
So the Otto appearing before her now had to be nothing more than a hallucination inside a dream.
Suddenly, a katana materialized in Otto's hand.
It was the Seven Thunders of Retribution. Having fallen out of favor ever since Otto acquired the Jizo Mitama, it was now once again gripped in his hand.
This scared the Herrscher of Thunder personality so much that she hastily altered her own electromagnetic field to avoid being influenced by the Seven Thunders.
Though, in reality, the Herrscher of Thunder was already registered under Otto's name, so there was absolutely no need to worry about the Will of the Honkai connecting to her.
"Is this...?"
Mei looked at the blade in Otto's hand.
"Oh, so you came to take me away?"
Mei, her mind still somewhat in a trance, suddenly felt a wave of realization. Even though the man before her held a vicious blade, she simply opened her arms, offering her completely defenseless chest to him.
She viewed the Otto before her as an Angel of Death, a grim reaper here to guide them to reunite in hell.
Mei closed her eyes. She wouldn't commit suicide. She had no thoughts of taking her own life, because this life of hers had been saved by Otto.
But if it was Otto who wanted to take her away, she wouldn't resist.
Otto raised the blade.
He looked at Mei.
Then, the blade fell.
---o---